At first glance, Graham Bonnet wasn't the obvious choice to replace Ronnie James Dio. The short-haired, suit-clad R&B singer was certainly a far cry from his operatic-voiced, miniature dragon-slayer-styled, predecessor. But Rainbow leader Ritchie Blackmore was always unpredictable, and he put his trust on Bonnet only to revoke it after a few months. Enough, however, for him to win over the hard rock crowd with his participation in the
Down To Earth LP and his headlining performance at the Monsters Of Rock festival. After getting hired and immediately sacked by another capricious guitarist/bandleader (Micheal Schenker) Bonnet decided to form his own metal band, enlisting a young Swedish guitar wizard called Yngwie Malmsteen. This band, Alcatrazz, would record 3 studio albums, with 3 different guitarists. Supposedly the best tracks are collected in this compilation. Starting with debut
No Parole From Rock 'N' Roll (1983), represented by melodic AOR lead single "Island In The Sun" with typical 80's synths and backing vocals, the heavier "General Hospital" and power ballad "Hiroshima Mon Amour". All feature strong vocal performances by Bonnet and dazzling solos by Malmsteen who shines especially on the latter song. Next we get 3 live tracks form
Live Sentence (1984) featuring the same line-up reprising older Bonnet naterial: "All Night Long" and "
Since You've Been Gone" from his Rainbow days and "Night Games" from his solo album. Malmsteen shreds unstoppably, while Bonnet puts in a dynamic, although
not pitch-perfect, performance. "All Night Long", seemingly the concert encore, finds him engaging with the audience too much. Placed in the middle of the compilation, it sounds out of place. Malmsteen went on to a solo career, and was replaced by another guitar wizard,
Steve Vai. From this line-up and the
Disturbing The Peace (1985) LP, we get an aggressive track called "Stripper", featuring cheesy lyrics and spoken word fragments reminiscent of Frank Zappa's "Valley Girl" (Vai, a former Zappa protégé, had also played guitar in
that song). "Stripper"s saving grace is its bombastic guitar and Rainbow-style keyboard solo. "God Blessed Video" is another fast-paced song, while "Mercy" sounds like mid-80's Black Sabbath (
not their best period). "Painted Lover" and "Sons And Lovers" are more commercial and totally undistinguished. The rest of the tracks here come from their 3rd album
Dangerous Games (1986). This time, instead of a promising young gun, he enlists a reliable veteran on guitar (Danny Johnson). Not that the guitar was ever a problem with Alcatrazz, it's their songwriting that once again lets down. As if they know it, they start off with a half-decent cover of The Animals' "It's My Life". The other three tracks included here are just commercial AOR. "Dangerous Games" has a catchy chorus, "Undercover" an OK solo, but the rest can best be described by the closing song here: "No Imagination". Apparently Bonnet recently reformed the band with original members Jimmy Waldo (keyboards) and Gary Shea (drums), and Malmsteen clone Joe Stump on guitar. Sounds like a promising live proposition, too bad the Corona pandemic has put all rock concerts on ice. I'd certainly like to listen to them, especially if they play a festival with other bands from that era. I'm posting 4 videos here, one from each Alcatrazz LP. Enjoy!
*** for General Hospital, All Night Long (Live), Since You've Been Gone (Live), Night Games (Live), God Blessed Video, Mercy, It's My Life, Dangerous Games
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