Main menu
Fretplay home Submit tabs

UFO
UFO tabs UFO discography

Channels
Guitar channel Bass channel Guitar videos Reviews

Message Forum
Guitar forum Bass forum Bands and artists Promote your band Recent discussions All categories

Fretplay.com

UFO guitar tabs

CD reviews

Phenomenon (2008 Expanded Version)

UFO - Phenomenon (2008 Expanded Version) Audio CD

A fair review of the UFO "Phenomenon (2008 Expanded Version)" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all UFO reviews here, or go back to the UFO tabs.

Band: UFO
Title: Phenomenon (2008 Expanded Version)
Rating:

Release Date: 2008-02-12
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Oh My 2: Crystal Light 3: Doctor Doctor 4: Space Child 5: Rock Bottom 6: Too Young to No 7: Time on My Hands 8: Built for Comfort 9: Lipstick Traces 10: Queen of the Deep 11: Sixteen [*] 12: Oh My [*] 13: Give Her the Gun [*] 14: Sweet Little Thing [*] 15: Sixteen [#][*] 16: Doctor Doctor [Live][*]

THE ULTIMATE INCARNATION OF MUSIC
Rock Bottom, Too Young To Know, Queen of the Deep, and Doctor Doctor are just awesome tracks. This is THE best UFO to me because it was the first I heard from them. I noticed alot of people rank FORCE IT as their best, I say listen to the Lead in Rock Bottom again, you might changed your mind. Also, NO HEAVY PETTING has my 3rd all time favorite track "On with the Action", so FORCE IT comes in 3rd after NO HEAVY PETTING.
PHENOMENON, is by far the best to me because of the feeling it gives me. Phil's voice is so good on this, and Way's Bass cuts perfect around Schenker's Guitar. Great songs from a great era. I still listen to the CD all the time. I highly recomend this to lovers of Classic music. Right up there with ZEPPELIN and AEROSMITH.

If you like this album, try NO HEAVY PETTING, FORCE IT, OBSESSION and LIGHTS OUT too!
The only regret I have is I missed seeing them play back in the day because I couldn't afford the ticket. Though all my friends claimed they were one of the best the ever saw live.

Another classic UFO bit of Rock and Roll perfection!
They were as solid and as hard rocking as any band from that early 70s era. How this band faded into obscurity is beyond me. It took a long time before their music went to CD and once I saw them i bought all their early works. A friend remarked he, like me, had forgotten just how good they were. And they are damn good!.

Doctor Doctor please...
During a 6 week Germany tour 2nd guitarist Bernie Mardsen(replacing original Mick Bolton) had added a group of blues covers to the bands set list and on their second album then decided not to join them. After a stint of success in Germany & Japan with their debut and sophomore space-rock efforts and two guitar player departures UFO were at the crossroads in 1973. Without equpment and a guitar player they borrowed both from opening act the Scorpions who had just released their debut album. Future guitar god Michael Schenker was asked to join and UFO then went on to record their third album which would be carried out with the idea of burying the memory of their first two interesting yet muddled space-rock efforts for the straightforward hard rock brand we know as UFO. With Ten Years After bassist Leo Lyons as producer they did an album that more or less laid the ground for the classic sound. Pieces of melodic hard rock like Too Young To Know and Oh My are the place for great gems here as is the more lightweight albeit highly entertaining Crystal Light and ballad Space Child which show the band might not be ready to totally abandon their psychedelic conceptual tunes. They kick it into the gear though on two tracks that would go on to be classics: Rock Bottom and Doctor Doctor. Although more familar to those on UFO's classic live album these early versions are pretty good despite lacking the firey performances found on the live record. The band come off as quite innocent and naive throughout the album but thats to be expected and its entirely welcomed. The Willie Dixon cover Built For Comfort might be the only oddity here but it's the more wistful and acousic Time On My Hands that really comes across as a hidden gem. The single off the album Lipstick Traces might lack a bit of energy as doe certain spots on Queen Of The Deep but that particular track isnt bogged down too much. So space rock influences here and there, this was still the album that transformed UFO into curiosity/product of their time to masters of a genre. The 2008 remastered edition outdoes all previous ones with the German single Give Her The Gun bw/ Sweet Little Thing which arent bad songs at all and some demos particuarly the one of a song called Sixteen as well as it's finished product that was unreleased. All in all this is a must have for any heavy metal/hard rock collection even if UFO might not find their point right away on what would be dubbed their new offical debut album.

UFO...in the beginning
With Michael Schenker on lead guitar they can be truly awesome. This is the first record that really showed the potential that UFO had and provided some of the classics that I still listen to today. While their first few albums were OK they were much more progressive rock than the hard rock they are known for, and this is the first time you really see that. Love this album!.

4.5 stars
The strange thing about this album is that I feel Doctor, Doctor and Rock Bottom are 2 of the lesser songs(Rock Bottom less so). Phenomenon is a great listen. This is most likely due to how often I hear them and how great Rock Bottom is on Strangers In The Night. This CD is full of many other gems and unlike No Heavy Petting, does not weaken in the second half. Time On My Hands was always one of my favorites.

I found the extra tracks to be great but there are a couple of things that bother me:
1) Why not include the other Dave Edmunds produced tracks? According to the liner notes, there are other tracks that I am sure people would love to hear including another original - Rock N Roll Car
2) Why is Oh My (bonus version) partially credited to Michael Schenker when he was not in the band yet according to the liner notes. I can believe he had an influence on the final version though.
While on the subject, if one believes the liner notes, that an early version of Doctor, Doctor was recorded with Bernie Marsden (albeit with a different title and lyrics), why is he not given credit? and as stated above, why not included. Raw demos are often quite enjoyable

I already had the German bonus tracks so I really got this re-release because of Sixteen and Oh My (bonus). I really like the alternate version of Oh My.

The booklet included is great. The liner notes are very informative and I especially love the pictures of UFO with Bernie Marsden and Paul Chapman as the 2nd guitarist. I also found the Sounds review in the booklet amusing since it called the first two tracks awful - they happen to be favorites of mine.

You can see a complete list of all UFO discography, or go back to the UFO tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.