Graham Bonnet's Alcatrazz unwittingly became a proving ground for virtuoso guitarists Yngwie Malmsteen & Steve Vai in
the beginning. Bonnet himself had worked with Ritchie Blackmore in Rainbow on 1979's DOWN TO EARTH, so many of his
followers were guitarists.
Apparently, Graham decided he'd had enough of his guitar players stealing his limelight when he hired Danny Johnson
to replace Steve Vai. Johnson's guitar work seems flashy and capable enough on the few songs he's allowed to show
his stuff. It's clear that his role was more of a sideman and that his playing would not dominate the proceedings as
his predecessors had. Sadly, there are far fewer fireworks for guitarists to behold here.
Instead, the focus is more on producing catchy pop-rock songs that are just edgy enough to be fall into the hard rock
category. There's a decent cover of The Animals "It's My Life" to start the record, but the rest of the material is
fairly unremarkable. The performances are fine, but the songs are just too dull and ordinary to warrant further
attention. Only completists would want to bother acquiring this album.
Bump |
