Michael Schenker Fest, the one-off reunion show turned modern rock juggernaut led by German guitar maestro Michael Schenker, have released the first taste of their new material in the shape of 'Rock Steady.' The new song is taken from the collective's recently announced sophomore album 'Revelation' which will be released September 20th through Nuclear Blast. The album pre-order will start on June 14th.

Michael Schenker Fest began in 2016 after the guitarist got the idea to reunite with the original singers from his famed Michael Schenker Group. A series of concerts in Japan brought together vocalists Gary Barden, Graham Bonnet and Robin McAuley as well former MSG members Chris Glen (bass), Ted McKenna (drums) and Steve Mann (guitar/keys). This led to the acclaimed 'Live In Tokyo' DVD, world-spanning tours and eventually a brand new studio album which stretched the concept even further.

At live shows each singer performed a short set of their own MSG tracks before coming together to sing songs from Schenker's other famous band, UFO, at the gig's conclusion. Now they would appear on an album of completely new songs. Each singer took the lead on a number of tracks while two cuts featured all four together - Michael Schenker's 'Temple Of Rock' frontman Doogie White having now also joined the ensemble. The success of that album, titled 'Resurrection' led to more live treks, and now this second LP.

'Rock Steady' finds the group in unusually contemplative mood - at least at the outset - with a more stately pace and melodic feel than Schenker's classic hard rock output. Gary Barden takes the opening lines, and the song gradually ramps up as the other singers join in. Schenker, meanwhile, contributes characteristically fluid fretwork including slide guitar and a tuneful but fiery solo.

Watch the video for 'Rock Steady' here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJ2sqDSpeuU

This song almost did not make it on the album", says Michael Schenker, "It developed from a ‘maybe’ into a definite, after we swapped things around like an added solo, psychedelic pieces, the lyrics, the slide plus all the other goodies and sprinkles".

"It turned out to be a party song telling my story, capturing many aspects of music" he goes on, "It was originally a song for guest musicians to be featured on the album, the ones I had in mind were Ronnie Wood and Mick Jagger; it had that kind of feel. The Beatles and the Stones were two of the first bands I got into. I had the pleasure to jam with Paul McCartney on an MSG album. Ronnie and Mick would have closed the cycle, but when Ted passed away we had to focus on other things instead. We ended up scrapping the whole guest idea!”

He refers there to the sad death of drummer Ted McKenna back in January. The legendary Scottish drummer has been replaced by two other former MSG sticksmen - Simon Phillips and Bodo Schopf - for this album and subsequent live shows.

Download 'Rock Steady' here: http://nblast.de/MSFRockSteady

The cover art for 'Revelation' was created by Zsofia Dankova (POWERWOLF a.o.). “It is a fantastic artwork and a great cover. A picture tells all!“, says Schenker, "The album title and cover concept express things that have happened in my past as well as what is still happening at the present. It’s about passion and purity versus greed and corruption. There is much to say. It’s about time I let people know about some of this…”.

'Revelation' is available for pre-order now. It will be available as CD-Digipak, 2LP (different colours) as well as a limited boxset incl. CD-Digipak, 2LP (red+black splatter), puzzle, poster 60x30, photo cards. Pre-order the album here: http://nblast.de/MSFRevelation

Author: Cameron Arndt

Cameron Arndt is a musician and freelance writer from Glasgow, Scotland. He writes for his own music review website (www.rockandrolltraffic.com) and also contributes to Music Talkers.