My 6 Favorite Alcatrazz Songs

Hi fellow Otaku & Metalheads! Enjoying Alcatrazz Month so far?

If the answer is yes, then good! There’s definitely a bit more content about this obscure band in the rest of this month, but today I wanted to talk about some of my favorite songs from this band. To shake things up, I won’t be talking about songs I’ve mentioned in my reviews this November, cause while those tunes are great (And by extension Alcatrazz’s discography), I want to give credit to tracks that might not be as popular as the others. Maybe by talking about these tunes, I can get a couple of you into the band. With that said, here are some (Going with 6 here) of my favorite Alcatrazz songs. Let’s begin.

No Parole From Rock N Roll
General Hospital (Link)
- Remember a little earlier when I said when I’d be talking about obscurer Alcatrazz songs? Well, I kind lied about that. More specifically, I kinda lied about that in terms of stuff off of this album. The band did a damn good job with their live performances, and one of the big stand outs is the album’s opener. The guitar work is nice & rhythmic throughout the whole piece, and there’s plenty of moments where Yngwie lets his talent fly. Graham Bonnet has great vocal work here, and the keyboarding from Jimmy Waldo complements everything. Definitely a great song!

Jet To Jet (Link)
- Another standout in their live shows is the fun & energetic Jet To Jet. Compared to General Hospital, this is a considerably speedier track. Chronicling there adventures of going from city to city, Jet To Jet almost comes across like Speed Metal in a lot of ways: fast-paced guitar & drums, speedy keyboarding, and higher pitched vocals. It never lets up, but doesn’t get overwhelming at the same time. Definitely a song that gets you pumped!

Disturbing The Peace
Desert Diamond (Link)
- I’ll get into more detail about the music off of this album next week, so I’ll be a little brief here., but suffice it to say things are different on Alcatrazz’s 2nd album. Thanks to the changeup in guitarists, the music underwent a transformation at the same time. In the case of Desert Diamond, we get a slower paced dream-like track, filled with imagery of an age gone by. It’s really something special, so I won’t spoil much more here.

Stripper (Link)
- There are times where I like smart, intelligent metal music.....and then there’s songs like this. This is one of those tunes that’s right in the vein of equally goofy tracks like Girls Girls Girls from Motley Crue & Who Wants To Be Lonely from Kiss: an over-the-top & sexy nature, fast paced guitars & drums, keyboarding that’s cheesy, and vocal works that’s fast and powerful. Not every song like Stripper has keyboards, but they can help. I used to not like this song, but after an extra listening or two, it’s become something of a new favorite of mine.

Dangerous Games
Undercover (Link)
- This sounds like the opening to a 1980s cop show.....but in all the right ways! Heavy synthisizer usage, light guitar & drums, and some of the hokiest lyrics ever penned to paper, Heavy Metal or otherwise. Hell, this doesn’t even need to be a cop show opening! You can use this for just about any 80s TV series or movie, and it would be a natural fit. Hell, this song might find it’s place in a lot of classic 80s anime, and it would somehow make sense. I really can’t explain this song any further, other than you need it in your life!

Ohayo Tokyo (Link)
- I’ll talk about this song a little more when I get to my Dangerous Games review, so I’ll be a bit brief here again. This is hands down the goofiest, weebiest, Glorious Nippon of a track. The band are really showing their love for Japan in each & every note, and Graham Bonnet is just waxing nostalgia with every lyrics he sings. Again, I’ll take a bit more at the end of the month about this, but suffice it to say my opinions have changed about this song quite a bit.

So those were my favorite Alcatrazz songs. Again, some of these aren’t quite as popular as the rest, but sometimes the more unknown songs are the best out of any band’s discography. Next week we’ll take a look at what their second album has in store, so see you then!