Customer Reviews

Showtime

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Consider this album a historic document. The lineup of founding vocalist Phil Mogg, founding bassist Pete Way, keyboardist/guitarist/backing vocalist Paul Raymond, new guitarist Vinnie Moore and new drummer Jason Bonham is already history, as Bonham has bowed out to join Foreigner full-time. In some ways I regret that because he brought a unique and energetic approach to some of the old, tired Michael Schenkar-era standards.

Bonham's replacement? None other than founding drummer Andy Parker. I guess this is good, but can Parker bring the same energy? Or will this slow down the band and cause it to become another one of those veteran classic rock acts doing tired versions of 30-year-old songs?

That's a debate for another day. Showtime has, for the most part, very good versions of stuff like Shoot, Shoot, Rock Bottom and Only You Can Rock Me. The new stuff, four tracks from You Are Here, comes off very well.

But, freed from Schenkar's wacked-out tyranny, the band could have dipped widely into its huge catalogue and presented a fascinating overview of its entire history. Sadly, that didn't happen. This album is a remake of 1979's groundbreaking Strangers In The Night live recording with four new songs. Not a single song is done from the criminally-underrated Paul Chapman era recordings and even the three albums where Schenkar rejoined in the 1990s are ignored. Why? Talk about a missed opportunity! Talk about going the safe route to satisfy nostalgia freaks!

Are you nuts! Vinnie Moore is awesome on this CD (DVD). Some of the best live playing ever! You can't replace Michael Schenker but Vinnie Moore does a great job. Jason Bonham is solid and the band is tight! Video and sound on the DVD is very well done. If your a UFO fan this is a must! Again, you'll never replace a Michael Schenker in UFO, but this is as good as it get's without him!

Big UFO fan, yet tired of the same live songs over and over. However, this is the best live release/performance in over two decades.

Phil Mogg sounds awesome here... totally rennovated and inspired, plus changing his vocal style a bit from traditional past interpretations. Vinnie Moore plays his German predecessor's solos at perfection, especially respecting UFO's melodic trademark note-by-note, much to my surprise! (Just check his solo in Only You Can Rock Me). Pete Way rocks, as always! Paul Raymond has never sounded nor played better. Jason Bonham plays with such power and groove, but especially in a very musical way (a unique trait that only a few drummers can achieve).

UFO these days are having fun and it shows (even though the audience sounds as if it there were only 6 people!). Besides, the CD sound is awesome, courtesy of Tommy Newton (Elegy, Gamma Ray, Helloween). UFO today sounds as good as ever. My only complain: no Paul Chapman-era songs (there are some really great ones). This CD is a must for both old and new fans. Rock for the ages!

Although it may seem that any UFO live recording cannot bring anything new to UFO songs, actually it does. Michael Schenker's replacement Vinnie Moore is also top guitar player. What this means is that we get different versions of same old songs despite the fact that some of them sound very similar to the way UFO has played them before. And those versions don't dissapoint.

One thing though. The record makes me think that Moore is too much of a virtuoso for UFO classic songs because at times his playing doesn't fit. It seems "only" technical lacking the "rock" side of it. "Rock Bottom" is an example. The guitar should have had better and bigger sound as well. However, this isn't the case with new songs that gel nicely. Songs that were new at the time of recoring only approve that UFO is still alive and well. Most of them are good. "Baby Blue" and "Mr.Freeze" come to my mind first.

All in all, this is UFO despite the fact that it takes some time to "identify" it and to get used to it.

This double cd rocks in its own special way. Vinnie Moore more than handles the job on guitar (both the old and new songs).

What a fun show. The audience seems to be having a great time as these classic rockers lay down some seriously great sounding tunes.

A definite must have for those who love UFO or classic rock in general.

I would have given this one a 4 and a half. Buy it ! as well as the DVD !! I realllly dig "Mr Freeze", I used to be one of the UFO fans that only had the classics - I was very pleasantly surprised when i heard this for the first time. It is now in my regular rotation. UFO is not going anywhere! neither are the Scorpions...check out "Unbreakable" if you "Don't Believe a Word"
I challenge you to buy this one. I would not be wasting my time
right now if I didn't think that this was a very worthy disc and or DVD to have in our collections !

but it's not supposed to be. Vinnie Moore pulls off the new songs (from You Are Here) very well, but that's about it. Disc 2 is mostly their classic stuff from Strangers, which isn't bad, but I wouldn't have minded hearing stuff from their lost years with Chapman or more stuff from Sharks, Walk on Water, even Mechanix. The sound quality is good, but you can tell they're playing in a very small venue, which makes me feel sad for them-especially since I saw them in a small place myself. Maybe they should try to open for Aerosmith, Metallica, or Bon Jovi. Mogg's voice is on target on this disc, but Moore doesn't seem to be a good fit.

I really enjoyed this cd. Vinnie Moore and Jason Bonham are incredible additions to this band. They really put a great spin on these old classics. I don't understand the less than stellar reviews of this cd to be honest. These guys played their asses off and sound incredible. I love Michael Schenker and everything he's done to date. This version of UFO in incredible. Please take it from me......this is a great cd!!!

Excellent live album, 4 songs are from there new album at the time this cd was recorded "You are Here", 1 song from the "Sharks" album and the rest are from the "Strangers in the Night" era, this cd has great sound and the band sounds great together and Vinnie is an excellent addition to the band and Jason does a great job on this cd but was replaced by original drummer Andy Parker after this tour, I just saw UFO a couple of weeks ago on there 2011 tour and the setlist they do today is much differant then the setlist on the "Showtime" cd, enjoy.

I really like the way Vinnie Moore played the old UFO songs ,out of all the guitarist that have played in UFO after Schenker left vinnie Moore is my favorite I've seen UFO with CHAPMAN & ATOMIC T and it just didn't do it for me,I know some viewers may not agree with me but we all have different taste in guitar players,getting back to UFO SHOWTIME I really recomend this CD ,it's the best of UFO you can get performing live!and also the UFO SHOWTIME on DVD!