Rodion Johan Malmsteen 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 2009, Time magazine rated Malmsteen as number 9 among the 11 greatest electric guitar players of all time.
Rising Force is the first studio album by guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen, released in late 1984 through Polydor Records. This was originally planned as an instrumental side-project of his then-current band Alcatrazz, but due to singer Jeff Scott Soto's appearance on the album, Malmsteen opted to release it as a solo album. It reached No. 14 on the Swedish albums chart and No. 60 on the US Billboard 200, and received a nomination for Best Rock Instrumental Performance at the 1986 Grammy Awards. The album is regarded as a landmark release in the shred and neoclassical metal genres.
Eclipse is the fifth studio album by guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen, released in 1990 through Polydor Records. The album reached No. 112 on the US Billboard 200 and remained on that chart for six weeks, as well as reaching the top 50 in six other countries.
Fire & Ice is the sixth studio album by guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen, released on 7 February 1992 through Elektra Records. The album topped the Japanese albums chart, reached No. 121 on the US Billboard 200 and charted within the top 90 in the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland.
Alcatrazz is a heavy metal band formed in 1983 by Graham Bonnet, Jimmy Waldo, and Gary Shea. Following an internal disagreement and split in 2020, there are currently two separate and distinct Alcatrazz line-ups, one featuring Bonnet, and another featuring Waldo and Shea. Alcatrazz are best known for their songs "Island in the Sun", "Hiroshima Mon Amour", and "God Blessed Video". The band went through a number of line-up changes, with Bonnet being the only member to be in every incarnation of Alcatrazz. They are also notable for featuring a previously-unknown Yngwie Malmsteen, who was the guitarist of Alcatrazz during 1983–1984, and was subsequently replaced by Steve Vai, and Danny Johnson in the original incarnation of the band up until 1987. Joe Stump became the Alcatrazz guitarist when the band reformed, and remains the guitarist in the Waldo-Shea line-up of Alcatrazz. In June 2021, Jeff Loomis was announced as the guitarist in the Bonnet line-up of Alcatrazz.
Douglas "Doogie" White is a Scottish rock vocalist who currently sings for La Paz and Alcatrazz. He has also notably sung for Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow, Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force, Praying Mantis and Tank.
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.
"Since You Been Gone" is a song written by former Argent guitarist Russ Ballard and first released on his 1976 album Winning. It was covered by Rainbow in 1979 and released as a single from their album Down to Earth.
Steeler was an early 1980s American heavy metal band that featured Swedish guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen upon his arrival in the United States. The band was founded in 1981 in Nashville, Tennessee, by vocalist Ron Keel and released one album on Shrapnel Records in 1983 before morphing into Keel.
Unleash the Fury is the fifteenth studio album by guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen, released on 26 July 2005 through Spitfire Records. Included on the album—which is an Enhanced CD—are three videos in QuickTime format. The album's title is a reference to an incident which occurred in 1988 on a flight to Tokyo during the Odyssey tour: having behaved obnoxiously whilst drunk, Malmsteen fell asleep and was later awoken by a woman pouring a jug of iced water on him. Enraged, he twice shouted "You've released the fucking fury!". The audio from this incident was caught on tape by drummer Anders Johansson, with bassist Barry Dunaway also being heard in the background.
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.
Steeler is the debut studio album by the American heavy metal band of the same name, released in 1983. It was largely recorded at Prairie Sun Studios in Cotati, California, about fifty miles north of San Francisco. It was the only album released by the band until a 2005 compilation album released by singer Ron Keel. After the album was released the band broke up. Guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen joined the band Alcatrazz, bassist Rik Fox would form Sin, drummer Mark Edwards signed on with Lion, while Ron Keel would spin off Steeler into Keel.
Mark Robert Boals is an American heavy metal vocalist and occasional bassist, best known for his vocals with Yngwie Malmsteen. He is currently a member of the band Foundry.
Dangerous Games is the third studio album by American heavy metal band Alcatrazz. It marked a drastic departure from the band's two previous albums with its heavily Japanese-influenced style. It was also the first and only appearance for new guitarist Danny Johnson who replaced Steve Vai after he left the band to join the David Lee Roth Band in 1986, and the last studio album that Alcatrazz had released for 34 years, until the release of Born Innocent in 2020.
The Fly on the Wall Tour was a concert tour by Australian hard rock band AC/DC, in support of their tenth studio album Fly on the Wall, which was released on 28 June 1985.
"Mistreated" is a song by the English rock band Deep Purple taken from their 1974 album Burn. The song was written by the band's guitarist Ritchie Blackmore and new vocalist David Coverdale, who, along with new bassist Glenn Hughes, brought new blues and funk elements to the band.
Tales of Rock'n'Roll is the twelfth full-length studio album recorded by the various M.S.G. lineups and the ninth studio album by the Michael Schenker Group. It was released in 2006 after two years of work in celebration of the band's 25th anniversary. The music was initially composed for a UFO concept album but Schenker decided instead to use it for a new MSG album after he reformed the band with a new line-up. Every lead singer from MSG's past incarnations contributed lyrics and vocals.
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.
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