Force It was the second album by UFO to feature guitarist Michael Schenker. Not only do I think this album was a huge improvement to the already great Phenomenon, but I think this is one of the best studio albums UFO ever put out. It has so many classics like "Let It Roll" and "Shoot Shoot," but from top to bottom, it is great. This is also the heaviest UFO album to feature Michael, because with the exception of the classic "High Flyer," there are not any other ballads at all. This is cool, because even though I love the band's ballads, I think it is refreshing to hear an all out, aggressive album.
The album starts out with "Let It Roll." The opening siren type noise makes this an awesome opener for an album, and this is definitely one of the heaviest songs that the band ever put out. Phil's vocals are the main contributor to this, because he has so much power to it. Michael's guitar solo is very special in this song. The tone is amazing, and it is so emotional. The next song "Shoot Shoot" is an awesome song with awesome vocals, and awesome riff, and an awesome chorus. I love this song because it is a great anthem type of song, and Phil sounds completely amazing. The next song is the emotional ballad "High Flyer." This song features great acoustic playing by Michael Schenker, flawless vocals by Phil, and a great guitar solo. I feel that this song is just so easy listening, but it also has so much sadness to it, and it really makes you feel a lot. The next song of the album is called "Love Lost Love," and while not as memorable as the other songs on the album, it is still a great song with a cool riff and some great vocals. After this song, one of my favorites "Out In The Street" is played. I love this song, because the keyboards have such a magical feel to them, and Phil's lyrics are very cool. The riff is simple but the chords are played with so much power that you can't deny it. Even though this song is performed much better on the Strangers In The Night album, the studio version is also very cool. The next song "Mother Mary" starts right off with an in your face three chord riff that has you banging your head right away. Michael's guitar tone is very cool, because there is such a fullness to the guitar sound, and it never feels flat at all. I also like when the chorus comes in, because it is a breakdown from the heaviness, and Phil's voice sounds awesome. Like I said about "Out In The Street," this song is also much better on Strangers In The Night, but the studio version is definitely worth checking out. The next two songs "Too Much Of Nothing," and "Dance Your Life Away" are lesser known songs, but they are both very cool. I like how "Too Much Of Nothing" is a little more experimental with song structure, because it really goes off into a little direction a little bit, and it really rocks. "Dance Your Life Away" has a really rocking riff, and it is also a really neat song all around. The final song on the album is "This Kid's (Including 'Between The Walls'). This song starts with a mind blowing riff that is sort of bluesy, but is still a head banger. Phil has some great lyrics once again, because he is very aggressive. My favorite part of the song is the interlude that leads to the guitar solo. The reason why is that even though it is the repetitive hitting of two chords, it has such a powerful jailhouse feel to it, and it really pumps me up. The song reminds me of "War Pigs" by Black Sabbath in a way, because it starts with a very heavy song, but then it almost switches to a different song that is much lighter but more eerie. I think that my favorite version of this song is also on Strangers Of The Night, because it has so much more energy, and it has a better guitar solo. The only problem with that version is that it does not have the second part of the song, and I really like that
part a lot.
Force It was a very important album for UFO. The reason why is that it is the album where UFO really got their Arena Rock feel to their music. This wasn't there for Phenomenon, because that album had a lot more of an experimental feel to it. Force It is so full of energy, and so full of classics that it would probably have to be my third favorite studio album the band did. I highly recommend this album, and it is an essential to any rock music collector.
Ryan, you may be aware that initial "siren type noise" is actually some very powerful single note guitar feedback on the first note (c sharp if I remember rightly) of Let It Roll. It's a fantastic and pretty unique way to begin a song, I think. And I always find it funny how Phil pitched himself far too high and sounds rather strained on the studio version, only to sing the tune much lower down ever since!
ReplyDeleteThat song has a deceptively progressive arrangement, but you could still run a metronome right through it. Something which obviously appealed to Steve Harris because on his recent European solo tour Let It Roll was always the ultimate song of his set. That's how much he's into it.
Yes it is a C sharp for sure. I love playing this song. Thanks for the comment this is all very neat points
DeleteYou're welcome. In fact your enthusiasm has reminded me of when I first discovered the band and how great it felt playing guitar along to their albums (or attempting to). Strangers is the ultimate for that buzz.
ReplyDeleteThe other thing about Force It is the song Dance Your Life Away, which they wrote after watching the Jane Fonda film "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" It was about dance band competitions during the 1930's US Depression where people would dance for weeks on end to win money literally until they dropped dead in some cases. If you look into the film then the song will make more sense.
That's really interesting! Thanks for the facts. I'll check out the movie
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