Graham Bonnet: “That came through our drummer, Jan Uvena. He played with Alice Cooper. He knew Steve Vai from the Zappa band, for example. And he said, ‘This guy’s left the band.’ He says, ‘A really incredible, adventurous guitar player,’ you know. And Steve comes in and rehearses with us, and I was amazed by what he could do.”
“You know, he was so different. And Steve said to me, ‘I don’t play like Yngwie.’ ‘I know you don’t play like Yngwie. You play like Steve. That’s who you are.’ And I remember the first night we played with us, he was so damn nervous. He had his manager with him, but he was, like, sweating bullets, you know. Oh, jeez, he was like, ‘Oh God, oh God,’ you know. And she said to him, ‘Steve, you’re Steve. Come on. You know, you’re not a baby. Get out there, play.'”
“And he played f*cking great. He played f*cking great. Everyone went, ‘Wow! What’s this? We’re watching a different guitar player. It’s not Yngwie, but what a guitar player. What a songwriter too.’ Me and him bonded so well. It was a little eye-opener for him.”
“Good old Steve. And look, he went on to bigger things too. It seemed like Alcatrazz was a stepping stone for guitar players. It’s such a shame, but I knew he was because he was so different.”
The transition from Malmsteen to Vai became a defining chapter in Alcatrazz’s history, and the details behind that change explain why the band’s lineup kept shifting through the decade. Malmsteen left the group in 1984 to pursue a solo career fronting Yngwie J. Malmsteen’s Rising Force, and the band brought in Vai to take his place.
Malmsteen had joined Alcatrazz after leaving the American metal band Steeler, and he played on the band’s 1983 debut, No Parole from Rock ‘n’ Roll. Bonnet and Malmsteen clashed in July 1984 over who was the frontman, and a fight during a show led to Malmsteen being fired on the spot.
Vai arrived with experience that predated Alcatrazz by years. Vai was 18 when he became the youngest member ever to join Frank Zappa’s demanding ensemble, and his specialty was playing the parts Zappa had written but deemed too difficult to perform himself. With Vai on guitar, Alcatrazz recorded Disturbing the Peace, released in 1985.
