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There are few people in musical history who have had such a large impact on rock and metal as Yngwie Malmsteen. This man alone used the concepts of Baroque and Romantic classical structure and mixed it with rock "n roll, starting not only a trend but also a completely new style of music that very few have come to master. That style (now known as Baroque "n Roll, Neoclassical, etc...) started right here, with Yngwie Malmsteen"s amazing debut "Rising Force." Every time you hear that part of that Children of Bodom song that sounds like a Bach passage, or those eerie gothic keyboards in that Dimmu Borgir song that gives you chills up and down your spine, it all traces back to this completely revolutionary album.
Black Star " The first of 6 instrumentals on the album. Starts off with a beautiful classical guitar intro, giving you the feeling that this album has a lot of uniqueness to offer. A small bassline comes in, which is followed by a very jazzy guitar riff, the first taste of Yngwie"s picking ability you hear on this album. The main riff comes in; the amazing screeching dual guitars brought a sound to my ears I have never heard in my life. The first time listening to this song is unexplainable. It leaves you shell shocked" it"s almost a perfect song. 5/5
Far Beyond the Sun " The next instrumental, and oh boy is it GREAT. Immediately you are hit with an awesome intro, one that I just can"t help but repeat over and over again in my head. This is much more of a soloing song, I"ll bet Yngwie hits every fret on every string at least 1000 times. Though I find a lot of Yngwie"s later albums unattractive because of his mindless shredding, everything on this song has an order. There"s a great dueling guitar/keyboard part in here, where they switch off and on solos. This is an awesome" no, AMAZING song overall. 5/5
Now Your Ships are Burned " Wow, vocals! And they"re good! Pretty decent intro, though didn"t catch my interest immediately. The bass stands out real nicely in this song along with Yngwie"s insane shredding. The talent is amazing and stands out, though this song isn"t nearly as appealing as the last two songs. 4/5
Evil Eye " When does Yngwie run out of ideas?! Starts off with a great gothic classical guitar intro that fades right into a spine tingling electric intro. Then, some insanely fast riffing by Yngwie with overdubbed fills everywhere, the incredible work keeps your attention real well. Oh, what"s this? Classical guitar refrain with heavy electric riffing for the backup? Again, when will he run out of ideas? An awesome breakdown, sweeping, tapping, you name it then it"s in this song. Truly amazing, just as good as the first two songs. 5/5
Icarus" Dream Suite op. 4 " The most revolutionary song on the album, I have never heard anything quite like this. Past the majestic intro, slow soloing?! Something you haven"t heard yet, and it fits the song perfectly. The solo is followed by a great acoustic guitar riff that repeats itself through an orchestra that backs it up at one point. The electric guitar riffing slowly builds up, and it pounds right in with authority. The soloing is perfect and the guitar/keyboard harmonizing is bone-chilling. As the song builds up, the last screaming note of Yngwie"s guitar leaves you in a state of awe as you are welcomed with a great classical guitar riff. Again, it builds up into an awesome electric riff and an overdubbed melodic solo. The ending is Yngwie powerfully yet beautifully playing an acoustic riff at fast pace as it fades out. The best song on this album by far, I have never heard anything like this in my life. 5/5
As Above, So Below " The second and final song with vocals! This song makes up for what "Now Your Ships are Burned" lacked. The only real classical influence you experience in this song is the keyboard intro, which builds you up into a suspense of what is to come. The vocals are exceptional, great chorus, awesome riffing. Everything about this song is perfect, the use of vocals give Yngwie the chance to make himself shine with one great solo, which is played after some great keyboard/guitar harmonizing. I"m tired of giving out this score" 5/5
Little Savage " Good song, though if the album has one weak point then this is it. It has a weird intro that gets on the listeners nerves very easily. Mostly soloing" there"s no real structure of the song for the solos and fills to accompany. There"s a melodic, sweet-sounding jazzy section in the middle of the song that really grabs the listener"s attention, that"s the saving grace of this song for me. The ending keyboards sounds like some pop-rock band"s hit from the 70"s, though the outro solo is awesome. Good song overall. 3.5/5
Farewell " Remember the classical guitar intro from "Black Star?" This is the same thing, only played at a different octave and more harmonics at the end. I can"t really rate this, it"s just an outro.
Forgive me for making this seem a little fanboyish, but I couldn"t explain how awesome this work of art is in any other way. You will never hear anything like this album in your entire life. Already have an Yngwie album? None of his later work compares to this, and you have no clue what you are missing. Never bothered to listen to this guy? If you like anything from melodic death metal to classical, I guarantee you will love this album. Do yourself a favor, give this a listen" even if you have to listen to 1 song on this album you would be doing yourself a huge favor. This album in an unknown diamond in the world of music, and it is definitely worth the attention of anyone who calls themselves a music fan.
My second review, any good?
| other reviews of this album |
Kris/KJ (4.5)
A landmark record that paved the way for the shredders of today....
Robbit (5)
A stunning and groundbreaking debut from a 21-year old Swedish virtuoso that he would never quite ma...
