After Paul Chapman left UFO, a guitarist named Atomik Tommy McClendon came in to the band. The first album to feature him was the 1985 album Misdemeanor. Even though this isn't one of my favorite albums by the band, there are definitely some great tracks. My personal favorite of the album is a very underrated song called "Mean Streets." This song is very poppy in a way, but it still has a brutal opening riff, awesome lead work by Tommy, and some awesome vocals from Phil. I like the feeling of the song, because it is kind of gritty in a way. The song definitely shows that it was from the 1980's, because of the sound of the keys(which have a very Billy Idol sound to them). Phil made a perfect sound for the chorus, and his tone is completely awesome. While this song isn't as flawless as some others by the band, it is still awesome, and I recommend it to fans of the band.
"Mean Streets is indeed a great song for all the reasons you mentioned, Ryan. Misdemeanor happens to be one of my favorite UFO albums because of the way they shifted into the 80s style so seamlessly for being such a killer 70s -era band. not all bands were able to do this. Atomic Tommy is a criminally under-rated guitarist and shines on such tunes as "Night Run" and "One Heart".
ReplyDeleteI also think it is a great album. There are some killer riffs, and awesome vocals. Te only weakness I can find is the overdose of synthesizers on some of the songs. But it is still a very strong album
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