There have been countless "cover albums" over the years, where established rock artists redo favorites from their formative years (David Bowie's Pin Ups, Rush's Feedback, etc.), and the 2005 Michael Schenker release Heavy Hitters treads upon similar terrain.
Put together by renowned studio musician Bob Kulick (best known to Kiss fans as the brother of Bruce Kulick, and as a guest guitarist on numerous Kiss albums), Heavy Hitters puts Schenker together with quite a few notable names from both the heavy metal and classic rock genres.
Featured are covers of Black Sabbath's "War Pigs" (featuring Tim "Ripper" Owens on vocals), Pink Floyd's "Money" (with Tommy Shaw), Mountain's "Blood of the Sun" (with Leslie West), and Nazareth's "Hair of the Dog" (with Paul Di'Anno).
Also featured are a pair of tracks that are "Schenker related" -- a cover of UFO's classic "Doctor Doctor," while former MSG singer Gary Barden reunites with Schenker on a cover of Gary Moore and Phil Lynott's "Out in the Fields." Other featured special guests include Aynsley Dunbar, Mike Inez, Edgar Winter, Tony Levin, Rudy Sarzo, Sebastian Bach, Eric Singer, and Mark Slaughter, among others.
While undoubtedly longtime fans would have rather had a new studio album by the Michael Schenker Group, Heavy Hitters is your typical fun cover set, which at times serves as a glimpse into Schenker's musical roots.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | All Shook Up | Michael Schenker Group, Michael Schenker | Play | 04:21 | 10 MB | 0 MB |
| 2 | Blood of the Sun | Michael Schenker Group, Michael Schenker | Play | 03:52 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 3 | Doctor DoctorMichael Schenker | Michael Schenker Group, Michael Schenker | Play | 06:07 | 14 MB | 0 MB |
| 4 | War PigsB.J. Ward | Michael Schenker Group, Michael Schenker | Play | 07:24 | 16 MB | 0 MB |
| 5 | I'm Not TalkingMose Allison | Michael Schenker Group, Michael Schenker | Play | 04:10 | 9 MB | 0 MB |
| 6 | MoneyRoger Waters | Michael Schenker Group, Michael Schenker | Play | 06:04 | 13 MB | 0 MB |
| 7 | Out in the Fields | Michael Schenker Group, Michael Schenker | Play | 04:25 | 10 MB | 0 MB |
| 8 | Hair of the Dog | Michael Schenker Group, Michael Schenker | Play | 04:11 | 9 MB | 0 MB |
| 9 | I Don't Live Today | Michael Schenker Group, Michael Schenker | Play | 03:54 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 10 | PoliticianP. Brown | Michael Schenker Group, Michael Schenker | Play | 05:10 | 11 MB | 0 MB |
| 49 mins | 113 MB | |||||
| 0 mins | 0 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mose Allison | Composer |
| 2 | Vinny Appice | Additional Personnel, Drums |
| 3 | Sebastian Bach | Additional Personnel, Vocals |
| 4 | Mike Baird | Additional Personnel, Drums |
| 5 | Gary Barden | Additional Personnel, Vocals |
| 6 | Bruce Bouillet | Engineer |
| 7 | P. Brown | Composer |
| 8 | Brett Chassen | Audio Production, Drums, Engineer, Mixing, Producer, Vocals (Background) |
| 9 | Paul Di'Anno | Additional Personnel, Vocals |
| 10 | Aynsley Dunbar | Additional Personnel, Drums |
| 11 | Tony Franklin | Additional Personnel, Bass, Guitar (Bass) |
| 12 | Bob Held | Engineer |
| 13 | Mike Inez | Additional Personnel, Bass, Guitar (Bass) |
| 14 | Bob Kulick | Additional Personnel, Arranger, Audio Production, Guitar, Guitar (Rhythm), Mixing, Producer, Vocals (Background) |
| 15 | Eunah Lee | Graphic Design |
| 16 | Tony Levin | Additional Personnel, Bass, Guitar (Bass) |
| 17 | Marco Mendoza | Additional Personnel, Bass, Guitar (Bass) |
| 18 | Jason Myers | Art Direction |
| 19 | Ben Nunez | Illustrations |
| 20 | Tim "Ripper" Owens | Additional Personnel, Vocals |
| 21 | Brian Perera | Executive Producer |
| 22 | Jeff Pilson | Additional Personnel, Bass, Guitar (Bass), Vocals |
| 23 | Jeremy Rubolino | Digital Editing, Keyboards, Producer, Strings |
| 24 | Rudy Sarzo | Additional Personnel, Bass, Guitar (Bass) |
| 25 | Michael Schenker | Composer, Guitar, Guitar (Rhythm), Member of Attributed Artist, Primary Artist, Slide Guitar |
| 26 | Michael Schenker Group | Primary Artist |
| 27 | Tommy Shaw | Additional Personnel, Vocals |
| 28 | Billy Sherwood | Engineer |
| 29 | Eric Singer | Additional Personnel, Drums |
| 30 | Mark Slaughter | Additional Personnel, Vocals |
| 31 | Kris Solem | Mastering |
| 32 | Jeff Scott Soto | Additional Personnel, Vocals |
| 33 | Phil Soussan | Additional Personnel, Bass, Guitar (Bass) |
| 34 | Joe Lynn Turner | Additional Personnel, Vocals |
| 35 | B.J. Ward | Composer |
| 36 | Roger Waters | Composer |
| 37 | Leslie West | Additional Personnel, Vocals |
| 38 | Edgar Winter | Additional Personnel, Saxophone |
| 39 | Chuck Wright | Additional Personnel, Bass, Guitar (Bass) |
| 40 | Simon Wright | Additional Personnel, Drums |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |