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No Parole From Rock'n'Roll (1983, 41.34) ***/T½ |
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| Island in the Sun General Hospital Jet to Jet Hiroshima Mon Amour Kree Nakoorie Incubus Too Young to Die, Too Drunk to Live Big Foot |
Starcarr Lane Suffer Me |
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Live Sentence (1984, 38.57) ***/TToo Young to Die, Too Drunk to LiveHiroshima Mon Amour Night Games Island in the Sun Kree Nakoorie Coming Bach Since You've Been Gone Evil Eye All Night Long |
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Live '83 (2010, 51.52) ***½/T |
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| Too Young to Die, Too Drunk to Live General Hospital Kree Nakoorie Island in the Sun Evil Eye Since You've Been Gone Hiroshima Mon Amour Suffer Me |
Desert Song Jet to Jet All Night Long |
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Live at Abbey Road, Lubbock, Texas, 9th March 1984/Undercover Writing Demos, 1985 [The Official Bootleg Box Set 1983-1986 Disc 1] (2018, 76.58) ***/T½ |
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| Too Toung to Die, Too Drunk to Live (excerpt) Hiroshima Mon Amour Big Foot Island in the Sun Kree Nakoorie Guitar Solo Since You Been Gone Suffer Me |
Desert Song Jet to Jet All Night Long Lost in Hollywood L9 (instrumental demo) Stand By Me #1 (instrumental demo) Undercover (writing demo) Double Man (instrumental rough demo) |
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Texas Sentence Live, March 1984/Undercover Writing Demos, 1985 [The Official Bootleg Box Set 1983-1986 Disc 2] (2018, 70.20) ***/T |
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| Too Toung to Die, Too Drunk to Live/Big Foot Island in the Sun Kree Nakoorie Guitar Solo Since You Been Gone Suffer Me Desert Song Jet to Jet |
Evil Eye (excerpt) All Night Long Lost in Hollywood Dangerous Games (instrumental rough demo, 1985) Danny & Jimmy (instrumental demo #1, 1985) Danny & Jimmy (instrumental demo #2, 1985) Undercover (background-vocal take, 1985) |
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Live at Daddy's, San Antonio, Texas, 8th March 1984/Undercover Writing Demos, 1985 [The Official Bootleg Box Set 1983-1986 Disc 3] (2018, 74.31) ***/T |
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| Too Toung to Die, Too Drunk to Live Hiroshima Mon Amour Big Foot Island in the Sun Kree Nakoorie Guitar Solo |
Suffer Me (excerpt) Desert Song All Night Long The Witchwood (instrumental demo) Writing Ideas for Dangerous Games Tape 01 Writing Ideas for Dangerous Games Tape 02 |
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Studio Instrumental Mixes, July 19th and 20th, 1983/Another Rehearsal, 1983 [The Official Bootleg Box Set 1983-1986 Disc 4] (2018, 74.47) ***/TT |
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| Kree Nakoorie Starcarr Lane Island in the Sun Big Foot Hiroshima Mon Amour General Hospital Incubus Suffer Me Too Young to Die, Too Drunk to Live |
Jet to Jet Jet to Jet #1 Jet to Jet #2 Jet to Jet #3 Kree Nakoorie Starcarr Lane Hiroshima Mon Amour Too Young to Die, Too Drunk to Live (excerpt) |
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Another Rehearsal Two, 1983 [The Official Bootleg Box Set 1983-1986 Disc 5] (2018, 68.53) ***/T½ |
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| Jet to Jet Kree Nakoorie Starcarr Lane Hiroshima Mon Amour Island in the Sun Big Foot #1 Big Foot #2 Big Foot #3 |
Kree Nakoorie Unreleased Song Incubus Suffer Me (with Graham vocal) S.O.S. - Audition: Lawrence Juber (guitar) & Robert Williams (drums) S.O.S. (John Hyde audition) Double Man (instrumental 24 track studio demo) |
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Current availability:
Mellotrons used:
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| Jimmy Waldo at his M400 | |
Alcatrazz were actually a multinational band, featuring two members of the recently deceased New England, keys man Jimmy Waldo and bassist Jimmy Shea, drummer Jan Uvena, vocalist Graham Bonnet, ex-Rainbow and fresh out of the Michael Schenker Group and finally, whizzkid guitarist Yngwie (later Yngwie J. "for Johann") Malmsteen. The last-named had already worked his way through Swedes Silver Mountain and US act Steeler in quick succession, while Bonnet, a member of The Marbles in the late '60s, was clearly struggling with his inner demons, his ejection from MSG following an incident when he allegedly exposed himself onstage, under the afluence of incohol. Hmmm. Too Young To Die, Too Drunk To Live eh, Graham? This lineup would make just the one album, 1983's No Parole From Rock'n'Roll, before Malmsteen was off again, on the solo trajectory he was clearly always destined to follow, largely because hardly anyone can work with him for more than an album or two. Allegedly.
