Assault Attack

Assault Attack is a masterpiece on which, around Michael Schenker’s sharp guitar, tension and melody are precisely stacked from song to song. On it, the powerhouse Graham Bonnet, known for his work in Rainbow and others, joined on vocals. His powerful, dramatic voice collides head-on with Schenker’s guitar, bringing the work an unprecedented dense drama. The riffs are hard, the solos fluid, and the playing holds not only speed but fine dynamics. From the overwhelming aggression of the opening title track “Assault Attack” to the beauty of the lyrical classic “Desert Song,” the album’s dramatic range is truly wide, while the catchiness of “Dancer” and cuts like “Samurai” and “Rock You to the Ground” convey the work’s fullness. A record on which Schenker’s brilliance as a guitar hero and the density of the whole band’s playing bind as strongly as possible. The collaboration with Bonnet ended up being a one-album affair, yet the tension its chemistry produced has not faded even now. Welcoming producer Martin Birch, it is a masterpiece boasting one of early MSG’s finest polishes — a dramatic record.