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Michael Schenker is one of the most showy, talented, creative, and crazy guitarists, not only from Germany but the entire world. He started his career very young, as a child prodigy, alongside his brother Rudolf with the Scorpions in 1972. He only played on their debut album, "Lonesome Crow", and through a fortunate series of coincidences, he ended up in the UFO.
"Phenomenon, Force It, No Heavy Petting, Lights Out, Obsession" are the studio albums he recorded with them. He left the band due to some disputes in 1979 after the triumphant live album "Strangers in the Night". This is where the legendary story of the Michael Schenker Group and their self-titled debut album begins.
Schenker's solo career really took off thanks to the great musicians who accompanied him: drummer and session man Simon Phillips (currently in Toto), bassist Mo Foster, the great keyboardist Don Airey, and on vocals, the then-unknown Gary Barden, former singer of Fraser Nash. And then there's him, the legendary, great, rock-solid Michael Schenker, a guitarist who’s both refined and heavy, endowed with a great flair but also an uncommon genius.
You can notice it, for example, in the first track, Armed and Ready, a healthy hard rock piece just the way we like it. Cry for the Nations is a piece full of great pathos where singer Gary Barden shows off his incredible voice. Victim of Illusion is another great hard-hitting track, with a good riff and quite a catchy chorus, while Bijou Pleasurette is a classic and virtuoso piece where Michael unleashes his talent.
Then there’s Feels Like a Good Thing, another solid hard rock piece. But the masterpiece of the album is undoubtedly Into the Arena, a piece destined to be rightfully among the great classics and a permanent fixture in live sets. Starting with the intro, and moving through the pounding bass and the great keyboard riff, one can say this song is pure gold. What a blast!
Looking Out from Nowhere is perhaps the most commercial track on the album while Tales of Mystery is a beautiful acoustic ballad. The album closes with Lost Horizons, a unique, epic, mysterious piece that conveys vibrant emotions.
Some may label it as a bit raw and perhaps it’s not the most well-known album of the MSG, but it is definitely one of the most beautiful. To debut like this is every guitarist’s dream.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Armed and Ready (04:08)
Are you high tonight, are you feeling right,
Cos I need you now, like I never did before,
Is it hard enough, is It loud enough
Cos if you don't approve,you can use the door
Armed and ready,I gotta gunsight trained on you
I'm in overdrive,and I feel alive,
Got everything I need, and that ain't all,
Got a thing to do, I wanna do for you,
I wanna see you jump like hell when I call
Armed and ready, I gotta spotlight trained on you
Armed and ready, don't let me down tonight
Are you high tonight, are you feeling right,
Cos I need you now, like I never did before,
Is it hard enough, is It loud enough
Cos if you don't approve,you can use the door
Armed and ready,I got my gunsight trained on you
Armed and ready,don't let me down tonight
Are you high tonight, are you feelin right,
is it hard enough, is it loud enough,
Are you high!
03 Victim of Illusion (04:45)
I can't put out the fire,been blinded by the flame,
I have to run for cover, can't stand the pain
Can't stand the pain
The screams are loud but then he can't hear
Nightmare shows his face, then disappears
Ooh victim of illusion, ooh victim of illusion
Gone is the free expression, but look into my eyes,
The silent world is laughing, the mirror never lies,
The mirror never lies!
The screams are loud but then he can't hear
Nightmare shows his face, then disappears
Ooh victim of illusion, ooh victim of illusion
Down, down, you gotta find a way, cos if you
Don't believe in what you're seeing now
There's nothing more to say!
I can't put out the fire, been blinded by the flame
I have to run for cover, can't stand the pain
Can't stand the pain
The screams are loud but then he can't hear
Nightmare shows his face, then disappears,
Ooh victim of illusion, ooh victim of illusion
08 Tales of Mystery (03:17)
I have wandered a lifetime
From the ocean to the shore
And the tides of time, keep flowing
And telling tales of mystery.
Who could say that I'd love again
River, flow my tears!
Could I still have this broken heart,
After all these years
More and more, each day girl
I'm coming back to your heart
And the tides of time keep flowing
Telling tales of mystery...
Who could say that I'd love again
River, flow my tears!
Could I still have this broken heart,
After all these years
09 Lost Horizons (07:05)
I've stood in time, wind and rain
I have no feelings or name,
But I can see, I can hear,
The voice of death is shouting in my ear!
Making war, making love
You know what I'm thinking of
How many times the traps are set,
You can't remember, and I can't forget!
Can you see me now, can you feel the pain,
Can you heal the scars on me
Life within my heart, hope within my soul, is dying!
Bid farewell, the works of men
When cries of anger sound again
My tears of shame, cut like a knife,
How can I justify this life!
Can you see me now, can you feel the pain,
Can you heal the scars on me
Life within my heart, hope within my soul, is dying!
My mind is searching for reasons why
A time to live or die
If we had now what we had then
Lost horizons might return again...
Can you see me now, can you feel the pain,
Can you heal the scars on me
Life within my heart, hope within my soul, is dying!
Lost horizons...
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