First time hearing Yngwie Malmsteen and shred

General Music Discussion
#1

Yngwie is one of my favorite guitarists.

I first became aware of him in 1984 around when rising force was released. I saw the album in the record stores and I think it had some sticker on it that read the new virtuoso sensation or something like that.

I was totally not interested at all because at the time I was a big Van Halen fan and it seemed every day there was some new hot shot coming out with more advanced tapping or tricks or whatever and I looked at this as just more of that. So I never picked up the album or heard it at that time.

Fast forward a few years later in 1987 while working in a deli in Manhattan a coworker was playing Trilogy on a radio he had. On tape. So I heard it and thought the scales sounded nice and his playing was smooth and it sounded like he was articulating the notes really well, definitely some alternate picking going on because you could hear the trailing pick clicks. So I thought it sounded interesting.

A few weeks later, I went to a record store in the village to check out some Zeppelin bootlegs. I was a big Jimmy Page fan as well and while doing that I saw an Yngwie bootleg from the Summerfest concert in 1985. It had a weird looking album cover with like caricatures of presidents on it or something. I had never heard him live before and it was cheap so I picked it up.

And I was totally blown away. Very fast picking and sweep picking, weird flowing phrasing speeding up and stopping on a dime, perfect intonation and bending, crazy vibrato and just very intense. The sticker was right, lol. Anyway, my first time hearing live Yngwie.

This is the solo here from the Summerfest concert in Milwaukee in 1985. It still is one of my favorite of his solos. His phrasing and note control is just insane in this imo. The sound quality starts off a little muffled but then quickly improves.

At around that time, in the mid 80’s, you started hearing the term “shred”, and what it meant to me, was not advanced technical playing so much, but advanced and high speed picking. And you could hear it with Yngwie so well since you often could hear the high speed physical audible pick clicks as the notes cascaded, which was such a cool sound. That was shred.

Here is another little thing from I believe the 1985 fan club album that I think was recorded in Sweden. It is the track Little Savage. I like how majestic and full of feeling the part that begins at 13:47 for a few seconds is. His playing really sings and soars and I think sets him apart from many guitarists.

Another video clip I’ve always liked is this short one with Shawn Lane. I’m honestly not the biggest Shawn Lane fan. I did have the album powers of ten and I like some of it, and he really was a very good guitarist (listen to him cover the solo in hotel california) beyond the very high speed picking, but some of his solos leave me a little cold.

Anyway, in this clip, I really like the beginning of it for the first minute or so (not the tapping part so much). Such ferocious picking/playing and feeling with it from :22 - :47 .

Anyway, just sharing some favorite live bits from some great guitarists along with some commentary.

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#2

I discovered Yngwie around the same time you did. I liked him so much that I pretty much lost interest in checking out any new guys that came along after him. After all, no one could possibly do any better, right?

I was super excited to go see him play live and I got my chance at a small venue in San Francisco, where I was able to stand right up against the front of the stage and watch him up close. Except it was super weird to see that he barely moved his hand at all!!!

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#3

Yeah for a while all I did was listen to early live bootlegs and demos of his (loved Marching Out too). But then I also started to listen to other similar guys like Tony Macalpine (Edge of Insanity) and Jason Becker (Perpetual Burn) and Vinnie Moore (Mind’s Eye).

I saw Yngwie 3 times. Once was at Lamours in Brooklyn. I think it was the very first show he did after his car accident if I’m not mistaken. I believe it was in 1988. He was playing very simply for him, I guess still recovering from brain injury/right arm nerve damage/paralysis. I was by myself there late at night in an unfamiliar neighboorhood and had never been to a club like that so it was all nerve-racking.

Added: it was one of the first shows I believe on 4/15/88. A warm up for the odyssey tour.

Then I saw him I think in mid to late 90s at the Beacon Theatre and then again in 2003 at the same place for the G3 tour with Joe Satriani and Steve Vai. I couldn’t even hear Yngwie (he went on last) at that show it was way too loud and distorted. I liked Joe’s set and I think i made eye contact with him and he was arm pumping with me which was so cool until i got distracted and turned away for a second and once I turned back he was done with me lol. It seemed everyone was drunk there because people kept falling and rolling down the steep steps they have.

