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Covenant: In the Shadow of "Walk on Water"

James Choma | 11/11/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Covenant is a really good UFO album had that the misfortune of following a phenomenal album, Walk on Water. Even worse, the production, at least to my ears, is muddy, causing some great songs to occasionally get mired down in a sludgy mess.



Keep in mind too that this was released in 2000, a year in which boy bands, Britney, and hip-hop dominated radio play. Bands like UFO were at best fondly remembered by fans; at worst, derided as over-the-hill dinosaurs trying to avoid complete extinction in a musical landscape that would not permit them to adapt.



However, eight years after the fact, I've come to really enjoy the trio of albums UFO released between 1998 to 2002: Walk on Water, Covenant, and Sharks. To me, some of the material on these albums ranks and some of their best work ever. You heard me -- ever. Pretty high praise, but as a fan of guitar driven hard rock, these albums are in heavy rotation on the good ol' iPod.



The stand out tracks to me are "Miss the Lights," "Midnight Train," "Fool's Gold," "In the Middle of Madness," "The Smell of Money," "Cowboy Joe," and "The World and His Dog." This is a great collection of unappreciated melodic rock!



To be honest, I really didn't care too much for the live album that accompanied this. With the welcome exception of "Venus" and "Pushed to the Limit," it's all been done before -- and better.



On it's own, "Covenant" is an excellent UFO album that had the misfortune of following an album some fans consider their best ever. Another item that probably had a profound effect was Michael Schenker's erratic behavior in the studio and on tour. That in and of itself may have doomed this album from the get go. And that's a shame, as this forgotten little collection of tunes deserves more. I give it a solid 3 1/2 stars."