Theeey’re baaaack! One of rock’s most enduring bands, UFO returns with their millionth album to take their fans to the heights of inter-galactic ecstasy.

One could argue that their time was in the ‘70s, but on this new album UFO prove that they’re anything but space trash. While the absence of Michael Schenker is bit jarring, the addition of axe-wizard Vinnie Moore and skinsman Jason Bonham (yep, John’s kid) gives this newest effort some study legs and then some.

A bigger surprise yet, though, is Phil Mogg’s vocal contributions. His God-like, if a little pretentious, delivery mixed with his gift for otherworldly poeticism is enough to drive you into hyperbolic overdrive.

You Are Here isn’t without filler, but most of the twelve tracks are in a part of the stratosphere that is all their own, constantly pulled skyward by sonically dense power ballads (classic UFO style) yet grounded by Led-bellied bluesiness. The opening track, “When Daylight Goes To Town”, bursts with Pink Floyd ethereality ala Dark Side of the Moon, as does “Black Cold Coffee”, a terrestrial jam that features Moore’s astro-adventure around the fret-board – definitely one of the band’s most eager, technically demanding productions in a while; the story line, delivered in Mogg’s familiar manic discourse, is equally titillating. “The Wild One” is exactly that, a beefy, groovy romp in the vein of AC/DC with more scales and strong bends than your average rock song.

It’s when the band gets off the celestial super speedway entirely, in favor of more gravelly, earthy roads that I have a problem with. When UFO plays to their strengths -- super nova-like arpeggios, planet-rocking drumming and sky-scraping vocals -- that they soar, but softer offerings like “Sympathy” or “Love to Love” tend to get mired in the predictability of telluric muck.

“Jello Man” is the only “rock song” that did nothing for me. The repetitive, grinding riff was droning while the Mogg’s chorus was enough of an assault on the ears that I was forced to press fast-forward before the song ended. The closer, “Swallow”, isn’t a bad song, but it’s anti-climactic. The band has chosen to leave the listen mired in the muck and it’s a decision I have difficulty understanding. And album full of cosmic crunch, should end with Apollonic majesty.

You Are Here marks the return of a legend. Though some might miss the fret-board theatrics of Michael Schenker, the band’s latest effort proves that this starship is still intact and ready to explore new horizons