Published on Dec 23, 2003
Michael Schenker is an enigma. No doubt about it. Countless
episodes of absenteeism throughout his days with UFO and notable
bouts with band members, including Phil Mogg and Graham Bonnet,
have only cemented this reputation over the years.
My Michael Schenker story, in the last five years, includes him
canceling two tours at the last minute for sketchy reasons that
will probably never be accurately told as I found myself sitting on
botched travel itineraries due to his whimsical shifts in
character. So, as I found myself in Las Vegas a couple of weekends
ago overlapping his recent gig with the new millennium version of
the Michael Schenker Group, I naturally swore off my moratorium of
anything to do with the guy and took in the show.
Now, I can just hear the jeers being tossed my way for my shift
in character. Why, might you ask would I do such a thing?
The answer is simple, really. It has as much as anything to do
with the material found on side one of the Michael Schenker Group’s
MSG album. This was Schenker’s band with the all star lineup
including Cozy Powell playing drums, Paul Raymond performing
keyboards, Chris Glen commanding bass guitar duties, and Gary
Barden handling the vocals.
And yes, listing Barden last was intentional as I normally find
his vocals to be of average quality, realizing that there are quite
a few MSG fans out there that are polarized on the issue. But hey,
this album works wonders for several reasons; most notably it’s for
Schenker’s ability to craft some of the most wicked guitar solos of
the era weaved in between the harder crunch of guitar and softness
of the keys. “On And On” exemplifies this claim in its finest
fashion and as far as I’m concerned, is a track I could easily
listen to over and over. Barden is at his best on this track
probably because he is forced to harmonize over a complex
Schenker/Raymond-led mixed-tempo arrangement. And for the
non-plussed Barden sentiment I’ve just shared, I have to admit that
I can truthfully only imagine his voice singing on this track.
While Barden’s lyrical composition on the opening song, “Are You
Ready To Rock” will confuse nobody, Schenker more than makes up for
the shortfall with his accelerated riffing. The same can be said
for the makeup of “Attack Of The Mad Axeman.” It’s here where Cozy
Powell most noticeably rises to the challenge with a marching
back-beat that gives Schenker the foundation to lay his serpentine
solos intermittently through the effort. When Barden is required to
harmonize in the middle of the song, it comes across rather forced.
Even Stephen Stills’ guest appearance on “Never Trust a Stranger”
can’t bail out Barden’s inability to carry a soft tune.
Rest assured, though, this is Michael Schenker’s band and he
plays guitar. And on this album, very little of his playing can be
identified as anything other than a resonation from his soul. As
far as I’m concerned, Schenker is one of the few guitarists out
there, past and present tense, who can actually force a vocalist to
take a back seat to his playing with his creative
string-bending.
It’s for this reason that I “flaked” and resisted the temptation
to honor my self-imposed isolation from Michael Schenker in a live
setting. Creative fretwork — call it my guilty pleasure.
MSG is an album that has gone overlooked in the metal genre
largely in the same way that the early 80’s version of the Michael
Schenker Group was overtaken by MTV and the Hollywood hair
explosion a couple of years after the band’s formation and release
of this album.