Mad Axeman Live

Michael Schenker has appeared on quite a few live recordings over the years -- tops undoubtedly being UFO's Strangers in the Night and MSG's One Night at Budokan. But 2008 saw an archival multi-disc set of live/vintage Schenker, Mad Axeman Live, and while it may not scale the same heights as the UFO album (which is considered one of the top live hard rock/metal releases of all time), it is probably the best live solo Schenker release yet. This four-disc set is comprised of three different performances during the early '80s -- 1980 in Pennsylvania, 1980 in California, and 1984 in Japan. Because the first two shows were recorded on the same tour, expectedly, there is quite a bit of similarity between the track listings (for example, the first three songs were performed in the same order on both nights). But this early in the game, Schenker was still out to prove that despite exiting from UFO, he was one of hard rock's finest guitarists, and such tracks as "Into the Arena," "Doctor Doctor," and "Rock Bottom" certainly prove it. For the Japanese portion of the set, Schenker had a few more solo releases to choose material from, so you get a more varied (and longer) set. However, while the performances on Mad Axeman Live may be strong, the audio quality is not exactly up to snuff as the two aforementioned classic live Schenker recordings. But still, Schenker was at the height of his powers here, and this set succeeds in documenting it. ~ Greg Prato|