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nice review. hated malmsteen's later stuff. ill check this out. it sounds interesting.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
Thanks for the small criticism. I found it really hard to try to say what this album sounded like, its like a mix between Michael Angelo Batio, Jeff Beck, and Bach. I think this is very inventive, in that there was no album or piece of work like this one in the past
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Great review. Despite all the things I have heard about Malmsteen I have yet to hear any of his material. Several people have told me he is a bit of a wanker...
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Yngwie ran out of ideas the minute he started writing.
I personally can't stand any of his music, aside from maybe Baroque N Roll, or Valhalla at times. The rest of it makes him seem like a pompous wanker, who's music has little to no substance IMO. It's just playing classical passages as fast as humanly possible.
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I VILL UNLEASH THA FOOKING FURY!!!!
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I actually like quite a bit of Malmsteen's stuff, though it should be noted that Ritchie Blackmore was incorperating classical guitar into metal a decade before Malmsteen was...
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
Forgive me, before I noted that this neoclassical style was Yngwie's own idea I searched very hard for someone who had done anything similar in the past, and found nothing. Ill def give ritchie blackmore a listen.
By the way Shattered Future, I agree that most of Yngwie's work is mindless, same-old classical shredding, and yes he does seem like a pompous wanker. but this album is very different than his later works, I guess you have to really appreciate it to like it
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
Yeah, randy rhoads too, but that was with most of their solos cause i think they based them off of classical scales. Yes I guess it is tough to say who could claim this idea first, but no songs van halen or ozzy did sound anything like this.
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
good review. good album. In grade six i did a music title page exactly the same as the cover for this album, strange.
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I VILL UNLEASH THA FOOKING FURY!!!!
Oh man, it just had to be said. :lol:
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This actually came out in '84, not '90...I think you got the release dates confused with Fire And Ice. I think so anyway...I'm too lazy to google it...
Anyway, Black Star is freakin' sweet. Yngwie is extremely influential, but he's still a dick.
Btw, he actually has a (pretty damn good) song called Rising Force. I assumed it was on this album, but apparently not...?
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
The cassette tape came out in '84, but the CD was released in '90, sorry for the confusion. The song "Rising Force" is on his album Odyssey, his band is actually called "Yngwie J Malmsteen's 'Rising Force'" so that was a song named after their band, but no one calls them by that anyway. And yes, thats a pretty damn good song.
| | | Album Rating: 5.0
I'm a huge Yngwie fan which draws a lot of ridicule from some of my friends who don't appreciate his music. I agree with the pros of your review the only real flaw in it (your review) is the release date of the album. I don't know if I'm the first person to point that out, but the real release date of "Rising Force" was 1984. Yngwie is really an acquired taste if anything, like I previously stated I am a huge fan and I listen to him in excess. Yngwie's music is an amazing display of technique and skill, he does it with a display nonchalance and showmanship. Although, Yngwie really confines himself to the genre of Shred-Metal which is known for it's fast guitar and continuous soloing. The only real flaw in his music would be his so-called repetitiveness, to the untrained ear he seems repetive but when taken a closer listen he is anything but. "Rising Force" is Yngwie in his post-Alcatrazz prime, and along with "Trilogy" is one of his best works. "Rising Force" shows Yngwie's vast musical talent and is a great way to get into Shred and other mainly-guitar oriented metal. While Yngwie can be criticized for his repetiveness and unoriginality, those accusations are put to bed with this album. He stands to be one of the greatest guitarists of all time who's influence and contributions to music are undenyable, nice review btw.
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I hate Yngwie, all shred no real sonwriting. It really gets on my nerves, he's also one of the biggest pricks to walk the earth.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
That's what all biased critics of Yngwie say. Ill bet youve never listened to this album. The songwriting on this is incredible. Also, if youre still not convinced his songwriting isn't good, listen to his Concerto for Electric Guitar, he wrote every part for every instrument in the entire orchestra by ear, its work you would expect from anybody but a guitarist.
| | | Album Rating: 5.0
Esh, you have to give this album a try, anyone.. Really it is that good, if you listen to it from start to finish. I used to hate Malmsteen, I thought he was a giant show-off but once I realized that's just how he plays I gently fell in love with his music.
If you compare him to other shred players, he is in my opinion the best. Not many people can shred that fast and still carry some kind of melody. Most people who shred sound like a bunch of really cool (and really fast) licks hooked together, Malmsteen has flow. And what a passionate vibrato and bend he has! Besides he improvises all his solos so its more of the melody I love out of his playing.
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According to Aristotle, an important dimension of virtuous behavior is moderation, which defines as "an intermediate between excess and deficit...equidistant from the extremes...neither too much nor too little." Aristotle introduces the concept of virtue through moderation with a mathematical analogy: If ten self-indulgent wankeries is many and two is few, then six is the intermediate.
Thus, the reason for giving Yngwie virtuoso status.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
^^I swear to God I just learned that Aristotle lesson in Religion class today....
I'd say 1 wankerie in a band is too many, but when listening to the music its the grace of the fingers on the fretboard that matters
| | | Album Rating: 2.5
Yngwie is a cocky, repulsive Swede. This album has technical aspects that would provide a basis for a guitarist interested in shredding but that's about it. His ego far outweighs his talent and that became more and more evident as the years went on.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
no one can deny the uniqueness to his music though. I can't think of another album remotely similar to this and that's why its so attractive to me
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