I saw them on the early part of this tour in Beaumont TX. Graham actually brought me backstage to meet Yingwie, who let me play the Strat that was on the Rising Force album! What a memory!
This was a great but short lived band. Their 1st lp was fantastic. Soon as I dropped the needle on the 1st cut in 1983 it was like 'move aside Eddie, there's a new guitar hero in town!
First time I heard Yngwie Malmsteen and Graham Bonnet I was a kid and it blew my mind so bad that I never grew out of it I'll pattern myself after this man since I was 15 years old I have played professionally for most of my life but I still get chills when I hear him play there will never be another Yngwie Malmsteen people have tried and have came close but you just cannot beat the I hear envious guitar players talk s*** man this guy is a living breathing true Guitar Hero
Yngwie Malmsteen is truly the god of the guitar. There is no better player that's ever lived including Jimi Hendrix. The guitar pick that Yngwie gave me is still my most prized possesion. I've had the pleasure of standing right against the edge of the stage in a bar with him playing a Jimi Hendrix cover tune on his white strat and there is absolutely nothing better. I don't care who you put up against him. Yngwie shreds them ALL. I do wish that he played more blues. Hendrix is his Idol.
Wow this comment blew me away with it's fanaticism. Just a couple of fact checks though. Shredding isn't the be all to end all and Yngwie can't jam. He is too structured for the simplest of jams. Hendrix isn't his idol, not even close. Ritchie Blackmore is his idol. His whole image is ripped off from Ritchie! His Strat, his clothes, his stage moves, even to scalloped fretboard... all from Ritchie. Ritchie is even quoted as saying "Yeah he plays alright but I want my jumpsuit back".
I love that album! Someone make me a time machine so I can go back to see them! And Bonnet on a bad night still sounds better than a lot of other guys IMO
I remember seeing this song in concert, I was in standing in the 3rd row, I remember Graham pointing at me as I was waving fist everywhere...lol...It was quite an experience to see this band...
The reason that Graham Bonnet's vocals are off here is because he is singing at the top of his lungs to compete with Yngwie's guitar. You can see him signaling to the soundman at different times to turn vocals up. Bonnet has said in interviews that Yngwie's volume was a problem live
I love yngwie, and I do Bonnet on the studio album, but live he obviously had some key problems with high pitched notes! Additionaly he had a serious alcohol problem, as I read in the yngwie biography... though this song kicks so much asses love it ! Yngwie was on his best !
man me too i saw him in bogarts in cincy oh in 93 the very day after fire and ice was released i waited for six hours before they opened up and was first in and stood right at his pic mic stand first song was ill see the light and he pressed his forehead against mine like he was goingto headbut me and handed me a signed pick it was truly awesome and still the best concert i ever saw played 3 hours!
Yngwie and a wall of marshalls. All he needed was a strat a half step down. Domination. To get to his ability at this moment would be full musical accomplishment
@zenlikestate well we all have to think, he sung many other songs before this, for example hiroshima mon amour...so u can imagine how he could feel after that... :-/
I can't really help you in finding videos on Graham Bonnet singing, but I saw him performing just last night (16.8.06) in Tampere, Finland, and he was great, humorous, very warm and relaxed. He has a tendency to look strained and forced while reaching for the high notes, but he DOES reach them (at least to my untrained-but-lots-of-experience-ears). He also announced he is 158 years old, so give the guy a break! And check out his Rainbow stuff!
graham still gets in some killer notes and tones ....but his style is so extreme - he wont always nail it - you accept that as part of the live experience
On his worst night, most people wish they could sing that good. Graham Bonnet sang his balls off his whole career. He deserves respect, not the crap I'm reading here.
Yep! Bonnet-Malmsteen Alcatrazz is No 1 ever. I wish they would meet and go: " Hey I'm kinda tired of this shit I've done lately, why don't we set up the band again" I can dream can't I.
Awesome song. Graham is a bit off, but his singing style was probably the hardest to pull off live. You have to give him props for attempting to reach the high notes. Even the late great Freddie Mercury would often opt out and sing in a lower octave note live, probably because he also wasn't fresh or warmed up. People forget that these guys play almost every night, they can't always hit the highs. Graham still rules in my book!
Graham wasn't in his best vocal shepe here , but I Prefer Bonnet in a bad night than some other famous singers on top!!! I juat love when Graham laughs...He does it very often in the live shows!!! Graham Rocks!
Hendrix made him want to start playing guitar, his guitar hero is really Blackmore (he modeled his look after him and even used the same singers), his musical hero is Paganini
there comes a point where a singer needs to acknowledge his or her own limitations and sing what they're capable of singing. graham clearly was not doing that here.
He is just flat because it is live. Obviously in the studio, you can do as many takes as you want. Graham sounds incredible on a studio album. Not just in Alcatrazz but also in Rainbow, Michael Schenker....etc.
also, the bands record company president was indicted on racketeering(i beleive) charges leaving the band without a label and yngwie simply went off in search of more money and fame from a bigger label
Is Yngwie's guitar out of tune on this one? It's hard to tell if it's Yngwie or Bonnet or a mixture of both... Great soloing from Yngwie here though, I always liked his tone during this era.
He didnt just "play faster". Yngwie adapted classical compositions to a very Blackmore style of blues. You can clearly hear and even see the influence, but I wouldn't go as far as to say he copied Ritchie.
