Back in the heady days of the early 1980's, traditional foot stompin' Heavy Metal ruled supreme. These were the days when the likes of Rainbow, Judas Priest, Whitesnake, Iron Maiden, Gillan, Thin Lizzy, Dio ere Black Sabbath, Motörhead, Saxon, Ozzy Osbourne, AC/DC and UFO took the charts by storm and dominated the live circuit with their varying brands of classic Metal. These were the days of denim 'n' leather, patches 'n' pathouli, the Friday Rock Show, the NWOBHM, the Reading Festival and the first Doningtons.

:: INTO THE ARENA ::
It was into this arena that the concept of the Michael Schenker Group was born as ex-Scorpions and UFO guitar maestro Michael Schenker stepped out into the glar of his own solo spotlight.
Sporting a spiky harido and decked-out in bomber jackets and jeans, Metal Mickey's vibrant image was more akind to Punk than Metal, a new kind of guitar hero for a new generations of Rock fans. Haild as the new kid on the block by the UK music press, Schenker frequently topped numerous gutiarists readers polls, coming up trumps over established 'heros' such as Ritchie Blackmore, Angus Young, Alex Lifeson and Gary Moore.
This compilation, 'Armed And Ready', captures those classic Metal moments when Schenker, trustworthy Flying V in hand, cranked out some magical riffs and delivered some stunning solos that helped make MSG on of the most popular and respected Heavy Rock bands of the early -80's !!

:: SEARCHING FOR A REASON ::
On leaving UFO, Schenker re-joined The Scorpions for the critically acclaimed 'Lovedrive' opus. However, he had his sights set on his own band project, where he would have complete control over his own particular musical dierction. After being used to further the careers of two of Metal's best respected acts it was time for the German Axeman to speak his mind !
Putting theory into practice was somewhat harder as Schenker started putting together a band. He teamed up with bassist Billy Sheehan and Danny Carmassi, a premature liasion of star talent which unfortunately led to nothing concrete. Is was only when he started working with vocalist Gary Barden, drummer Simon Philipps, bassist Mo Foster and keysman Don Airey that the concept of a Michael Schenker Group became a reality. Whit Rainbow's Roger Glover at the production helm they set about the task of recording the first MSG album.
Luckily for Schenker, MSG were snapped up by the Chrysalis label on the strength of his repuation within Heavy Metal circles. Thus the first MSG album, entitled 'The Michael Schenker Group' hit the streets in 1980 with the above line-up in tow. The ensuing musical approach was very much characterised by Schenker's superlative sonic fretwork, a continuation of the same classic form of playing expected of someone who'd contributed to the creation of some major Metal works. From the anthemic 'Cry For The Nations' to the epic atmospheric 'Lost Horizons' plus the inclusion of instrumental 'Bijou Pleasurette' and 'Into The Arena' Schenker had devised a medium from which he dould explore the diverse aspects of his playing. While hard rockin' cuts such as 'Armed And Reay' and 'Victim Of Illusion were reminiscent of the more energetic UFO classics.

:: ARE YOU READY TO ROCK ::
Touring was now the prime commitments and Schenker had to assemble a live line-up that could compete with the dinosaurs of the day. He therefore recruited a 'supergroup' of talent, the new look MSG featuring bassist Chris Glen, keysman Paul Raymond, Barden and ex-Rainbow drummer Cozy Powell.
1981 saw the release of the definitive MSG album, 'MSG', which elevated Schenker and his cohorts into the big league. MSG were now major players in the Heavy Rock game with high charing albums and sell-out shows. The album itself was very much in the classic Hard Rock mould of UFO works such as 'Phenomenon' and
'Lights Out' and sported a much heavier flavour. Tracks such as 'Are You Ready To Rock', 'Attack Of The Mad Axeman and 'Let Sleeping Dogs Lie', bristled with chugging riffs and dextrous fretwork, putting the emphasis firmly on uptempo Hard Rock, whilst the moody nature of others like 'On And On' retained the diversity inherent in their debut album.
Whit this line-up in tow, MSG enjoyd major success in the Far East and recorded a double live album entitled 'One Night At Budokan' for the Japanese market. It became a major imort commodity, helping to establish the band in the European market. Chrysalis eventually released it following the success of the band's second album.
A major international success beckoned, Schenker was put under pressure. With the competition hotting up, the MSG line up was shaken into an even more seemingly potent cocktail as they parted company with Barden, keysman Paul Raymond and surprisingly skinsmen Cozy Powell who had been lured by David Coverdale to the Whitesnake camp. In came ex-Rainbow singer
Graham Bonnet, and ex-Rory Gallagher drummer
Ted McKenna, joining the remaining MSG nucleus of Schenker and Glen.
The resulting album, 1982's 'Assault Attack', was an explosive mix of commercially viable Metal with a cutting Hard Rock edge. From the spirited titel track to the overtly poppy 'Dancer', MSG looked set for the big time. Bonnet in particular made a significant contribution to the songs and his influence exerted a far more blues-orientated sound exemplified on cuts as 'Rock You To The Ground' & 'Searching For A Reason'.
However, things were far from perfect ! Schenker, now in control of his own destiny, had a bad habit of hiring and firing musicians at will, so the MSG line-up, although seemingly solid, was far from stable. Internal struggles within the ranks of the Hard Rock fraternity were increasingly common and acts such as Rainbow, Whitesnake, Gillan and UFO frequently made headlines news in the British music press as individual players moved out of one band and into another. Sadly, MSG were no exeption.
At a warm-up gig for their 1982 headline Reading Festival appearance, tensions blew between Bonnet and Schenker over an onstage misunderstanding and the ex-Rainbow voxman was sacked on the spot. With Bonnet suddenly out of the picture, MSG hastily drafted back former singer Gary Barden to fulfil duties for their Reading Festival appearance. Firing Bonnet at such a critical time was, however, to prove their undoing. Bonnet went on to form his own band 'Alcatrazz' which was to feauter the axe-wielding talents of hot-shot guitarists Yngwie Malmsteen and Steve Vai.

