History
Reviews
UFO - SHOWTIME (2DVD) – SPV 
UFO, with Vinnie Moore and Jason Bonham being the newer members, are still around and that shouldn’t be any surprise considering every band either makes a comeback or refuses to go away. A DVD has become a cheap, popular method of showcasing bands and in this case, like many others like it, making it easy to re-visit and benefit from songs that are decades old. Showtime’s first DVD, a live concert naturally, includes some of UFO’s more recent songs from 2004’s You Are Here mixed in with the older, more recognizable material like Lights Out, Doctor Doctor and Too Hot To Handle. The sound and stage show are nothing spectacular but the band do come off surprisingly lively throughout and do a good job keeping a decent level of excitement. The impression one is left with though is that most of the energy is courtesy of the two aforementioned newer members, Moore’s proficient guitar and Bonham’s dynamic drumming, but then again that’s not necessarily a negative. The second DVD features six songs recorded in a studio, some accompanied by a string quartet and surprisingly modern sounding. A funny, revealing history told through interview clips is also included and it is worth watching because it exposes a lot about UFO’s past and future plans. – Anna Tergel
UFO – THE MONKEY PUZZLE – SPV 
Can’t tell you what The Monkey Puzzle is, but solve it and you’ll know how a band that has (hard) rocked since the late ‘60s can still be this pulsating. Amazingly, the newest album of singer Phil Mogg and crew is an stirring and refreshing slab of vibrant hard rock the likes of which bands literally half UFO’s age would have difficulty duplicating.
Hard Being Me, the opening cut, might inadvertently be the perfect metaphor for the opening paragraph’s hypothesis. Heavenly Body is a bruising grinder with a mean heavy riff and on it goes. The band is rejoined by its original drummer Andy Parker and impresses through an amalgamation of good songs, good vocals and an energy resembling, not a fresh breeze but rather, a fresh gale. While many have noted the longevity and power of Ronnie James Dio, fewer have similarly remarked on the way Phil Mogg has kept up his vocal chops through four decades of recording and performance. Paul Raymond is true to form as is the aforementioned drummer who (re)fits like a glove. Moreover, a special nod must be accorded lead guitarist Vinnie Moore who executes the best solos in the style of Michael Schenker since the early ‘80s. The guitars on Some Other Guy blows the roof, yet his work reproduces the best of the younger Schenker brother to perfection on songs like Rolling Man and even more impressively on Black And Blue. The latter must have the ghost of Michael on it. Slower songs like the grammatically mistaken Who’s Fooling Who and Drink Too Much, with its Slashy sound, end up rocking anyway so there is little left here to nag about.
It is as if UFO benefits from some kind of an alien power source. The Monkey Puzzle is the band’s vociferous proclamation that it is vital, alive and full of ideas. “I just go started,” screams Mogg and one would be a fool to doubt him. – Ali “The Metallian”
Interviews
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