Michael Schenker Group - M.S.G.

Back in the early days of high school, I was exposed to the record collection of an older classmate who was well versed in what was then considered to be album oriented rock. In other words, he had several Foghat albums at his disposal.
But within the clutter of second-tier rock acts was a few choice jems. One of those was the first two albums by the Michael Schenker Group.
Michael, the younger brother of Scorpions guitarist Rudolph Schenker, had gone the rounds with the first Scorpions album as well as the vital gunslinger for UFO’s best work. When his work ethic became interfered with his mental problems and substance dependencies, he sought to provide his talents elsewhere. The members of Aerosmith, who at the time were looking for a replacement for Joe Perry (ha!), briefly toyed with the idea of hiring Michael.
They should have known that no one, not even Aerosmith, can get Michael Schenker to play ball.
So Michael started his own band, as tortured guitarists often do, and set out to bring the rock under his own moniker, cleverly abbreviated as M.S.G., the shit that you want to avoid if you’re hungry for Chinese food.
I made a cassette copy of Schenker’s second album (M.S.G.) which was well received by anyone I played it for those who had an appreciation for hard rockin’ bands named after a Flying V welding guitarist.
Borrowing heavily from the same styles that made UFO such a joy, MSG features wonderfully subdued vocalist Gary Barden (who, at times, sounds like a restrained Ian Gillan) and some powerful drumming from the late Cozy Powell.
The emphasis is, of course, the guitar work of Michael Schenker who’s tone and soloing are stellar throughout M.S.G.
Starting with silly-yet-perfect opener “Are You Ready To Rock,” the band follows the call-to-arms with the silly-yet-rocking “Attack Of The Mad Axeman” which was either inspired by Jason Vorhees or the exploits of Schenker himself (get it?). In either case, the song rocks and it’s perfectly ended with an “Are You Ready To Rock” reprise before leading into the synth-aided “On And On,” the album’s highpoint.
Unfortunately, the eight songs on the album are incredibly top-heavy, leaving listeners with a great side one half and a very unmemorable second half. At the same time, those first four songs are so awesome that I’ve spent some time looking for it on cd, leading me once to buy a used copy of it through an online retailer. My excitement was reduced when the package arrived and I found that the retailer had mislabeled their inventory, sending me a McAuley-Schenker Group album (a shitty, early 90’s last gasp with a different line-up and an album titled M.S.G. that makes things even more confusing) instead of my original request for the 1981 offering.
Recently, the expansive collection of a great P2P website enabled me to revisit this lost treasure. What makes it even better is the fact that the file was totally gleaned from a vinyl copy (just like my original Maxell XLII!) complete with needle drops and surface noise.