UFO are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They became a transitional group between early hard rock and heavy metal and the new wave of British heavy metal. The band's current lineup includes vocalist Phil Mogg, lead guitarist Vinnie Moore, rhythm guitarist and keyboardist Neil Carter, bass guitarist Rob De Luca, and drummer Andy Parker. They have gone through several line-up changes, leaving Mogg as the only constant member, and had two breaks. The band also featured former Scorpions guitarist and Michael Schenker Group (MSG) founder Michael Schenker, who was a member of UFO from 1973 to 1978 and rejoined the band sporadically between 1993 and 2003, when Moore replaced him. In May 2018, Mogg announced that he would retire from UFO after one last tour as a member of the band in 2019; however, their farewell tour was set to conclude in 2022 before it was cancelled, due to Mogg's health issues.
Force It is the fourth studio album by English rock band UFO, released in 1975. It was their first album to chart in the United States.
Obsession is the seventh studio album by English rock band UFO, released in 1978. This was the final studio album to feature Michael Schenker on lead guitar until he returned to the band in 1993. A single from the album, "Only You Can Rock Me" / "Cherry", was also released in 1978. So too was the band's first 3-track EP "Only You Can Rock Me", "Cherry" / "Rock Bottom", reaching No. 50 in the UK. The album was recorded at an abandoned post office in Los Angeles.
UFO 1 is the debut studio album by British rock band UFO. It was first released in the UK by Beacon Records in October 1970. The first US release was on Rare Earth Records in April 1971. Neither of these releases charted, but the album did become a success in Germany and Japan.
Lights Out is the sixth studio album by English rock band UFO, released in 1977. All songs are band originals except for "Alone Again Or" which is a cover of a song by the band Love. Reaching number 23 on the Billboard 200, it remains the band's highest-charting album in the United States. In the UK it hit number 54 and stayed on the chart for two weeks.
Michael Schenker is a German guitarist. He played in the rock band UFO and leads the Michael Schenker Group (MSG). He was an early member of the hard rock band Scorpions, a band co-founded by his elder brother Rudolf Schenker. In the mid-1970s, Schenker joined UFO, playing lead and rhythm guitar. He left the band in 1978 to briefly rejoin Scorpions for the recording of Lovedrive, and then to form MSG. He has rejoined UFO three times, producing an album each time. Schenker continues to perform and record. He has been called "a legendary figure in the history of metal guitar."
Strangers in the Night is a live album by British hard rock band UFO, first released in 1979 on the Chrysalis label. The original double LP album was recorded at shows in October 1978 at Chicago, Illinois, and Louisville, Kentucky, while UFO was on tour.
"Run to the Hills" is a song by the English heavy metal band Iron Maiden. It was released as their sixth single and the first from the band's third studio album, The Number of the Beast (1982). It is their first single with Bruce Dickinson as vocalist. Credited solely to the band's bassist, Steve Harris, Dickinson contributed to the song but could not be credited due to a contractual agreement with his former band Samson. "Run to the Hills" remains one of the band's most popular songs, with VH1 ranking it No. 27 on their list of the 40 Greatest Metal Songs, No. 14 on their list of the Greatest Hard Rock Songs, and Rolling Stone ranking it No. 10 on their list of the 100 greatest heavy metal songs
Phenomenon is the third studio album by English rock band UFO, released in May 1974. It was the band's first album to feature lead guitarist Michael Schenker, who replaced Mick Bolton.
The Wild, the Willing and the Innocent is the ninth studio album by English hard rock band UFO, released in January 1981. Their first to be entirely self-produced. Its song "Lonely Heart" was a minor UK hit.
Walk on Water is the fourteenth album from the British hard rock band UFO, marking the return of German guitarist Michael Schenker to the band, as well as the returns of keyboardist Paul Raymond and founding drummer Andy Parker. The album did not chart. It was recorded at Rumbo Recorders in Canoga Park, California. It was released first and only in Japan on 14 April 1995 with 11 tracks and in 1997 in other countries with only 10 tracks. It has since been re-released on numerous occasions, with a variety of covers.
The Essential UFO is a greatest hits album by UFO, released in 1992. This compilation covers the classic Michael Schenker era from 1974–79, with tracks from Phenomenon, Force It, No Heavy Petting, Lights Out, Obsession, and the live Strangers in the Night. The tracks are arranged almost completely chronologically, except the Obsession ('78) tracks are programmed before the Lights Out ('77) tracks. Every track of Strangers In The Night is included on this compilation, either in studio or live form.
Phillip John Mogg is an English singer and the lead vocalist for English rock band UFO, which he co-founded with longtime friends Pete Way, Andy Parker and Mick Bolton.
"Virus" is a single from Iron Maiden, released in 1996. It is the first single since 1980's "Women in Uniform" that does not appear on any official Iron Maiden studio album. It was, however, featured as a brand new track on the band's first ever career retrospective – 1996's double-disc Best of the Beast. It is the only Iron Maiden song to be credited to both of the band's guitarists. It has never been performed live by Iron Maiden, but Blaze Bayley performed it several times in his solo career. Lyrically, the song warns of rising business and government corruption in an increasingly Internet-dependent world.
Peter Frederick Way was an English bassist. He was the co-founder and original bassist of the rock band UFO from 1968 to 1982; he briefly rejoined the band in 1988–1989 and full-time from 1991 to 2008. He was also a founding member of Waysted and Fastway and notably played with Michael Schenker Group and Ozzy Osbourne.
Live is the first live album by the British rock band UFO, recorded in Tokyo, Japan, on 25 September 1971. It was initially released exclusively in Japan in December 1971 entitled U.F.O. Landed Japan. It was later released abroad from 1972 onwards with different titles, such as UFO Live in Japan and UFO Lands in Tokyo.
Live on Earth is a live recording of the band UFO. It was recorded in Vienna, Austria in 1998 and features four-fifths of the reformed, classic line up of the band from the late 1970s with Simon Wright replacing Andy Parker on drums who had decided to run his family business rather than tour.
Rock Will Never Die is a Michael Schenker Group live album released in 1984 and recorded at Hammersmith Odeon in London, over two nights in October 1983. The concert was also released in VHS with the same title. This is the last album recorded with Gary Barden before he rejoined the band in 2008.
The Visitor is the nineteenth studio album by the British hard rock band UFO, which was released on 2 June 2009. Bass parts were recorded by Peter Pichl. Since there are no writing credits on the album booklet, they were posted on UFO's official website.
The Chrysalis Years: 1973–1979 is a compilation album by the band UFO which includes 81 tracks, some not previously released. The compilation includes, in their entirety, the albums recorded for the Chrysalis label during said years, including : Phenomenon (1974), Force It (1975), No Heavy Petting (1976), Lights Out (1977), Obsession (1978), and Strangers in the Night (1979). In addition to these albums, the compilation also includes a previously unreleased live set recorded at Alex Cooley's Electric Ballroom in Atlanta, GA, several singles and B-sides which had not previously been released in CD format, and tracks recorded with BBC DJs Bob Harris and John Peel but not included on the original album releases. Arguably, this period during the 1970s is the zenith of the band's creativity, and The Chrysalis Years: 1973–1979 is an attractive collection likely to contain all the recordings by the band one might desire excepting for the most devout UFO fans.
