Customer Reviews

No Parole From Rock & Roll

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This was the first album I owned that featured Yngwie Malmsteen. I was in high school at the time and had read about Yngwie in several magazines. A local radio station played "Island in the Sun" one evening and the song caught my ear - the next day I purchased it on vinyl.

I just recently received this album on CD and have finally been able to listen to the tunes again. To sum it up: it's a very fun record and for Yngwie fans, a must-own item. Compared to the Steeler disc, Yngwie sounds more at ease and his playing fits the songs much more, no doubt due to the fact that Yngwie had about zero writing input with Steeler.

With Alcatrazz, Yngwie wrote or co-wrote every tune and the difference is rather night-and-day because of it. Graham Bonnet does some good work, although his vocal style is a rather raspy half-shout at times. Still, if you like Graham's work with Rainbow or MSG, you'll do fine with this. You can even hear some progressive-sounding elements in some songs, too, which again is a step forward from Steeler. This band is definitely several notches up from Steeler.

To compare it to Yngwie's solo debut would be tough to do. Alcatrazz was more of a vocal-oriented/rock project and probably more accessible to the casual rock fan. Yngwie still gets plenty of spots to shine instrumentally, however, so don't get the feeling that Yngwie only gets little 8-bar solos. If you are an Yngwie fanatic, you'll want both this album and Alcatrazz's live disc, "Live Sentence".

Like Martin Popoff, the witty and highly knowledgeable author of the informative Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal, I have to concede that this is one of my 25 all time favorite metal albums. Notwithstanding obvious similarities with Rainbow, Alcatrazz proved to be innovators in their own right by taking the strongest musical and lyrical elements of that band along with incorporating their own ambitious concepts with the result that Ritchie Blackmore's contemporary albums with Joe Lynn Turner appeared comparatively bland and unadventurous.
Popoff is exactly right in contending that Graham Bonnet exerted a strong influence on Yngwie on this masterful album as the latter's riffs and solos are more distinguished than those of the Rising Force era. For example, "General Hospital" features a haunting opening riff and an unusual chord progression which suggests that Graham influenced Yngwie to allocate more focus to the unpredictable tempo changes than would ordinarily be featured on Yngwie's subsequent catalogue. Whereas on future songs like "Dark Ages" where it is clear that Yngwie cannot wait to solo immediately following the second chorus, on "General Hospital" he exhibits unconventional patience and commences the solo at a junture elevating the track to a higher dramatic plane.
Along with a stronger sense of timing, Yngwie's solo for this mesmerizing song likewise exhibits superior composition, for instead of typically performing fretboard runs with wild abandon, he cleverly starts at a moderate speed reflecting the chuggish tempo of the track before escalating to a lyrical, plaintive string bending wail which brilliantly complements Graham's ominous tale of forced incarceration in an imprisoning hospital which easily could have been located in the historical Alcatraz.
Similarly distinctive melodic soloing is featured on "Jet to Jet," which, in addition to featuring obligatory shredding, also includes a discernible melody on the high E string reminiscent of the Scorpions' tracks "Virgin Killer" and "He's a Man/ She's a Woman." Indeed, of all Yngwie's albums, his solos on No Parole have the strongest Uli Roth influence in emphasizing musical correlation to the songs' structure while aptly displaying his mind-blowing technique which still remains astonishing despite the proliferation of subsequent neo-classical guitarists.
Naturally, "Kree Nakoorie" and "Bigfoot" are the album's high points in powerfully showcasing the equal songwriting contributions of Graham and Yngwie. While the exceptional solos undoubtedly represent Yngwie's individual output, the slow, majestic verses and sophisticated mythological lyrics unmistakably reflect Graham's influence which together produce an outstanding collaboration.
Although this partnership proved to be sadly ephemeral, the fact that Yngwie's ensuing albums never fully recaptured the unique atmosphere of No Parole invites speculation as to how much stronger his solo catalogue would have become had he been amenable towards working with a significant collaborator (and by that meaning more than periodically allowing a temporary vocalist to co-write lyrics.) In any event, No Parole stands as one of the landmark metal albums of the 80's, a true artistic product from an underappreciated supergroup.

