Customer Reviews

Underground

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

 

 

Graham Bonnet is still one of the greatest singers in the world. Unfortunately by the credits in the album, he neither wrote nor produced anything on this album. The sound is not very consistent. Some songs you can hardly hear Bonnet. On some songs the guitar is very prominent and others you wonder if they are just playing with bass and drums. I would say there are 4 or 5 good songs on this one. I was very disappointed by the album but only because my expectations are so high when it comes to the great one. Still a very good album for Graham fans, just can't compare to albums like Stand in Line, Dangerous Games and Assault Attack. This really seems more like a Danny Johnson solo album with Graham singing on it.

I've always enjoyed Graham Bonnet from his work with Rainbow and Alcatrazz. I just recently rediscovered him and went searching for new music. I bought this CD and liked it. It is definitely not on par with his older work mainly due to the song writing, but overall I did enjoy it. Worth buying, just don't expect too much.

Graham Bonnet lends his voice to the mature side of Rock, reminiscent of his days with MSG, Rainbow and Alcatraz. I'm writing this review after a single spin of this remarkable CD. A dominant example of Bonnet the grand underrated vocal legend of Rock. This CD is a must for the definitive Rock Collection.

Grham Bonnet still sings with a tremendously strong voice, that makes you shiver when you listen to him. He puts a lot of emotion in the music. However, he's not a great composer, so he depends on the band he's with. Here, all songs, except for the two covers, were written by Arthur Eime, to whose memory the album is dedicated. And not all of them are good. The two best ones are the powerful rock of "Breakaway", and "Sail On", this latter reminds the Robert Plant solo work (also does "Winter Skin" and "The Strange" - with influence of music from India). There's a creative guitar performance in "Moving On". But, concerning "The Wind Cries Mary", Hendrix's quality was his loose playing, which is lost in this square version here. Rainbow's tune is great and is nicely played in this album, with G.B. singing with all his guts. Overall, the CD has Rainbow style and is fine, but we expected (Black)more.

I came across this album completely by accident. But, what a happy accident it turned out to be. This album is on my short replay list.

I can't classify the style other than to say it's a cross between old acid-rock and heavy-metal. Being an old acid-head this one rocks.

I agree with the above comments. Bonnet has always given everything he has when singing for MSG, Alcatraz etc. Underground boasts some great songs that have excellent production and melody, and he proves that a long career of hard boozing and band hopping have only made him one of rocks true bad boys who is sadly overlooked. Anyone who is into Bonnet should definately pick up his two albums from Forcefield. Alot of people dont even know these great early 90's albums exist, but the winning combo of Bonnet and Cozy Powell scores another high rating from this kid.

Underground, by Graham Bonnet exemplifies the capabilities of this amazing rock singer, something that has been left too long in the background. Graham's performances over the last 20 years, with Rainbow, the Michael Schenker Group, Alcatrazz, Impelliteri, Blackthorne, and a few others, have shown him to be above reproach in the genre of the power vocalist. G B is the king. On this new album, he covers "Lost in Hollywood," a redo from Rainbow days. It kills. His remake of Hendrix's "Wind Cries Mary" can send chills down your spine. Every tune on here is great. If you want to hear Graham rock even harder, check out the Blackthorne album, "Afterlife." For Graham Bonnet to have received so little recognition over these many years of stupendous performances speaks volumes about the state of the music industry. Graham Bonnet, YOU RULE. Keep on rockin'. Out!

If you are a huge fan of BOTH Graham Bonnet and Danny Johnson then you might enjoy "some" of this CD. I love his voice and it almost seems to be timeless but his work since Rainbow largely seems to depend on the strength of those writing music around him. The 2 Alcatrazz CD's with Yngwie and Steve Vai are excellent and we have Graham to thank largely for introducing 2 such amazing guitarist to the masses who have both gone on to amazing solo careers as well as work with David Lee Roth and Whitesnake in the case of Mr. Vai. The third Alcatrazz was only ok and, while I like Danny Johnson in his work with Axis and Derringer, he doesn't continue the momentum of Alcatrazz. One person mentioned that Bonnet didn't write anything on this CD however, he rarely does. His wife is the writer behind the scenes of the family. It is ashame that other singers from Rainbow, Dio, Joe Lynn Turner and Doogie White have gone on to higher levels of success and Graham Bonnet has yet to find a consistent vehicle for his own talents.

When I heard the online samples of this album I was pretty excited to pick it up. I am a big fan of Graham Bonnet, especially his work with MSG and Rainbow. However, I would have been happy with a CD consisting of strictly the first five tunes. The rest I didn't much care for. Winter skin and Sail On are OK, but the Hendrix cover didn't do much for me, nor did the Rainbow cover (as a previous reviewer wrote, where's Mr. Blackmore). I think Cajun Pink is a throw away. Most of Mr. Johnson's guitar work is pretty good on the record. Mr. Bonnet's performance is excellent, even on the not so great tunes.