It would have been nice to have seen Yngwie before his accident when he had the super virtuoso chops. Not that he was bad after that by any means… I think it was incredible how he came back from that serious accident. But he had a real way with the guitar back then.

Regarding EVH, I still think Spanish Fly is one of the most impressive things I’ve ever heard on guitar. He was great. But yeah, for a while there it was like enough of that old stuff Yngwie is God lol.

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#4

Some other great “shredders” that I heard at that time:

This is a solo by Vinnie Moore from Mind’s Eye from the song Hero without Honor.
Started the video a little bit before the solo begins since the parts that lead up to it sound so nice. He’s so melodic but sounds different than Yngwie. This is not particulary fast but just a nice chill solo.

Another is Jason Becker who I think was a really great composer. Kinda quirky too like almost a little Vai-ish at tmes, but really good at it. Started video at a solo from the track Dweller in the Cellar:

His “Air” off the same album (Perpetual Burn) is also brilliant. And not just because of the high level of playing, but also his notes are dazzling sometimes like the part at 3:44 where that high note sneaks up there at the very top. That’s creative and clever as hell. But even just the ending of the piece which has no shreddy stuff at all to me sounds so breathtakingly poignant esp around 5:07 or 5:08. I started the video at the ending part:

And also Tony Macalpine. This short one is from the end of the track Empire in the Sky off of Edge of Insanity. The solo before it is nice too.

Anyway, a lot of great players and albums then.

#5

Thanks for posting - the Summerfest 85 solo is great!

My fave Yngwie is everything up to and including Alcatrazz. I first heard that stuff in 83 from memory. For me his style changed post Alcatrazz . To me No Parole had huge melodic solos, warm tone with heavy emphasis on forensically accurate picking. Phenomenally good player.

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#6

Yeah that was a great time period for him. That summerfest concert has a lot of wicked playing on it actually.

Yeah he was a lot more melodic and composed and in a way, restrained, back then. And he had his full chops. I think he may have started drinking more around then and maybe this affected his precision (before the accident).

Hot on your heels was the great introduction solo. I’ve never heard else anyone play that whole thing. Same with Spanish fly. I mean i’ve heard it, but it doesn’t have EVH’s swing and correct phrasing. Or heartbreaker for that matter. I don’t get some guitarists who say he is just flailing about making a lot of noise and just super sloppy. Certainly he doesn’t have a clean technique, but i think that solo makes sense and can be followed and has tons of attitude. It’s blurry but its there. And when i hear them do an interpretation, it just seems to be missing it all.

I remember reading I think it was some old Yngwie album transcription book by Wolf Marshall and in it Wolf talks about the new guy Yngwie and he addresses his detractors who claim he is just a 64th note shredding emotionless robot, and within that, he states that Yngwie, EVH and Jimmy Page are all actually all very similar because they can play unevenly over the bar lines like some of the very best jazz musicians and it was a very rare ability or “gift” that most top guitarists and musicians don’t have. Like perfect pitch I guess. But it was funny it came with a tape and he had examples and he couldn’t quite do it because the picking was way beyond his level but it still sounded pretty cool.

Yngwie has always been great at those dramatic epic lyrical solos. I think even later he does pull it off like on facing the animal and seventh sign and other albums.

#7

Here’s an interesting audio Yngwie interview posted 2 weeks ago by Jas Obrecht. This was from his first guitar magazine (guitar player) cover story interview in the USA. Has a lot of discussion about the Rising Force album.

It was done in a hotel lobby so there is a lot of background noise. He was dealing with a left hand injury/tendonitis at the time. He attributed it to overplaying/not warming up. I think later he felt it was the hot lights causing loss of electrolytes that created this problem with his hands and he felt gatorade helped him if I recall correctly.

Includes some disparaging words from both Jas and Yngwie about Alcatraz.

Jas also published another one a year ago. It’s from when Yngwie was in Alcatraz.

Added:

During the interview they mention a show done the night before (that Steve Vai attended) and I believe it was this one from 1/11/1985. Starts at the guitar solo.