Graham Bonnet Band
Live in Tokyo 2017

According to some Graham Bonnet is a legendary vocalist that has been working with bands like Rainbow, MSG, Alcatrazz and more. His own band Graham Bonnet Band has released two studio albums and here comes a live album recorded in 2017. I am not so sure I would call Bonnet a legend, all of you who know of him could raise your hand. See, not quite the legend, but he has done some strong productions during the years, like Rainbow’s Down to Earth where he sang on hit singles Since You’ve Been Gone and All Night Long, it is his most successful album as well, it was gold certified in Great Britain. It was his only album with Rainbow, he did one with MSG, two with Impellitteri and he was a founding member of Alcatrazz that featured Yngwie Malmsteen on guitar from the beginning, and a band that seems to have been revived lately as well. But enough history now, lets have a look at this album and what it has to offer.

It offers pretty classic hardrock with pretty catchy songs and a decent sound – if you know the similar bands you will find this album familiar. It is quite impressive that Bonnet has such strong voice and such authority despite being seventy years old when this was recorded, he still sings well. The selection of songs is good and offers strong variation and depth, much thanks to the selection being songs from a period of about 40 years with all from mentioned Rainbow album to his new stuff with GBB. The playing time feels rather sensible as well and the album plays for a time that doesn’t feel too long. It is a bit of a shame that we didn’t get the video material so the only thing I can review here is the music so don’t blame me if the video is terrible.

It is a good live album with good songs, some are not as good as the old originals and I find it to be a bit of a shame that Since You’ve Been Gone isn’t as good as it was forty years ago. All Night Long from that same Rainbow album is the favourite track of this album that I think is a solid effort that works rather well – fans of what Bonnet has done will find it very appealing. None of the tracks can be said to be particularly weak and it is pretty enjoyable to listen to even though it doesn’t really feel particularly original or exciting but I doubt it will be disappointing for anyone who buys it.

The question is whether or not this album is worth spending one’s hard earned cash on, and I am not sure. Perhaps fans of Bonnet will find it well worth the money, at least it will fit well into their record shelves. For the rest of us I doubt it will make much of a difference, it will not be disappointing but if your record budget is as limited as mine there are much more interesting albums out there.

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