UFO – Mechanix

Details: EMI, 1982 (2009 remaster), CD

As the early 1980’s progressed UFO were at their commercial peak, enjoying sold-out headlining tours and albums that charted high in the UK listings. The band was running hard on the tour-album-tour treadmill and it’s easy now to realise (with hindsight being a wonderful thing and all that) that creatively they had reached their high-watermark with “Lights Out”, “Obsession” and the live tour de force “Strangers In The Night.”

At the time, they appeared to have weathered the storm of losing both Michael Schenker and Paul Raymond over successive albums. “No Place To Run” and “The Wild, The Willing And The Innocent” had, whilst perhaps not matching the best albums of the Schenker-era, consolidated their position as the best hard rock band in the country and both LPs had contained some great individual tracks. Slowly however, the core of UFO’s sound was being diluted by personnel changes and internal pressures, perhaps undermined further by the relentless touring schedule. Unfortunately, 1982’s “Mechanix” simply confirmed the law of diminishing returns.

The album proved to be Pete Way’s last with the band he’d co-founded, even though it became UFO’s highest placed release, reaching number 8 in February 1982. Who knows which came first, the chicken or the egg, but as multi-instrumentalist Neil Carter’s writing contributions peppered “Mechanix”, it was to the exclusion of input from UFO’s erstwhile bass-player. By the European tour later in the year, he too had jumped ship, upset at the more commercial direction the album had taken.

“The Writer” is a solid-enough opener and, although the synth and sax-breaks jar somewhat, Chapman’s lead gets a good workout. A cover of Eddie Cochran’s “Something Else” follows hard on its heels, a track which beggars the question “why?” It’s tough, edgy, but pointless. Carter plays a nice sax outro but is it really what a UFO fan wants to listen to? “Back Into My Life” is hugely commercial, even featuring female backing-vocals on the chorus, the band clearly aiming at an American audience.

Mogg delivers some good lines on “You’ll Get Love”, but in reality the track is lacking a killer-chorus and fails to deliver. “Doing It All For You” is better, a simple but insistent opening riff leading into the first verse. The band pick up the pace but again the chorus opts for a commercial hook, slowing things down. The mid-section changes tempo again and Chapman lets go a fiery solo, but the layered synths are back for the final chorus. It’s the best track on the old-money of Side 1 but, in truth, there isn’t much competition.

Back in ’82, as the needle hit the vinyl groove of Side 2, you’d have breathed a huge sigh of relief as the band kicked into “We Belong To The Night”. It’s old-school UFO, a fast rocker, all chugging rhythm, pounding drums and Mogg’s well-worn melodies over the top. No obvious synths or saxophones here!
“Let It Rain” was released as a single and is a chunky, mid-paced rock song with a melodic chorus. The slower “Terri” follows, opening on a wash of keyboards and Mogg’s vocals. It’s a good song, building to a fine Chapman solo, but it’s indicative of the album as a whole: an over-abundant use of keyboard-washes and swathes of synth-strings, and seemingly one commercial eye on the American market.

The original album closes with two rockier numbers: “Feel It”, ahem, feels like it’s going through the motions and there’s no real chorus to speak of. “Dreaming” is a melodic rocker in the style that UFO have nailed down pat over the years, a chugging riff, evocative lyrics from Mogg and a catchy chorus. Chapman lets rip with flurries of notes and all’s well with the world….it’s a great song that ends a decidedly patchy album.

Four bonus tracks are added to this re-master. “Heel Of A Stranger” is exactly what it was – a B-side. By UFO-standards, a bog-standard, mid-tempo number it was released as the flip-side of “Let It Rain.” It does exactly what it says on the tin, but that isn’t a recommendation. “We Belong To The Night” and “Let It Rain” are live cuts from a show at Oxford on 25th March 1983 on a run taken in support of that year’s “Making Contact” album and already billed as “UFO’s last tour.” (The former is faded here, which is irritating and a surprise – on the tour (as on the “live side” of the “Headstone” compilation), “We Belong….” and “Let It Rain” run together). A version of “Doing It All For You” is the final track, taken from the soundcheck at the Birmingham gig the following day. By this time, Way was long gone and ex-Damned bassist Paul Gray was filling his shoes. The tracks are well-recorded and the band is solid enough, but they don’t improve on the studio versions.

“Mechanix” became UFO’s highest charting album, but to the fans it clearly marked an acceleration in their creative decline. By “Making Contact” (a better record than “Mechanix” – no contest), the band had no permanent bassist and the UK spring tour of 1983 was billed as their farewell outing. It would take all of Phil Mogg’s persistence and perspiration to keep the UFO ship afloat………but that’s another story.

Highlight: Dreaming

Score: 2.5/5

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“Mechanix” era footage is a bit light on the ground but this promo clip of “Let It Rain” is good quality UFO footage…

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NJ

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