Completely agree, you could argue that the guitar world studio is more high pressure than chilling on a couch with some friends as well.
Another problem with being as good as Yngwie is that you set an unbelievably high standard for yourself, so everyone time your not “on” it’s more noticeable 
Also too, as other people have mentioned. As you get older, there are certain things you stop caring about or just don’t have time to and you just settle for good enough. The studio and time allotment certainly could be factors, but how much do you think he rehearsed or prepped before he went in there? How seriously do you think he would have taken it? I would be willing to bet in this point of his life or career, not much because nothing is on the line for him. He’s not some young hungry kid anymore trying to prove something.
A lot of these iconic players fall into that where you wonder if they have recently suffered a stroke. I have heard even worse horrid examples from EVH in his later years, but also a ton of great ones too.
I think a more positive thing to take away from all of this instead of speculating whether they don’t have the ability anymore due to age, suffered strokes, or that they just stopped caring, is that they are all human and they fuck up too. Just like every single one of us, they have off days, they still need to practice, they domestic responsibilities etc.
Yngwie’s timing, as in “sense of time”, on his classic recordings is always perfect. There are so many examples of this. Here’s a well-known one. A good portion of this line is even-numbered alternate picking patterns of the sort that everyone has practiced to improve hand sync. Most people would play these to a click and sound like a robot. But not Yngwie:
Until you slow this down and tab it out, you almost can’t even really tell that these are repeating metronomic-style patterns because he’s doing it like a jazz player, placing them all over the time while listening to where the tune is going. Somehow he gets all the way through this fuslliade of notes and sticks the landing by hitting that last note of the last line — the slow, moaning bend — at exactly the right syncopated spot, creating exactly the right melody and tension out of it.
I’ve seen enough really good live footage of post-crash Yngwie that I honestly don’t sense any great difference in mechanical capability. The current-day criticisms are more valid, and to me they appear to be more a type of impatience or maybe even ADHD where he just has to fill every space as soon as possible without the same type of consideration you hear on the older recordings.
Yes Troy, think you hit the nail, he’s taken the fills for granted and doesn’t articulate with taste, he needs a proper producer. I once asked his wife to let him play with a proper singer and band, she was not amused to say the least.
when did you talk to malmsteen’s wife? lol!
thats awesome … you went right for the jugular
To the OP…
“some alternate pickers” lol who? YJM has never been a only strict alternate picker… ever! These alternate pickers should know this…
I won’t argue his playing isn’t what it used to be… more than anything its his sound that turns me off…
however, this man invented a genre of guitar playing practically… sure there were forerunners, but he created an entire style of playing and turned rock guitar upside down the way EVH did…
That happens once in a lifetime…
Some alternate pickers will never come close to what this man achieved
I really liked the early sound (Steeler/ Alcatrazz) which to me was actually very warm, very little reverb or delay from what I could tell. You could really hear the articulation.
Meh, all whiney critiques aside, Yng still rocks. His music is fun and holy shit the man can really play! A true original.
same here. his tone is blistering on marching out… his playing on that album is stll a benchmark… thats yjm at the peak of his powers imo
NCASO, just read this thread! There are a lot of people who recognize the difference. I personally think its really great. TO hell with exact notes too… there is way more character sounding less robotic.
hahah man I wish, it was on instagram or facebook, can’t remember, she reprimanded me and promptly banned me, said Yngwie makes his own decisions 
hahah man I wish, it was on instagram or facebook, can’t remember, she reprimanded me and promptly banned me, said Yngwie makes his own decisions
edit: I definitely had it coming on that one 
Yeah, this seems to be the case with many famous guitarists - people love to hate on famous guitarists online. I feel like most (all?) people accusing Yngwie of being sloppy secretly wish they could play as well.
Has he gotten worse recently? Maybe. But the guy’s almost 60. With how our bodies break down as we age, I hope I’ll be able to play half as well as him by the time I’m 60.
[Edit:] Removed non-productive comment per Troy’s advice.
omg… sooooo true. You are right Timobkg.
I agree.
I love him… Iove anything he does at this point and before .
I have a theory that economy/gypsy pickers start rushing with age. It happened to Tal Farlow, Eric Johnson and Yngwie. It’s a high maintenance technique that requires a lot of practice. Alternate pickers like John McLaughlin and Al DiMeola don’t have the same problems.
so right on that too. I have to agree.
I never really understood, the criticism of Yngwie’s attitude from fans who like aggressive, technically demanding guitar within the hard rock genre?
This is an art form that requires a strong personality, yet it seems “some” famous guitarists, and fans expected him to be some shrinking violet.
This is the exact opposite of my experience. I can maintain my various usx techniques with very little effort beyond simply regular playing. Just as one example, this lesson was just sitting at a camera with no prior thought or rehearsal. The lines were more or less made up on the spot:
I’m not saying this is the most original improvisational playing, or the most accurate. But it’s certainly good enough that I’d use it in a recording or lesson. The point I’m making though is that the physical effort and mental concentration for this type of technique is low enough that I can pretty much record stuff like this whenever. And I’m not a kid any more.
My thinking is that the number of different of motions you need to learn and memorize for any single escape picking style — usx or dsx — is relatively compact. They’re the RISC processors of picking styles — few instructions, simpler code, faster execution. These techniques all have relatively flat speed-accuracy curves to begin with. Anecdotally it doesn’t surprise me that I find them straightforward to maintain.
I’ve listened to and watched a lot of Tal Farlow and it has always struck me that he seemed to exhibit marked physical decline relatively early in his life. I know he eventually passed of cancer — esophageal I think, maybe smoking? His issues may have been health-related. To paraphrase Yogi Berra, people got older much younger back then!
Compare Tal to, say, Joe Pass, who was also a USX player, not that much younger, and was blowing people away into his 60s at least.
Was this person a jerk to you specifically, i.e. first-hand, and is that relevant to the technique discussion we’re having here? If the answer to either of these is no, then I really don’t want to go down this road on the forum.
We’re always reaching out to people, and potentially at some point sitting down with them. This type of discussion just makes that job harder. I’m not referring to Yngwie or anyone specific, just making a general request.
Appreciated, thanks.
understood, and i’ll cease and desist.