UFO

Covenant

Promising material short-changed by amateurish production

Review Score:

(4/10)
This is a disc that should make UFO fans very, very angry. Something as difficult and rare as a reunion of Michael Schenker and UFO deserves the kind of top-notch production, songwriting and polish that made 1995's "Walk on Water" a rock masterpiece. My excitement at receiving "Covenant" turned to concern when I saw Shrapnel Records on the back cover and Mike Varney listed as co-producer - a concern borne out as full disgust by the end of the last track. Varney is good at producing cookie-cutter Heavy Metal demos for upstart bar acts, but he's way out of his depth with musicians like UFO and Michael Schenker - the band should avoid this guy like the plague. UFO is all about chemistry, and Ron Nevison's proven ability is an indispensable part of this band's magic. Nowhere to be found on this disc are the depth, the musicality, the polish, or the unmistakable chemistry present on the Nevison-produced Lights Out, Obsession, Strangers, or Walk on Water. Both the vocal and guitar are muddy and indistinct - as in the Mogg/Way incarnation, Mogg's vocal lapses from singing into an odd growl, as if he's about to swallow the microphone; Schenker's leads are intriguing but uninspired and similarly buried in the mix - the crisp, soaring, high-octane guitar interplay with Mogg's vocals (so prevalent on Obsession and Walk on Water) are nowhere to be found. Paul Raymond is sorely missed - on occasion you can hear someone doing keyboard filler on what sounds like a low-end Casio(!); Also missing here is drummer Andy Parker. Aynsley Dunbar is a legendary sticksman and certainly no slouch, but again, Parker's particular style and chemistry with the others is essential to UFO's sound. ~~~ The songs themselves are neither memorable nor very well constructed. In terms of both conception and execution, "Covenant" sounds like a demo of some preliminary - and promising - song ideas left half-developed, strung together with some very sloppy, often dismal instrumental transitions (a good example being "Serenade".) It sounds like Mogg/Way's mediocre "End of the World" disc with a disinterested Schenker guest starring on guitar; or Schenker's forgettable, Varney-produced "Unforgiven" disc with Mogg and Way sitting in as an afterthought. It's as if Varney attempted to press the extraordinary talents of UFO into the service of cutting a soulless bargain-basement heavy metal hash, and it not only does NOT work, it comes very close to being a travesty. ~~~ To look for an upside, it's not a totally horrible, unlistenable album. The best of the lot is "Midnight Train", but it only manages to be a crunchy rocker - enjoyable but not outstanding, and far, far below the standard UFO set on "Walk on Water". If you can perform the mental feat of forcing yourself to forget who's playing, "Covenant" might even be an OK disc to play as background tunes at a keg party. But this is the second reunion release of UFO with Michael Schenker! The analogy springs to mind of having the Rolling Stones record a collection of commercial jingles or elevator muzak - on a four-track deck. ~~~ This release will be remembered as a sad (and hopefully momentary) chapter in UFO's history. After the brilliant "Walk on Water" disc, "Covenant" is a vast disappointment that is best avoided by UFO's fans at all costs. It's, well, "enough to make you rip out your hair." ~~~ The best thing that could be done with "Covenant" would be to recall all copies, take the ideas back into the studio with the Schenker/Mogg/Way/Raymond/Parker lineup, get Ron Nevison back at the helm, rework everything, and try to transform this mess into a fitting continuation of the achievement of "Walk on Water". Failing that, the band should can the thing altogether and start a new album from scratch. We UFO fanatics are nothing if not patient, and it appears that once again we will have to be....patient.

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