Alcatrazz Prior Convictions Review
Alcatrazz
Prior Convictions
BraveWords Records
2025
Alcatrazz has never been the kind of band to sit quietly with their past. Their history is messy, crowded with line-up shifts, different musical eras, and a long shadow cast by the players who passed through. “Prior Convictions” arrives as the kind of album only a veteran band could make, one that stops pretending the past is a fixed thing and instead treats it as something living, something worth re-examining.
These re-recordings don’t sound like a band chasing old glories. They sound like a band getting their arms around their own catalogue, deciding what still represents them, and presenting the material in a way that reflects who they are now. The performances aren’t about mimicking the original spark; they’re about giving the songs a voice that lines up with the current lineup’s identity. You can hear the intent behind it - not aggression, not defiance, but clarity.
The older tracks feel sturdier and more grounded in spots. The guitar work still stands tall and literally scorches everything in its path. Joe Stump does a killer job replacing Malmsteen. Giles Lavery is no Graham Bonnett, but he doesn’t try to recreate the exact tone of earlier eras; instead, he carves out his own space, and it works. There’s a sense of a band reconnecting with pieces of themselves that were scattered over the years.
The new songs are the real curveball. They don’t arrive with neon lights announcing, “this is the fresh material.” Instead, they slide into the flow like new bricks in an old wall, recognizable as modern Alcatrazz, but respectful of what came before. There’s an almost workmanlike confidence to them, the kind that says this band isn’t trying to rewrite history; they’re trying to keep adding to it.
What “Prior Convictions” accomplishes, more than anything else, is cohesion. Alcatrazz has been many things to many people, depending on which album or lineup someone first encountered. This record pulls those threads together. It’s not a victory lap, and it’s not a reboot. It’s a band taking stock of their catalogue and deciding what still matters.
If you’ve followed Alcatrazz across their winding path, this album feels like a settling of old scores - a calm, steady confirmation that the name still stands for something, and that the people holding it today know exactly why.
Standout Tracks “Island In The Sun”, “Star Carr Lane”, “Jet To Jet” “Too Young To Die, Too Drunk To Live” and “Stand And Wait Your Turn”.