Phenomenon by UFO

Phenomenon, UFO's third album, came out in May 1974, and it's where the London band found its real voice. It was their first record for Chrysalis, their first issued in America, and the first with former Scorpions guitarist Michael Schenker, who took Mick Bolton's place. With Schenker aboard, the band left its blues-based space rock behind for straight-ahead hard rock, and Leo Lyons produced it.

Phil Mogg sings with cool, slightly world-weary poise over Pete Way's bass and Andy Parker's drums, and "Doctor Doctor" is a tight, stinging rocker built on Schenker's singing lead lines. "Rock Bottom" is the monster: it started as a single riff in rehearsal, grew as the band piled more riffs on top, and became a song when Mogg jumped up with the answer. Schenker, who heard it as a sequel to his Lonesome Crow days, still treats its solo as a work in progress, a space to improvise every night.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.