The master, the virtuoso, the man with the golden chops, the speed demon, the fretborad necromancer.....all these describe the one and only, Yngwie Malmsteen, guitarist extraordinaire. There are NO other guitarists as wonderful, and as brilliant as him. The universally heralded neoclassical king, arrived on the scene 1983 to rescue the guitar world from itself, mainly the stagnation caused by its emphasis on two hand tapping, and other fretboard trickery (heehee, that's how Yngwie would put it, if he was telling the story of his life, and all of his fanatical fans would agree!!). His sweep picking and that vibrato to die for, set him far apart from the rest, and still does. You may wonder, how can someone that is supposed to be so great doesn't have a tribute album to honor and celebrate his name and music, its because no ojne can play good enough to even make a suitable tribute to him! Yngwie created a guitar sound that was different, an ear-searing blend of metallic bombast and classical beauty. He elevated classical chops to new heights, adding a definite European stamp, both enchantingly dark-sounding and blindingly fast. From the moment I heard him I was immediately in love with his style, there is nothing else quite like it.

In 1983 he came to the USA and immediately found a job as lead guitarist for an underground band named Steeler (with vocalist Ron Keel, who later formed his own band, Keel, and then even later went *gasp* country. He has since returned to the metal world). That is where it all began. Believe it or not, even at the age of 20, Yngwie had already developed the guitar style that made him famous in the guitar world. Steeler turned out to be quite boring for him, since it was in more of a band thing, and he was not even considered to help with the music writing, and that was not what the guitar mastermind wanted. Yngwie was next offered a spot in bands by both Phil Mogg and Graham Bonnet (both strangely, have been vocalists in bands with Michael Schenker). Graham's offer looked to be about the best, so Yngwie eagerly joined Alcatrazz in hopes of gaining even more exposure. After a quick writing session, they recorded an album called "No Parole From Rock and Roll," which contained fabulous guitar work. The crystal clear notes and dark feel, were unique at the time, and his speed and style was simply amazing. The guitar music, written by Yngwie, was taken to new heights, while the lyrics and vocals, by Bonnet, fell flat. It was obvious that two worlds were colliding from the first opening note. While Yngwie's guitar was other worldy, and gorgeous, the lyrics were stupid and made little sense, and Bonnet's gothic caterwaul just did not sound right on "No Parole". Yngwie did manage to talk the egomaniac into allowing him to put a small instrumental on the album. The result was a haunting song called Incubus, and as far as Yng fans are concerned, was the highlight of the album. Graham soon tired of Malmsteen getting all the attention (after all it was HIS band, and he had ditched Michael Schenker to front a band where HE could get all the attention, and then this young, talented twerp shows up and steals the show!). Yngwie was ready to leave anyway, Alcatrazz was too restricting, and conflicted with "the vision". Yng put together a killer band, and recorded the ALL time classic album, "Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force". Finally, the master was headed in the right direction! An instrumental album, Rising Force, contains some of the best musical compostions ever written. Such beauties as Icarus Dream Suite showcase his emotional, rather gentle side, while others like Black Star are simply classics. The next year, 1985, it was time for a slight change. He brought in 18 year old vocalist, Jeff Scott Soto, who was (and still is) absolutely killer. His range is fantastic, and well suited to what Yngwie wanted to create. Some considered this new album, "Marching Out" to be a failure, a step backwards for the guitarist. The guitar freaks wanted Yng to continue with the all instrumental approach. But in reality, it was the birth of a new beginning. The highlight of "Marching Out" was I'll See The Light Tonight where Jeff Scott really shows what he can do.

By 1986, Jeff Scott Soto was out of the lineup, and Mark Boals was brought in, another fantastic singer, but at this time, he was not quite as good as Soto. That was alright though, because the music that Yngwie created on this effort, was so good, no one cared what Boals sounded like. My all time favorite instrumental comes from this album, Crying. If there ever was a song that could touch your heart and flood you with the saddest, most sorrowful emotions, this would be it. The guitar truly is a link to this man's soul, and it shows on this one. There is no finer acoustic guitar work than what is showcased here. It is very gentle, very sweet, very sad. The transition from the acoustic to the electric is absolutely fantastic, and when the crystal clear sound of the electric kicks in, and the notes start flowing, a hand reaches out and squeezes your heart, it is the most soulful, the saddest sounding song I have ever heard. You can practically feel the pain, the heartbreak. The first time I had the priviledge to hear this wonderful song, I started to cry, it affected me that much. Only the greatest musicians can take an instrument and create something that can affect one in that way, and this proved that Yngwie could do it. Crying was not the only good song on the album, the entire release was excellent, and some say it was his most commercial sounding album, which is probably true, and featured spectacular cover art, a painting of Yngwie fending off a triple headed dragon with a Fender stratocaster. Other highlights of "Trilogy" are You Don't Remember, I'll Never Forget, Magic Mirror, and Fire. This album was packed with themes of magic and mystery. Shortly after this release, Malmsteen had a tragic car wreck which left the maestro in a coma for over a week, but he managed to pull through only to realize that the damage that had been done to his hand had left it in very bad shape.  He recovered quickly, and released another album in 1988, which I believe is his best ever.

