It would not be unkind to say that Schenker has had an up and down career, releasing some amazing and essential albums both with his own band as a member of both UFO and Scorpions while others not so much. Here he is with his latest release, back as MSG which he has been using since 2020 when Ronnie Romero (Rainbow and many others) joined the band, with the rest of the line-up being keyboard player and rhythm guitarist guitar Steve Mann, bassist Barend Courbois, and drummer Bodo Schopf. It shows just how much impact those UFO years have had on him as he is still trying to replace Paul Raymond all this time later.

While the production on this is superb, everything shines and the vocals are just what one expects from Romero, nothing can change the fact that the album is somewhat workmanlike and has none of bite and drive one desires from the mad axeman. Gone are the days when he set the world alight with his material, and here it feels more as if here is an album which allows him to get back out on the road, but I cannot imagine any of the songs being called for by the crowd, who will be shouting for material from the first three MSG albums, the last of which was 40 years ago, plus of course plenty of UFO. It just feels like he is going through the motions, and both he and the rest of the band deserve so much more than that.

Rating: 6/10

Links:
https://michaelschenkerhimself.com/
https://label.atomicfire-records.com/