Alcatrazz: Breaking The Heart Of The City - The Very Best of Alcatrazz 1983-1986, 3CD

Few front men can claim to have had such a lengthy and far-reaching career as Graham Bonnet; first finding fame as part of The Marbles, enjoying a hit with the Bee Gees’ ‘Only One Woman’ in 1968; a solo career across the 70s; further success with the Bee Gees’, and the disco flavoured ‘Warm Ride’. But Graham found what was possibly his greatest success replacing Ronnie James Dio in Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow for 1979’s “Down To Earth”, and the worldwide hit singles ‘All Night Long’ and ‘Since You Been Gone’. Solo success beckoned with ‘Night Games’ and the “Line-Up” album in 1981, before briefly joining The Michael Schenker Group for 1982’s “Assault Attack”.

DISC ONE
By 1983, it was obvious that Graham should recapture some of his Rainbow glory days by forming a new band with a similar vein of melodic hard rock running through it. To that end, he formed Alcatrazz with a formidable, but relatively young 20 year old Swedish guitarist named Yngwie Malmsteen. Bonnet and Malmsteen formed an impressive song-writing partnership, with songs such as 'Island In The Sun' and 'Hiroshima Mon Amour' on the band’s debut offering, "No Parole From Rock 'N' Roll”. ‘Jet To Jet’, ‘Kree Nakoorie’, ‘Too Young To Die, Too Drunk To Live’, ‘Starcarr Lane’ and ‘Suffer Me’ are also included.

Making a healthy dent on the US chart, aided by videos aimed squarely at MTV, nowhere was Alcatrazz's impact felt as strongly as Japan, where the band became instant stars. A Japanese tour was booked for early 1984, with plans to record a number of dates for the inevitable "Live in Japan" LP. As it happened, the performance at Tokyo's Nakano Sun Plaza venue was deemed so good that no other concerts were considered for inclusion on the “Live Sentence” release, which includes unique versions of ‘Night Games’, MSG’s ‘Desert Song’, and Rainbow’s ‘Since You Been Gone’, ‘All Night Long’ and ‘Lost In Hollywood’. CD One is completed with 1983 instrumental demos of ‘General Hospital’, ‘Incubus’ and ‘Big Foot’, as well as a previously unreleased version of Russ Ballard’s ‘S.O.S.’, recorded at Yngwie Malmsteen’s audition for the band.

DISC TWO
When Yngwie left in 1984 to pursue a successful career as a solo artist fronting his own Rising Force, Alcatrazz not only lost a key songwriter, but also a musician who would turn out to be one of the most influential lead guitarists of the decade and beyond. Although a relative unknown at the time, it was a stroke of genius when future David Lee Roth and Whitesnake guitarist Steve Vai joined the band. Signing to EMI’s US subsidiary Capitol Records, “Disturbing the Peace” was released in 1985, led by the single and MTV favourite ‘God Blessed Video’. Also included from the album are ‘Mercy’, ‘Will You Be Home Tonight’, ‘Wire And Wood’, ‘Desert Diamond’, ‘Painted Lover’ and ‘Skyfire’.

Alcatrazz’s underrated third and final album, “Dangerous Games”, is represented here with a revisit to ‘It’s My Life’, plus the 12” remix of ‘Undercover’, on CD for the very first time. Disc Two is completed by 6 previously unreleased demo/rehearsals from 1985 for the “Dangerous Games” album, including ‘Set Me Free', ‘Blue Boar’ and ‘No Imagination’.

DISC THREE
Possibly of the most interest to fans of Alcatrazz, and especially Yngwie Malmsteen, is the third disc comprising of previously unreleased 1983 rehearsals and writing sessions, giving a unique insight into the composition and arrangements for the “No Parole...” record.

FOR FANS OF: GRAHAM BONNET, RAINBOW, YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, STEVE VAI

Whilst every effort has been made to produce the best possible audio, limitations in the material used for the bonus tracks means that the quality may not be up to the standard usually expected. All tracks have been included for their historical importance, and to present a complete Alcatrazz anthology, in the studio, rehearsal and live on stage.

Track List:

DISC ONE
NO PAROLE FROM ROCK ‘N’ ROLL
1983
1. ISLAND IN THE SUN
2. JET TO JET
3. HIROSHIMA MON AMOUR
4. KREE NAKOORIE
5. TOO YOUNG TO DIE, TOO DRUNK TO LIVE
6. STARCARR LANE
7. SUFFER ME

LIVE SENTENCE
1984
8. NIGHT GAMES
9. SINCE YOU BEEN GONE 10. DESERT SONG
11. EVIL EYE
12. ALL NIGHT LONG
13. LOST IN HOLLYWOOD

NO PAROLE... DEMOS
1983
14. GENERAL HOSPITAL (INSTRUMENTAL DEMO)
15. INCUBUS (INSTRUMENTAL DEMO)
16. BIG FOOT (INSTRUMENTAL DEMO)
17. S.O.S. (YNGWIE MALMSTEEN AUDITION)

DISC TWO
DISTURBING THE PEACE 1985
1. GOD BLESSED VIDEO
2. MERCY
3. WILL YOU BE HOME TONIGHT 4. WIRE AND WOOD
5. DESERT DIAMOND
6. PAINTED LOVER
7. SKYFIRE

DANGEROUS GAMES
1986
8. IT’S MY LIFE
9. UNDERCOVER (REMIX)* FROM 12" TBS
10. OHAYO TOKYO
11. DANGEROUS GAMES
12. BLUE BOAR
13. WITCHWOOD
14. DOUBLE MAN
15. NIGHT OF THE SHOOTING STAR

PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED DEMOS
1985
16. SET ME FREE (LIVE REHEARSAL VOCAL TAKE)
17. NO IMAGINATION (LIVE REHEARSAL VOCAL TAKE)
18. JIMMY WALDO (INSTRUMENTAL)
19. BLUE BOAR (INSTRUMENTAL REHEARSAL DEMO TAKE 4)
20. DOUBLE MAN (INSTRUMENTAL REHEARSAL DEMO TAKE 2)
21. RIDER (INSTRUMENTAL REHEARSAL DEMO TAKE 3)

DISC THREE
PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED REHEARSALS 1983
1. INCUBUS (TAKE 1)
2. INCUBUS (TAKE 2)
3. KREE NAKOORIE (TAKE 1)
4. KREE NAKOORIE (TAKE 2)
5. I’M NOT DOWN
6. BIG FOOT (TAKE 1)
7. BIG FOOT (TAKE 2)
8. JET TO JET
9. KREE NAKOORIE (TAKE 3)
10. STAR CARR LANE
11. TOO YOUNG TO DIE, TOO DRUNK TO LIVE
12. GENERAL HOSPITAL

Graham Bonnet: Vocals
Yngwie Malmsteen: Guitars (1983-1984)
Steve Vai: Guitars (1984-1985)
Danny Johnson: Guitar (1985-1986)
Gary Shea: Bass
Jan Uvena: Drums
Jimmy Waldo: Keyboards