Michael Schenker Fest's 'Resurrection' - Album Review

German guitar wizard Michael Schenker, who made his name as a member of the Scorpions and then of UFO in the 1970s before starting an ongoing solo career in 1979, is one of the most influential guitar players in the hard rock and metal worlds. While he might not quite be the household name that his peers Jimmy Page and Ritchie Blackmore are, Schenker's fluid and melodic style influenced countless guitar players that followed in his footsteps. Despite a few brief reunions with UFO throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, Schenker's main creative outlet since leaving UFO originally in 1978 has been his own band - often called the Michael Schenker Group. The band's self-titled debut album from 1980 established the 'MSG' sound - melodic hard rock with Schenker's instantly-recognisable guitar solos - and little has changed since. Many people have come and gone from MSG over the years, and Schenker has battled his fair share of addiction issues along the way, often leaving the band in a fairly low place. In recent years however, Schenker has cleaned up and has been playing as well as he ever has. As well as releasing new material, Schenker has also been celebrating his entire career on tour recently under the name Michael Schenker's Temple of Rock - with setlists featuring plenty of MSG songs as well as Scorpions and UFO classics. In 2016 however, Schenker announced a few shows under the name of Michael Schenker Fest which would feature many of his former MSG collaborates, allowing him to play many of those old MSG songs with the original musicians and singers that were featured on the original albums. Joining Schenker were three singers: Gary Barden, the original MSG singer who featured on the classic One Night at Budokan live album; former Rainbow frontman Graham Bonnet who briefly fronted MSG in 1982 and performed on the underappreciated Assault Attack album; and Robin McAuley who was an MSG member during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Having these three singers back on stage with him, Schenker was able to play some of his best-known songs as they originally sounded, and the successful first few shows led to a large European tour being undertaken in 2017, followed by American shows this year. Joining Schenker and the singers were more former MSG members: bassist Chris Glen; drummer Ted McKenna; and multi-instrumentalist Steve Mann - all of whom have had various stints with Schenker over the years. The success of the shows led to calls for new material, and the debut Michael Schenker Fest album Resurrection was released earlier this month on the giant metal label Nuclear Blast. Resurrection, produced by long-time collaborater Michael Voss and featuring a fourth singer in the form of Temple of Rock frontman Doogie White, feels like an MSG history lesson. There are songs here that suit all of the key eras of the MSG sound, performed by those who helped to originally create that sound.

The album opens with the upbeat hard rocker Heart and Soul, which sounds like something straight out of the late 1980s. McKenna's double bass drumming drives the song, which is filled with chugging guitar and bass riffs and a subtle keyboard backing. McAuley takes the lead here vocally, and makes great use of his smooth voice to carry virtually all of the melodies throughout while the other instruments play their simple patterns. The first of many guitar solo sections on the album sees Schenker duelling with Kirk Hammett (Exodus; Metallica) for an explosive display of metal shredding. Hammett has gone on record previously stating how much of an influence Schenker was on his playing, so it is great to hear the two trading licks here. While most of the songs here feature one of the four lead vocalists, there are two that feature all four. The first of these is the lead single Warrior, which opens calmly with some clean guitar melodies and Barden's slightly hoarse, but still melodic, voice. It is not long however before the song turns into a rhythmic mid-paced rocker with a slow drum beat and a great neo-classical guitar riff from the man himself. The four vocalists trade vocalists throughout, with Mann's keyboards providing a subtle, but grand backing. It also contains the first really biting chorus of the album, with the entire band providing gang vocals throughout in between Bonnet's typically powerful delivery of the lyrics. The first real highlight of the album for me however is the White-fronted Take Me to the Church, a powerful mid-paced rocker that features a majestic vocal performance from the former Rainbow frontman. The strong use of keyboards throughout makes this the most dynamic song on the album so far, with Mann's organ often enveloping everything while Schenker and Glen provide the crunching rhythms. Those familiar with White's work with Rainbow in the 1990s will instantly be drawn to this song, as the powerful chorus really soars with White at the helm, and the guitar solo from Schenker is a real feast of fluid, melodic phrasing. Night Moods sees Bonnet taking his first solo lead vocal of the album, and the bluesy AOR piece is a fun song packed with muscular riffing and hard-hitting drumming. The main meat of the song is fairly heavy, with the guitars driving everything in the form of a dirty riff, but the chorus takes on a slightly poppier feel with clean guitar arpeggios and a more overt use of keyboards. Bonnet's foghorn of a voice suits the song however, and his powerful delivery suits the heavier feel here.

