Rising Force was the first neo-classical metal epic I ever bought. I'd heard of Yngwie Malmsteen (sorry, Yngwie J. Malmsteen!) but up until then I'd held Eddie Van Halen in awe as the king of speed rock guitar. What Malmsteen introduced shook the guitar world and raised the standard of technical excellence forever. I bought the LP (thats about 12" of plastic with a hole in the middle for you youngsters out there) and I swear that when YJM ripped into the fist shredding run up the fretboard I actually checked the record deck was on 33 and not 45!
Malmsteen plays the guitar nearly as fast as a classical violinist plays a violin, and players such as Tony MacAlpine, Joey Tafolla, Vinnie Moore and Joe Stump followed in Malmsteen's footsteps to release neo-classical dirges of their own. As with most "new" styles others follow quickly to jump on the bandwagon and yes, certain players such as Macalpine are worth a listen bu YJM remains the inspiration for them all.
Its not metal, its not r'n'b, its not prog, its not fair! - did he sell his soul to the devil to play like that. Comparisons with Paganini ("Page Nine" according to Spike Milligan but I digress) are bound to be made. His style is actually classified as "neo-classical fusion", whatever that means. Unfortunately YJM has a reputation for taking himself far too seriously and to say he can be a tad pretentious wouldn't be too far off the mark. Listen without prejudice though and you'll hear a master technician at work.
Rising Force is definitely worth owning for the six instrumental classics alone--"Black Star", "Far Beyond The Sun" and "Evil Eye", to name but a few. On the 8 minute epic that is "Icarus Dream Suite" you can almost hear him disappear up his own backside and come out again!
If you don't play guitar: marvel at the sheer virtuosity of this man. If you play guitar: ditch the girlfriend, give up going out for 6 years and practice in your bedroom until your fingers bleed!
Tracks:
04:51 Black Star 05:49 Far Beyond The Sun 04:09 Now Your Ships Are Burned 05:12 Evil Eye 08:30 Icarus Dream Suite 04:36 As Above So Below 05:21 Little Savage 00:48 Farewell
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Your really taking me back here! long time ago when I was 17 he was the first person I ever went to see play live. Some band called China were the support act and my ears hurt for days.....take care
Paiceyjohn 09.08.2001 19:07
How could I possibly ignore a review awith that title. Awesome. Old Wyngie came to prominence around 1982 while playing on the Alcatrazz album "No Parole for Rock 'n' Roll" (a fine title), if you care to remember back that far(!). Never heard it though, so gawd knows why I'm blathering on about it. Any way, welcome.
Collingwood21 09.08.2001 15:54
Welcome to ciao! Excellent first op, keep up the good work. :-)
Advantages: The rise of neo-classical metal, great guitar playing, fine vocal performances Disadvantages: Production values ain't great, inaccessible for some
Advantages: The rise of neo-classical metal, great guitar playing, fine vocal performances Disadvantages: Production values ain't great, inaccessible for some
Aug 9th, 2001
very helpful by (76%):
helpful by (24%):
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