YNGWIE MALMSTEEN
I happen to think that Yngwie Malmsteen really can play. I saw some videos when I was in Europe on Sky Channel. I was really impressed.
– Frank Zappa.
To every medium there is a master. The loyal fans that eat, sleep and dream his work call him god; to those yet to be enveloped by his musical perfection, he is known as Yngwie J. Malmsteen.
The minute Yngwie held his first guitar, a prodigy was born. The guitar transformed his vicious outlook into a passion for music that would forbid a day to go by without practice.
As he grew older Yngwie’s mission became the promotion of his art . The man to whom Yngwie’s globalization is credited is Guitar Player contributor and Shrapnel Music founder Mike Varney. Varney believed Yngwie and Steeler, Shrapnel’s newly signed hopeful, would gain the force needed to bring its presence into the limelight. With a much broader audience, Yngwie Malmsteen was now ready to forever bring the guitar world to its knees.
Despite his introduction to the American music scene, Yngwie would not be satisfied with the cult following he had created with Steeler. His next venture, a Rainbow-style band know as Alcatrazz, would provide the necessary momentum to drive Yngwie to begin a solo career.
Rising Force became the flagship reference for the modern guitarist’s interest in neoclassical rock. Released in 1984, this Grammy-nominated feat of fiery guitar craft and electrified piano duels provided such a stylistic breakthrough as to be considered the bible for neoclassical rock. So powerful an achievement was this innovation, that he was voted Best New Talent, Best Rock Guitarist and the work commended the acclaim Album of the Year by Guitar Player Magazine.
It wasn’t until 1986, and the release of Trilogy, that Yngwie’s classical influence began to take hold of his career. His unparalleled technique and educated composition methodology became virtually undeniable. Many guitarists of the period made attempts to mimic his innovations without success. The musical vision he had come to accept as his chosen path had now been brought into full view as the standard for the direction of modern composition.
It was in June of 1987, just shy of his 24th birthday, that adversity came in the form of a devastating automobile accident, resulting in a coma that lasted nearly a week. The concussion responsible for the coma had also damaged the nerves responsible for the actions of his right hand. However, determined to overcome this dream-shattering burden, Yngwie took on regenerative therapy with a vengeance. The light at the end of his tunnel now visible, fate would have a hand in bringing him to his knees once again. For it was during this time of reconstruction that Yngwie got word of the death of his mother, pushing the thought of success that much further out of reach. Following exhaustive therapy, Yngwie pulled himself from the pit in which life had placed him, turning back to music for his salvation.
The resulting period brought the highly acclaimed Odyssey, and Yngwie’s music to a broader audience. The hit single and video, Heaven Tonight, provided the first taste of heavy airplay rotation. The Odyssey Tour exposed him to an audience no longer solely composed of musicians. His groundbreaking sequence of sold-out shows in Moscow and Leningrad resulted in his gold-selling home video Live in Leningrad/Trial by Fire.
Recruiting a variety of fellow Swedes to provide the medium by which he would form his next musical venture, Yngwie released Eclipse. This powerful arrangement of experienced musicianship proved that Yngwie was able to provide radio-ready accessible material without sacrificing the classical style that had brought him such acclaim. Reaching gold and platinum status throughout Japan and Europe, Yngwie decided he wanted a change and moved for his next album to be released by Elektra records.
Yngwie’s debut album with Elektra, Fire & Ice, was a voyage into the compositional structures of the Baroque composers that had inspired him. The lifelong desire to record with an orchestra was finally given wings. The album, selling over 100,000 copies the day of release, received critical acclaim for both its composition and performance, achieving gold and platinum status, once again, across both Europe and Asia.
Yngwie was dreaming big, and as a result, big things happened. Moving to the international distribution of Pony Canyon, Yngwie was able to give voice to the lofty orchestral ideals he harbored, recording Concerto Suite for Electric Guitar and Orchestra in E Flat Minor. This collaboration with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra brought his own orchestral ompositions to the table, providing for the hungry fans that had anxiously awaited such a work since his debut in 1984.
Yngwie’s Facing the Animal was released on the Mercury label, and was regarded by both fan and critic as one of his strongest works to date. The tour stretched from Japan, South America, Europe and the U.K. and Yngwie recorded several of the sold-out shows around the globe. The resulting compilation was released as Yngwie Malmsteen LIVE!!, and was promoted and sold globally through Mercury.
Following the release of Alchemy, Yngwie returned to his orchestral principles to produce Concerto Suite for Electric Guitar, recorded with the New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra. This revolutionary DVD/CD/VHS package sold wildly throughout international markets, suppliers unable to keep the product on their shelves. The Concerto has warranted the attention of many orchestras worldwide, lauding it as the future of symphonic innovation.
Twenty albums into his career, we find Yngwie still reinventing his instrument and sound with Attack!! Self-produced by Yngwie in his Miami studio, Attack!!s monstrous sound is attributable in large part to engineer Tom Fletcher, whose rock resume includes work on over 100 albums from Toto to Yes.
Fletcher had worked with Malmsteen for the first time in 1990 when he mixed Eclipse(Polygram) and cannot contain his enthusiasm for Attack!! Yngwie has spent his entire career building up to this album, insists Fletcher. It’s a fantastic album, and his classical influences come through without being too pretentious. Yngwie plays with tremendous fire, and he’s so articulate… such an effortless player.
Yngwie has nothing but accolades for Fletcher’s work as well. I wanted the guitar sound on Attack!! to sound like you were standing in front of my amps… and thatss how it sounds. Attack!! sounds very fresh, vibrant and inspired. That’s because Fletcher captured every instrument to its fullest, and the song writing is my best ever.
Yngwie adds, Attack!! is an album where when I started composing everything fell into place like a jigsaw puzzle, musically, lyrically, production, concept, I am completely content the way Attack!! has turned out!
His musical prowess continues to mark unique milestones by which others might be taught, unable to sit idle in a constantly changing musical environment. Making music is what I live for, says Yngwie. When you buy a Malmsteen album you get the real deal – there’s no fake bullshit on it.
With the release of Attack!! in January 2004, Yngwie Malmsteen is more excited than ever about the road ahead.
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