Label: Silver Lining Music
Release date: 7/31/2020
Production: Graham Bonnet
Album length: 57.58 min
Genre: Hard Rock / Heavy Metal
Rating: 9.0/10
Alcatrazz don’t need any special introduction for connoisseurs of world hard rock. I’m not wrong, am I? Especially given that those of us in Slovenia can be counted on the fingers of one hand? Let me keep it short. Alcatrazz are Rainbow, running on a noticeably hefty dose of a shamanic blend of fly agaric and Atropa belladonna. Never mind that the band’s boss – legendary vocalist Graham Bonnet – is 72 years old, the Alcatrazz story from the eighties, with a new album out this year, hardly changes in any significant way. True, Alcatrazz did their »thing« back in the eighties and showed the music world what kind of music can come out at its extreme if you take a Blackmore-esque figure into the lineup in the shape of the obsessed 19-year-old Yngwie J. Malmsteen, and you don’t let up on such »misdeeds« even when you bring Zappa’s student Steve Vai into your crew. The rest is history.
Graham Bonnet has always been considered a hoodlum and a rooster. Blackmore, who few can match in that department, had to take a few serious deep breaths over his desired »post-Ronnie James Dio« Americanization of Rainbow, as he eyed Bonnet’s dandyish James Dean hairdo and Ray-Ban shades. But Bonnet didn’t owe him a thing in that regard. What’s more, when it came to hoodlum behavior and strutting around like a rooster, he even outdid the »man in black«. Because of that he made a mistake he’d later regret, when he left Rainbow out in the cold over the phone, bored out of his mind in Los Angeles, waiting for the band to pull together some more material for the follow-up to »Down To Earth« than just the little tune I Surrender. But the cup still wasn’t full. Bonnet crowned his rooster act back when he was in MSG, and ten minutes into one of the gigs he showed a provoked and enraged crowd – whom he had only himself to blame for – the goods behind his zipper without beating around the bush, then marched demonstratively off the stage with his dangling toolbox to catch the first morning train to London before Michael Schenker and the rest of the crew could »find him and kill him«.
Let’s fast-forward. Some fifteen years ago, Graham Bonnet started reviving the Alcatrazz name, with the band popping up sporadically at individual gigs and with breaks in between, during which Bonnet devoted himself to his Graham Bonnet Band, as well as Michael Schenker’s current exploits, Schenker being, luckily, not the grudge-holding type, considering the story above. Anyway, the miracle has finally happened: after 34 years, Alcatrazz are releasing their new, and thus fourth, album.
Bonnet brought in a whole bunch of eminent guest musicians, though the core of Alcatrazz in 2020, alongside his unmistakable vocal presence, is also built on two other original members – bassist Gary Shea and keyboardist Jimmy Waldo. The guitarist, however, is new, so this is the fourth Alcatrazz album with a fourth guitarist in the lineup. The role of the central guitar figure, responsible for the primal neoclassical massacre of »Born Innocent«, went this time to the excellent Joe Stump, who lived up to his role in every way, because »Born Innocent«, with everything it serves up, keeps a perfectly credible link to the three albums released in the eighties. The production is different. It’s livelier, more organic and tighter, without the rustling synth lines and with more Hammond pastels.
On “Born Innocent”, Bonnet’s good old buddy, guitarist Chris Impellitteri, with whom Bonnet is connected through their work together in Impellitteri, appears as a special guest right on the title track that opens the album. Thanks to the distinct cannonade of Chris’s arpeggios, the song doesn’t just thrill – it hints that it could easily have landed on one of the Impellitteri albums on which Graham Bonnet handled vocals. No surprise there, since Chris wrote this song himself. A wrecking-ball opener, then, that takes your breath away in an instant. The late Bob Kulick also appears on the album; he wrote the song “I Am The King”, on which he plays guitar too. Japanese guitar virtuoso Nozomu Wakai put his guitar on the track “Finn McCool” to show off some of his astonishing licks. Steve Vai is here as well, the author of the song “Dirty Like the City”, which he brands with his recognizable solo nomenclature. The songs “Something That I Am Missing” and “Warth Lane” were written by the superb Italian composer and multi-instrumentalist Dario Mollo, who is something of an expert at reheating the legacy of classic hard rock, as confirmed by his competent projects with Tony Martin, Glenn Hughes and Graham Bonnet himself. The guitar solo on the song “Paper Flags” was contributed by the most illustrious Jeff Waters himself, of Canadian thrash metal outfit Annihilator. D. Kendall Jones wrote the song “We Still Remember” and contributed guitar. This lineup alone guarantees the exceptional vividness that »Born Innocent« brings. Variety of ideas matters too, of course. There are only 13 tracks, and that’s not a lot.
