UFO – Seven Deadly
Release Date: February 27, 2012
Highlights: Fight Night, Mojo Town, Angel Station, Year of the Gun, The Last Stone Rider, Steal Yourself, Burn Your House Down, Waving Good-Bye
Aside from the song “Doctor, Doctor” and the fact that they get name dropped endlessly by Eddie Trunk (don’t get me started), I don’t know a thing about UFO. When UFO’s upcoming album “Seven Deadly” made it’s way across my desk, I was very weary. First off, the atrocious MS Paint looking album cover art did very little to draw me in but as always, I remembered that I can’t allow myself to judge a book by it’s cover. As I put the on the album, the opening track “Fight Night” had me nodding my head to an infectious classic rock groove. The first thing I thought was, “This sounds like something that Saxon would have rocked out.” It’s not too far off knowing that UFO had a huge hand in inspiring bands like Saxon and Iron Maiden.
“Seven Deadly” is not the album I was expecting to hear. A lot of times when I hear these classic bands, I expect to hear a bunch of older guys still trying to do it the way they did back in the day and it comes across as cheesy. UFO manages to encapsulate a very bluesy, roots oriented sound with songs like “Angel Station” “The Last Stone Rider” that very well could have inspired the likes of Cinderella and Tangier while “Mojo Town” has a sludgy, troddy groove reminiscent of classic Black Sabbath. Lead singer Phil Mogg has such a soulful and distinct voice which is backed by the classic rhythm section of Pete Way (bass) and Andy Parker (drums). Guitar god Vinnie Moore, who has been in the band since 2004, infuses his solid shred ability but does so with restraint which accentuates as opposed to dominating the sound. Add to this the use of Hammond B3 organ and background singers and you’ve got one hell of a Southern Hard Rock… from England.
The songs on “Seven Deadly” really impressed me in the way that they all seemed to have their own personality without veering off from their almost Southern Rock inspired groove. If you wouldn’t have told me that this was UFO, I would’ve thought that it was some American based Southern Hard Rock band. The two songs that really stuck to me more than any of the others was “Year of the Gun” which almost plays out like a Stevie Ray Vaughn kind of Texas blues number and the dark, melodic and beautiful “Burn Your House Down” which was without a doubt a repeat listen for me. By the time “Waving Good-Bye” was over, I was ready for another listen and after my 2nd listen through to this album, I was hooked.
“Seven Deadly” isn’t a platter of facemelting metal and it’s not a collection of songs by a band long past their prime. “Seven Deadly” is a really inspired and beautifully produced and performed Hard Rock record. UFO just may be the best non-Southern Southern Hard Rock band around next to Cinderella. While the songs weren’t mind blowing, face melting or any of that kind of stuff, after a couple of listens I realized that they aren’t supposed to be. “Seven Deadly” is a very mood oriented album and each song is just as good if not better than the other one. I was hard pressed to find a bad song on this album and I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised. This isn’t an album that I would necessarily put on to rock out but the kind of record I’d put on when I just want to hear really well written, well performed and well produced songs. This is UFO as a band today and not a band trying to live off of a past sound. “Seven Deadly” proves that UFO is still very much a relevant band in 2012 and even if you never liked what they did in the past, give this one a listen.
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