Phil Mogg is back with a new solo record, and it’s great to hear from him again. Mogg is of course a long-standing vocalist for British rockers UFO. In the recent years, Mogg, suffered a heart attack, which immediately brought UFO to stop during what was their farewell tour anyways. Hearing him again is sort of miracle considering the health issues he recently experienced.
Moggs Motel is rather a middle of the road type of record. Not too heavy, but not elevator music either. In many ways, very close to what Mogg was doing in his last few years with UFO. The last few UFO records were good to listen to, had really good performances, but you walked away not remembering a song. In some ways, it feels like that here, but there are actually some that break out of that mold. I Thought I Knew You is definitely a stand out track with some hit potential. Sunny Side of Heaven brings out the hard rock feel back again. The rest of the tracks sort of accompany that to various degrees.
Phil Mogg is not going to set the rock world on fire at 76, but he sounds good, and his voice gas a fresh feel. He never sang above his range, therefore, his voice held up quite nicely. Joining Mogg on this venture is bassist, Tony Newton, drummer, Joe Lazarus, guitarist, Tommy Gentry, and another UFO alumni, Neil Carter, on guitar and keyboards. As you can see the line-up follows the model applied in UFO. When they formula works, why mess with it? Most of the tracks were written by Newton, with a few from Carter as well. Mogg of course supplied the lyrics to all of the tracks. Newton also gets the production credit for this record, which really puts him in a driver’s seat.
Moggs Motel is a cool record, very unassuming, just bunch of guys who had been around a block more a number of times having fun. Phil’s charisma is still all over the place here, and perhaps that’s the selling point of this record. There are many fans on both sides of the Atlantic and beyond that grew up with Phil’s music. And it’s a natural thing that they will support the vocalist. It’s a miracle he’s willing to do anything at all, have a happy stay.
Mark Kadzielawa
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