Customer Reviews

Mechanix

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Mechanix is the only Paul Chapman-era UFO album I own outside of the "Best of the Rest" compilation. While Mechanix may not live up to the glory of classic albums such as "Lights Out" and "Obession" (my personal fave), it still contains a good half album's worth of great songs. Chapman is not as flashy of a guitarist as Schenker (not many are) but his riffs/solos are forceful and melodic. The rest of the band are on form per usual, and I really dig Andy Parker's drumming as always. Standouts here include: The Writer (w/ cool Carter keyboard solo), the rockin' Doing It All for You, Feel It (complete with Mogg catchy chorus) and Dreamin'. The creativity that UFO unleashed at will in the '70s has been pretty much lost by this time, but the album does rock and is still better than two-thirds of the releases in the genre. If you like the classic UFO releases w/ Schenker, chances are you'll not be disappointed with Mechanix.

There is no denying UFO was not the hard rocking force it was just a few years before this release, but Mechanix is still a terrific album. No doubt Mechanix is more commercial and on the lighter side of rock, so what! it still rocks and it's still TOP QUALITY music! The song "Doing It All For You" alone is worth the price of admission (has anyone heard the amazing live version on the hard-to-find Headstone CD?)

Let me put this straight: UFO ruled the world when Schenker was in, but UFO also produced some of the best rock albums when Paul Chapman was the axeman. Different styles... who cares?! UFO still made some of the best rock music back in 1982. Schenker was NOT UFO, just another very talented member, the man is one of the world's best guitarists but his compositions as a solo artist pale in comparison to the ones he made with UFO... Mechanix with Paul Chapman is much better than other releases from "classic bands" from that era, including MSG's solo albums, period. An absolute must, but only for real objective ears.

i like qute a bit of ufo,s mechanix. songs like the writer,doing it all for you,back into my life,feel it and dreaming to name a few!!unfortuneatly founding member bassist pete way left after the mechanix tour. because he did,nt like the direction ufo was heading in musically with some of the tunes of mechanix..i saw ufo on the tour for mechanix and they were great they opened for rainbow!!andy parker the drummer had this huge chrome drum set paul chapman had a white b.c. rich,pete way and neil carter had white washburn basses and guitars..ufo played almost every great song they made including electric phase which paul chapman played slide guitar on!....well this album seems to end the 80,s era...so get it!!!

Regular readers here know I love UFO. I have a lot of cd's by this band. I put on Mechanix today, having not listened to it in a few years. The result- it rocks! This was, for me, the last truly excellent UFO result until 1995's Walk on Water- a period of 13 rather spotty years marked by myriad personnel changes.
Paul Chapman is truly the star here. He shreds through standouts like The Writer and We Belong To the Night,Something Else, and
shows versatility on ballads like Terri and Back into my Life.
UFO definitely tried to be more radio-friendly on Mechanix, and
Back into my Life charted here. Listen to this album for Andy Parker's drumming alone- see how he propels and drives every song. Feel It is a stomper where Parker,Mogg,and Chapman shine.
Pete way rides Bass right up the middle, and Neil (never really a UFO member to me) Carter chips in here and there.
Making Contact was next, and that's when things began to cloud over on UFO's horizon. A punchy,well produced set of songs, Mechanix doesn't disappoint. Give it a re-listen. LOUD!

Mechanix was in my humble opinion a make-or-break effort. The band decided to just sort of let nature take it's course and the rest is history as they say. "Mechanix" may not be their strongest effort but it is well worth having in your collection and gets 4 stars due to making changes yet not changing anything. There was some fine tuning done but the overall UFO sound still remained intact. I think the title was very fitting as well. And the remaster effort is also very good. Every now and then something will be remastered and actually sound worse than the original cd. Not in this case.

This 1982 release, which went top ten, was the bands strongest studio release since their last cd with Michael Schenker: 1978's "Obsession". The band starts off with a solid rock classic 'the writer" which describes the now vanishing power broker newspaper or magazine writer who can make or break careers in music or politics. And from there to the end of the disc there isn't a filler song to be found. "Feel it" is probably the standout hard rock track on here; it can hold it's own with the best of their whole output.
There is even a superior ballad on here 'back into my life". This is highly skilled and top notch metal the kind in which you expect good playing and singing. And this would be the bands last great disc until
1995's 'walk on water" . The best thing is however the many bonus tracks on this disc and that makes this a better buy than ever.

Except for "Something Else" which is a rather odd song, this album still sounds great over 20 years later.

Much of the Paul Chapman era of UFO has been unfairly maligned and the albums of that era have languished in some form of critical obscurity. However these records should not be an overlooked part of the catalog as they include some of the band's tightest collection of songs and outstanding productions. `Mechanix' is a fine record, released in early 1982 and the last to feature founding member Pete Way (until subsequent later reformations). While maybe not on par with `No Place to Run' or `WWI', `Mechanix' boasts a loud, modern sound and a decent mix of rockers and some slower numbers. "The Writer" kicks off the LP in fine fashion, being a classic UFO rocker. Other faves include "Doing It All for You", "Feel It" and single "Let It Rain". "Back Into My Life" was also a single as well and could be criticized for being an intentional hit but it is still a very good song. Supposedly it was these concessions to the top 40 that drove Way from the band but a may have been that the runaway substance abuse/internal squabbles clichés may have been more of a deciding factor. Within a few years Phil Mogg would be the only remaining member and the band would become a joke but in the meantime they had a least one more quality record in them before the eighties swallowed them up.

A lot of folks, particularly the brigade that feels any UFO without Michael Schenker is worthless, seriously dump on this disc. More so because of Pete Way's departure from UFO shortly after its release, claiming the band had started going soft. Granted, if all non-Schenker UFO is rubbish to you, this disc won't be capable of changing your mind. Regarding Pete Way comments, "The Writer" and "Dreaming" are both solid, and the fairly mellow "Back Into My Life" is one of Way's tunes.

Measured up against some other Hard Rock of the day, say Def Leppard at the time of High 'N' Dry and the Joe Lynn Turner Rainbow era, and you'll find yourself having an enjoyable listen, plus I'd also liked what teaming up with then UFO Keyboard/Guitarist Neil Carter did for Gary Moore's output (Wild Frontier and Run for Cover).

Expensive for sure, but perhaps with the recent run of UFO extra-track remasters this too may be added-- so long as folks quit ragging on this one. It's really not that bad.

The steady decline of UFO over the Chapman era starts to become evident here with this fairly lightweight offering. Whilst "No Place to Run" kept the rock juggernaut going, TWTWATI slowed it down a little then breakdown came with "Mechanix". This one kicks off in terrific form with "The Writer" and fills the listener with optimism. The lack of Schenker's guitars always seemed to me to put more emphasis and pressure on the song writing and lyrical skills of Mogg. Typically he rises to the top with this great track despite the synthesizers and sax. The unusual cover of the classic "Somethin' Else" and "We belong to the Night" also give us something to rock along to in keeping with UFO tradition. Whilst neat and professional the rest of album is much more commercial than any of the previous albums. It's generally OK but not as good or as listenable to as all the American competition in a similar vein.
"Back Into My Life" and "Let it Rain" are nice catchy tunes but there isn't much to get excited about outside of the above. "Terri" and "Heel of a Stranger" are pretty awful. Generally there is too much Neil Carter and his sax and not enough umf!!
It was about this time when I decided to give UFO a wide birth. Mechanix is OK but unlike anything previous and this direction was not for me. Perhaps aimed more at the main stream American market, Mechanix is a reasonable album and worth getting for the first two tracks.