Lights Out is the sixth studio album by English rock band UFO, released in 1977. All songs are band originals except "Alone Again Or", a cover of a song by the band Love. Reaching number 23 on the Billboard 200, it is the band's highest-charting album in the United States. In the UK, it hit number 54 and stayed on the chart for two weeks.[6]
The album was UFO's first to feature lush string arrangements, alongside more complex song structures than on previous albums. Producer Ron Nevison brought in Alan McMillan to handle the string and horn arrangements. The most notable song to feature orchestral colouring was "Love to Love". Lights Out is also the first UFO album to feature Paul Raymond on keyboards and rhythm guitar.
In 1994, a CD comprising this album and No Heavy Petting was released by BGO Records. 2008 EMI's remastered edition includes four live tracks recorded at The Roundhouse, London. The album cover erroneously states that these tracks were recorded in 1976: the correct year is 1977. EMI did, however, correct the writing credits, with Paul Raymond finally being acknowledged for his contributions.
The title track and "Love to Love" were featured in the 1999 movie Detroit Rock City. "Love to Love" was covered by Djali Zwan for the 2002 movie Spun and by Europe for their 2008 live album Almost Unplugged. An instrumental version of "Too Hot to Handle" is used at the beginning of Mark Madden's radio show on WXDX-FM in Pittsburgh, Madden being a longtime fan of UFO.[7]
Kerrang! magazine listed the album at No.28 among the "100 Greatest Heavy Metal Albums of All Time".[8]
Steve Harris of Iron Maiden called "Love to Love" his favourite song.[9] "'Love to Love' is brilliantly written and constructed," observed Quireboys guitarist Guy Griffin. "It has a majesty that makes it world-class. The Quireboys covered it… and when you do that, you get to understand how good the song is."[10]
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