''The Wild, the Willing and the Innocent'' is the ninth studio album by English

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...

band

UFO An unidentified flying object (UFO) is an object or phenomenon seen in the sky but not yet identified or explained. The term was coined when United States Air Force (USAF) investigations into flying saucers found too broad a range of shapes ...

, released on 16 January 1981. Their first to be entirely self-produced. Its song "Lonely Heart" was a minor UK hit. Former Wild Horses' keyboard player Neil Carter replaced Paul Raymond, who had left to join the

Michael Schenker Group The Michael Schenker Group (often abbreviated as MSG) is an English hard rock band, formed in London in 1979 by former Scorpions and UFO guitarist Michael Schenker. After the release of their second live album, 1984's '' Rock Will Never Die'', ...

after a disagreement with singer

Phil Mogg Phillip John Mogg (born 15 April 1948, Wood Green, London) is an English singer. He was the lead singer and frontman of the hard rock band UFO, which he co-founded with longtime friends Pete Way, Andy Parker and Mick Bolton in 1968.Buckley, ...

. However, according to guitarist Paul Chapman, Carter – though credited on the sleeve – did not play keyboards on the album ''(see below)''. : The original cover was, as usual, designed by the art studio

Hipgnosis Hipgnosis were an English art design group, based in London, that specialised in creating album cover artwork for rock musicians and bands. Their commissions included work for Pink Floyd, Def Leppard, T. Rex, the Pretty Things, Black S ...

. The album was remastered at Sound Recording Technology in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

in 1994 and reissued on

Repertoire Records Repertoire Records is a record label from Hamburg, Germany (with UK subsidiaries in Leatherhead, Surrey and London), specialising in reissues of classic pop and rock albums originally issued in the 1960s and 1970s. It was founded in 1982 by Ki ...

. The album was also reissued in 2009, remastered and with an expanded booklet and bonus tracks.

Track listing

*On the original US vinyl release, the tracks (on both sides) were numbered 1, 2, 3, 5.

Singles

#"Couldn't Get It Right"/"Hot 'n' Ready" (recorded live at the Reading Festival 1980) (Chrysalis CHS 2454) #"Lonely Heart"/"Long Gone" (Chrysalis CHS 2482) #41 UK

Credits

;UFO *

– vocals *

Pete Way Peter Frederick Way (7 August 1950 – 14 August 2020) was an English bassist. He was the co-founder and original bassist of the rock band UFO from 1968 to 1982; he briefly rejoined the band in 1988–1989 and full-time from 1991 to 2008. He ...

– bass * Andy Parker – drums * Paul Chapman – guitars * Neil Carter – keyboards (not played but listed), guitar, backing vocals, saxophone on "Lonely Heart" ;Additional musicians *

John Sloman John Anthony David Sloman (born 26 April 1957) is a Welsh singer and musician, best known as the lead vocalist for Welsh band Lone Star during 1977/78 and classic rockers Uriah Heep from 1979 to 1981, as well as briefly recording with hard r ...

– keyboards (uncredited) *

Paul Buckmaster Paul John Buckmaster (13 June 1946 – 7 November 2017) was a British cellist, arranger, conductor and composer, with a career spanning five decades. He is best known for his orchestral collaborations with David Bowie, Shawn Phillips, Elton Joh ...

– orchestral arrangements, orchestra conductor ;Production *Steve Churchyard, Gary Edwards, Jeremy Green – engineers

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wild, The Willing, And The Innocent UFO (band) albums 1981 albums Albums with cover art by Hipgnosis Chrysalis Records albums