Yngwie recruited vocalist extraordinaire, Joe Lynn Turner, to perform on "Odyssey." Joe Lynn also wrote all the lyrics for the 1988 effort, and the result was like magic. The two complimented each other perfectly, and together they created an album that outshines all others. The highlights were the ballads, Joe Lynn has a gorgeous voice, he is the best vocalist in the world, and he sounds magnificent singing ballads. Yngwie's guitar rips your heart out, and Joe Lynn's vocals tear it apart. When he sings Dreamin' (Tell Me) it is so beautiful that it still the heart. The lyrics only add to the sorrow with verses like "dreaming visions of you, feeling the love I never knew" and another favorite is "here we are on the crossroads of forever, shining star lights the way, walk with me on the winds of time, love's mystery is for us to find." And the guitar music in this one blends with the music wonderfully. Its not too loud, it allows Turner to really get to you with his soaring vocals, but its there, a sweet, harp-like acoustic in the background, and then during the solo it switches to a bubbling electric, that fits the mood of the song. Hold On is another classic ballad from this album, and in some ways is even more heartbreaking than Dreamin'. The opening guitar riff is an attention grabber, and makes the heart skip a beat when it starts up, its so beautiful. Hold On has a bluesy type feel to it, and the vocals are lush and beautiful, only Turner could perform them like this. There are some rockers on"Odyssey" too, like the thundering Rising Force which has another great verse in it "the lightning strikes cracking the night, it feels like never before, thunder and sparks in the Heart of the Dark, I hear a rising force." There is also an off-with-their-heads gothic metal song, that leaves you missing the days when Ronnie James Dio would sing songs about witches,demons, dragons, and magic spells, in Rainbow, Sabbath, and Dio. The song is called Riot In the Dungeons and is really killer, the necromancer rips on this one. Another album hot spot is Deja Vu. Overall, "Odyssey" was wonderful, there was no way Yngwie could ever top this, especially since Turner left to join Deep Purple, so Yng was forced to find another singer. Swedish born, Goran Edman came in to fill in the spot.

Goran is really great, and his voice is very European sounding, which is delightful. They released two albums together, "Eclipse" and "Fire and Ice". "Eclipse" featured another beautiful ballad Save Our Love which had yet another heartbreaking guitar solo. Some may say that Yngwie's playing has no soul, no depth. They say he is all speed, all technique, and that he does not play music that has emotion. That is simply not true. A quick listen to I Am My Own Enemy on "Fire and Ice" can prove that there is a direct link between his heart and the guitar.   "Fire and Ice" was numero uno for Yngwie in the land of the rising sun, debuting at number one on the Japanese charts, but its glorious release was somewhat hampered by a string of events that would all but devestate our guitar hero. Hurricane Andrew flattened most of Miami, his tour manager died of a heart attack, and shortly afterward Yngwie learned that Elektra had dropped him from their label.  In July 1993 Yngwie broke his right hand in a freak accident and was soon after the victim of a false arrest.  After 1992's classical sounding "Fire and Ice", which featured a mixture of guitar and violins, Goran left to join Nikolo Kotzev's Brazen Abbot with ex members of Europe and Glenn Hughes (who was later replaced by Joe Lynn Turner, who Goran replaced in Yng's band). Yngwie then found another vocalist to take the vocal spot. This time it was Michael Vescera, and he made a wise choice indeed.

Michael is one of those vocalists, like those that came before him in Yngwie's band, who can sing just about anything, but shines on the ballads. "The Seventh Sign" was released in 1994 and was everything Yngwie fans hoped and dreamed it would be. It was another well mixed album, with great balance. There were rockers like Crash and Burn, Hairtrigger, and I Don't Knowone of the heaviest songs he has ever done, the crushing Pyramids of Cheops which is like the Egyptian version of Rainbow's Stargazer. Also, this album did not have one or two ballads, but three....Meant To Be, Forever One, and my favorite from the album Prisoner of Your Love. My favorite verse from it,is the opening of the song..."my heart, fell into the palm of your hand, this love made me understand, I have waited all my life for you, thought I would live and die alone, I'm trapped, by your love." Bad Blood is also a killer, it has a definite blues pattern to it, and the guitar proves that Yngwie only improves as the years go by. Here it is dramatic and fast, wild and extreme.

