Vintage hard rock & roll permeates Live Together 2004, as the great Michael Schenker teams up with Siggi Schwarz to run through a bunch of perennial favorites like "You Really Got Me" and a trio of numbers from the Free and Bad Company catalog, credible renditions of "The Stealer," "Wishing Well," and "Can't Get Enough" with bassist Martin Hesener doing his best Paul Rodgers. It's the guitars you came to this party for, though, and Markus Gröbel's live mix gives them plenty of space in the speakers to communicate this singular message. There are also three titles from UFO's 1974 Phenomenon opus, including "Built for Comfort," a 12-and-a-half-minute "Rock Bottom" (almost double the length of the version on the UFO album), and the obligatory rendition of Schenker's co-write with Phil Mogg, the classic "Doctor, Doctor," also a staple of the Michael Schenker Group. Schwarz's time in Mountain is evident as the Leslie West thunder resonates here on this very tight and crunchy set of performances. Bernd Elsenhans plays the drums with efficient blasts that are as perfectly timed as you'd expect, and for a collection of material fans have heard time and time again -- in a variety of mutations -- there's something quite electric and entertaining about Live Together 2004, maybe that the guitars are cranked to 11 and sound just fine. The quartet even dips into Mel London's "Messin' with the Kid," a staple of Buddy Guy and Junior Wells (and credited to Wells on this disc), showing some class along with the power riffs. At 62 minutes, this would be your typical double live classic from the '70s if it could be shipped back in a time machine to stand next to Live Bullet and Blow Your Face Out, and (perhaps) be the little brother to Frampton Comes Alive! -- not in terms of fame, of course, but in having the crisp playing of a bona fide guitar star like Michael Schenker letting it rip.
© Joe Viglione /TiVo