U F O No Heavy Petting CD - Import

NO HEAVY PETTING was the 1976 release by U.K. hard rockers UFO, featuring "Natural Thing."
Japanese remaster.
This reissue is what re-masters are all about. While the original master of UFO's HEAVY PETTING buried the quintet's sonic attack in a muddy mix, this one rediscovers their power and mints the band as a crucial link between early-`70s blues-based hard rock and late-`70s British heavy metal. Every track sounds exhilarating here--including the way-over-the-top electric harpsichord on "Belladonna"--and will rekindle any rock fan's love for these under-appreciated shredders. This reissue includes five previously unreleased tracks, all worth the price of admission for longtime fans.
Following the breakout success of Phenomenon and Force It, UFO had finally ascended to the first division of British hard rock. And after hiring a second guitarist and keyboard player in Danny Peyronnel, Schenker and Mogg led the group back into the studio to record their fifth album, No Heavy Petting. A noticeably cautious effort, Petting stuck so close to the rules laid down by Force It that all the excitement of the band's performance wound up slipping through the cracks. Gutsy opener "Natural Thing" was competent enough to become a concert regular, but lukewarm material like "Can You Roll Her" and "Reasons Love" simply added nothing new. And bass player Pete Way didn't help things any with his only contribution, the plodding, amazingly dull "On with the Action." Even the album's best moment, the beautifully executed "I'm a Loser" (which unleashes Schenker for one of his most jaw-dropping solos ever), mimics Force It's "Out in the Street" before closing with a piano pattern straight out of progressive rockers Kansas' "No One Together." The overly dramatic "Belladonna" (complete with synthesizer-simulated harpsichord), on the other hand, is mostly a casualty of time; the kind of ballad that was effective enough in its time, but simply hasn't aged well. Thankfully, UFO would rebound in spades the following year, delivering their best all-around studio effort, Lights Out. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia

Digitally remastered, Japanese reissue of British spacemetal act's 1976 album for Chrysalis. 2000 release. Standard jewelcase.Record Collector (magazine) (pp.96-97) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "NO HEAVY PETTING pushed the sound further, adding subtlety to the testosterone-soaked rock with beautifully understated ballads..."