Graham Bonnet - Line-Up (1981) {1994, Japanese Reissue}

Graham Bonnet is an English rock singer and songwriter. He has recorded and performed as a solo artist and as a member of several hard rock and heavy metal bands including Rainbow, the Michael Schenker Group, Alcatrazz, and Impellitteri. Sometimes titled 'the most powerful voice in rock' by his fans, Bonnet is known for his powerful voice and wide vocal range. His singing has been noted as 'very loud' by both his contemporaries and himself, and he claims to be a self-taught singer with 'no discipline for lessons'. Line-Up is the third album released by Graham Bonnet.

Leading off with the 1981 number six U.K. hit single "Night Games," Line Up is a journeyman, early-'80s cross between hard rock and AOR. It's neither pop nor heavy metal, but somewhere in between. Though it may be far less metal than the group he'd just left (Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow), it was also far less catchy than, say, the post-Keith Moon-era Who. It was just the sound of a guy belting out mediocre songs with a lot of lung-power in the waning days of '70s-style hard rock popularity, with Cozy Powell's thumping drums doing more than anyone else to bring it into the 1980s production-wise. Some debts to old-time rock & roll are also heard in the cover of "Be My Baby"; a pretty lousy, ponderous pass at the Kinks' "Set Me Free"; and an-out-of-place-sounding run through Chuck Berry's "Anthony Boy." Also on hand is his low-charting, synth-heavy cover of Argent's "Liar," with other songs bearing some faint traces of the likes of Supertramp and the Police. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music

Track List

01. Night Games [0:04:38.60]
02. S.O.S. [0:03:12.58]
03. I'm A Lover [0:03:46.10]
04. Be My Baby [0:03:03.57]
05. That's The Way That It Is [0:03:18.10]
06. Liar [0:03:04.15]
07. Anthony Boy [0:03:28.33]
08. Dirty Hand [0:03:40.47]
09. Out On The Water [0:03:40.20]
10. Don't Stand In The Open [0:03:25.40]
11. Set Me Free [0:04:19.70]