Michael Schenker Group - In The Midst of Beauty

When Michael Schenker first burst onto the scene as the guitarist for the Scorpions towards the end of the 60s, the world took notice of this lanky German, who brought in his own style of melodic hard rock marked by irresistibly smooth lead lines. A decade later and some bad career decisions later Michael than bandless, decided to form his own band, The Michael Schenker Group or simply MSG. After initial success the band went faced rough waters and were gradually pushed in the sidelines.

Fast forward to 2008, MSG is back in the limelight with In The Midst Of Beauty, featuring original vocalist Gary Barden, one of the key figures behind the band’s rise in the 80s, and whose departure coincided with the band’s downfall. Added to that, the current band is comprised of experienced musicians from bands such as Deep Purple and Toto.

The sound on the album has been intentionally aimed at a 80s hard rock sound in attempt to bring back the golden days of the band, and evidently this is where the band’s forte lies. In fact when one gets deep into the album, it becomes hard to imagine it being made as late as 2008. Though few of the songs have a slight modern approach to them, but still remain old school in their approach.

Singer Gary Barden avoids putting his vocal abilities on display by forcefully pushing the barriers of high and low, for most of the album. But he instead aims at a central zone of comfort where his majestic and deep voice is on display. On ‘Competition’ and ‘I Want You’ Gary executes great command over his voice, and flashes out the amazing quality of his vocal chords. 

What makes Michael Schenker stand out amongst the zillion other guitarists of the yesteryears and the present times is the amazing vocal quality attributed to his playing, both with his creative riffs and silky leads. On ‘Nana’ you can almost hear Michael’s Dean singing along to Garden’s vocals, while on ‘Come Closer’ and ‘Cross of Crosses’ he does some loud wailing of his own. In spite of lashing out fancy fret-work every now and than, his contribution to the album never seems out of place on any occasion.

The songs hover largely around the hard rock/heavy metal border without straying, and being partial to either of the two sides. The album hence, could be equally defined as a hard rock and a heavy metal album.

‘End of The Line’ sees the band try something different; a combination of a Rock “N Roll Boogie feel with some playfully heavy guitar lines. ‘Summer Days’ brings in a big contrast in the tempo of the album, which is much slower than the rest of the tracks which are ranging between a mid and high tempo. Gary Barden again shines through with his constant switching between clean and slightly grunted vocals, which sounds brilliant.

In The Midst Of Beauty, is one of the best albums to be released by MSG, and definitely their best release in the recent past. The album should do Michael and the gang a world of good, and prove vital in cementing their place back in the world of Rock music.