For UFO, it’s always the audience who passes the final judgement on the quality of a song. Only when a number has proved its worth at a UFO gig, can Mogg and the rest of the band be confident that it will also stand the test of time. So the live situation always plays a decisive role in the back of the minds of UFO’s creative spirits when they start working on a new album.
“The parameters for our new tracks are that they have to work live,” he explains the selection criteria applied to the material on The Visitor, which UFO are planning to tour with extensively this year. “So clear arrangements, catchy melodies and a certain energy are required – all elements which we paid attention to when we worked on The Visitor.” The new UFO album will be out at the end of May 2009 on Steamhammer/SPV and includes almost a dozen new compositions.

The three original band members, Phil Mogg (vocals), Andy Parker (drums) and Paul Raymond (guitar, keyboards) plus American world-class guitarist Vinnie Moore composed more than 35 tracks for their latest album (bass player and original member Pete Way is currently suffering from a liver disease and was unfortunately not available for the studio production), thirten of which were thoroughly tested at an intensive meeting in Hannover, Germany before they were arranged in detail and rehearsed. Drums and bass parts were recorded immediately afterwards at the Area 51 Studio in Celle, while Paul Raymond contributed rhythm guitar and keyboards in London and Vinnie Moore put down additional rhythm guitar parts as well as the guitar solos in Delaware, USA.

When Phil Mogg travelled to Area 51 in February 2009 to record his vocal parts, the tracks already featured clearly defined outlines.
“All those who have been into UFO for a long time will find all our characteristic trademarks on The Visitor, and anybody new to the band will enjoy our enthusiasm and dynamism,” frontman Phil Mogg enthuses on the subject of the new songs. The Visitor sees the band benefiting especially from their collaboration with Vinnie Moore, who joined UFO in autumn 2003 and has made an excellent impression on the albums, You Are Here (2004) and The Monkey Puzzle (2006), and on the band’s tours.
Mogg: “Without running down previous UFO line-ups, it’s been a long time since we had a team as strong as this one. Vinnie contributes his energy and amazing guitar technique, and in Andy’s return we’ve seen the reappearance of a musician who has always been very important to the band’s original sound.”

So it’s no surprise that The Visitor features the same musicality and energy which UFO fans have come to cherish from the band’s tours in the past five years. Traditional rock music that could hardly sound more classic, with gritty hooks, Vinnie Moore’s powerful riffs and leads, and Phil Mogg’s lyrics full of eccentric humour, as well as a talent for observation and occasionally great depth.

The new tracks will undergo their baptism of fire soon after the release of the album, because the band are scheduled to embark on a major world tour this year. Concert dates will be announced soon, and appearances at the Rock Hard festival at the end of May and the Wacken Open Air at the end of July/beginning of August 2009 have been confirmed.