At last! A rare new vocal from Axl Rose as Michael Schenker's cover of UFO's classic Love To Love finally emerges

Axl Rose onstage
(Image credit: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Power Trip)

Back in June, Michael Schenker announced that his upcoming album would be a celebration of his years with UFO, and that a stellar cast of musicians had recorded parts for the album.

On Michael Schenker: My Years With UFO, the German legend is joined by a host of stars including Europe's Joey Tempest and John Norum, Joe Lynn Turner, Deep Purple's Roger Glover, Dee Snider, Michael Voss, Joel Hoekstra, Carmine Appice, Adrian Vandenberg, Stephen Pearcy and Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash.

Most excitingly, the album also features a rare new vocal from another member of Guns N' Roses, frontman Axl Rose, who recorded three songs during sessions in Germany. Today, the album finally arrives, and Rose's contribution can be heard. 

“Axl is a perfectionist,” Schenker says in the new issue of Classic Rock. “He puts everything under the microscope. He was not happy with his performance on Too Hot To Handle and Only You Can Rock Me, but he did such a great version of Love To Love.

“He would go back into the studio and do something else: ‘It’s not right yet, it’s not right yet!’ We waited and waited, and eventually, he got it. It’s a really good song for Axl to sing."

Written by Schenker and UFO frontman Phil Mogg, Love To Love originally appeared as the final track on UFO's 1978 album Lights Out, and also featured on the band's classic live album Strangers In The Night, released the following year

Love to Love - YouTube Love to Love - YouTube
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Classic Rock - September 2024 - Out Now

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Cover story: In 1976, Thin Lizzy were touring Jailbreak in the US and were breaking big. Then disaster struck. Band manager Chris O’Donnell details the roller-coaster year in which they were cruelly robbed of their American dream.

Also in this issue: Scott Gorham, Motörhead, Jerry Cantrell, Jon Anderson, The Cold Stares, Fleetwood Mac, Terrorvision, Michael Schenker, Idles, The Hot Damn!, Bad Religion, Paul Gilbert and more.

Fraser Lewry

Online Editor at Louder/Classic Rock magazine since 2014. 38 years in music industry, online for 25. Also bylines for: Metal Hammer, Prog Magazine, The Word Magazine, The Guardian, The New Statesman, Saga, Music365. Former Head of Music at Xfm Radio, A&R at Fiction Records, early blogger, ex-roadie, published author. Once appeared in a Cure video dressed as a cowboy, and thinks any situation can be improved by the introduction of cats. Favourite Serbian trumpeter: Dejan Petrović.