Description
After achieving mainstream success with Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow on the "Down To Earth" album in 1979, crowned off by a headline appearance at 1980's debut "Monsters Of Rock" festival at Castle Donington, Graham Bonnet released the highly successful "Line Up" solo album in 1981, before taking the lead vocals on 1982's "Assault Attack" in 1982 by the Michael Schenker Group.
By 1983 it was obvious that Graham should recapture some of his Rainbow glory days by forming a new band with a similar vein of melodic hard rock running through it. To that end, he formed Alcatrazz with a formidable, but relatively young 20 year old Swedish guitarist named Yngwie Malmsteen. Bonnet and Malmsteen formed an impressive song-writing partnership, with songs such as 'Island In The Sun' and 'Hiroshima Mon Amour' on Alcatrazz's debut offering, "No Parole From Rock 'N' Roll'.
Making a healthy dent in the upper reaches of the US chart, aided by videos aimed squarely at MTV, nowhere was Alcatrazz's impact felt as strongly as Japan, where the band became instant stars. A Japanese tour was booked for early 1984, with plans to record a number of dates for the inevitable "Live in Japan" LP. As it happened, the performance at Tokyo's Nakano Sun Plaza venue was deemed so good that no other concerts were considered for inclusion on the release.