Audio CD review:
Michael Schenker - Into the Arena 1972-1995

Michael Schenker - Into the Arena 1972-1995

Band: Michael Schenker Title: Into the Arena 1972-1995 Rating: Release Date: 27 October, 2000 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: Give Her The Gun 2: Rock Bottom 3: Lipstick Traces (Instrumental) 4: This Kid's/Between The Walls 5: Lights Out 6: Arbory Hill (Instrumental) 7: Lovedrive 8: Armed And Ready 9: Bijou Pleasurette (Instrumental) 10: Courvoisier Concerto (Instrumental, Live) 11: Lost Horizons (Live) 12: Ulcer (Instrumental) 13: Desert Song 14: Captain Nemo Ulcer (Instrumental) 15: Here Today - Gone Tomorrow 16: Lonely Nights 17: A Self-Made Man 18: It All Depends 19: Sweet Little Thing 20: On With The Action (Live) 21: Cry For The Nations 22: Armed And Ready (Live) 23: Into The Arena (Instrumental, Live) 24: Girl From Uptown 25: Don't Take It Out On Me 26: Gimme Your Love 27: Save Yourself (Single Edit) 28: There Has To Be Another Way (Instrumental) 29: Vicious 30: Eve 31: Nightmare (Single Edit) 32: Anytime (Acoustic) 33: Paradise (Acoustic, Live) 34: Only You Can Rock Me (Acoustic, Live)

Customer Reviews a cd worth of good stuff, a cd worth of tripe Yes, it's nice to get the two rare early UFO cuts and some of the other live and alternate versions of various songs. I've been a fan of Michael Schenker since UFO's "Phenomenon" and still think his playing is phenomenal! While this two disc release does do a very good job of representing the best of a broad and quite erratic recording career, the fact is that much of this is simply not very good. But that totals maybe one cd worth of material. I'd have rathered that "Phenomenon" had gotten a better remastering job with the two early UFO songs as bonus cuts. The rest of this stuff, primarily his 80's MSG output, just doesn't measure up. It's certainly not the high point of his career. While Schenker continues to be wildly erratic, he's certainly put out much better music (in spots) since '95 than a lot of this. Buy it if you're a completist and don't already have the rarities, otherwise it's awfully expensive for one cd of good (even great!) material and one cd of filler. . Excellent compilation of rare songs and well known The songs girl from uptown, don't take it out on me and vicious are very good songs and I don't see why they weren't on the original cd's in the first place. The strenght in this is that it put rare tracks on one cd so you don't have to go out and spend a bunch of money on $30 reamsters from japan to an extra three tracks or so. It also offers two rare UFO tracks give her the gun and sweet little good tunes. It's one weakness lies in tracks like Loney nights from the original cd. . they should have put this broken heart on there instead and eve maybe another selection from save yourself or perfect would have been a lot better. The Ufo songs are good selections as are the Scorpions songs. The last three songs are from the all accostical MSG cd. Paradise sounds a lot better here than on original cd. Anytime and only you can rock come off very well also. On with the action is live here and a good version. Never ending nightmare is a shortend track which I say I must must prefer to orignal cd track although original cd track was a fav of mine from that particualr cd. AN EXCELLENT ALBUM PROJECT It comprises more than 2 decades of Michael's music which clearly outlined the talented guitarist's career. This Michael Schenker compilation is an excellent project by Ian McFarlane et al. This double CD consists of 34 tracks from the Scorpions, UFO, MSG and the McAudley era, including classics like Rock Bottom, Lights Out, Into The Arena plus a number of non-album and Japanese-only tracks. This album captures the essence of Michael's soul in music composition and guitar playing. Both music lovers and guitar players will certainly enjoy the creative solo runs, electrfying guitar riffs and the melodic acoustic tunes. A compilation of tracks from various recording companies of this sort is rare and credit must be given to the production team on the excellent sound quality. This compilation is gem and worth every single cent. The excellent packaging is an additional bonus. It includes a 16-page booklet on Michael's achievement and future. Also, both CDs have his trademark flying-V printed on it. . You can see a complete list of all Michael Schenker discography, or go back to the Michael Schenker tabs