The album starts horribly, with the awful AOR of Island In The Sun, after which it switches into fairly typical early-'80s hard rock, with the bonus of Bonnet's voice and Yngwie's, er, 'fiery' lead work, particularly on closer Suffer Me, in which the seeds of his Blackmore-esque neo-classical style are clearly evident. Best tracks? Assuming you can listen to the style at all, Hiroshima Mon Amour (had they heard/heard of the Ultravox track, I wonder? Yes, I know it's a film) and Kree Nakoorie, while Malmsteen's short solo piece Incubus is decent enough. I was only alerted to the possibility that this might have some Mellotronic input after seeing the faked 'onstage' video for Island In The Sun somewhere and noticing Waldo's M400 sitting under a rack of then-modern synths. While nowhere to be heard on that track, Waldo splurges the (male?) choirs all over Kree Nakoorie, with more of the same on Incubus.
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| Jimmy Waldo at his M400 | |
The band's record company stuck Live Sentence out the following year, after their successful Japanese tour; Malmsteen tried to block its release, but failed. It's a shame the whole setlist isn't available, as this only really gives a taster of their full show, but as you can see, several tracks from No Parole... are (unsurprisingly) repeated, alongside Malmsteen's Coming Bach (ouch), Night Games from Bonnet's 1981 solo effort, Line Up and the two singles from his one album with Rainbow, Down to Earth, the rather tedious Since You've Been Gone and All Night Long. Jimmy Waldo took his Mellotron along, reprising his choir part on Kree Nakoorie, the only other interesting instrumental part being Gary Shea's uncredited Taurus pedals on Evil Eye. The album's sound quality, er, isn't great, with some pretty sudden edits, but anyone wanting to hear some difficult-to-find Malmsteen will really need to track this down.
2010 brought Live '83, a lower-quality recording than Live Sentence, but presumably nearer to a full set, highlights including General Hospital, ripping instrumental Evil Eye and a decent version of Desert Song, easily the best thing on Bonnet's lone MSG outing, Assault Attack. As a result, this is actually the most satisfying Alcatrazz recording I've yet heard, although the sound quality leaves a little to be desired in places. Waldo gets his Mellotron onto several tracks, with quite obvious strings (albeit briefly) on General Hospital, background choirs on Kree Nakoorie and what sounds like male choirs on Evil Eye and Desert Song, although none of it's exactly upfront.
The Official Bootleg Box Set 1983-1986 does exactly what it says on the tin: audience recordings, complete with dropouts, missing bits, wild volume fluctuations... Invaluable for the Alcatrazz fan, though, giving several (warts'n'all) snapshots of the band in their natural setting. Disc 1, Live at Abbey Road, Lubbock, Texas, 9th March 1984/Undercover Writing Demos, 1985, reminds me why I do my level best to avoid listening to anything involving Yngwie Malmsteen: the man can not strap on a guitar without widdling away for all he's worth, in a style possibly best described as 'somewhat lacking in taste'. Musically, the live material's probably at its best on Kree Nakoorie, Suffer Me and the pumping Jet To Jet, while covering Bonnet's MSG highlight Desert Song was a canny move. Mellotronically speaking, Jimmy Waldo took his M400 out, although his New England B3 was left at home, replaced by a Korg clonewheel. Four Mellotron tracks on this disc, with background choirs on Big Foot, Kree Nakoorie and Desert Song and chordal strings and choirs on Suffer Me. For what it's worth, the 1985 writing demos see Waldo playing exclusively polysynth.
Disc 2, Texas Sentence Live, March 1984/Undercover Writing Demos, 1985, is an audience recording that includes occasional unwelcome interjections from members of said audience. The set is similar to that on Disc 1, while the demos are keyboard-free affairs, largely just guitar and a click-track. Four Mellotron tracks, again, albeit slightly different use to the previous set, with background choirs on Kree Nakoorie, strings on Suffer Me, strings and choirs on Desert Song and strings on the excerpt of Evil Eye. Disc 3, Live at Daddy's, San Antonio, Texas, 8th March 1984/Undercover Writing Demos, 1985, is more listenable, if shorter than Disc 2, although I'm not sure why they've left in several minutes of crowd noise and Bonnett's apology for Malmsteen's medical issues. The demos? Twenty-something minutes of rough rehearsal tapes of the kind that even hardcore fans will probably only play once. Jimmy plays his usual Mellotron parts, with choirs on Big Foot, Kree Nakoorie and Desert Song, plus strings on the Suffer Me excerpt.
Disc 4, Studio Instrumental Mixes, July 19th and 20th, 1983/Another Rehearsal, 1983, is less 'instrumental mixes' than 'instrumental rehearsal recordings', interesting in their exposure of Jimmy's keyboard parts, usually hidden under Bonnet's strident vocals and Malmsteen's overly-busy (note: understatement) guitar work. More obvious Mellotron than the live recordings, probably for the above reason, with choirs all over Kree Nakoorie, far more audible than on the regular version, more of the same on Big Foot, strings on Hiroshima Mon Amour's intro, choirs on the brief Incubus and strings under the polysynth on Suffer Me, with nothing on the latter half of the set. Disc 5, Another Rehearsal Two, 1983, is more of the same, chucking in a live track and a couple of audition tapes for good measure. Does anyone listen to these things more than once? Anyway, Mellotron choirs on the third run-through of Big Foot, Kree Nakoorie, the untitled Unreleased Song, Incubus (more upfront here) and the live Suffer Me. For what it's worth, disc 6, Dangerous Games Era Writing Sessions, Instrumentals & Demo Ideas, 1985-86 is Mellotron-free.
See: Rainbow | New England