Yngwie continued on with Vescera for a duo of mini albums released only for Japan, the first was made especially for a popular Japanese wrestler, who was then the current champion called "Power and the Glory", and the second, "I Can't Wait", was a mini album featuring two previously unreleased tracks and some selected cuts from his concert gigs in Budokan.  After a year of touring the band went back to the States where Yngwie started construction on his studio which he named after the model of his favorite ferrari, 308.

Vescera was also on the next release "Magnum Opus." This disc, like all of Malmsteen's releases, is fabulous and an instant classic. There is only one true, slow ballad, I'd Die Without You which is a gentle mixture of piano, acoustic, and electric. The solo has to be heard to be believed. Tomorrow's Gone has a doom like feel to it, and takes us back to the gothic days again. No Love Lost is one of those songs where you just have to attempt to sing along even if you can't get as high up in range as Vescera, and anyone in the vicinity threatens to kill you if you don't stop with the howling. There is also Voodoo which is a freaky sounding song that reminds me a little of some of Dio's weirder stuff (like Don't Talk To Strangers). Of course, when it comes to Dio and Yngwie, weird is good, if anyone else were to do stuff like that, I would say, "that sounds stupid, it makes no sense," but the way Yngwie and Dio do it, it does make sense, in a strange and twisted way.

After "Magnum Opus" Vescera left to pursue his own musicial dreams with the Michael Vescera Project, known as MVP, which Yng played guitar on a few tracks. 1996 was a bit of a milestone for Yngwie, where he recorded his first album in his new state of the art studio, a disc full of cover tunes called "Inspirations." Yngwie managed to breathe new life into classics such as Gates of Babylon which Jeff Scott Soto sang on, and completely blew everyone away with his powerhouse vocals. Jeff also was killer on Mistreated where he really did manage to sound JUST LIKE David Coverdale, who was the vocalist on the original song with Deep Purple. Mark Boals also came on board to sing a few songs, including In The Dead Of Night which was too good, and the old Scorpions song, The Sails of Charon. Joe Lynn Turner showed up for a few cuts too, Demon's Eye being the best of the bunch. Another great album from the master axeman.

Yngwie Malmsteen is truly superb, in 1997 he  released yet another album, called Facing the Animal which features Mats Leven of Abstract Algebra fame on vocals, and the fantastic Cozy Powell on drums. It was released in Japan at first, and then saw a major release in the United States, and featured some wonderful tunes with a slightly different slant on his guitar playing style.   It was critically acclaimed, and soon after his wife April gave birth to his first born son, who they named Antonio, everything seemed rosy again for the man with the golden chops.  But just as soon as he was back on top of the world, a tragedy struck, this time a car accident claiming the life of his drummer, the legendary Cozy Powell.   Yngwie had also recorded an all instrumental masterpiece called "Concerto", which delighted his fans all over the world who wanted to hear him shine in an orchestra setting.  To satisfy the Japanese fans, Yng released a double live album, called "Live In Brazil", and just when everyone thought the Maestro was ready to settle down and become fully engulfed in familly life, he then starts to work on another album, recruiting past "Trilogy" favorite Mark Boals.  Together the duo created an aggressive masterpiece which became a year end favorite with its almost power metal flavor.  Such blistering cuts as Wield My Sword and Daemon Dance, not only satisified his current fanbase but gained him even more into the legions of fans that adore him around the world.

The year 2000 should be a big one for Yngwie.  Two new "best of" albums have been released to begin the year, starting with Pony Canyon's "1994-1999 Anthology", which features tracks from those selected years including some unreleased masterial, while Dream Catcher's "Best of Yngwie 1990 - 1999" covers a larger time period as well as his ABBA cover "Gimme Gimme Gimme!".  He is already getting set to tour a little and attend & play at several festivals all over the world during the summer, and he's also hard at work on another album which may see release at the end of the year 

.... Yngwie is truly the greatest, and no matter what was said about his music, he has continued following his vision. And all of us who love him, are grateful, that he has stuck to what he believed in and continued to compose the music that comforts us, inspires us, and is our constant companion.

Redesigned & Updated for 2000: April 05, 2000

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