They say you can never go back home again, well maybe sometimes you can. Alcatrazz recently released their album, Born Innocent. Their first full-length studio album in 34 years is faithful to their signature, 1980’s melodic hard-rock character. Founding members, Graham Bonnet (former vocalist with Rainbow and MSG), Jimmy Waldo-keyboards, and Gary Shea-bass, return, along with new members, Mark Benquecha, on drums, and Joe Stump on lead guitar. In true Alcatrazz fashion, the band enlists Stump, yet another guitar virtuoso on par with previous members, Yngwie Malmsteen and Steve Vai. Born Innocent also features several guest appearances from some impressive guitarists.
Many of the album’s tracks echo the palpable aggressive metal shreds and visceral powerhouse vocals that defined Aclatrazz in the ’80s. The album’s title track, written by Chris Impellitteri, also featured on lead guitar, could easily be a lost track from their first album, “No Parole from Rock ‘n’ Roll.”
Former Alcatrazz member, Steve Vai lays down some of his classic guitar shreds on the track he penned, “Dirty like the City.” Annihilator’s Jeff Waters, the second lead on the song “Paper Flags,” Waters lays down a wicked solo with frenzied flare on this Deep Purple-ish song written by the band’s keyboardist, Jimmy Waldo.
Newcomer Joe Stump plays a breathless solo with extreme dynamic control on the song. “London 1666”. A guitar professor from Berklee College of Music, Stump has released several solo albums and was coined one of the top shredders of all time. Stump also shows off his masterful fretboard gymnastics on the track “Body Beautiful.”
The late Bob Kulick wrote and played guitar on two tracks, “I am King, “and “The Wound is Open.” He delivers his smooth skillful style on both songs.
“Finn McCool,” features, Japanese guitar master, Nozomu Wakai, and Don Van Stavern, actor and bassist for metal band Riot. Further adding to the album’s assemblage of guitar gurus is Dario Mollo, Italian musician who composed and plays the lead on “Something That I Am Missing,” and “Warth Lane.” Impressively, at 72 years of age, Graham Bonnet’s vocals still resonate with force and soaring octave heights that it did in the 1980s.
Born Innocent will delight Alcatrazz fans who miss the euphonic, heavy metal sound of the 80s.