Michael Schenker's pairing with former Rainbow wailer Graham Bonnet made perfect sense, since Schenker's facile, classically flavored Euro metal guitar style is a graceful extension of Ritchie Blackmore's innovations. The results on Assault Attack are pleasing; while Schenker predictably delivers top-notch performances, Bonnet's vocals are edgier and more engaging than those of former MSG singer Gary Barden. [EMI issued a remastered, bonus track edition in 2009.] ~ Andy H   [ read more ]

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Vastly influential guitarist Michael Schenker leads his band through another set of dependable rockers on MSG, the group's sophomore outing. Although the Michael Schenker Group's sound doesn't offer much variation on the formula developed by Schenker's former band, UFO, it hardly matters; the guitar playing is killer, as always. Schenker's fluid technical facility and impeccable tone maintain top billing throughout. Capable singer Gary Barden also helps to distinguish tracks like {&"On    [ read more ]

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The concept may seem patently absurd, but guitarists were held in such high regard during the late '70s and early '80s that many elite players were given to tantrums and notions of self-worship usually reserved only for singers and divas. And maybe no one better exemplified this six-string megalomania than German guitarist Michael Schenker, whose turbulent flights of emotional fancy had already earned him the "Mad Michael" nickname during his mercurial tenure with Brit rockers UFO. Of course, this beh   [ read more ]

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CD $16.13

By the fourth year of MSG's existence, Michael Schenker had hired and fired half of the metal musicians in Europe and North America (or at least it seemed that way), so when the supporting cast had pretty much checked out and Schenker reclined into a three-year hiatus, Chrysalis scrambled to release this, the "band's" second live album in two years. With just nine tracks -- most of which were already featured on the superior One Night at Budokan -- Rock Will Never Die is a questionable    [ read more ]

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Although Gipsy Lady is credited to Schenker Barden Acoustic Project, the album cover sports the interlocking MSG logo of the Michael Schenker Group, which is appropriate. Unlike the Thank You instrumental albums Schenker had done previously, he had original MSG vocalist Gary Barden (whom he had previously elevated to co-billing status on 2008's In the Midst of Beauty) set lyrics to his latest set of tunes to come up with this result. Barden, a gruff, expressive rock singer, doe   [ read more ]

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CD $16.10

When you hear of a Michael Schenker compilation titled Greatest Riffs, then obviously, the set must include the definitive versions of the UFO classics that Schenker played on (and to a lesser degree, Scorpions' tracks), as well as his early solo material, right? Nyet. This 2009, 13-track set solely contains material from several releases Schenker did for the Shrapnel label, from the late '90s/early 21st century. So what you get is a mixed bag, which while admittedly does include some s   [ read more ]

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The question on the minds of most Michael Schenker fans is usually this -- when will he ever finally get his due? Apparently, the German axeman is practically the Rodney Dangerfield of metal. He's somehow managed to anchor two of the most important bands in the lineage of the genre and influence everyone from Metallica to Powerman 5000, and yet, while he continues have a rabid fan base writhing away in the shadows and is still widely recognized in countries like Japan where technical p   [ read more ]

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Simply put, Michael Schenker's Doctor Doctor is a covers album. It features his own backing band with notable vocalists and instrumentalists like Paul Di'Anno, Sebastian Bach, Joe Lynn Turner, Leslie West, Tommy Shaw, and others. The sound is pure '80s hard rock and power ballads, and the track selection ranges from Black Sabbath's "War Pigs" to Nazareth's "Hair of the Dog," Pink Floyd's "Money," Phil Mogg's "Doctor Doctor" (of course), and a hair metal version o   [ read more ]

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Apart from his classic work with UFO, from a pure heavy metal and hard rock standpoint, most metalheads consider Michael Schenker's 1980-1984 solo period to be his high-water mark. And after checking out the 2008 compilation Best of the Michael Schenker Group 1980-1984, you'll understand why. After splitting from the aforementioned UFO, it appeared as though Schenker was on a mission to show the world that his exit from the band would not affect his playing in the slightest. And as heard on s   [ read more ]

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Few rock guitarists are as talented Michael Schenker, yet he hasn't enjoyed the mainstream success he richly deserves. Maddening personal and business problems have weighed him down for most of his career. He joined Scorpions as a teenager before serving a turbulent stint in UFO that still managed to produce a handful of classic '70s hard rock albums -- all of which should have been big hits. The Michael Schenker Group and then the McAuley Schenker Group/MSG with vocalist Robin McAuley    [ read more ]

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