UFO - The Salentino Cuts
by Kevin Wierzbicki
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Last year Cleopatra Records issued Live Sightings, a 4-CD box set containing four UFO concert recordings from the early 1980s along with a vinyl copy of 1972's Early Flight, and that material painted a pretty good picture of what the band was all about for their first dozen or so years. The beloved British rockers have covered lots of ground since then; UFO is now only about a year and a half away from celebrating their 50th anniversary, and The Salentino Cuts illuminates a side of the group that's never been shown before. The guys --- vocalist Phil Mogg, guitarist Vinnie Moore, drummer Andy Parker, keys man Paul Raymond and bassist Rob De Luca --- have chosen a dozen cuts by other artists to cover here, and while some of the songs or their original performers may be UFO influences, the set is better thought of as just a bunch of the band's favorite cuts. The program is bookended by two cuts from 1965 as the album opens with the psychedelic blues rock of the Yardbirds' "Heart Full of Soul" and wraps up with the hardscrabble tale that is "It's My Life," originally a hit for the Animals. In between are songs you might expect, like the cowbell-rocking "Mississippi Queen," a hot take on ZZ Top's "Just Got Paid" where Moore romps on slide guitar, and an extra bluesy version of Montrose's "Rock Candy." There are cuts too that you wouldn't think UFO would cover in a million years, but that turn out sounding awesome, like a take on the Steppenwolf chestnut "The Pusher," an impressive interpretation of Mad Season's "River of Deceit," an appropriately slow and smoky groove for Bill Withers' noir hit "Ain't No Sunshine" and another guitar showcase for Moore on Tom Petty's (yes, stinging) blues cut "Honey Bee." The Salentino Cuts drops on Sept. 29 and UFO begins a US tour the week before that.Release Dates: 9-29-17
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UFO - The Salentino Cuts
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