Review Summary: Yngwie makes yet another “sophisticated” wankery of an album. Essentially, nothing is new.
Let’s face it; Yngwie will always be Yngwie. The day he doesn’t play neo-classical shred is the day the Mayans were right. So far the Mayans have been blatantly dishonest to the public, and never gave a single “boo-hoo” to tell the public that December 21st was in fact a Winter Solstice date. Besides the doomsday hoopla, what more can you expect from Yngwie? He’s going to be shredding in D# harmonic Major till the day he dies. Whether you love him or hate him, he’s always been making carbon-copies throughout his entire career. Personally, I’d be a pretty pissed off metal head if my favorite band couldn’t make millions off the same album over and over again. *cough, cough* Dragonforce *cough, cough*
On Yngwie’s official website, the man proclaimed that
Spellbound will be – and these are his words, not mine –
“ turbo charges bluesy stuff to boot”. One thing is for sure, there is bluesy stuff to boot. The only songs that could be considered bluesy is “Let’s Sleeping Dog Lie” and “Iron Blues”. Not to mention “Let’s Sleeping Dog Lie” could very well be mistaken as something Skwisgaar Skwigelf would spew out with his speech impediment and
what’s not’s’s. Besides that I congratulate Yngwie for taking up vocal duties, even if it was for only 3 out of the 13 songs and despite the fact that he auto-tuned his voice. Surprisingly enough he did a more impressive job than some of the other vocalists that were on past albums.
However, his milestone of DIY doesn’t evade the fact that he has formulated yet another carbon-copy. The lack of emotion from the drums put a damper on the atmosphere, Yngwie should never do vocals ever again, and worst of all the feeling of
”I feel like I’ve heard this in one of his other albums” leaves a bitter taste for any listener.
Spellbound ultimately lacks inspiration, and kicks the can down the street till the very bitter end. This in return is making Yngwie irrelevant, as well as blatant showcases of Yngwie running out of gas. At the end,
Spellbound will be loved by any diehard fan, but loathed by anyone who thinks he’s overrated.
