Force It

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

{{Infobox album

| name = Force It

| type = studio

| artist = UFO

| cover = Force It cover.jpg

| alt =

| released = July 1975{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/greatrockdiscogr00stro/page/853/mode/2up|title=The Great Rock Discography|year=1995|page=853 |isbn=9780862415419 |last1=Strong |first1=Martin Charles |publisher=Canongate Press }}

| recorded =

| studio = Morgan and Wessex Sound, London

| genre = Hard rock, heavy metal

| length = 38:11

| label = Chrysalis

| producer = Leo Lyons

| prev_title = Phenomenon

| prev_year = 1974

| next_title = No Heavy Petting

| next_year = 1976

| misc = {{Singles

| name = Force It

| type = studio

| single1 = Shoot Shoot

| single1date = 1975 (Europe)

}}

}}

{{Album ratings

| rev1 =AllMusic

| rev1Score = {{Rating|4|5}} {{cite web | url = http://www.allmusic.com/album/force-it-r51751/review | title = UFO Force It review | access-date = 2011-07-20 | last = Rivadavia | first = Eduardo | work = AllMusic | publisher = Rovi Corporation}}

| rev2 = Christgau's Record Guide

| rev2Score = B−{{cite book|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|year=1981|title=Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies|publisher=Ticknor & Fields|isbn=089919026X|chapter=Consumer Guide '70s: U|chapter-url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_chap.php?k=U&bk=70|access-date=March 17, 2019|via=robertchristgau.com}}

| noprose = yes

}}

Force It is the fourth studio album by English rock band UFO, released in 1975. It was their first album to chart in the United States.

The album was produced by Ten Years After bass player Leo Lyons. Another Ten Years After member, Chick Churchill, played Fender Rhodes electric piano keyboard, the first use of that instrument on a UFO record.

The CD reissue was remastered at Sound Recording Technology in Cambridge in 1994.

Album cover

The somewhat controversial original album cover was designed by Hipgnosis, as were almost all other UFO album covers of the 1970s. The nudity on the cover verged on breaching decency standards and the sexes of the couple in the bathtub were not known for several years. The models were later revealed to be Genesis P-Orridge and Cosey Fanni Tutti, both later of the influential industrial band Throbbing Gristle.{{cite web | url = http://www.ugo.com/music/ufo-force-it | title = Awesome Borderline Pornographic Album Covers | access-date = 2011-07-20 | last = Jensen | first = K. Thor | date = 27 April 2011 | work = UGO.com | publisher = UGO Networks | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110829105655/http://www.ugo.com/music/ufo-force-it | archive-date = 29 August 2011 }} The artwork was softened for the initial US release, making the couple in the bathtub transparent. The cover is a pun – there are multiple taps (British English) or "faucets" (US English) in the picture, which is a play on the album's title.{{cite book |last1=Fish |first1=Mick |title=Industrial Evolution: Through the Eighties with Cabaret Voltaire |date=2002 |publisher=SAF Publishing Ltd |isbn=978-0-946719-46-4 |page=25 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wepDi7RgMLgC&pg=PA25 |access-date=10 September 2021 |language=en}}

Critical reception

Reviewing the LP in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981), Robert Christgau wrote: "Heavy metal that's not hard to take? What? Well, the whole first side moves to [sic] smartly you could almost mistake it for rock and roll." Eduardo Rivadavia, reviewer for AllMusic, wrote: "One of the band's best albums, Force It will not disappoint lovers of '70s English hard rock."

Track listing

{{tracklist

| all_writing = Michael Schenker and Phil Mogg, except where noted

| headline = Side one

| title1 = Let It Roll

| length1 = 3:57

| title2 = Shoot Shoot

| length2 = 3:40

| writer2 = Schenker, Mogg, Pete Way, Andy Parker

| title3 = High Flyer

| length3 = 4:08

| title4 = Love Lost Love

| length4 = 3:21

| title5 = Out in the Street

| length5 = 5:18

| writer5 = Way, Mogg

}}

{{tracklist

| headline = Side two

| title6 = Mother Mary

| length6 = 3:49

| writer6 = Schenker, Mogg, Way, Parker

| title7 = Too Much of Nothing

| length7 = 4:02

| writer7 = Way

| title8 = Dance Your Life Away

| length8 = 3:35

| title9 = This Kid's

| length9 = 6:13

| note9 = including "Between the Walls", written by Schenker

}}

{{tracklist

| headline = 2007 CD reissue bonus tracks

| title10 = A Million Miles

| length10 = 4:49

| note10 = previously unreleased

| title11 = Mother Mary

| length11 = 4:04

| note11 = live at the Paris Theatre, London, England on 11 December 1975 for BBC Radio 1

