Album Review: Michael Schenker Fest - Revelation
Reviewed by Jon Wigg
Michael Schenker needs no introduction to rock and metal fans. In this offering he has lined up eight of his former collaborators from previous MS iterations. On vocals we have Gary Barden (original frontman for the Michael Schenker Group), Graham Bonnet (MSG and Rainbow), Robin McAuley (McAuley Schenker Group) and Doogie White (Rainbow and Michael Schenker’s Temple of Rock).
The rest of the band is bassist Chris Glen (MSG), guitar/keyboards from Steve Mann (McAuley Schenker Group) and after the untimely passing of drummer Ted McKenna, the rhythm duties are rounded off by a combination of Simon Phillips (MSG) and Bodo Schopf (McAuley Schenker Group).
There is also a guest appearance by current Rainbow singer Ronnie Romero.
The album reflects both the different vocalists used on each song, where each of the 4 sings on 2 songs solo and all 4 join forces on 3 others, and the heritage of all the members. It offers nothing remarkable or ground breaking but is a solid hard rock album which revels in its roots and showcases the skills of all members, especially Schenker himself.
We start off with a classic rocker, ‘Rock Steady’, which would fit in well on MTV in the mid 80’s alongside Van Halen, Def Leppard and Aerosmith. The album continues with a couple of harder, almost metal songs in ‘Under A Blood Red Sky’ which starts with some trademark riffs from Schenker, fronted by White and ‘Silent Again’ sung by McAuley which has more groove and has UFO influences.
The pace then slows with the excellent ‘Sleeping With The Light On’ where all 4 vocalists complement each other really well. Bonnet provides an excellent performance on ‘The Beast In The Shadows’ and here the tempo rises again and Schenker provides a blistering solo to finish.
For me the next 2 songs are the weakest on the album. White sings on ‘Behind the Smile’ which has a Rainbow feel to it and Barden on ‘Crazy Daze’ which grooves along but lacks any punch. McAuley returns on the faster ‘Lead You Astray’ which has a very early MSG vibe and then Barden again on the upbeat ‘Headed For The Sun’. Sandwiched in between these is the Romero fronted ‘We Are The Voice’. It’s clear that Romero is more of a metal vocalist and this stomps along nicely with an excellent bass line and a lighter chorus.
Next up is the closest thing to a ballad we have here, as all 4 main vocalists join together for ‘Old Man’, perhaps self-reflecting on Schenker’s ageing.
Revelation finishes with 2 faster tracks. ‘Still In The Fight’ shows that Schenker may be getting older but he certainly isn’t finished with Bonnet providing stirring vocals, and then the fantastic instrumental ‘Ascension’ on which Schenker shows off his enormous skill for just over 3 minutes.
Overall the performances on this album are superb. The 4 main singers don’t put a note wrong throughout. My feeling is that if this album had one vocalist, it could have become quite samey but this never feels like that due to the contrast of styles and ranges. On ‘We Are The Voice’, Romero adds something harder and it fits in well overall.
This album and its predecessor, 2018’s Resurrection, are great showcases for Schenker’s prowess as one of hard rock’s premier axemen. It feels like he asked his best friends round for a jam session and to play a few songs he wrote. It feels familiar, comfortable and even cozy. There is nothing new here but it’s a great example of an excellent hard rock album.
Michael Schenker Fest's album 'Revelation' is released on September 20th via Nuclear Blast.
