Most Helpful Customer Reviews
|
|
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
After a few years of mediocrity Schenker is back on top!, 29 Jun 2004
An album of cover tunes. We start with Shape of Things and it is quite tasty. I'm surprised. Next up is a very impressive Schenkerized version of Hey Joe. Again I'm surprised because his last few albums have been boring & derivative but this album is fabulous. Even though Schenk is utilizing different guitar sounds compared to his early 80's work, his fingerwork and melodious inventions are sounding quite nice & spicy. He seems to be working with more sustain & chorus...We're now at Pearly Queen and it too sounds damn good. Schenker is showing us that he still has the guts of a hotshot guitarist. HE CAN STILL TEAR IT UP. I can't believe it either. Mind you, it would be foolish to expect him to still be able to sound & play like he did 20 years ago, but for a man of 49 he sounds really good. It blows my mind. The next track is Whiter Shade of Pale. It has alot of fanciness about it that sort of turns me off...but that's just me. Next up is Never In My Life and it sounds okay, but it doesn't strike me as anything special---and yet, I wouldn't skip this track. Next is Robin Trower's Long Misty Days. It's a bit repetitive sometimes but still sounds pretty. It's nice to hear Schenker using guitar effects that you've never heard him use before. Next up is a spirited rendition of Montrose's I Got The Fire. Schenker plays it better than Ronnie Montrose but Pattison doesn't sing it as well as Sammy Hagar (no one could). Still, it's a good song. Next up is Voyager from Gamma (aka: Ronnie Montrose). It's a keeper. Quite good. Up next is The Stealer. It's a good bluesy & rocky number. I like it. Next up is the wistful Theme From An Imaginary Western. Here Michael is joined on guitar by one of his adolescent heroes Leslie West. It's not bad. And now we've reached the final song Built For Comfort. I was a bit disappointed the first time I heard this because Schenker isn't playing it nearly as tasty as what you hear on the version he did with UFO on their Phenomenon album. But I have grown to like it after listening to it a couple of more times. It has a mature, funky & crunchy feel about it unlike the UFO version. All in all this is a damn good album. Aynsley Dunbar is on drums and does a fine job. Gunter Nezhoda plays bass like the pro he is. And yes, Davey Pattison can still sing as well as he did with Robin Trower and Ronnie Montrose back in the 1980's. As long as you are willing to embrace Schenker's "new" 21st century sound & style, you will be glad to own this album. I know I am.
|
|
|
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not up to his classic UFO work !, 4 Jun 2008
I loved Schenker's work in the late 70's when his solos were like a breath of fresh air, nimble and intelligent.They were thoughtfully structured and became integral parts of the songs in a way that few solos do. Why else would Vinnie Moore do note-for-note replications in the current UFO line-up ? This is my rambling introduction to explaining why I found this album so disappointing.Many of the solos sound like jamming off the top of his head, and are not that convincing for someone with his credentials and track record. Gone is the beautiful tone of the "Obsession" LP and his early MSG material so that he no longer sounds distinctive. I'm a big fan of the vocalist Davey Pattison but he goes through the motions here, and sounds unsure whether to try his own individual take on these well-known classics or to stick to the original.He ends up falling between the two stools.I've got the originals of over half the song list, and in no case has Schenker improved on the original.His solos on "I Got the Fire" might be faster but the Montrose version is still streets ahead.His tone and use of sound effects on "Long Misty Days" detract from the song and "Shapes of Things" always has me reaching for Gary Moore's superior version. Schenker was never a blues player and I find his "Hey Joe" very sloppy."Whiter Shade of Pale" should not have been included as it lacks any sort of taste (the original lacked a guitar solo !) These "Endless Jams" have just finished for me! For Pattison's best work stick to his stuff with Robin Trower, or the first couple of Gamma CDs. "Walk on Water"(the UFO comeback album in the late 90's)is by far Schenker's best work since his hey day referred to above.
|
|
|
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Definitely Buy Anything by Schenker - Especially This, 28 Nov 2006
Endless Jam Vol. 1 and its sequel Endless Jam Continues (Vol. 2) taken together contain the best lead guitar work I've ever heard in my life. The more you listen to Schenker, the better he sounds. When you first hear him, he often does not have the immediate impact of a shredder out to impress. Schenker seeks to 'express' rather than 'impress', which opens up the whole world of musical possibility - not just vanity, but the whole human condition. The soloing on these albums, however, is Schenker at his best. Just listen to tracks 6 through 8. The guitar work is simply beautiful. Admittedly, even Schenker cannot totally rescue a song as dire as 'whiter shade of pale' (though he almost pulls it off), but some of the other covers on Vol. 1 are superb. Vol. 2 is just as good. I was listening to it the other day and was completely captivated - raptured by the brilliance of this man's playing. People sometimes say that Schenker was at his best in the late 70s and early 80s. Actually, he frequently reaches those standards. Try the Endless Jam CDs, The Odd Trio, Adventures of the Imagination, Tales of Rock 'n' Roll, Walk on Water, Written in the Sand. All these are masterful, and all from the last 11 years. If anything, the playing on Endless Jam 1 and 2 surpasses that on Strangers in the Night. I know that's blasphemy for those without much of Schenker's recent material - but sometimes you've just got to change your religious beliefs. That's what Endless Jam 1 will make some listeners want to do. Buy the album!
|
|
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews
|
~ Schenker-Pattison Summit
~ Michael Schenker Group
~ Siggi Schwarz
~ Michael Schenker Group
~ Michael Schenker
