Why do you think UFO are not as big as they should have been?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by ClassicRockTragic, Oct 25, 2014.

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  1. ClassicRockTragic

    ClassicRockTragic Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Australia
    In my mind they are as good as Zep, Queen etc.

    Great singing, outstanding players, and great songs.

    Yet they seemed to miss the mainstream in the sense that they are not a household name.
     
  2. loomis

    loomis Forum Resident

    Location:
    akron ohio
    Boy it's a great question. I've often wondered the same thing. Jokingly, I used to think it was due to their horrible album covers, but that didn't stop the Scorpions. Well, wait, the Scorpions were never popular in the US until Love at First Sting, and that had a decent cover, so maybe that's it after all.
     
  3. ClassicRockTragic

    ClassicRockTragic Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Australia
    ha... I love the Scorpions Covers. :)
     
  4. Tone_Boss

    Tone_Boss Forum Resident

     
  5. rockledge

    rockledge Forum Resident

    Location:
    right here
    I think they are about right. UFO is really not a band for mass consumption. They just aren't as marketable as bands who wrote far more catchy music that appeals to a wider range of people. I've talked with Pete Way before, interesting fellow.
    Just because bands are good at what they do don't mean they will always appeal to mass audiences, the trick is for them to be fantastic and not music industry drivel while at the same time appealing to a huge percentage of the public. UFO just didn't have that advantage.
     
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  6. AZRunner

    AZRunner Forum Resident

    Location:
    SW FL
    UFO was big when I was in high school in Chicago in the late 70's. They started out with a run of great albums, then kind of petered out. As much as I loved UFO, the Zep comparison is kind of silly.
     
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  7. Pennywise

    Pennywise Forum Resident

    Location:
    The Sewers
    Yes, it is a silly comparison. UFO were much better than Zeppelin.
     
  8. keifspoon

    keifspoon Senior Member

    Location:
    New Jersey, USA
    They're like The Beatles to Eddie Trunk. :)
     
  9. econalan

    econalan Forum Resident

    Location:
    Orange County, CA
    Yes, criminally underrated, I know. Listened to Phenomenon this morning while cleaning the breakfast dishes (took me longer than usual) and I was singing the whole time. Made my top 3 in a recent poll here for underrated bands.
     
  10. vamborules

    vamborules Forum Resident

    Location:
    CT
    I think losing Schenker when they did probably didn't help matters. Nothing against Paul Chapman but Schenker leaving sort of killed the momentum they had coming off of Strangers in the Night.
     
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  11. ClassicRockTragic

    ClassicRockTragic Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Australia
    All I mean is the quality is there. I love both bands.
     
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  12. ClassicRockTragic

    ClassicRockTragic Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Australia
    How about from a different angle.... I think UFO are a considerably better band than Van Halen.

    I guess it all gets down to how charismatic the leaders of a band are.
     
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  13. Sax-son

    Sax-son Forum Resident

    Location:
    Three Rivers, CA
    Exactly!
     
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  14. rockledge

    rockledge Forum Resident

    Location:
    right here
    Considering he has a pretty big following all by himself, that certainly must be true.
    I think another thing UFO suffers from is that they are another band whose following is largely comprised of musicians. Bands that appeal to musicians and those who love amazing feats of gymnastics on instruments often do not appeal to the greater populace.
    Again, the trick is to walk that line, to be both musical sprinters while at the same time having music that is appealing to a broad demographic.
    That is where VH has them. They have both EVH AND the ability to write great hummable songs.
     
  15. Raunchnroll

    Raunchnroll Senior Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    They had their place and people respected them, they just couldn't break out commercially. They were running in a field with Scorpions, Uriah Heep, Robin Trower, Rush, Thin Lizzy and so on. These don't all sound alike I realize, just that all of them ran in that niche of guitar axe / hard rock scene that was popular. Scorpions also had vocals / melodies / riffs going on a bit better than UFO.
     
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  16. old school

    old school Senior Member

    UFO are big with me one of my favorite bands of the 70s. And they do a killer version of Love's " Alone Again Or." And there live album Strangers in the Night is one of the best live albums of all time!
     
  17. heepsterandrey

    heepsterandrey Forum Resident

    They lacked creativity. Still, I love the band. I think all the Schenker albums are great and I hear them all the time. I don't think Strangers In The Night is as amazing as everybody says. It's a great, rockin', and honest live album but there's no way it is one of the greatest live albums.
     
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  18. old school

    old school Senior Member

    I disagree big time! They lacked creativity they wrote some of the best songs of the 70s ' Rock Bottom' ' Lights Out' ' Doctor Doctor' ' Mother Mary' I could go on and on! Strangers in the Night is one of the finest live albums of the 70s. In my opinion you're way off base.
     
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  19. Holy Diver

    Holy Diver Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    Thin Lizzy is not big, either, but they rule, as well.
     
  20. Malina

    Malina Forum Resident

    Location:
    NYC
    A great band of the 70's and Schenker is one of my all time fave guitarists, but they were never going to be on the level of Queen or Zep. I think they're most comparable to Bad Company and they didn't have the songs that were as hit worthy or accessible as Bad Company or say Thin Lizzy. So they're probably as big as they should have been - respected and known by music fans but not a huge mass market band. The Scorpions and Judas Priest were able to update their sound and hit big in the 80's, but UFO couldn't do that.
     
    loomis likes this.
  21. Kossoff is God

    Kossoff is God Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicagoland
    They were huge in Europe. Major influence on the New Wave of British Heavy Metal.
     
  22. Opeth

    Opeth Forum Resident

    Location:
    NH
    So the vinyl reissues are AAA then ? I don't have any originals and never really see any surprisingly.
     
  23. Rose River Bear

    Rose River Bear Senior Member

    Most of the time they were their own worst enemies.
    I agree, they were great. Michael Schenker is one of the best ever IMO and is right up there with the best guitar players of all time.
     
  24. ClassicRockTragic

    ClassicRockTragic Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Australia
    I have accumulated some nice original records. But yes you don't see them everywhere.
     
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  25. danielbravo

    danielbravo Senior Member

    Location:
    Caracas. DC
    I hear a lot of UFO; especially their first three albums, when I was a boy of 12 years. I liked their version of the classic "Built For Comfort" by Willie Dixon and "Rock Bottom" of the Phenomenon album. Oh God so many great songs like "Mother Mary", "Doctor, Doctor", "Let It Roll", "Shoot Shoot" and "Lights Out" as part of my musical DNA !

    UFO were great at least until the beginning of the decade of the 80's. Just then declined as happened to many bands of the 70s. When Michael left the band they were in crisis. Michael Schenker was not so lucky after leaving the UFO, his career also declined in the mid-80's despite having some decent albums.

    Walk On Water was also a great "reunion" album, This is one of my favorite albums of the band.
     
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