Still, there’s no reason for any gloom on this album. It’s loaded with high-octane electrification, courtesy of the heavenly performances of the guitarists and, of course, his majesty, Graham Bonnet’s remarkably piercing, passionate and distinctive voice, which holds up more than decently for a man of his years. That’s all fine if the album is described through the eyes of a fan of the band. So this part of the review absolutely holds if you’re a fan of the band. Because Bonnet’s trademark singing, combined with the often bewilderingly shaken-out cannonades of ultrasonic-fast, unclassically carved-up soloing, can really peck and gnaw at you. In plain speak, it »drags«, because the thing is simply overloaded. Even too lavish and over the top, and that’s exactly what can put a lot of people off listening to Alcatrazz. It’s the same on this album. If you didn’t like Alcatrazz before, you won’t now either. Guaranteed. But »Born Innocent« is a must for all fans of the band! For two basic reasons. Because it’s a credible continuation of the story from 34 years ago for everyone, and because it’s a damn good album. From start to finish. Devilish, sharp, full of wit and a variety of breathtaking escapades. Something still holds up. Phrase and melody. The phrasing is clearly dominant, and the development of the melody reaches its peaks in distinctive choruses. So »Born Innocent« is still, first and foremost, a classic hard rock album. And since Alcatrazz’s commander Bonnet is on board, the new album also revives the classic Alcatrazz approach to songwriting. And that’s the essence of this product. Graham Bonnet’s very well-preserved vocal range, at a good 70-plus years, which still has enough freshness, explosiveness and above all convincing passion, is the central player in the new Alcatrazz story. The voice of course doesn’t burst with youthful freshness, but it still has that desirable distinctiveness generated by Bonnet’s unique vocal stance. This time with less throatiness and a bigger yield of clean musical lines. The legendary vocalist did his job at a high level.
Likewise, Joe Stump isn’t a shredder at all costs; he also knows how to »hit the brakes« and string together dynamic twists with more concise »playfulness«. In short, Stump shows exceptional variability, great inventiveness and, as expected, a remarkable constellation of acrobatics, which guarantees that the album »Born Innocent« can’t possibly bore you.
The cover is old-school. You know right away that “Born Innocent” is a living fossil. Just looking at the motif and the design of the cover. A view through the bars onto the island with the famous prison the band takes its name from. So you’re looking through bars into a prison, which in a way symbolizes that we’re all prisoners. Innocence was laid in our cradle. You’re born free, that is. As a rule. But because you have to be controlled, in a way you’re in prison. Your whole life. Your movement is limited, your reach in achieving and realizing goals is limited. Some things are meant for you, but plenty of things in your life will never come true, because you’re simply controlled. In prison. Born in innocence, you go into debt the moment you accept the rules of the game, that the system keeps you carefully on a leash.
One thing’s for sure. The old farts know how to handle the goods. And after 34 years, the new Alcatrazz album found its way back to 1986 with ease. With commander and iconic rock singer Graham Bonnet at the helm and a whole constellation of top-notch guitarists, this is an album of vivid neoclassical “carnage” that moves with total superiority along the dividing line between classic hard rock and heavy metal!
Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Tracklist:
1. Born Innocent
2. Polar Bear
3. Finn McCool
4. We Still Remember
5. London 1666
6. Dirty Like The City
7. I Am The King
8. Something That I Am Missing
9. Paper Flags
10. The Wound Is Open
11. Body Beautiful
12. Warth Lane
13. For Tony
Alcatrazz lineup:
Graham Bonnet – vocals
Joe Stump – guitar
Jimmy Waldo – keyboards
Gary Shea – bass guitar
Mark Benquechea – drums
Guest musicians:
Chris Impellitteri – guitar on track no. 1
Nozomu Wakai – guitar on track no. 3
D. Kendall Jones – guitar on track no. 4
Steve Vai – guitar on track no. 6
Bob Kulick (R.I.P., 2020) – guitar on track no. 7
Dario Mollo – guitar on tracks no. 8 and 12
Jeff Waters – guitar on track no. 9
Don Van Stavern (Riot V) – bass guitar on tracks no. 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 and 9
