Gone is Gary Barden, the trademark voice of the Michael Schenker Group. And the newest CD by Michael Schenker, Temple of Rock is considered more of a solo project with three different vocalists on display — Michael Voss, Robin McCauley and Doogie White.

Some songs on Temple of Rock are reminiscent of the commercial metal of the 1980s. A little bit too reminiscent in places. In fact, the majority of the disc is sung by Michael Voss who has somewhat of an eerie Vince Neil inflection to his voice. Songs like “How Long,” “Fallen Angel” and “Saturday Night” are catchy enough to stick in your head. However, the lyrics from the last two are juvenile at best and when you catch yourself humming Hey Babe come over here/And I teach you to love/This is all about rock n roll from “Fallen Angel” or It’s Saturday night/Pick up your friends/we will rock tonite/aaha, it’s Saturday night from “Saturday Night” …  well, it’s the kind of thing that could make even a lyricist like Klaus Meine cringe. But, let’s face it, Schenker’s fantastic guitar solos and riffs could play alongside Justin Bieber’s barf and it would be worth listening to.

Moving on, it gets better. Tracks 4 through 10 are all quality heavy metal songs in the traditional sense (and that’s the best sense!) and there are some real gems here. The best, however, is the power metal punch of “The End of an Era.” While “Scene of Crime” and “Miss Claustrophobia” have interesting unique deliveries by the Mad Axeman. And then for the climax — special for guitar lovers — is “How Long” redux with batlling solos between Schenker, Michael Amott and Leslie West. Good guitar masturbation. In the end, no one can really beat Schenker but he’s a tough one to duel.

Michael Schenker fans will find this a necessary purchase to add to their collection. But with the contribution of additional hard rock/metal legends Pete Way, Herman Rarebell, Carmine Appice, Don Airey, Paul Raymond, Neil Murray (even Sin After Sin drummer Simon Phillips!), etc … metal fans in general will like it.