Mad Mickey returns... with a little help from his friends

ARTIST: MSG
RECORDING: Schenker Barden: In The Midst Of Beauty
RELEASE: April, 2008
LABEL: Inakustik
WEBSITE: http://www.michaelschenkerhimself.com/

Michael Schenker is an acclaimed guitarist in hard rock/heavy metal circles- he was an early member of the Scorpions (twice), won fame with UFO and carved an idiosyncratic niche with his own band MSG. He was one of the first guitarist to play in a style called Euro-metal, which influenced '80s axe slingers like Randy Rhoads, Eddie Van Halen, George Lynch (of Dokken), John Norum (of Europe) and the late Steve Clark (of Def Leppard). Unfortunately, Schenker has found his own crareer path filled with many twists and turns... often of his own making. He was ejected from UFO in 1978 and the Scorpions a year later due to drug and alcohol abuse. MSG fared little better, with many talented band members either quitting or being fired dueto Schenker's erratic behavior. Schenker did recreate some of his early magic by reuniting with UFO, but he eventually left the group after his live performances began to decline... badly. Impoverished by an unscrupulous manager, Schenker's career appeared over when he had a fistfight with his brother Rudolf Schenker (of the Scorpions) onstage last year.

To his credit, Michale Schenker rose like a phoenix out of his own ashes by sobering up and reuniting with original MSG vocalist Gary Barden. Together, they wrote a dozen songs that are among the best I've heard so far this year. From the opening trck "City Lights" to the closer "Ride On My Way", there's not a dud in this tour de force. Of course, the presence of keyboardist Don Airey is unmistakable, as his playing locks right in Schneker's muscular guitar riffs, just as he (Airey) has done with Deep Purple, Whitesnake and Ozzy. I would not be surprised if Airey ghost wrote a couple of the tracks like the ballad "Wings Of Emotion" ...although the credits matter little in the end. The melodies are just too good here to quibble about who wrote what. The rhythm section of Neil Murray and drummer Simon Phillips proves the right tempo for each song from the speedy boogie of "I Want You" to the slow, elegant "Wings Of Emotion". Indeed, it's hard to tell Phillips played in a completely different style during his 15+ years with Toto...which only ended a few months ago. Best of all, Barden sings most of these songs in a rich, smoky tone reminiscent of Paul Rodgers... with lyrics that are equally at home in a bar and an arena.

This is a reunion worth waiting for. Although Schenker and Barden are touring with other musicians in place of Airey, Murray and Phillips, I hope they continue to collaborate with as the same level of chemistry as they displayed on In The Midst Of Beauty.


Matt's Rating: 9

Matt's Scale:
0- Horrid: run while you can!
1- Awful: what were they thinking?
2- Bad: you didn't pay for this, did you?
3- Sub-Par: many flaws
4- Not Bad: but needs work
5- Average: decent, but you may want to buy something better first
6- Fair: nice, worth the price of purchase
7- Good: worth listening to repeatedly
8- Very Good: inspired performance
9- Excellent: nearly perfect and/or groundbreaking
10- Epic: defines the artist, genre and/or era