Reviewed:
- No Parole from Rock 'n' Roll (1983)
- Born Innocent (2020)
NO PAROLE FROM ROCK 'N' ROLL 1983 (HNE Recordings)
- Standouts: 'General Hospital', 'Jet to Jet', 'Hiroshima Mon Amour', 'Kree Nakoorie', 'Too Young to Die, Too Drunk to Live', 'Big Foot', 'Suffer Me'
Alcatrazz were formed by ex-Rainbow and solo vocalist Graham Bonnet in 1983, made three albums and then split in 1987. They reformed a handful of times over the past couple of decades and toured, but it was only in 2020 that they finally recorded a new studio album. Anyhow, when the band came onto the scene for the first time in '83, they unleashed infamous virtuoso guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen into the rock world, who was only 19 at the time and completely unknown. Any serious hard rock fan knows that Yngwie's got a massive ego, and is notoriously difficult to work with. Even Graham Bonnet admitted that Malmsteen was trying to revolve the Alcatrazz gigs around himself, and he wasn't even an established player at that point. Joe Lynn Turner and Jeff Scott Soto, who also worked with Yngwie later on, haven't exactly been kind about the man either. Regardless, most guitarists were out of Malmsteen's league in terms of technical prowess and ability in 1983, as you can hear on this album, Alcatrazz's debut.
I was never a big Malmsteen fan myself. Just never really dug his Rising Force solo stuff, but I have always liked Alcatrazz. However, despite Yngwie's best efforts to make No Parole from Rock 'n' Roll all about him, I always considered it to be Graham Bonnet's show more than anything else. Unlike Yngwie, I am a fan of Graham (and unlike Yngwie, Graham appears to be one of the nicest guys in rock, even when discussing Ritchie Blackmore...). Always thought he was an incredible rock singer with a cool and unique look that made him stand out among his competition. If there was ever a man who can really belt out a tune, it's him. And as usual, this is certainly the case on the first Alcatrazz record.
I'll admit I never really understood why they chose to open this album with the poppy 'Island in the Sun' however. It's not a bad song - I love the hooks and the whole "Sail awaaayyy nooowww!" chorus, but I never liked the dated keyboard tones on the song. And it's not exactly the best track on here in terms of guitar either, but whatever. When stuck this album on for the first time however many years ago, I was actually a little put off by the record because of 'Island in the Sun'. It didn't leave a great first impression, especially given the great reputation this album has. The rest of the album more than makes up for this though. For example, 'Kree Nakoorie' is a phenomenal track with some outstanding shredding guitar solos, powerful vocals and keyboards that really give the song an 'epic' atmosphere. 'Jet to Jet' draws big comparisons to Rainbow's 'Spotlight Kid' in terms of it's riffs, which makes sense because according to the liner notes written by Bonnet, he states that he wanted the band to sound like Rainbow. And that's no bad thing, because Graham was great on Rainbow's Down to Earth anyway, and Yngwie still sounds like Yngwie despite the similarities to Blackmore's riffs. I think 'Hiroshima Mon Amour' has a slightly bluesy vibe; the riff is quite simple, but Graham steals the show with his vocal performance, and the blues-inspired solo from Malmsteen is stellar. 'Too Young to Die, Too Drunk to Live' is quite Rainbow-ish too, and is a good example of how to pull of a truly melodic heavy metal track. Great stuff. 'Big Foot' is slower and grooves along for the most part, but it's heavy and Bonnet sings the track in a drawn-out fashion. It's quite hard to describe, actually. But it's rare to hear Graham sing like this, and I like it. 'Starcarr Lane' is the other poppy number on here, but it's still solid while the ballad 'Suffer Me' ends the record very nicely.
No Parole from Rock 'N' Roll is an 80's classic. However, I do feel that there's a couple of iffy songwriting moments here and there that hold it back from being a truly exceptional piece of work. In regards to actual performances though, Alcatrazz were on another level, with Bonnet's vocals and Malmsteen's shredding guitar solos. Highly recommended.
Adam's rating: 8.7/10
BORN INNOCENT 2020 (Silver Lining Music)
- Standouts: Basically everything apart from 'For Tony'.
There's always stuff coming out that I never get around to hearing right away. I'd heard good things about Alcatrazz's 2020 release, Born Innocent, (their first album since 1986!) and a few weeks ago I decided to give it a listen on Spotify in the gym. And holy shit! I was extremely impressed with what I was hearing - no wonder this thing has been getting rave reviews. I was impressed enough to the point where I immediately went and bought a CD copy off Amazon to add to my collection.
Of course, aside from Graham Bonnet and bass player Gary Shea, Alcatrazz in 2020 is a different machine to what it was in 1983, with American guitarist Joe Stump shredding his way through these songs. Speaking of the songs... man, they're all great! Well, aside from the last track, 'For Tony', which is entirely driven by brass instrumentation. After browsing through the album's liner notes, Tony is (or was, I guess he may have passed away recently?) Graham's brother, so this is clearly a very personal song for Graham. It sounds out of place among the rest of the album, but it is just one out of thirteen tracks. On the other hand, 'Finn McCool' might just be the best song I've heard to come out this year (along with Deep Purple's 'Nothing at All'). I'm not the biggest power metal fan, but to me, this is what power metal should sound like - shredding guitar solos, super melodic keyboard harmonies and a soaring vocal performance to boot. The title song is a blistering opener, 'Polar Bear' kicks ass while 'London 1666' is obviously all about the Great Fire of London, and is driven by some heavy and precise riffing. The music to 'Dirty Like the City' was written by none other than Steve Vai, who played on the 1985 album Disturbing the Peace. This track grooves along quite nicely and features some catchy vocal hooks and riffs. 'I Am the King' and 'Warth Lane' reminded me a little of Iron Maiden, both musically and the fact Graham himself actually sounds a bit like Bruce Dickinson does these days. Of course, the only difference is Iron Maiden haven't really impressed me with any of their albums since the 90's, whereas Alcatrazz have done with this. 'Something That I Am Missing' is heavy and the verses give off a Middle Eastern-tinge, while the choruses are more singalong, arena rock-type stuff. I was quite delighted to see that Jeff Waters of Annihilator plays the second guitar solo on 'Paper Flags' - I'm probably one of the biggest Annihilator fans in the UK, so that was cool. Oh, and the rest of song is nice too! And 'Body Beautiful'... man, what a heavy, mid-paced song! Aside from 'For Tony', in terms of weak points, I guess you could argue that Graham Bonnet is sounding weaker than he did in the 70's and 80's, but given his age, he still sounds unbelievably good on the whole, and does not negatively affect Born Innocent at all. Without him, this wouldn't be Alcatrazz.
When (or should I say, if?) things ever get back to normal, and concerts and festivals return, then I really hope I can catch Alcatrazz live. Graham Bonnet isn't getting any younger, who knows how long he'll continue to do his thing? Born Innocent is a killer slice of melodic heavy metal with stellar musicianship to boot. One of the best things to come out of this shitty year so far.
Adam's rating: 9/10
