Album Review — Alcatrazz

Alcatrazz — Born Innocent

Alcatrazz is back with their first new record in 30+ years, “Born Innocent”. Original members Graham Bonnett, Gary Shea and Jimmy Waldo are all back along with new members Joe Stump and Mark Benquechea. The band is most famous for their first two guitar players, Yngwie Malmsteen and Steve Vai. There are also some interesting guest appearances from Chris Impellitteri, Bob Kulick (RIP) and Vai wrote one of the tracks.

“Born Innocent” doesn’t veer too much from the original sound of the band. It’s a combination of progressive metal and classic Deep Purple/Rainbow. The title track opens the record and features Impellitteri, who wrote the song. As you would expect, there’s a lot of shredding going on. We get the progressive metal double bass sound and the shredding, but somehow the song still has a classic rock feel.

The shredding continues on “Finn McCool” but it’s much more melodic. “We Still Remember” is another strong track. Bonnett still sounds great at age 72.

Vai’s “Dirty Like The City” and Kulick’s “I Am The King” are two of the better tracks but pretty different from each other.

Alcatrazz never really fit into a category and that continues with “Born Innocent”. Two parts Rainbow, some progressive metal, a pinch of Iron Maiden and a lots of shredding.

If you enjoyed Alcatrazz in the 80s, you will like “Born Innocent”. Even without Malmsteen or Vai, the guitar work is still stellar and up front and Bonnett still can bring it.

I wasn’t a huge fan in the 80s but I appreciate a band that can take a 34 year break and still produce a quality record.

80 out of 100

Track Listing

01. Born Innocent
02. Polar Bear
03. Finn McCool *
04. We Still Remember *
05. London 1666
06. Dirty Like The City
07. I Am The King
08. Something That I Am Missing
09. Paper Flags
10. The Wound Is Open
11. Body Beautiful
12. Warth Lane
13. For Tony

*Best Songs