Graham Bonnet Band live album - some thoughts

[zorrow]

I got the new live album from the Graham Bonnet Band. These are my thoughts:

Firstly, I didn't know Mark Zonder, the ex-Fates Warning drummer, was playing now for Graham Bonnet. Weird match, as the guy is a true prog monster.

Secondly, Graham Bonnet sounds suspiciously in tune. Excepting one extremely audible wrong note in the song S.O.S, which probably was left there on purpose to fake "liveness", he's too much spot-on compared to his usual live performances. Anyway, that's OK. I prefer knowing it's doctored (but listenable), instead of cringing constantly because of a lousy singer.

Thirdly, the guitar player is really good. He needs to be good anyway, given he has to cover material from Ritchie Blackmore, Steve Vai, Yngwie Malmsteen, Chris Impellitteri and Michael Schenker. That's a pretty demanding gig, don't you think?  

Overall, the album is a good listening. It also comes with a DVD I haven't watched yet. To be continued then...

[The Shark]

I'm a closet GB fan.  I have the "Line Up" with Bernie Marsden.  I have the Alcatrazz stuff.  Built to Destroy is one of my "desert island" albums.  "Since you've been gone" is in my top ten ever (with Blackmore).  Never saw him live other than on video.  When I heard Davey Pattison w/ Montrose in Gamma for the first time, I remember thinking that Graham Bonnet and Ronnie James Dio were the other two singers I'd not seen that I'll regret never seeing.  Apparently, I'll be in Tampa on April 3rd in 2018 and hear and see Graham sing.  And Michael will play.  Oh yeah...

[zorrow]

3 hours ago, gtrdaddy said:

I saw him with Rainbow at The Garden around '81 I think. Kick ass show, and he sang his ass off then. 

Back then I suppose he was awesome live. However, according to many official live albums released during his Alcatrazz years and on, his notes aren't very reliable. I'm still a fan though --please read below.

3 hours ago, The Shark said:

I'm a closet GB fan.  I have the "Line Up" with Bernie Marsden.  I have the Alcatrazz stuff.  Built to Destroy is one of my "desert island" albums.  "Since you've been gone" is in my top ten ever (with Blackmore).  Never saw him live other than on video.  When I heard Davey Pattison w/ Montrose in Gamma for the first time, I remember thinking that Graham Bonnet and Ronnie James Dio were the other two singers I'd not seen that I'll regret never seeing.  Apparently, I'll be in Tampa on April 3rd in 2018 and hear and see Graham sing.  And Michael will play.  Oh yeah...

+100000.  I am a huge GB fan, as I think his tone and his style are very unique. I have all the albums you just mentioned, plus the Impellitteri albums, the Blackthorne stuff and almost everything he has released solo (I specially love "The Day I Went Mad"). Every release he has been involved on is great, or at least good. And he has worked with many guitar monsters, of course.  

[zorrow]

@gtrdaddy, have you listened to the new EZoo album, "Feeding the Beast"? I think you will like it. Here's a couple of songs out from it:

 

 

 

[HAMERMAN]

He is one of my all time favorite singers. It helps that I think I am more forgiving than most of bum notes since I have a tin ear! :-)

[Steve Haynie]

Graham Bonnett is going to be doing shows with Michael Schenker next year. 

[zorrow]

1 hour ago, Steve Haynie said:

Graham Bonnett is going to be doing shows with Michael Schenker next year. 

Yes, that's Michael Schenker Fest. I will be for sure on their Montreal show in March. I got the DVD of their show in Japan and it's quite good. Graham Bonnet did a fine job, but I specially liked the way Robin McAuley sounded there. The man can really sing, even today. And Mikey, well... that's my second preferred rock guitarist ever --just below Brian May. Always ready here to pay attention to what he plays.  

[Navigator]

Thanks for posting. Love Graham Bonnet. Talk about going for it! Was just listening to "Broken Promises" from the Michael  Schenker album Assault Attack:

 

 

[Hamer_SS_guy]

I was a huge Rainbow fan. Though I prefer the Dio years, the "Down to Earth" album was my first Rainbow album and I also liked it (because it had two Deep Purple members). Cozy Powell was one of my favorite drummers and so I also bought the "Line Up" album which was great. I also found his first album (the one with the white cover), different music, but also very nice. The first three MSG albums I already had because of Simon Phillips and Cozy Powell (I often followed drummers then). Then I saw a pic in a magazine that Bonnet joined MSG which was fantastic. Unfortunately Powell just left before the album, but since I always liked the Sensational Alex Harvey Band, Ted McKenna was great as well. And then I had the Alcatrazz album "Disturbing the Peace", THAT was was a fine album. Through Vai I came to Zappa's music and so on...  I still like to listen to Bonnet's stuff.

 

[RobB]

Bonnet's got one of best resumes in Classic Rawk. I like to poke fun at him (for things stated above), but he's always been in bands with great players. 

Witness: Monsters of Rock LP (Donnington 1980). I owned this before I had "Down to Earth", though I'd heard "Since You've Been Gone"/"All Night Long" on local radio.

On "Monsters...", he takes on (Dio-era) "Stargazer." He doesn't have the operatic belt of Ronnie, but he hits the notes and really ballz it up. I was amazed, because when I saw him in L.A. on the "Down to Earth" tour, it was a mess of a show. Guess even rock stars can have bad nights, no?