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Metal/Prog Metal CD Reviews

Alcatrazz Live Sentence Review by Gary Hill Recorded live in 1984, this includes both the CD and a DVD of this concert and a shorter bonus show. The video quality is quite good for the time period. The audio is perhaps not quite as impeccable, but still good enough. This band was known at the time for Graham Bonnett (who had previously been the lead singer in Rainbow for a while) as he was the person with the greatest name recognition. The thing is, with a guitarist like Yngwie Malmsteen, these guys were probably destined to be something even bigger. This is more or less metal, but there is a lot of AOR sound here along with some technical elements. This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2016 Volume 2 at lulu.com/strangesound.

Track by Track Review

Too Young to Die, Too Drunk to Live After a cool introductory bit they launch out into screaming hot metal. This is fast paced, technical and solid.

Hiroshima Mon Amour More of a mainstream rocker, this still has some definite metal in the mix.

Night Games Another mainstream rocker styled cut, this thing works really well. It’s a lot of fun. It’s not the most metallic or technical thing here, but Malmsteen gets to show off a bit.

Big Foot This is a screaming hot scorching tune. It’s mainstream, but also metallic for sure. The instrumental section gets quite technical, too.

Island in the Sun No big surprises here, we get more of the same on this rocking number.

Kree Nakoorie Somehow this one is just more effective to me. It’s a great rocker with some exceptional musical moments. It just seems to gel particularly well. It ends with a Malmsteen solo.

Coming Bach After a short break in the solo, this comes in as a continuation. It’s a powerhouse instrumental with lots of classical elements at play. It works to some rather crazed space music at the end.

Since You Been Gone A song that Bonnett did with Rainbow, this is a classy jam. It’s the most mainstream thing on show here, though.

Suffer Me This is a dramatic and powerful balladic piece. It’s quite evocative. It’s a power ballad, but a ballad.

Desert Song Melodic mainstream metal, this is another screamer.

Evil Eye Classically inspired jamming, this is a tasty number. It’s a screaming hot technical metal instrumental.

Guitar Crash This is a proggy, trippy kind of instrumental jam.

All Night Long Another Rainbow song, this is a mainstream rocker. It’s a lot of fun. There is a singalong included on this. I’m not a big fan of those things on live albums, but this one is pretty good.

Lost in Hollywood Here’s another mainstream rocker. There aren’t any big changes, but it works well.

Kojo No Tsuki There’s a real old time rock and roll vibe to this stomper.

Something Else This isn’t a huge change, but another effective tune.

More CD Reviews

Metal/Prog Metal

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Progressive Rock

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