Audio CD review:
UFO - High Stakes & Dangerous Men

UFO - High Stakes & Dangerous Men

Band: UFO Title: High Stakes & Dangerous Men Rating: Release Date: 25 October, 1993 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: Borderline 2: Primed For Time 3: She's The One 4: Ain't Life Sweet 5: Don't Want To Lose You 6: Burnin' Fire 7: Running Up The Highway 8: Back Door Man 9: One Of Those Nights 10: Revolution 11: Love Deadly Love 12: Let The Good Time Roll

Customer Reviews Refreshing Return to Form Then when you think it's all over back comes Phil Mogg and his rock `n' roll roots to produce "High Stakes and Dangerous Men". Reviewer: Wild Colonial Boy (England) - See all my reviews After the truly awful "Misdemeanour" album and the equally below par "Ain't Misbehavin" it appeared that UFO were gone forever. This for me is a refreshing five star return to quality. Having split from the Chrysalis label, out goes the glitter hair and glam rock and back like a bad penny comes Pete Way. With a new line up featuring Laurence Archer (ex Stampede) on guitars and Clive Edwards (ex Wild Horses) this album is a successful if underrated rocker that recaptures their 70's and 80's formula. Rule number one don't call it UFO unless Phil Mogg and Pete Way are in the line up. These two original members and the driving force and song writing combination that created the trademark identity which is back here in abundance. The opener "Borderline", "Primed for Time", "Running Up the Highway" and "Let the Good Times Roll" are perfect examples and there is not really a bad track on here. There is also that blues feel in "Back Door Man" with most of the tracks punctuated with slick lead guitar work. Edwards is solid on drums and Archer is excellent on guitar if sometimes a little over indulgent. His playing is very much in the Schenker mould and should please fans of the old classic line up. It's a pity this '92 line up did not stay together for more than this solitary studio offering but the reunion of the classic line up and the "Walk on Water" album a little later more than makes up. . UFO returns to form... I honestly don't know what some of these reviewers are listening to or thinking. With this album, Pete Way returned to the lineup and UFO put together a solid, fun release. As far as UFO being a "metal" band - they AREN'T - they are a "classic hard rock" band. I can't even begin to understand the thought that the Misdemeanor album is better than this. I'm a huge fan but, in all honesty, that album is possibly the worst thing the band has ever done. Well, enough of the rant - on to the album. This is a fairly typical UFO album with songs ranging from full out rock to bluesy mid tempo songs to more pop sounding material. Song highlights include: Borderline, She's The One, Burnin' Fire, Running Up The Highway, Revolution and Love Deadly Love. One thing of note is the use of background vocals. UFO has never used alot of background vocals, but they do here and it definitely adds to the songs. As for the band, this was probably the best group Mogg/Way worked with outside of the original lineup(Schenker or Chapman). Laurence Archer can simply play. Personally I put him right there with Paul Chapman. His style is bluesy, but with enough crunch. I like him slightly better than Vinnie Moore, I think Archer's style is a little better suited to the songs and Atomik Tommy M is absolutely the worst of the guitarists UFO has had. Check out Lights Out - Live In Tokyo to hear Archer handle the classic songs. Drummers are generally an afterthought but Clive Edwards holds things down nicely. All in all, if you are a UFO fan this deserves a spot in your collection. I, however, would suggest getting "One Of Those Nights - The Anthology" since it contains this album plus the "Live In Texas" recordings and eights songs from the "Live In Tokyo" album. . It's alright "HIGH STAKES & DANGEROUS MEN" was released in 1992 but it didn't have the impact Mogg wished for. After a decade of bad reviews, a declining of the fan base, and almost ten years away from the lime light, Phil Mogg recruited long time and once original member Pete Way (bass), Laurence Archer (guitar), and Clive Edwards (drums) to record another album. Several years later, Mr. Mogg says that this album is his favourite one together with "LIGHTS OUT" and "THE WILD, THE WILLING AND THE INNOCENT". I don't think UFO fans in general agree with Mogg that "HIGH STAKES. . . " is one of the finer but it is not a bad album. With songs like the melodic "Don't want to lose you", the bluesy "Borderline" (the album's highlight) and the classic sounding "Primed for time" among others, this album is rather enjoyable even if it's far from UFO's best work. . You can see a complete list of all UFO discography, or go back to the UFO tabs