MSG returns with “Tales Of Rock ‘N’ Roll: 25 Year Celebration”, Schenker’s most ambitious project in recent memory. It’s been 3 years since the last MSG CD of original material (2003’s “Arachnophobiac”); with the last few years spent on various All–Star cover CDs. (Heavy Hitters / Schenker Pattison Summit 1&2). This time out, our Über genius presents us with a loose concept album of sorts, featuring the full cast of singers from throughout MSG’s history, with varying results. New vocalist Jari Tiura tackles the lion’s share of the songs, while prior front men each get one swing at bat.

For full disclosure, I’m a huge Schenker fan, and pick up everything he releases. Personal issues aside, Michael is always brilliantly consistent, delivering crisp melodic Euro-riffs and soaring leads, which still can move the spirit like few other. In that department, this album is no different. The problem is rather with the vocalists he chooses to utilize for each project. While Michael appears to handle all the music, his singers are usually responsible for lyrics and vocal melodies.

And this is where the album falters.

The strongest tracks are when we travel down memory lane: Gary Barden on “Life Vacation,” Graham Bonnet on “Rock ’N’ Roll” and Robin McAuley on “Tell A Story.” All handle the job with class and professionalism, and, for a few shining moments, harkens back to glory days. The rest of the lot, range from the pedestrian to amateurish, with Jari being the main offender; wrestling with 13 of the 19 tracks. His broken English sounds painfully awkward while generic lyrics and weak melodies almost conflict with the wonderful soundtrack Michael is providing. Ironically, the drummer, Jeff Martin is a far better singer (Racer X) than most here, yet nobody thought to utilize him? A crying shame…

Another gripe is the disc sequencing. For some unknown reason, the 19 songs are divided into 79 (!) chapter marks. Basically, one every verse or so, which makes absolutely NO sense to me and is quite frustrating when trying to cue up a song. Hopefully someone will remedy this before releasing it stateside.

Bottom line: For completests and those already in the cult of Michael, by all means pick it up. But if you’re a casual fan looking for essential (relatively) recent Schenker material, start with 1996’s UFO classic “Walk On Water”. Singer Phil Mogg has an undeniable chemistry with Michael which none of the MSG vocalists ever seem to match. Only a handful of true rock royalty (Phil Lynott comes to mind) have Phil’s gift of songwriting, whether it be his rich narrative or classic sense of melody. And where “Tales Of Rock & Roll” is concerned, it’s sad to hear a Schenker riff squandered, and hard not to lament for what could have been.