There is no argument when it comes to guitar gods. Michael Schenker is amongst the greatest for me. He sits comfortably alongside Blackmore, Page, Box, Campbell and Lifeson in my all-time favourites. And when it comes to formative years, the early albums of MSG were particularly important.
MSG – Live & Ready: 1980 – 1984
Release Date: 3 April 2026
Words: Paul Hutchings
Now, Live & Ready: 1980 – 1984, released via Chrysalis Records, is a 6-disc box set featuring a series of live albums from the group’s formative years.
In 1982, the band put out their fantastic live album, One Night At Budokan, featuring the line-up that stars on the first two offerings here. And the second of these releases, Nippon Budokan 1981, is the exact same show that features on One Night.
The 1980 show at Manchester Apollo lacks the breadth of songs, as One Night (due to having only released one album at the time), and is filled with UFO tracks to pad it out. Whilst it’s always a pleasure to hear Schenker’s work on Rock Bottom and Natural Thing, Gary Barden was never going to match Phil Mogg, even on Mr Mogg’s worst day.
The Manchester Apollo recording has a raw charm. The recording is not brilliant, Barden’s intersong banter is awful, especially the moment when he tries to get the crowd to chant “United”. He was never a strong singer, and he is at full strain here, struggling to hit many of the notes and often sounding out of condition.
His performance on Lost Horizons, for example, is like nails down the blackboard. Providing you can ignore that, then the music here works as well as anywhere, and Schenker’s fluid guitar work is always a joy to hear.
Nippon Budokan 1981 replicates One Night At Budokan, so it seems a pointless inclusion, although you do get a second chance to hear of Barden struggling with Tales Of Mystery and a Cozy Powell drum solo.
Yes, it really does capture the band at their early peak, but hell, I have been listening to the original since it came out. Hard pass here.
Hammersmith Odeon 1983 is next, and ah yes, where have I heard this before? Rock Will Never Die, released in 1984 and recorded on the same nights at Hammersmith in October 1983.
By now, Powell and Paul Raymond had departed, replaced by Ted McKenna and Andy Nyke and with the addition of Ted Nugent’s Derek St Holmes on rhythm guitar, who interestingly takes lead vocals on a couple of tracks.
We get 16 songs on this release, Still Love That Little Devil being the addition from the 2009 remaster, and once again, Klaus Meine and Rudolph Schenker guest on Doctor Doctor.
Barden is in much better form here than three years earlier, and the spread of material, including the Graham Bonnett co-written Desert Song, makes it a more comprehensive release. But it’s 99% already out there, so unless you are a purist, I cannot see why you would touch it.
The final show sees MSG playing Seibu Stadium, Tokyo, in August 1984, part of an extensive series of shows that they played across Japan that year. This recording does, however, vary from the others, as Ray Kennedy takes the lead vocals whilst Denis Feldman takes over bass. Neither recorded with the band, but Kennedy does a decent job replacing Barden, whilst Feldman’s bass work is solid enough.
Once again, it is all about the German with the flying V, and his solos never let you down. The inclusion of an extended Lipstick Traces from UFO’s Phenomenon is a rarity, a short three-minute instrumental that was never played live by UFO but did feature 18 times on this run of dates in Japan.
For that track, this recording is worth hearing, sitting as it does in an instrumental run of four tracks which includes a thoroughly splendid Into The Arena.
Ultimately, it is all about the tightness of the music and Schenker’s guitar and songs on the likes of Armed And Ready, Rock My Night Away, Courvoisier Concerto, On And On and Into The Arena are part of ’80s Metal fans’ heritage. The mixes are of variable quality, but there is enough here to enjoy a trip back in time.
Having said that, Schenker is hardly a stranger to these shores, so chances are that you will have heard most of these songs live a few times before.
So, you pay your money, you take your choice. Whether I would spend time watching the DVDs of these shows that come with the premium two-part rigid box set is hard to say.
But if you are a huge fan, then the exclusive liner notes by Martin Popoff, a brand-new interview with Michael, offering personal insights into the era, the band, and these performances, as well as a booklet with previously unreleased photographs, may be enough to persuade you.
MSG – Live & Ready: 1980 – 1984 is out on 3 April 2026 via Chrysalis Records. Pre-orders are available from msg.lnk.to/LiveReady.
Michael Schenker – MSG – Live & Ready: 1980 – 1984 Tracklist
CD1: Manchester Apollo, Manchester, 30th September 1980
- Armed & Ready
- Cry For The Nations
- Victim Of Illusion
- Natural Thing
- Feels Like A Good Thing
- Into The Arena
- Looking Out From Nowhere
- Rock Bottom
- Tales Of Mystery
- Lost Horizons
- Shoot Shoot
- Doctor Doctor
- Lights Out
CD2: Nippon Budokan, Tokyo, 12th August 1981
- Introduction
- Armed And Ready
- Cry For The Nations
- Attack Of The Mad Axeman
- But I Want More
- Victim Of Illusion
- Into The Arena
CD3: Nippon Budokan, Tokyo, 12th August 1981
- On And On
- Never Trust A Stranger
- Let Sleeping Dogs Lie
- Tales Of Mystery
- Cozy Powell Drum Solo
- Courvoisier Concerto
- Lost Horizons
- Doctor Doctor
- Are You Ready To Rock
CD4: Hammersmith Odeon, London, 22nd-23rd October 1983
- Captain Nemo
- Rock My Nights Away
- Ready To Rock
- Cry For The Nations
- Rock You To The Ground
- Attack Of The Mad Axeman
- Into The Arena
- Courvoisier Concerto
- Rock Will Never Die
- Desert Song
- I’m Gonna Make You Mine
- Red Sky
- Looking For Love
- Armed And Ready
- Little Devil
- Doctor, Doctor
- Thank You
CD5: Seibu Stadium, Tokyo, 12th August 1984
- Captain Nemo
- Rock My Nights Away
- Cry For The Nations
- On And On
- Lipstick Traces
- Bijou Pleasurette
- Into The Arena
- Courvoisier Concerto
- Lost Horizons
- I’m Gonna Make You Mine
- Armed And Ready
- Doctor, Doctor
DVD: Full Visual Concerts:
Hammersmith Odeon, London, 22nd-23rd October 1983
Seibu Stadium, Tokyo, 12th August 1984
