Strangers In The Night Review

Release Date: 1979
Label: Chrysalis
Genres: Hard Rock, Heavy Metal
Number Of Tracks: 15
UFO's Strangers in the Night deserves to be right up there with Kiss' Alive, Thin Lizzy's Live and Dangerous, etc., based on the excitement the group and their audience generates, and due to the quality of their hard rock compositions.

Sound:	10
Lyrics:	9
Impression:	9.5
Overall rating:	9.5
Users rating:	10
Comments:	2

overall: 10

Reviewed by: unregistered, on august 20, 2007

Sound: A lot of bands can sound a lot worse when they take their music to the live stage, like if the songs are too technically demanding or simply because it's hard to recreate the original sound of the studio recording. So a lot of bands resort to(or get accused of) editing the tracks so the live album sounds better. UFO didn't do that. All of the songs on Strangers are REALLY live, not edited. Even though it's really a compilation of live performances, it doesn't sound like it. It has all of UFO's most popular songs, like Doctor Doctor, Lights Out, Rock Bottom, etc. The entire band is spot on. Andy Parker and Pete Way held down the rythmn perfectly, but the real selling point of this album is the genius that is Michael Schenker. He does a lot of straying away from the studio recording solos, most apparant in Rock Bottom. He plays in a very creative way, very melodic, but in a hard rock sense. He still plays reasonably fast. Schenker is one of the true underdogs of rock guitar. // 10

Lyrics and Singing: Phil Mogg is a good vocalist, but an ok showman. But he only needs to sound good here, and he does. He won't wow you if you're into Robert Plant/Steven Tyler vocals, as he isn't a great rock vocalist. But he IS the signiture voice of UFO. He is such a big part of the band's overall sound. It may sound a little strange, but I would say he's a "easy" vocalist to listen too. The lyrics are nothing special, but they are far, far from bad. It fits the music. One of my highlights of the album is Love to Love, because the lyrics sound so good against the music. And Phil Mogg's vocals fit that song so well. I'm sure most singers around that time would butcher that song. // 10

Impression: If you've never heard a UFO song, buy this album. I don't care if you don't even listen to hard rock. The sound is so good it's hard to put down the chance to hear this album. Michael Schenker is a hard rock guitar legend because of this album. This is an album I'll probably never stop listening to because it's like hard rock crack. This band was meant to be seen live, because their songs sound so much better in a live setting, without the studio polish. This is the definative UFO album. // 10

overall: 9

Reviewed by: JackWhite1988, on may 01, 2006

Sound: When critics get together to collaborate on a list of the top live albums of the 1970's, Strangers in the Night is often times overlooked. This double LP live album was released in 1978. The tracks were recorded at the Amphiteater in Chicago, IL, The Music Hall in Youngstown, OH; The Public Auditorium in Cleveland, OH and The Gardens in Louisville, KY. The original cut of this album was so good that there was no need to spend endless hours over-dubbing and editing the performance. Lead guitarist Michael Schenker was on top of his game. The band starts out slowly until early hit "Doctor, Doctor" and every track from there on is a clinic on rock guitar. Shortly after this album was released, lead singer Phil Mogg and Schenker had a falling out which led to Schenker retreating to hard rock band Scorpions. // 10

Lyrics and Singing: There really isn't a high amount of lyrical substance with UFO. They are a good times rock band. More about the music than the lyrics. If you don't mind that approach from a band, this is a great style of a band to get into. Bands like UFO, Scorpions and Whitesnake are bands of great musicians, the lyrics are just there to keep their act from being strictly instrumental. // 8

Impression: UFO isn't highly known or recognized today but in their time they were one of if not the hardest rock bands around. Michael Schenker really pulled a tour de force on this album. "Rock Bottom" is a clear depiction of metal guitar to follow in the following decade. Bands such as Metallica, Megadeth and Def Leppard credit UFO as an influence on their own playing. If you like 80's thrash/hair metal, UFO is a band that helped inspire that generation of rock guitar. // 9

Comments

[M.B.MetalTabber]

You really need to mention the face-melting single edition of their classic barnstormer 'Doctor Doctor'. It's the best and the biggest song on the album and you didn't even mention it!! Other than that, it was a pretty good review.

[einaroneeye]

This live album for me is one of the absolute all time greats of the live seventies releases. As another post points out, it ranks right up there with Kiss Alive, Thin Lizzy Live and Dangerous, AC/DC If You Want Blood, Cheap Trick at Budokan, and more. The sound, the song selections and the genius of Michael Shenker playing his ass off combine to make this a true classic for hard rock {with melody ) guitar fans. Love it!