By Vinnie Apicella

Michael Schenker, the legendary guitar virtuoso returns with one of his most imaginatively aggressive rock albums with "The Unforgiven." Schenker, known for his revolving door policy with musicians almost as much as his skills wielding the white "Flying V," has created a truly masterful work with a completely new band that blends the best of his budding influential years with UFO, Scorpions and MSG. Taking the classically musical sound and bringing it into today, "The Unforgiven" is expectedly guitar-oriented, played with reckless fervor, and feverish picking, yet not something that stands out for its agressive nature. Perhaps due to the type of stripped down clean production that's featured, the music itself is very low key, allowing latest vocalist Kelly Keeling's rough-around-the-edges singing to take much of the focus. But make no mistake, the songs all jam fiercely from top to bottom, possessing a specific rock persona best drawn back from the best of the classic rock seventies. Fans of the Schenker of old will enoy material like "The Mess I've Made," "In And Out of Time" and "Fat City N.O." Those who're more in tune with Schenker's more recent commercial sounding second stage when the sweet-voiced Robin McAuley fronted the band, might find more sorrow than delight. Most of the glitz and glam that accompanied their past collaborations for three successful late eighties/early nineties albums are sparsely available on only two of "The Unforgiven's" lighter moments, "Forever and More" and "The Storm," which rounds out this latest collection. MSG is back again, and yes, it does seem for the time being anyway, the lights are indeed out in London.

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