ALBUM REVIEW – SCHENKER BARDEN ACOUSTIC PROJECT – GYPSY LADY
Michael Schenker, for those not familiar with the man, has proven himself a ripping guitarist, in his time in UFO, the Scorpions (where his brother Rudolph still plays, although I have recently read they are calling it a day after 40 odd years) and his subsequent solo outfit, The Michael Schenker Group (MSG). Gary Barden fronted MSG for some years in the early to mid 80s if I remember correctly. I’m pretty sure he worked with Gary Moore for a while too.
Enough of the history lesson, what are they up to in 2010? Well they’re both middle aged, and it shows here. There’s no real escaping the fact that this is a fairly lame effort, and sounds like a couple of old has-beens trying to age gracefully, but really just tarnishing what is quite an illustrious history and reputation. Having said that, Schenker’s acoustic work on this album is very tasteful. The band behind them does their job nicely enough. It’s Barden who lets the team down. His voice these days just doesn’t convince at all, and even seems flat at times. Plus his lyrics are just naff. Schenker has apparently released a few all instrumental acoustic pieces in recent times. He probably should have left it this way.
The album attempts variety. It tries country (‘Travelled so Far’), medieval/chamber music (‘Fight for Freedom’), an acoustic shuffle (‘Starting Over’), ballads (‘Can’t Live on Love Alone’, which is just nauseating, and ‘Another Melody’) and ‘uplifting’ Pop (‘Hungry’). Kudos to them for doing something a little different, but very little of it rises above the mediocre.
The only reason someone might buy this album is if they were desperate for some inoffensive background music. And how often does this happen? To Mr Schenker: ditch Mr Barden and either go back to the instrumentals, or plug in and Rock out again. This gets **
Rod Whitfield
