Force It

The four who made Phenomenon, Phil Mogg, Michael Schenker, Pete Way and Andy Parker, came back with Leo Lyons producing again. Most of Force It was recorded at Morgan Studios in London with engineer Mike Bobak; "Let It Roll" and "High Flyer" were cut at Wessex Sound Studios with Mike Thompson engineering. Chick Churchill sat in as a guest on keyboards, and his piano is on "Out in the Street". The album comes out fighting with two hard rockers, "Let It Roll" and "Shoot Shoot". Schenker and Mogg wrote most of the songs; "Shoot Shoot" and "Mother Mary" are credited to all four, "Out in the Street" to Way and Mogg, and "Too Much of Nothing" to Way alone, who also takes some of its lead vocal. The closing "This Kid's" takes in Schenker's own "Between the Walls". Hipgnosis designed the sleeve, and for the American edition the couple in the photograph were retouched until they were almost see-through. Released in July 1975, Force It became the first UFO album on the US chart, climbing to No. 71 on the Billboard 200. In Germany it entered the chart on 15 August and reached No. 35, though it missed the British album chart. Melody Maker and Sounds both gave it warm reviews; after five years of slog, the press was at last on UFO's side. Four years later, in 1979, "Shoot Shoot" reached No. 48 on the UK singles chart.