Assault Attack is the third studio album by the Michael Schenker Group, and the only album to feature former Rainbow vocalist Graham Bonnet. The album was recorded in France at the Château d'Hérouville and was produced by Martin Birch.
| Assault Attack | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | October 1982 | |||
| Recorded | Château d'Hérouville, France | |||
| Genre | Hard rock, heavy metal | |||
| Length | 39:52 | |||
| Label | Chrysalis | |||
| Producer | Martin Birch | |||
| Michael Schenker Group chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Assault Attack | ||||
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Overview
editAfter returning to the UK from Japan in August 1981, having recorded the live album One Night at Budokan, Schenker and his band played a short tour of the UK. After the tour, Cozy Powell and Peter Mensch (Michael Schenker Group's manager) wanted a better singer for the band and suggested David Coverdale, but Schenker himself wanted Graham Bonnet. After some disagreements, which ultimately led to the termination of the cooperation between Mensch and MSG,[citation needed] Bonnet joined the MSG in February 1982. Meanwhile, Powell and Paul Raymond left the band for their own reasons and were replaced by drummer Ted McKenna and session keyboardist Tommy Eyre. After four months the band went to France to start recording the album that would become Assault Attack with producer Martin Birch, who arrived fresh from Iron Maiden's album The Number of the Beast. The sessions took place at a French castle, Le Château d'Hérouville.
This was the last time until the Tales of Rock'n'Roll album that Schenker and Bonnet cooperated. The BBC broadcast of the Reading Festival concert was released in 1993 as BBC Radio 1 Live in Concert - this featured a returning Gary Barden on vocals.
More recent CD reissues contain the bonus track "Girl from Uptown", the b-side of "Dancer", the album's sole single. The title track was featured in the 2009 video game Brütal Legend.
Reception
edit| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal | 10/10[2] |
| Metal Hammer (GER) |   [3] |
| Sounds | [4] |
Attracting mixed reviews on release, Assault Attack is now looked on more favourably, and Schenker himself is considered by many critics to be in top form.[citation needed]
In 2005, Assault Attack was ranked number 481 in Rock Hard magazine's book of The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time.[5]
Track listing
editSongwriters are listed in brackets.
- Side one
- "Assault Attack" (Michael Schenker, Graham Bonnet, Chris Glen, Ted McKenna) - 4:16
- "Rock You to the Ground" (Schenker, Bonnet) - 5:48
- "Dancer" (Schenker, Bonnet) - 4:41
- "Samurai" (Schenker, Bonnet, Glen) - 5:16
- Side two
- "Desert Song" (Schenker, Bonnet) - 5:51
- "Broken Promises" (Schenker, Bonnet, Glen) - 6:21
- "Searching for a Reason" (Schenker, Bonnet) - 3:46
- "Ulcer" (Schenker) - 3:53
Bonus track on the 2009 CD reissue
edit- "Girl from Uptown" (Schenker, Bonnet) - 5:21
Personnel
edit- Band members
- Michael Schenker – guitar
- Graham Bonnet – vocals
- Chris Glen – bass
- Ted McKenna – drums
- Additional musician
- Tommy Eyre – keyboards
- Production
- Martin Birch – producer, engineer
- Benedict Tobias Fenner, Patrick Droguet – second engineers
- Jack Magill – album title
- Fin Costello – cover photo
Charts
edit| Chart (1982) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Japanese Albums (Oricon)[6] | 9 |
| Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[7] | 34 |
| UK Albums (OCC)[8] | 19 |
| US Billboard 200[9] | 151 |
References
edit- ^ Hinds, Andy. "Michael Schenker Assault Attack review". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
- ^ Popoff, Martin (1 November 2005). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 2: The Eighties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 317. ISBN 978-1894959315.
- ^ "Michael Schenker Group - Assault Attack". Metal Hammer (in German). December 1982. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
- ^ Roberts, Dave (9 October 1982). "Assault reppelled!". Sounds. p. 50.
- ^ Best of Rock & Metal - Die 500 stärksten Scheiben aller Zeiten (in German). Rock Hard. 2005. p. 14. ISBN 3-89880-517-4.
- ^ Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005 (in Japanese). Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
- ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Michael Schenker Group – Assault Attack". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 17, 2023.
- ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 17, 2023.
- ^ "Michael Schenker Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved October 17, 2023.