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No Place to Run

UFO - No Place to Run Audio CD

A fair review of the UFO "No Place to Run" 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: No Place to Run
Rating:

Release Date: 2009-02-03
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Alpha Centauri (2009 Digital Remaster) 2: Lettin' Go (2008 Digital Remaster) 3: Mystery Train (2009 Digital Remaster) 4: This Fire Burns Tonight (2009 Digital Remaster) 5: Gone in the Night (2009 Digital Remaster) 6: Young Blood (2009 Digital Remaster) 7: No Place to Run (2009 Digital Remaster) 8: Take It or Leave It (2009 Digital Remaster) 9: Money Money (2009 Digital Remaster) 10: Anyday (2009 Digital Remaster) 11: Gone in the Night [Alternative Studio Version][#][*] 12: Lettin' Go [Recorded Live at the Marquee, London 16/11/80][#][*] 13: Mystery Train [Recorded Live at the Marquee, London 16/11/80][#][*] 14: No Place to Run [Recorded Live at the Marquee, London 15/11/80][#][*]

Facelift for UFO in the 80's
This alone was enough for some fair weather fans to pack up and exit the building. No Place to Run signaled two huge changes in the departures of guitarist Michael Schenker and producer Ron Nevison. However, once you get down to the material itself, the changes afoot aren't as jarring as one might expect.

To my mind, the most noticable changes are in the clarity of the mix (courtesy of former Beatles producer George Martin and Geoff Emerick, along with UFO themselves) and the reduction of magical guitar solos, which was to be expected. The songs themselves are up to par with the material delivered on Obsession and Lights Out, even if we don't get any epics such as Love to Love or classics per se as Only You Can Rock Me. But we do get solid, driving rockers like Lettin' Go and the title track, along with tuneful pop-rock hopefuls in Young Blood and Money, Money. Martin's touch is easily audible in both tracks, especially the Beatlesque Young Blood. He also introduces us to a technique UFO would continue on the next three outings, which was the layering and staggering of Mogg's vocals to produce a stronger hook.

While some may view Chapman's solos as substandard when compared to those of Schenker, he actually manages to pull together songs a bit better with his forceful yet tuneful riffs in almost all cases. And you can't deny the man his awesome chops to lead off the old cover of Mystery Train, another cinder block ball in their canon.

The only complaint I have is with a couple of run of the mill safe ones come the end side one in This Fire Burns Tonight and Gone in the Night. Both tuneful enough, but just lacking in conviction and ultimately, reason for being. But again, to help balance this on the positive is the lack of smarmy strings on the ballads; of which there is only truly one in the Paul Raymond composition Take It or Leave It.

To end the proceedings, Anyday crunches as hard as anything the band has ever done. The quiet bass segue leading into a fierce guitar riff is somewhat novel, and novel is what we are used to from this unique quintet. Layed the ground work for their best overall effort, The Wild, The Willing, and The Innocent, which was incidentally produced by themselves. Maybe they didn't need royalty after all to pull this one off.

Pedestrian hard rock album

I'm not nostalgic ad I don't think UFO ended the day Michael Schenker left. I can't get all these glowing reviews. Much on the contrary, the MECHANIX album was the first UFO album I ever heard and it got me going into this great band.

But to say that this NO PLACE TO RUN is as good as anything before it's sheer. . . madness! This is a pedestrian hard rock effort, there's even one amazing Paul Chapman solo (thing that he would do in later albums). The songs are lifeless, terribly bearing a pop feel. In the liner notes the badn says they were going through great presure from the record company to realease hit songs and this, combined with George Martin producing, maybe was crucial.

Anyway, this album was a great dissapointment for me.

The Chapman Era Begins
Please get over it, nobody is asking you to buy this if you are such a Schenkerphile. First off enough of the "oh Chapman is not Schenker stuff". Put on MSG 1 or 2 and have at it!

As it was pointed out by others Phil and Pete and Andy were still there. And, if you don't know, Chapman had filled in for Herr Schenker in 74 when he'd gone on earlier walkabout. If you can find the BBC live collection (someewhere) there are 3 or 4 tracks with both Schenker and Chapman playing, including "Rock Bottom" where they split the solo!

Herr Schenker, to be polite, is mercurial. He was not thrown out of the band, there was no bad blood, he split (again), plain and simple, for whatever his reasons were, and the band turned, once again, to the man who had bailed them out before. A logical decision.

Obviously this effected the band in terms of radio play and live shows, as following the 1-2 of "Obsession" and "Strangers", they were indeed poised for the breakthru.

I saw UFO on nearly every tour with Schenker and Chapman and I can tell you there was no let up in intensity or sheer live power. For my money the only other band in their class at that time as a live act was Thin Lizzy.

As others have mentioned, and I agree, UFO and Lizzy were the best of the era, period. I would take them live or in studio over anybody else in the style that you want to toss up there.

OK. . . on to the disc. This LP was dismissed a "light" at the time. It was produced by George Martin, so it had his feel. Ron Nevison ("Lights Out" thru "Strangers") was more of a hard rock hand. This is addressed in the liner notes as the band points out that it was also the island location, they were relaxed and partying a lot.

Lots of good songs on here tho'. No Place to Run and Money stand out to me. Letting Go is a good one too.

Overall, the package is excellent, continuing with what they started with the "Phenomenon" remaster. Great booklet, interviews with all involved, pix, etc. , from the time period and some extra trax. Long overdue and worth the wait.

4 of 5 stars only because WWI is the best of the lot with Chapman on the six string. .

first ufo classic of the chapman era!!!
i love ufo they are one of my favorite bands. this album: no place to run, is the first album to feature the guitar talents of the under rated paul chapman. . paul chapman is one of rocks unsung heroes a great guitarist that never seems to get his due respect. this album song wise is quite good,songs such as letting go mystery train,no place to run,gone in the night. . the popish young blood ans alpha centauri to name a few are good reasons to get this cd,the live bonus cuts are cool too. the task of replacing a guitar great like michael schenker must have been an incredible pressure for paul chapman but he did great espescially on the follow up to this album:wild,willing and the innocent!!!.

The vinyl is in the garage, I couldn't find CD until now
I'm so glad I waited and that the album has been remastered and there are bonus tracks. I looked for this a couple of times but only came up with expensive Japanese imports and I couldn't stomach the price.

It's been 15 years or more since I listened to this and it was really nice to hear it again. Great songs, great rock and roll. I The first time I played it all the words and melodies came back to me (I impressed myself) but I thought that was a testament to the strength of the songs.

I'm very happy. Also enjoyed the liner notes about producer Sir George Martin, I never knew that history. .

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.