Michael Schenker tells how Axl Rose ended up on his new album

The legendary guitarist Michael Schenker will release next September 20 the album “My Years With UFO“, on which he re-recorded several UFO songs with many special guests.

Two of them are the Guns N’ Roses’ members Slash and Axl Rose. In an interview with “Appetite For Distortion” podcast (Transcribed by Blabbermouth), the musician recalled how Axl ended up on his new album. He said that he actually had invited Slash, who then told Axl he was going to record with Schenker. Then the Guns N’ Roses singer said he would like to also sing on the album.

Michael Schenker tells how Axl Rose ended up on his new album

According to Schenker, Axl Rose recorded the songs “Too Hot To Handle”, “Only You Can Rock Me” and “Love To Love”. However, he only liked the result of “Love To Love” and was the only song he said that could be released with him on vocals.

“When Michael Voss, my co-producer, and I, we started putting down my guitars, and as we did that, we had no idea what we were gonna do… nothing had been discussed. And so as we were putting down the music, we thought, ‘Oh, what about this?’ ‘What about that?’ What about who?’ Everybody had some ideas. And so, actually, everybody who participated on this album was added to the whole idea from different sources and different times.”

“So, basically, with Axl and Slash — Slash, I was always interested in doing something with him, but I guess when Michael [Voss] first approached him that we’re doing the best of UFO and read him the songtitles, he was for it.  When we met in the Frankfurt recording studio, we were both going jam there to ‘Mother Mary’. I had my technician there and my amplifier, and Slash brought his guys and his amplifier, and actually Slash ended up playing with my amplifier. And we were supposed to do a jam, but then I realized, ‘Hey, Michael [Voss], I already put all my guitars down. Why we are wasting time doing additional stuff. I already like what I did.'”

He continued:

“So I was more into focusing on Slash and getting great takes and add them to what I already had done. Slash liked that idea. Then also, when he came in, he said, ‘Michael, I just told Axl that I was going to do this. That I’m on my way to do this. And he said, ‘I wanna sing a song too.’ I said to Slash, ‘That would be fantastic. Ask Axl which song he would like to do.’ And so actually Axl ended up singing ‘Too Hot To Handle’, ‘Only You Can Rock Me’ and ‘Love To Love’.”

“But I think they also were on tour at the time. So Axl was not actually happy with his performance on ‘Only You Can Rock Me’ and ‘Too Hot To Handle’. I guess it was too many songs, because they were in the middle of a tour, and he preferred to just focus on ‘Love To Love’. He is a perfectionist, I have noticed. So we waited until he was ready. Then finally he went, ‘Okay, ‘love to love’. I approve. You can release it. And that was it,” Michael Schenker said.

“Only You Can Rock Me” ended up being recorded with Joe Lynn Turner on vocals and “Only You Can Rock Me” with Joey Tempest (Europe).

1. “Natural Thing: (feat. Dee Snider, Joel Hoekstra)
2. “Only You Can Rock Me” (Joey Tempest, Roger Glover)
3. “Doctor, Doctor” (Joe Lynn Turner, Carmine Appice)
4. “Mother Mary” (Slash, Erik Gronwall)
5. “This Kids” (Biff Byford)
6. “Love To Love” (Axl Rose)
7. “Lights Out” (Jeff Scott Soto, John Norum)
8. “Rock Bottom” (Kai Hansen)
9. “Too Hot To Handle” (Joe Lynn Turner, Adrian Vandenberg, Carmine
10. Appice)
11. “Let It Roll” (Michael Voss)
12. “Shoot, Shoot” (Stephen Pearcy)