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| Walhello -> Knowledge Base -> CDs -> U -> Ufo Covenant |
| UFO - Covenant Band: UFO Tracks: - Love Is Forever - Unraveled - Miss the Lights - Midnight Train - Fool's Gold - In the Middle of Madness - Smell of Money - Rise Again - Serenade - Cowboy Joe - World and His Dog - Mother Mary - Let It Roll - This Kids - Love to Love - Out in the Street - Pushed to the Limit - Venus They're Back! One of the greatest hard rock bands of the '70s and '80s is back with its classic lineup (Michael Schenker-guitar, Phil Mogg-vocals, Pete Way-bass). And UFO is back with a vengence. Covenant is a two CD set. The first being 11 new studio tracks. Schenker's guitar is flawless and soars on tracks like "Unraveled" and "Fool's Gold". The sound is a bit rawer than most UFO albums, but still manages to capture both the power and melody that is UFO. The second CD has 7 Live tracks from their '95 US tour. 5 classic UFO tracks plus two from their underated Walk on Water album. Covenant isn't Strangers in the Night or Lights Out but it is a good buy. Bonus Disc's Live tracks steal the show This isn't UFO's "finest hour" as one reviewer put it. And it's not a "masterpiece." Nor is it "excellent." This is mediocre music from a Band capable of reaching the highest highs possible. If you want to hear UFO at their best, try Walk on Water, the previous CD that featured the classic UFO line-up of Andy Parker, Michael Schenker, Phil Mogg, Pete Way and Paul Raymond. THAT was a masterpiece. If you can't find Walk on Water, reach further back into their catalog and buy Phenomenon, Force It, No Heavy Petting, Lights Out, Obsession or Strangers in the Night. Walk on Water featured some of the most brilliant songwriting I've heard in a long, long time. And the recording was pristine in its sonic quality. What a gem of an album! I would have paid $15 for "Venus," alone. I Love that song that much! Covenenant, on the other hand, sounds muddy and unfocused. Plus, gone are Andy Parker and Paul Raymond. In the drum stool this time is Aynsley Dunbar, a very good drummer formerly with just about every Band you can think of. Yet, he's not Andy Parker. Most of Disc One, all the latest original studio recordings, is unremarkable. The guitars aren't as biting and clear as they were on Walk on Water. And the vocals aren't as Mogg-like. In short, I found myself getting bored with Disc One. The Bonus Disc, on the other hand, is a lot of fun. And it's primarily for the Bonus Disc that I gave this album four stars. The Bonus Disc contains seven tracks recently recorded Live (listed horribly out of sequence on the back of the CD; listed correctly here): "Mother Mary," "This Kids," "Let it Roll," "Out In the Street," "Venus," "Pushed to the Limit" and "Love to Love." Even though there are occasional sound drop-offs, mix squeals and uneven mixes, the Bonus Disc has energy and passion. It's very cool to hear classic songs from UFO played live. Even when the whole Band isn't there (meaning no Andy Parker and Paul Raymond), they're still head and shoulders above most other bands these days. These songs are magic. If you're new to UFO, don't start with Covenant. If you're a die-hard fan, as I am, Covenant deserves a place in your collection. But only after you've spent some serious bucks getting everything else they have to offer first. not as original as walk on water but good Its too bad that The Boys chose to Rush out this album ( written and recorded in two weeks reportedly) Given a bit more time they may have been able to turn out a more original set of songs as on walk on water. With 'walk' they seem to have put more thought into presenting more complex melodies and original sound into the compositions, mainly ( in my opinion) due to the inclusion of old time member Paul Raymond. With raymond absent and ron nevison replaced by Mike (I dont know how to mix music ) Varney, the songs come out as typical hard rock. Nothing really new or exciting. Having said that, it dosent mean its a bad thing. Any album with Schenker, Mogg and Way is guaranteed to rock, and it does that very well. Midnight Train is a great rocker, and Serenade seems pulled straight from the heyday of Phenomenon and Force it. I think it dosent rate as well as Chocolate box from Mogg way or Unforgiven from Schenker, but falls somewhere inbetween all the old school UFO albums. As for the Live stuff, I guess I'm just really bored with hearing the same Live tracks over and over again. Everything from Strangers in the night has been done so often Live that I listened once and got bored and havent listened since. Now guys, If you can keep from killing each other, spend some more time on your songwriting next time. Buy Ufo Covenant at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.comJamster - the latest ringtones for your phone! |
