McAuley Schenker Group
MSG

THE REVIEW

Released in 1991, the third and final studio album by the McAuley Schenker Group, a project born from the collaboration between singer Robin McAuley and guitarist Michael Schenker.
The album comes with yet another lineup change: keyboardist and second guitarist Steve Mann leaves the group without being replaced, bassist Rocky Newton is replaced by former Dokken member Jeff Pilson, and drummer Bodo Schopf leaves to make way for James Kottak (future Scorpions).

The album departs from the commercial elements that characterized the previous "Perfect Timing" and "Save Yourself" (though less evident in the last one) to return to a Hard Rock - Heavy Metal sound more in line with Michael Schenker. The result is an album of rare beauty, where pure Hard Rock tracks alternate with beautiful and memorable ballads.

There isn’t a single weak point in the entire album, except for "Crazy", the only track that slightly clashes with the others.
Right from the opener "Eve", it's clear that we're dealing with a masterpiece: guitar and drum intro, great chorus, and a super-fast solo by Schenker. It continues with other excellent songs, the next "Paradise", slower than "Eve", but stunning, the fast "This Broken Heart" and "We Believe In Love" (with lyrics worthy of the best ballads), "Invincible" featuring a great chorus and a series of super-fast mini-solos, "Lonely Nights", and the already mentioned "Crazy", which indeed, does clash a bit with the others (maybe due to some strange verses by McAuley), but is still enjoyable.

As mentioned before, this album also includes some wonderful ballads, such is the case with the magnificent "When I'm Gone", the magical and unforgettable "What Happens To Me", opened by a delightful and melancholic arpeggio and boasting a goosebump-inducing solo, the extremely catchy "This Night Is Gonna Last Forever", but above all "Never Ending Nightmare", the best ballad of the album (which says a lot), where Michael Schenker gives us a performance that shows all his worth with the acoustic guitar (silencing all those who accuse him of being only good with the distorted guitar) and Robin McAuley manages to create an incredibly melancholic atmosphere with his voice.

We have reached the end of an extraordinary album, the swan song of a great formation, which would dissolve shortly after the release of this "MSG". The breakup was perhaps a wrong move for this great band, as the new incarnation of the Michael Schenker Group would not reach its success level or match the compositions. Let's be clear, it’s not that the new Michael Schenker Group is bad, quite the contrary, but the McAuley Schenker Group is something practically unattainable in comparison. So, we continue to listen to "Perfect Timing", "Save Yourself", and this "MSG", while awaiting a new, (hopefully) good album by Michael Schenker.