Yngwie Johan Malmsteen ; born 30 June 1963) is a Swedish guitarist. He first became known in the 1980s for his neoclassical playing style in heavy metal, and has released 22 studio albums in a career spanning over 40 years. In August 2009, Time magazine named Malmsteen No. 9 on its list of the 10 best electric guitar players of all time.
Down to Earth is the fourth studio album by the British hard rock band Rainbow. It is their last album to feature drummer Cozy Powell, their first with bassist Roger Glover and keyboardist Don Airey and their only album with vocalist Graham Bonnet. Released in 1979, it contains Rainbow's first hit single "Since You Been Gone", marking a more commercial direction of the band's sound.
Alcatrazz is a heavy metal band formed in 1983 by Graham Bonnet, Jimmy Waldo, and Gary Shea. They are best known for their songs "Island in the Sun", "Hiroshima Mon Amour", and "God Blessed Video". They are also notable for featuring a previously-unknown Yngwie Malmsteen as their lead guitarist for a year, who was then replaced by Steve Vai, with whom they recorded one album.
Vinnie Vincent Invasion is an American glam metal band, formed in 1984 by former Kiss guitarist Vinnie Vincent.
Graham Bonnet is an English rock singer. He has recorded and performed as a solo artist and as a member of several hard rock and heavy metal bands including Rainbow, Michael Schenker Group, Alcatrazz, and Impellitteri. He is known for his powerful singing voice but is capable of also singing soft melodies. His singing has been noted as "very loud" by both his contemporaries and himself, and he claims to be a self-taught singer with "no discipline for lessons". Bonnet's visual style, considered uncharacteristic of hard rock musicians, has been described as being a cross between Don Johnson in Miami Vice and James Dean.
Disturbing the Peace is the second studio album by the American heavy metal band Alcatrazz, released in 1985. It is the band's only album to feature guitarist Steve Vai. The album remained for 7 weeks on the Billboard 200 albums chart, peaking at No. 145.
Wonderworld is the seventh studio album by English rock band Uriah Heep, released in 1974 by Bronze Records in the UK and Warner Bros. Records in the US. Wonderworld was the last Uriah Heep album to feature bass player Gary Thain.
No Parole from Rock 'n' Roll is the first album by American heavy metal band Alcatrazz led by veteran singer Graham Bonnet, released in 1983. It spent seven weeks on the Billboard 200 albums chart, peaking at No. 128. The album precipitated guitarist's Yngwie Malmsteen solo career, and is most famous for the single "Island in the Sun".
Live Sentence (1984) is the only live album released by the American heavy metal band Alcatrazz featuring the band's original line-up. The live concert recorded for the album was performed on 28 January 1984 at Nakano Sun Plaza in Tokyo. In addition to tracks from Alcatrazz's debut album, No Parole from Rock 'n" Roll, the album includes performances by Alcatrazz of songs from the Rainbow album Down to Earth recorded and released when Graham Bonnet, Alcatrazz's singer and primary lyricist, was the lead singer of Rainbow. According to Billboard, the album spent 16 weeks on the chart and peaked at No. 133.
QR is the sixth studio album by American heavy metal band Quiet Riot, released on October 21, 1988. The album featured a major line-up change. Singer and founding member Kevin DuBrow had been fired before the recording sessions began, and replaced by Rough Cutt vocalist Paul Shortino. The band had fired DuBrow mainly because of comments he was making to the metal press about Quiet Riot's supposed superiority over other bands, which strained friendships that members of Quiet Riot had with those bands. Shortino's hiring was not the only line-up change, as Chuck Wright had quit the band and was replaced by Sean McNabb. This left the album with the distinction of being the only Quiet Riot release without DuBrow on vocals, or any other original members.
Great White is the first full-length album by the American rock band Great White. Three tracks are taken from the band's previous EP, albeit in re-recorded versions. The musical style of this album is very different from the following highly successful releases of Great White, as they display here a more hard-driving metal sound as opposed to their later, blues-infused rock sound. EMI America judged the album a disaster and Great White was dropped. This led to a rethink by the band, and they became less heavy, introducing a tame hard rock sound for later albums.
Hellacious Acres is the second album by heavy metal band Dangerous Toys, released in 1991. It was produced by Roy Thomas Baker, and includes a cover of Bad Company's "Feel Like Makin' Love", while "Line 'Em Up" and "Gimme' No Lip" were released as singles to promote the album. This is Dangerous Toys' last album to be released on Columbia Records, and the only album that guitarist Danny Aaron played on, as he left the band during the 1991-1992 Hellacious Acres tour.
Anthem is a Japanese heavy metal band that was formed during the early 1980s in Tokyo. They are among the many heavy metal bands founded in Japan during that time and are considered to be one of the most successful and influential, alongside Loudness and Earthshaker.
Assault Attack is the third studio album by the Michael Schenker Group, and the only album to feature former Rainbow vocalist Graham Bonnet. The album was recorded in France at the Château d'Hérouville and was produced by Martin Birch.
Rockschool is a television series aired by the BBC and PBS on 1 November 1983. The series explored the history of rock music and gave instruction in popular performance techniques.
Line-Up is the third album released by English singer, Graham Bonnet, formerly of Rainbow. The album made extensive use of backing musicians and writers who, at the time, belonged to the bands Whitesnake and Status Quo.
The Day I Went Mad is the sixth solo album by English rock singer Graham Bonnet, originally released in 1999. Much like his previous solo efforts, Bonnet enlisted a host of guest musicians for the recording, including former Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash, Def Leppard guitarist Vivian Campbell and Vanilla Fudge bassist Tim Bogert. The album cover was illustrated by guitarist Mario Parga, who plays on several tracks.
Underground is the fifth solo album by English rock singer Graham Bonnet, originally released in 1997. Underground reunites Bonnet with guitarist Danny Johnson, who previously performed with Bonnet in Alcatrazz. "Lost in Hollywood" is a re-recording of a song Bonnet recorded during his tenure with Rainbow.
"I Surrender" is a song written by former Argent guitarist and singer Russ Ballard and first released by Head East as a single in October 1980 from their sixth album U.S. 1. It is better known for being a hit for Rainbow the following year, reaching number 3 on the UK Singles Charts.
Born Innocent is the fourth studio album by heavy metal band Alcatrazz, released in 2020 by the label Silver Lining Music. This is the band's first studio album release since Dangerous Games in 1986, marking the longest gap between two studio albums in the Alcatrazz discography. Several months after the album's release, it was announced that Graham Bonnet and the other members of the band would be parting ways, with both continuing to record as Alcatrazz separately.
