ALCATRAZZ – Rock Justice: The Complete Recordings 1983-1986

When it comes to reissues, the first three Alcatrazz albums have been more than well served. 1983’s ‘No Parole For Rock N Roll’ was reissued in 2011 with a slew of live tracks, and again in 2015 with a bunch of unreleased instrumental demos; 1985’s ‘Disturbing The Peace’ was given the deluxe treatment in 2016 when it was reissued with bonus tracks and a full length live DVD, and that same year, even 1986’s lesser appreciated ‘Dangerous Games’ was appended with bootleg live recordings.

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ALICE COOPER – DaDa

At the tail end of the 1970s, Alice Cooper found himself battling some dark demons. Not just those from his own imagination, paraded nightly  from the stage for the entertainment of a paying audience, but some much darker, very personal demons. Following the release of 1977’s ‘Lace & Whiskey’, an overworked Vincent Furnier had been all but consumed by his much-loved alter ego and had descended into a world of addiction that ended with him being hospitalised.

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IMPELLITTERI – Stand In Line

The mid 80s saw a slew of guitarists whom, obsessed with the neo-classical chops of Deep Purple/Rainbow guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, foisted upon the world various records that often seemed to do little more than regurgitate Blackmore’s more inventive playing at twice the speed. Yngwie Malmsteen is arguably the best known practitioner of the style and it’s no coincidence that his 1988 album ‘Odyssey’ remains the finest of all his albums thanks to the presence of an ex-Rainbow vocalist, Joe Lynn Turner, on most tracks. Roughly around the same time Yngwie was recording his masterwork, another shredder, Chris Impelliteri had also enlisted an ex-Rainbow voice – Mr. Graham Bonnet – for singing duties on his first full length studio album, ‘Stand In Line’.

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IMPELLITTERI – Impellitteri EP

When Yngwie Malmsteen left Alcatrazz in 1984, the heavy metal titans found themselves in the position of having to find a new guitarist capable of filling some incredibly huge boots. Just as importantly, if reports are to be believed, they were looking for someone much less likely to punch vocalist Graham Bonnet in the face. A few hopefuls auditioned for the difficult role, one of which was a massively talented young man from Connecticut.

His name was Chris Impellitteri. Graham was rather keen to give Chris the job, but as history has shown, he was outvoted in favour of the now legendary Steve Vai. Impellitteri, in turn, formed his own eponymously named band, and with huge input from vocalist and songwriter Rob Rock, self-released a debut EP in 1987.

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TRAPEZE – Midnight Flyers: Complete Recordings Volume 2 – 1975-81

In the minds of many, Trapeze will be best remembered as the band that gave the now legendary Glenn Hughes his first major steps in the music world. On three albums recorded between 1969 and 1972, Hughes showed a strong vocal talent. Whether tackling strange psychedelic jams (as per the Trapeze debut), or losing himself within deep, soulful blues, it seemed there was nothing the young musician couldn’t take in his stride. It wasn’t until the release of 1972’s ‘You Are The Music…We’re Just The Band’, however, that Hughes and Trapeze really hit upon a perfect sound, with a blend of hard rock, blues and soul that would rival the likes of Free in terms of talent. As great as the album was – and remains – it failed to chart, but Trapeze hadn’t gone entirely unnoticed. Whilst playing live shows for the album, Hughes was headhunted by Ritchie Blackmore for a new line up of Deep Purple, and fter the release of their ‘Burn’ LP in 1974 – a massive hit on both sides of the Atlantic – Glenn’s career was catapulted into the stratosphere.

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