Review Summary: "Relentless" is Boring, Lazy, and completely uninspired...A washed up reject continuously showing his true colors.
How quickly time flies and how quickly those who were once so high can fall down so low. Yngwie Malmsteen the once critically acclaimed "Guitar Virtuoso" proves once again with "Relentless" why in his latter years, he has proven to be a mere shadow of his former self. Recycled riffs, licks, and in typical Yngwie fashion inept lyrical ability plague this entire album from start to finish, causing the album as a whole to be quite a chore to listen to.
The album opens with Overture, clocking in at just under a minute. In typical Yngwie fashion his use of the word overture is once again redundantly titled seeing how it doesn't do what an overture is suppose to establish to begin with. There are no thematic melodies heard ever again throughout the entire album, unless ofcourse you consider the 2-3 intervalic key signatures that will be present, throughout. Typical and self indulgent. Yngwie opens a lackluster album with familiar themes heard since 1984's "Rising Force".
Before I can continue I must mention that throughout this album Tim "Ripper" Owens gives a very honest and Rockin' performance. However the previously mentioned overall lazy lyrical songwriting almost serves to parody the overall message of the album and proves further how if Yngwie cant find a way to reinvent him self even slightly, he will just simply continue to fade off into oblivion.
With that being said after the opening instrumental comes to a close we are introduced with a slew of incredibly formulaic and fairly boring songs, until the tables change and Yngwie comes in for his lead vocal role on the song "Look at You Now", just as its predecessors namely from the album "Attack" this song is a complete disaster and makes you look forward to the lengthy Eb Harmonic minor solo interlude. "Look at You Now" being the epithelial climax of the album the rest of the album continues in the same way it began, leaving no real impression and really only serving as being listenable with an unassertive ear.
In conclusion for any Yngwie fans out there I simply recommend to just revel in his classic Albums and pay no attention to the fat man behind the curtain. Yngwies continual lazy songwriting has completely spiraled into itself and most likely there is no way for him to reclaim even a quarter of his fame, which may serve as being an OK sentiment. "Relentless" summed up in as many words is Boring, Lazy, and completely uninspired, NEXT PLEASE!