:: VICTIM OF ILLUSION ::
With Barden back in the ranks, MSG attemped to pick up the pieces of their pre-Reading Festival debacle and regrouped with the addition of keyboardist Andy Nye, touring Japan in early 1983.
Following the completion of those dates, MSG were keen to re-establish their vinyl identity. The fact that they had been touring in support of an album that featured Bonnet's vocals and not the reinstated Barden's was proving a thorn in their side. They'd even considered overdubbing Barden's voice onto 'Assalut Attack' but found it to be financially impractical [lucky us!] They therefore did the next best thing and went back into the studio to record another album.
Unfortunately, the resulting effort, 1983's 'Built To Destroy', was well below par and sounded rigidly formularized, old ideas were simply re-hashed and represented a return to a form that was by now well past its sell-by date. Tracks like 'Rock My Nights Away' and the instrumental 'Captain Nemo' could have been potential MSG classicas but suffered at the hands of a poor production that plagued the whole album. Naturally, 'Built To Destroy' was critically slammed for its rough mix and was subsequently re-mixed for American realese. Striving for a more competent, powerful live sound, MSG hired ex-Ted Nugent screamer Derek St Holmes to share vocals with Barden.

:: LOST HORIZONS ::
As 1983 moved into 1984, the Metal scene was undergoing major changes. The American invasion, catapulted into action by the multi-platinum success of Van Halen's '1984' opus was to deal the death blow to MSG and their ilk.
The LA Glam scene was taking hold of the masses as new acts such as Ratt, Twisted Sister and Motley Crue started to make their respective marks and 'Built To Destroy' wasen't the album to compete with such fresh faced brashness.
MSG fell into disarray. Chris Glen left followed by Barden, who went on to form his own band 'Statetrooper'. By the summer of 1984 Schenker was rehearsing with vocalist Ray Kennedy in a last minute effort to keep MSG on the rails, but the liaison proved fruitless. Giving up the ghost Schenker moved back to Germany and MSG disintergrated. A live opus recored at the Hammersmith Odeon, 'Rock Will Never Die', featuring Barden on vocals, proved to be The Michael Schenker Group's epitaph and their last effort for label Chysalis.

:: ON AND ON ::
However, the name MSG was to be revived for another collaboration two years later. In 1986, Schenker hooked up with vocalist Robin McAuley [ex-Grand Prix and Far Corporation fame] and formed the McAyley Schenker Group, the acronym MSG therefore remaining intact. They recorded three albums for EMI, 1987's 'Perfect Timing', 1989's 'Save Yourself', and 1992's 'MSG'. However, in contrast to the MSG of old days they opted for a more commercially melodic AOR direction.
The McAuley Schenker Group established a nominal fan base spurred on by a prestigious support slot on Whitesnake's tour 1987 European tour. However, declining sales figures on these these releases proved the point that this incarnation of MSG just wasn't the major force Schenker had hoped it would be. Indeed the most interesting collaboration of this period came in 1991 when Schenker joined forces with member on Vixen, LA Guns, Ratt and Shark Island to work on the 'Contraband - supergroup project' for a one-off album.

However, for many modern Metal fans, the legacy of Schenker's solo work remains still to be discovered. Hopefully, this particular compilation will help to ignite the memory banks and serve as a reminder of MSG's superlative Hard Rock pedigree .......