| title12 = Out in the Street

| length12 = 5:12

| note12 = live at the Paris Theatre, London, England on 11 December 1975 for BBC Radio 1

| title13 = Shoot Shoot

| length13 = 3:48

| note13 = live at the Paris Theatre, London, England on 11 December 1975 for BBC Radio 1

| title14 = Let It Roll

| length14 = 4:59

| note14 = live at The Roundhouse, Chalk Farm, London, England on 25 April 1976

| title15 = This Kid's

| length15 = 4:19

| note15 = live at The Roundhouse, Chalk Farm, London, England on 25 April 1976

}}

{{tracklist

| headline = 2021 2-CD deluxe reissue - Disc 1{{cite web | url=https://superdeluxeedition.com/news/ufo-force-it-deluxe-edition/ | title=UFO / Force It deluxe edition – SuperDeluxeEdition | date=13 May 2021 }}

| title10 = A Million Miles

| length10 = 4:49

| note10 =

}}

{{tracklist

| headline = 2021 2-CD deluxe reissue - Disc 2

| title1 = Intro

| length1 = 1:12

| note1 = Live at The Record Plant, Los Angeles, CA, 1975

| title2 = Let It Roll

| length2 = 5:01

| note2 = Live at The Record Plant, Los Angeles, CA, 1975

| title3 = Doctor Doctor

| length3 = 5:15

| note3 = Live at The Record Plant, Los Angeles, CA, 1975

| title4 = Oh My

| length4 = 4:16

| note4 = Live at The Record Plant, Los Angeles, CA, 1975

| title5 = Built For Comfort

| length5 = 4:41

| note5 = Live at The Record Plant, Los Angeles, CA, 1975

| title6 = Out In The Street

| length6 = 5:28

| note6 = Live at The Record Plant, Los Angeles, CA, 1975

| title7 = Space Child

| length7 = 4:43

| note7 = Live at The Record Plant, Los Angeles, CA, 1975

| title8 = Mother Mary

| length8 = 4:42

| note8 = Live at The Record Plant, Los Angeles, CA, 1975

| title9 = All Or Nothing

| length9 = 4:39

| note9 = Live at The Record Plant, Los Angeles, CA, 1975

| title10 = This Kid's

| length10 = 4:38

| note10 = Live at The Record Plant, Los Angeles, CA, 1975

| title11 = Shoot Shoot

| length11 = 3:50

| note11 = Live at The Record Plant, Los Angeles, CA, 1975

| title12 = Rock Bottom

| length12 = 9:08|

| note12 = Live at The Record Plant, Los Angeles, CA, 1975

}}

Personnel

;UFO

;Additional musicians

;Production

Charts

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
Chart (1975)

! Peak
position

{{Album chart|Germany4|35|id=11866|artist=UFO|album=Force It|accessdate=28 June 2023|rowheader=true}}
scope="row"|US Billboard 200{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/billboard-200/1975-10-04|title=Billboard 200 - October 4, 1975|magazine=Billboard|access-date=May 15, 2021}}

|align="center"|71

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
Chart (2021)

! Peak
position

{{Album chart|Scotland|33|date=20210917|accessdate=28 June 2023|rowheader=true}}
{{Album chart|Switzerland|59|artist=UFO|album=Force It|accessdate=28 June 2023|rowheader=true}}
{{Album chart|UKIndependent|19|date=20210917|accessdate=28 June 2023|rowheader=true}}
{{Album chart|UKRock|9|date=20210917|accessdate=28 June 2023|rowheader=true}}

References