Graham Bonnet Band – The Book
2016, Frontiers Records
Disc 1:
1. Into The Night
2. Welcome To My Home
3. Earth’s Child (I Am Your Son)
4. Rider
5. Dead Man Walking
6. Strangest Day
7. The Dance
8. Where Were You?
9. The Book
10. Everybody Wants To Go There
11. California Air (Better Here Than There)
Disc 2:
1. Eyes Of The World
2. All Night Long
3. Lost In Hollywood
4. Since You Been Gone
5. Night Games
6. S.O.S.
7. Assault Attack
8. Dancer
9. Desert Song
10. Island In The Sun
11. Hiroshima Mon Amour
12. God Blessed Video
13. Will You Be Home Tonight
14. Witchwood
15. Stand In Line
16. Here Comes The Night (Down Without A Fight)
Band:
Graham Bonnet – Vocals
Conrado Pesinato – Guitar
Beth-Ami Heavenstone – Bass
Mark Zonder – Drums
Jimmy Waldo – Keyboard (Disc 1)
Angelo Vafeiadis – Keyboard (Disc 2)
Say what you will about the change in sound after Ronnie James Dio left, but I still think Rainbow’s Down to Earth is a fantastic melodic hard rock album. That’s where I discovered Graham Bonnet and that one album has convinced me that he’s one of rock’s best vocalists. Sadly, there isn’t much outside of Down to Earth that kept my interest. I’ve heard bits and pieces of what he did in later on with Alcatrazz, Impellitteri, and his other various solo and band efforts, but nothing has ever really grabbed me.
Suffice to say, I honestly wasn’t expecting much from The Book. At 68 years old, Graham’s voice is still recognizable, but slightly different from the edge his voice used to have. The music itself is simply top-notch and a mix of AOR, melodic hard rock, and heavy metal. From what I’ve read, Bonnet made a conscious effort to appeal to fans of hard rock and metal days from the 1980’s, and I think he’s succeeded.
The Book has Graham firmly embracing the sounds of the bands that made him famous with new material, but he also gives a more literal nod to his past. As a bonus of sorts, a second disc features Graham covering 16 songs from his previous bands. I’m not exactly sure why this was done, but it’s interesting to hear how an older Graham Bonnet sound while tackling these tracks.
Highlights: “Welcome to My Home”, “Earth’s Child (I Am Your Son)”, “Where Were You?”, “Everybody Wants To Go There”, “California Air (Better Here Than There)”
