"Having come across Alcatrazz at the end of the 1980’s, essentially through the names Graham Bonnet and Yngwie Malmsteen, I have always found them to be a band that has all the ability in the world, but for the most part their albums fell short of what I expected, or at least what I was hoping for. Let’s face it, both characters named here have been known for their volatile natures, and neither can seem to hold a place down in a band for longer than one or two albums at most. In this case Yngwie lasted one, before striking out on his own with his Rising Force solo project, where he still seems to be unable to retain a solid band around himself, but at least he is in charge of the hiring and firing. Bonnet’s previous history and litany of bands is well known, and would continue beyond this album and band".

On this episode we are going to talk about “Live Sentence” by Alcatrazz, the band’s only live album released 40 years ago this week, on today’s ‘island in the sun’ episode of Music from a Lifetime.

"The opening two tracks of the album are the money shots and are the ones that have forever since been Exhibit A and Exhibit B as to why this band should have been in the superstar class. “High Wire” is a great opening track, showcasing all four members doing their job at the highest class imaginable. This is followed by the single “Dreams in the Dark” where Ray’s vocals ramp up, and Jake’s guitar has a very ‘ultimate sin’ sound about it during the solo. These two songs have always been the ones that I would play to people to convince them that Badlands is a very good band and a very impressive album, but the remainder has to also be very good if it is to live up to the opening"

On this episode we are going to talk about “Badlands” by Badlands, the band’s debut studio album released 35 years ago this week, on today’s ‘your story bleeds, but there's no review’ episode of Music from a Lifetime.

"The title track “Stay Hungry” is, in my opinion, one of the greatest opening tracks on an album of all time. It grabs you from the start, the pounding drums and rhythm line, with Dee immediately grabbing you with his recruiting call, announcing the lines of the song in a demand that you sing along with gusto. It’s a fantastic song, an anthem in every sense of the word, and for me is still the outstanding song of Twisted Sister’s career. Whenever I made a mixed tape, or now whenever I make a playlist, this song is almost always a part of it.

This is followed by the song that got everyone in, “We’re Not Gonna Take It”, that still evokes a chorus of singing whenever it gets played, especially in my house. I loved the video and song when it was released, and my kids still love it today, forty years later, so it shows how entertaining it is generationally. From here we move in to “Burn in Hell”, where the star of the show is the chorus, with the chanting between the main lines in the background taking centre stage, such as ‘HEAR no evil, don’t you SEE no evil, don’t you LAY no evil down on ME!” Still great after all these years". On this episode we are going to talk about “Stay Hungry” by Twisted Sister, the band’s 3rd studio album released 40 years ago this week, on today’s ‘expect no sympathy, there’s none to be had!’ episode of Music from a Lifetime.