I bought this album in high school, when I was first learning to play guitar and read about 19-year-old sensation Yngwie in Guitar Player magazine. He had just left Steeler (in which setting he had no writing input, only laying down the lead guitar tracks on their record) and put together Alcatrazz with Graham Bonnet. (GB had previously been in Rainbow, with one of YM's two biggest rock heroes, Richie Blackmore [the other rock influence, of course, being Hendrix], so this was something of a personal coup for YM at the time.)

This record was probably the last time Yngwie worked in a true collaborative approach - his later stuff all closely tracks his personal vision for what the songs should sound like, but on the Alcatrazz record, he was mainly writing music for a rock band setting, GB wrote most of the lyrics, and Jimmy Waldo had some input as well. So in both writing and performance, he wasn't in complete control of what everyone was doing. He's happier now controlling everything himself, but this was still a great album.

In particular, he was restrained enough not to try to fill every bar with whatever random notes drifted through his mind. He was more economical about arranging, with clearly defined solos in the middle of songs, intros and outros, and some intricate musical passages that were carefully fit into the songs' overall structures. Check out "General Hospital", "Jet To Jet", and "Too Young To Die, Too Drunk To Live", for examples.

I'd say this record pretty much announced YM to the world, and YM almost single-handedly started the neoclassical metal guitar virtuoso wave that swept the 80s. He didn't just *add* classical elements to his playing, he had completely assimilated Bach, Beethoven, Paganini, Mussorgsky, Abinoni, etc. into his musical psyche, and their influence just comes through organically.

What Mozart might have written and recorded if he had been born in the 1960s.

This album is great! The style is typically Yngwie Malmsteen flavored with Graham Bonnet's vocals. I'm not a particular fan of Bonnet's singing style but the album is a precursor to modern Power Metal so one has to see it from that light. If you, like me, are particularly fond of Yngwie's first solo albums (e.g. Marching Out and Trilogy) you gonna love this one!

All songs are really good, from the first track (Island in the Sun) to the last (Suffer Me) and the guitar play is just amazing. In my opinion, there is no Yngwie Malmsteen album where the guitar playing can beat the one on this album. Just listen to the intro of "Bigfoot"!

Another thing I like with this album is the lyrics. They're all very political and critical of society. Most lyrics are (critical) about drugs, war and colonialism. One example from "Too Young to Die, Too Drunk to Live":

Daddie's princess fixes her hair, powders
her nose from the inside
Smokes in the car, drinks her last beer,
soon she'll be ready for one more day

Some lines from "Hiroshima Mon Amour":

They all said it would end the war
and we thanked Christ for the bomb,
and the priests and witches all agreed
they should die to keep them free.

To sum up: If you like Yngwie Malmsteen, great guitars and conscious lyrics this is the perfect album. Expect a record that sounds very much like Yngwie always do, but yet unlike any other albums you have ever heard.

I even play this album more often than "Marching Out". That says a lot about how much I like it.

This album has a suprisingly high amount of stars backing it up.
I always found that it was a patchy affair with one good song followed by a very average effort.
Admittedly it does have some great moments as well.
I enjoy hearing Malmsteen within the framework of a band,he sounds free to do what he pleases but he does not smother the album with his guitar workouts.
He is a great guitarist but he is far easier to stomach like this than in full Mozart Guitar master phase.
Graham Bonnet puts in a solid vocal performance,for the time period it is a good album but it is not great.

This is a great record in it's gengre. I'm not particulary fond of Graham Bonnet's voice, but it fits well on this record. The overall sound is very "Yngwie", and I've heard Yngwie was kicked out after the record because Bonnet thought he was too dominant on the record.

The lyrics are great with lots of intelligent and socially engaged songs, such as "Hiroshima Mon Amour" and "Too Drunk to Live, Too Young to Die". The latter deserves credit e.g. for the line "...fixes her hair - powders the nose from the inside..."