The Girl with the Stars in her Eyes gives another chance for White to shine, but this time with a slightly faster piece with driving, chopping riffing and a big AOR-esque chorus. The mixture of heavier verses and more melodic choruses makes the song feel similar to the previous one, but this song feels much stronger with one of the album's best choruses and a great performance from Mann who contributes a big keyboard riff. Schenker's solo is great too, and features his signature somewhat neo-classical style perfectly with many of the type of licks that made him so revered throughout the 1970s and 1980s. Everest, another Bonnet-fronted song, is one of the least-remarkable moments on the album. After a pretty strong run of songs from the beginning of the album up until this point, Everest sadly just never really takes hold. The main guitar riffing throughout the verses is great, but sadly it is very low in the mix which limits its impact. This is obviously allow Bonnet to shine vocally, but the melodies just do not grab hold as they should. The lack of a real chorus does not help, and overall the song just falls flat. Messin' Around gets everything back on track however, and introduces Barden to the project properly for the first time. As might be expected, this is a fairly upbeat and raw rocker which definitely sounds like it could have appeared on one of those early MSG albums from the 1980s. The guitar work is bluesy and packed full of attitude, and Mann's subtle piano backing helps to add some groove throughout. The chorus is simple and satisfying in the way that many great AC/DC choruses are, and I can imagine this song working really well in the live setting with a crowd really getting behind the simple chorus melodies. Out of all of the songs on the album, it is this one that probably feels closest to that old classic MSG style. While Barden's voice is somewhat hoarse these days, he still maintains most of the power of old. His voice always worked well with Schenker's guitar, and it is great to hear them having fun on this track.

Time Knows When It's Time is another McAuley number, which sounds remarkably similar to the album's opening piece with a driving double bass drum pattern and simple melodies and instrumentation throughout. I have to say that I am somewhat disappointed that McAuley and Schenker did not put their heads together and pen a great AOR track for this project. The McAuley Schenker Group (as the band was style at the time) albums were perfect for the late 1980s and were packed with soaring choruses and synths. I do not believe this pseudo-metal style makes the best use of McAuley's smooth vocals and it would have been great to hear something from the pair more akin to their 1980s output. Anchors Away is the final White lead. Interestingly he fronts three songs here, while the three classic MSG frontmen only get two songs each. White has been Schenker's most recent songwriting partner however, so their partnership may be naturally more fruitful currently than Schenker's relationships with the others. That being said, this is probably the weakest of the three White-penned songs, as it packs the power of the previous two excellent efforts. It is still an enjoyable number however, with lots of great retro-sounding organ throughout and some strange, choppy guitar riffing. The chorus is serviceable, but nothing like the memorable feasts elsewhere on the album. It seems to be a rule that Schenker's albums must have an instrumental piece, and Salvation ticks that box here. It is fairly typical of Schenker's other instrumental pieces, with plenty of room for him to lay down some fluid licks, but the shuffling drum beat from McKenna helps to create a strong vibe throughout. Livin' a Life Worth Livin' is Barden's second moment to shine, and again it sounds like something that could have been on MSG's self-titled debut album from 1980. It is somewhat bluesy, with lots more retro keyboard sounds, but is driven by Barden's excellent vocal performance and is all capped off by one of my favourite guitar solos on the album. Schenker is not one to shred too often, and this is a perfect example of his more melodic style. His phrasing is instantly recognisable, and has been imitated so often throughout rock music ever since. The album comes to a close with The Last Supper which, like Warrior, features all four vocalists sharing the lines. It is structurally quite similar too, with a clean intro leading into a more powerful rock body. This one is a bit more upbeat however, with some truly excellent melodies throughout, with Bonnet often shining the strongest with his AOR-influenced chorus section. While better songs exist elsewhere in the album, this is a great closing piece as it brings the best out of everyone involved in the project and allows everyone a chance to shine. Overall, Resurrection is a strong new album from Schenker and his band of collaborators. It is great to see that so many egos have been put to one side here to allow for the creation of this collection of songs which, a couple of weaker moments aside, is a strong reminder of why Schenker has been held in such high regard for so long.

The album was released on 2nd March 2018 via Nuclear Blast Records. Below is the band's promotional video for Warrior.