Guitar legend Michael Schenker is revisiting his glory days with UFO on a new album titled “My Years With UFO,” due for release on September 20th, via earMUSIC.
The album reflects on Schenker‘s personal journey with the band, a period marked by both creative highs and frustrating lows and features a star-studded lineup of guest musicians, such as Dee Snider (Twisted Sister), Joey Tempest (Europe), Roger Glover (Deep Purple), Joe Lynn Turner (Rainbow), Biff Byford (Saxon) and Stephen Pearcy (RATT), paying homage to Schenker‘s tenure with the British rock band from 1972 to 1978.
In a previous interview with Eonmusic, Schenker shed light on the impetus for the album and his tumultuous relationship with UFO frontman Phil Mogg. Their initial reunion in the 90s brought renewed energy and a successful album, “Walk On Water.” However, tensions resurfaced as the band toured, ultimately leading to another disbanding.
“Phil Mogg came to Los Angeles in ’93, begging me to refuel UFO because he completely had destroyed it. I said, ‘I have a few conditions. One is, that you have to give me 50 percent of the UFO name so you don’t destroy it again, especially if I put my energy into it. I tell you, when I saw Phil the next time we started recording, he looked like a one hundred-and-eighty-degree different person. He was happy, and healthy. He was unbelievably fit.”
“Walk On Water was such a beautiful record that famously carried on from ‘Strangers In The Night’. And then, of course, we went on the road, and then Phil lost it and wanted control again and destroyed everything,” Schenker added.
Schenker emphasized the importance of the original lineup and production team in maintaining the band’s magic. He saw the decision to bring in a new producer for their later albums as a turning point, marking the beginning of the end for his UFO chapter.
“I always said to him, ‘Never do a reunion with UFO unless it’s the original setup, including the producer,'” Schenker remembered. “Because if you take one piece out, the chemistry is finished.”
“I’d had enough of UFO at that point, and in 2002, Phil Mogg asked me, ‘Michael, I need the name UFO back.’ I said to Phil, ‘You know what? God bless you. I’ll give you the name back for free. Enjoy your life.’ And then that was it. That was the end of it.” Schenker concludes, remembering his final goodwill gesture towards Mogg.
