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Following on the heels of the band's first real masterpiece, Lights Out, this album had a lot to live up to and managed to pull it off while making it seem all too easy. Obsession is just that, the effortless glide of a band hitting all the marks without really seeming to be straining in the least. Chock full of songs that would become legendary with the release of the Strangers In The Night live set, Obsession is one of the easiest records of the catalog to listen to start to finish. As of this writing copies are available used from Amazon for a little over $9. Considering that you'll pay three times that for less superior product with most of the records that followed, Obsession is an almost sinfully good deal.

Good rock for your head

Michael Schenker is a master of electric guitar solo phraseology. He soars, he swoops, he glides, he crashes, then he blasts off from the ashes. Phil Mogg has a voice that'll stick it's finger in your face, Paul Raymond is The Man of a Thousand Noises, and Way and Parker are monstrous through the bass cones; but it's Schenker who makes you open all your windows and jump out on the lawn and air-guitar yourself into a frenzy. Rockers, ballads, and anthems, all killer, no filler.

Highly recommanded

This is the last studio album with Michael Schenker on guitar (although he rejoined in the mid 1990's for the releases of the excellent "Walk on water", "Covenant" and "Sharks"). "Obsession" is a very strong effort and I believe it's one of the finer from UFO, with such strong tunes like the appealing mid tempo rocker "Only you can rock me", the musically diverse and interesting "Looking out for no.1", and "Hot `n' ready" with its groovy guitar riff. Even the instrumental tracks ("Arbory hill" and "Looking out for no.1 reprise") seem motivated and not just there for the lead guitarist to show off by playing as many notes as possible in the shortest possible time, which seem to be the main purpose with many instrumental heavy metal tunes. There are in fact not a single low mark on this release. If you like good vintage hard rock from 1970's, "Obsession" is absolutely for you!

Not as good as Lights Out

I consider this album to be UFO's weakest with Michael Schenker cause half of the songs are forgettable, the classic songs are Only You Can Rock Me, Pack it Up (And Go) Born to Lose and Lookin' Out For #1 (which often gets stomped on as a 2nd rate Elton John ballad), The good songs are One More for the Rodeo and Hot 'n' Ready, the rest are rather unmemorable, but I'm glad that they improved with their next album Strangers in the Night which is a classic live album from the 70's.

UFO's Finest Work!

This album is good from start to finish. Not one bad apple in the bunch. Schenker's guitar tone is fantastic! My favorites are Only You Can Rock Me, Arbory Hill, Looking Out For No.1, Hot N Ready, You Don't Fool Me, and One More For The Rodeo. I like the lyric to I Ain't No Baby ("Stay Away, FOREVER"). Cool cover prompting Schenker to ask his bandmates "Why am I the only one without balls?". This would be Schenker's final studio album w/ UFO until the rocking Walk On Water in 1997. Lights Out is another classic UFO album you should get if you don't have it!

UFO's greatest - Five stars aren't enough

Obsession (1978.) UFO's seventh album.



By the time the seventies were drawing to a close, UFO had created a huge following as one of the world's ultimate hard rock bands. Unfortunately, guitar genius Michael Schenker was beginning to question his place in the band. He "disappeared" for a period, but returned to the band to create one final studio album before leaving for good - 1978's Obsession. Is this a weak album that demonstrates Schenker's frustration, or a masterpiece of a swan song? Read on for my review.



This album is UFO's masterpiece - they would NEVER release a stronger studio album. It's a masterpiece, even when compared to other Schenker-era releases. It even tops lights out! Only You Can Rock Me, a solid hard rocker, kicks things off. This is hard rock at its absolute best, and it's not surprising the song became one of the band's most popular ones of all. It's immediately followed by another rocker, the Zeppelin-esque Pack It Up (And Go.) While not as popular as the track that came before it, it's no less excellent. A minute long synth-heavy instrumental, Arbory Hill, fades into the classic, mid-paced hard rock number, Ain't No Baby. Looking Out For Number One, one of the big hits on the album, follows it. This track is somewhat of an early power ballad, being slow and melodic when compared to the band's other work. This hit must be heard to be appreciated. Hot And Ready, one of the band's most popular songs (notice how many hits are on here?) comes next, and while a radical shift from the song that proceeded it, it's nothing short of excellent. Cherry, the album's seventh cut, as a cool classic rocker that fuses elements of melodic and hard rock alike, and the end result is the perfect fusion of the two genres. More of the hard seventies rock you've come to love from UFO comes in the form of You Don't Fool Me. A reprised, instrumental take on Looking Out For Number One immediately follows. This is an excellent, shortened instrumental version of the song that fits in surprisingly well. And after a cool rocker entitled One More For The Rodeo, the album is concluded with Born To Lose. The closing track is my favorite UFO song, an ultra-melodic ballad that no other band of the day could even come close to replicating. Schenker's guitar solo after the second first really must be heard to be appreciated. In the end, Obsession stands as UFO's ultimate release.



Like most UFO releases, you can't readily find this one in America, which is a real shame - UFO is better than most of the bands from the era, whose catalogues ARE readily available! You're gonna have to import this album, most likely, and the best way to do so is to get either the Russian or British twofer - that way you'll get two albums on one disc. It's a better value than the onefers that have bonus cuts.



You'll become obsessed (pun most definitely intended) with this album after just one listen if you're a fan of classic hard rock. UFO would never top this one - in fact, no other release in their catalogue comes close. If you're just getting into UFO and want to know which album to get first, I would suggest this one (Lights Out would be my second choice.) Following this release, Michael Schenker would record a live album with the band, and would immediately thereafter leave the band to form his own group, and the band would replace him with Paul Chapman. I'm gonna stop rambling - I think I've made it how clear I like this album. Are you a classic hard rock fan? Then this is a must-own.