Audio CD review:
UFO - Obsession

UFO - Obsession

Band: UFO Title: Obsession Rating: Release Date: 25 October, 1990 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: Only You Can Rock Me 2: Pack It Up (And Go) 3: Arbory Hill 4: Ain't No Baby 5: Lookin' Out For No. 1 6: Hot 'N' Ready 7: Cherry 8: You Don't Fool Me 9: Lookin' Out For No. 1 Reprise 10: One More For The Rodeo 11: Born To Lose

Customer Reviews One of UFO's finest albums of all ) UFO's seventh studio album. Obsession (1978. INTRODUCTION: UFO had their musical beginnings in Great Britain in the late sixties. Taking their name from a legendary music club, the band recorded two albums in the early seventies with a weird-but-still-excellent space rock sound all their own. These two albums, featuring guitarist Mick Bolton, were great albums but did not sell well or do well on the charts. Not long after their release, Bolton parted ways with the band. This was not the end of the band by any means, but rather, a new beginning. After Bolton left, the group had Scorpions guitarist Michael Schenker play for them as a temporary stand-in. The group was so satisfied with the young German guitar virtuoso that he became a permanent member of the band! The band would record many albums with Schenker, including many of those that would be deemed the band's finest works! How does 1978's Obsession, the fifth and final UFO studio album of the seventies to feature Schenker, measure up? Read on and find out! OVERVIEW: UFO released their seventh studio album, Obsession, in 1978. The album featured Phil Mogg on lead vocals, Pete Way on bass, Andy Parker on drums, Michael Schenker on lead guitar, and Paul Raymond on keyboards. This was the last studio album to feature Michael Schenker; he'd be replaced by Paul Chapman for the next studio albums. Schenker wouldn't return until the nineties. Tracklist consists Only You Can Rock Me, Pack It Up And Go, Arbory Hill, Ain't No Baby, Lookin' Out For Number One, Hot And Ready, Cherry, You Don't Fool Me, Lookin' Out For Number One (Reprise), One More For The Rodeo, and Born To Lose. REVIEW: During UFO's heyday with Michael Schenker from 1973-1979, they attained an all-time high they would never again reach. Every album the group recorded with the guitar genius was nothing short of excellent, and with their final studio collaboration, Obsession, that genius was realized one last time. It's always a constant debate as to which Schenker-era UFO album is the best, but one thing's for damn sure - Obsession is a very likely candidate for that coveted title. With a number of UFO classics on this album, it's not hard to see why. Let's look at the tracklist, and see why Obsession shines. -SIDE A- -Only You Can Rock Me: It seems like UFO always has this thing for starting their albums with excellent songs. On Obsession, it's no exception. This hard rocker became a classic anthem for the group, as well as one of their biggest hits. Any fan of the group knows and loves this song. It deserves its lofty status. -Pack It Up And Go: Here we have one of those straight-up, classic hard rockers as only UFO could serve up. If you're into the songs like this, you're going to love this one. The band rocks hard on this one, and their stylings here are sure to impress any fan. An excellent, underrated song. -Arbory Hill: A short but sweet instrumental. Here the band combines synthesizers and acoustic guitars to create a melodic piece uniquely their own. Although too short for my taste, clocking in at only about a minute, it is still an excellent song that is well worth listening to. -Ain't No Baby: Here's more of that rock only UFO could do. But this time, the band makes things interesting by slowing things down and throwing in some melodic elements. The end results are very solid. The instrumental portion in the latter half of the song is particularly excellent. -Lookin' Out For Number One: This one is a power ballad of sorts, with a uniquely UFO sound. The band uses orchestra-style backing instrumentation with a melodic sound, and the results are nothing short of excellent. This was a minor hit for the group, and it isn't hard to see why some fans like it so well. It's definitely one of my favorites. -SIDE B- -Hot And Ready: Straight-up hard and heavy rock the way it was meant to be heard. Amongst UFO fans, this one is a fan favorite. With its hard and heavy melodies, this definitely stands as one of the strongest songs in the entire UFO catalogue. Any fan knows and loves this song, and appropriately so. -Cherry: Here's another fairly popular song. Essentially, it's a semi-melodic rocker. Like many of the other songs on the album, this one is a fan favorite. With Phil Mogg's classic lyrics and awesome instrumentation from the rest of the band, it's a UFO classic. -You Don't Fool Me: Here we have one of those straight-up, classic hard rockers as only UFO could serve up. If you're into the songs like this, you're going to love this one. The band rocks hard on this one, and their stylings here are sure to impress any fan. An excellent, underrated song. -Lookin' Out For Number One (Reprise): Essentially, this is just a short and brief instrumental reprise of the track from earlier on the album. Although it sounds nice, I definitely wish it would have been longer. -One More For The Rodeo: Here we have one of those straight-up, classic hard rockers as only UFO could serve up. If you're into the songs like this, you're going to love this one. The band rocks hard on this one, and their stylings here are sure to impress any fan. An excellent, underrated song. -Born To Lose: The band closes the album out with an awesome song - quite possibly my all-time favorite song the band ever recorded. Slow and melodic, this is a heartfelt ballad of sorts. Nothing in the rest of the band's catalogue even comes close to sounding like this one. A guitar solo by Michael Schenker only sweetens the deal. Damn good song, and definitely one of UFO's best. I only wish it were more popular. OVERALL: Overall, Michael Schenker's fifth and final seventies studio album with UFO is another excellent one. Following this album, the band released the live Strangers In The Night album with Schenker, and then he departed to form his own band (he'd return in the nineties, though. ) Although the band's collaboration with Schenker only lasted a few years, there is no denying that the music created by the band in this period is nothing short of excellent, and difficult to top musically. The band stayed good after Schenker left, but they'd never again reach a musical high like this. Final verdict? This album is highly recommended! EDITION NOTES: Sadly, UFO albums are extremely difficult to find in America. Some of them (generally only the newest albums and the compilations) can be found in some American stores, but if you want the classic albums, expect to do a lot of hunting high and low. They are well worth buying, but more likely than not, you'll have to order than online due to their scarcity in the United States. . Not as good as Lights Out I consider this album to be UFO's weakest with Michael Schenker cause half of the songs are forgettable, the classic songs are Only You Can Rock Me, Pack it Up (And Go) Born to Lose and Lookin' Out For #1 (which often gets stomped on as a 2nd rate Elton John ballad), The good songs are One More for the Rodeo and Hot 'n' Ready, the rest are rather unmemorable, but I'm glad that they improved with their next album Strangers in the Night which is a classic live album from the 70's. Highly recommanded "Obsession" is a very strong effort and I believe it's one of the finer from UFO, with such strong tunes like the appealing mid tempo rocker "Only you can rock me", the musically diverse and interesting "Looking out for no. This is the last studio album with Michael Schenker on guitar (although he rejoined in the mid 1990's for the releases of the excellent "Walk on water", "Covenant" and "Sharks"). 1", and "Hot `n' ready" with its groovy guitar riff. Even the instrumental tracks ("Arbory hill" and "Looking out for no. 1 reprise") seem motivated and not just there for the lead guitarist to show off by playing as many notes as possible in the shortest possible time, which seem to be the main purpose with many instrumental heavy metal tunes. There are in fact not a single low mark on this release. If you like good vintage hard rock from 1970's, "Obsession" is absolutely for you!. . You can see a complete list of all UFO discography, or go back to the UFO tabs