There is no doubt that when ‘Phenomena’ was released back in 1985 it had a huge and immediate impact. It was all over the music press in the UK, Glenn Hughes saw a reinvigoration of his career, and everyone I knew seemed to own a copy. Now, more than 30 years on, and the music has been remastered while there is an incredibly informative booklet which contains the details of who played on what song, the thinking behind it, lyrics and all the original illustrations. Tom had been writing songs with his brother Mel since the early days of Trapeze, so of course Mel was going to be involved and he brought in fellow Whitesnake musicians Cozy Powell and Neil Murray. Glenn Hughes was always going to be looked at for vocals as he was also originally in Trapeze before he joined Purple, while Don Airey has played with everyone. The other musicians were Ted McKenna (SAHB, MSG), Richard Bailey (who I always think of as being Magnum, but apparently was also in Trapeze in their later years), John Thomas (Budgie) and even Ric Sanders (Fairport Convention) made an appearance.
To be honest, the album hasn’t aged well, and although there are some great individual performances (take a bow Mr. Hughes, you were outstanding on this) the production and complex layering now comes over as a rather damp sponge as opposed to something dramatic and exciting. No-one can fault the effort which has gone into this reissue, but there are just too many times when it feels pedestrian and clunky. I was so looking forward to hearing this again after way too many years, but it really is a case of playing it, reading the informative and interesting booklet then putting it on the shelf knowing it will never be listened to again.
Rating: 6/10