The music is typically early-Yngwie-Malmsteen-speed-metal music - probably this one was a ground breaker for bands such as Blind Guardian and Stratovarius. In a way, Yngwie has borrowed much from Rainbow, so it is ironical that though the vocals are sung by ex Rainbow singer Graham Bonnet, the sound is all Yngwie Malmsteen. Still, Richie Blackmore's influences on Malmsteen are strong, with organ, cembalo and bach-like tunes.

What's so special with this album is that every single song is great. Not just OK, but really good. It's hard to chose a single favorite, but I especially like "Too Drunk to Live, too Young to die", "Jet to Jet" and "Starcarr Lane". "General Hospital" and the terminating ballad "Suffer Me" are great as well. The rif in "Bigfoot" is a copy of "Ain't talking about love" with Van Halen, but apart from that it's a very good song. "Hiroshima Mon Amour" together with "Island in the Sun" were the greatest hit on this record, I think. "Kree Nakoorie" has an intro that would have been at least as famous as Alan Parson's "Sirius" if any team had used it for team presentations in their home games. "Incubus", finally could have been taken from a Yngwie Record, particulary "Marching Out".

Any Yngwie fan will love this record!

With Rainbow alumnus Graham Bonnet on vocals and future guiter God Yngwie Malmsteem on the strings, this is a true collector's item. "No Parole" is a mixture of silly but catchy pop metal, great lyrics, powerful singing, and of course Yngwie. I doubt there are too many CDs in your archives quite like this one!

Bonnet's usually annoying gravelly voice (see "Impeliteri (sic)") is well harnessed on this release, belting out the emotional "Hiroshima Mon Amour" and "Kree Nakori". He is especially menacing on the both humorous yet well thought out "Big Foot", a tribute to of all things the Abominable Smowman! Also hypnotizing is "Too Young To Die, To Drunk to Live" backed by great guitar and keyboards. "No Parole" is Bonnet's finest hour.

But the masterpiece of Alcatrazz's first effort is "General Hospital", a very very eerie song about waking up in . . well a hospital and not knowing how you got there. Backed by Yngwie's trademark riffs, Bonnet in his most sinister tells the patient "Please lay there . . .please be still . . we will help you rest for a while!" You may reconsider that last shot of kamikaze after hearing this one.

I believe this may have been the first time Malmsteen was heard on vinyl, and in Alcatrazz you get to hear early bites of what would be a brilliant, if short lived run in the mid 80s.

Alcatrazz is an obscure, yet worthy addition to your metal library.

This is the 'album' that introduced the genius of Yngwie J. Malmsteen to the hard rock masses. I remember being a student at Seton Hall University in Jersey at the time, and my roomate and I, both hard rock/metal heads and musicians, were sitting around discussing great hard rock/metal guitarists. Literally just weeks before this gem of an album was released and took us by surprise, we had this conversation about how although the metal genre has some killer players, there is still going to be a relatively obscure guitarist whose style is going to blow everyone away, it is going to be so distinct and mind-blowing when he makes his appearance. We agreed that there is still a style or niche that will make itself apparent when this obscure guitarist makes his debut and/or makes himself known. So you can imagine the utter look of joyous shock on our faces when we walked into the record store and picked up and listened to this album (back then it was an LP, not a CD), just based on the strength of the cool album cover and Graham Bonnett's name alone. When we got back to our dorm and popped this album on our turntable, we literally nearly 'peed our pants' when we first heard Yngwie's crunchingly gorgeous neo-classical, precise soloing and clockwork chords! We then instantly knew that this Swedish player with the strange name was the next 'hypothetical' metal guitar god we wished for and had discussed. Right there and then. There was NO question about it! The only other time I have been as floored by hearing a new artist was when I 'discovered' Queensryche (around the same time) by playing 'The Warning'. In any case, EVERY song on 'NPFR&R' is awesome. Bonnett's voice is just as captivating and powerful as his stint with 'Rainbow', and Yngwie's playing is precise, emotive, and groundbreaking. This is one of the definitive hard rock/metal releases of all time, and shows why current hard rock/metal absolutely pales in comparison! The 80's was THE best era for metal, and this was one of the Top 10 best releases of that genre and era. A MUST for your metal listening pleasure and collection.