Back in the ’80s, guitar magazines always said Yngwie improvised his solos. So I probably shouldn’t have been so disappointed back in the day when I saw him live and he didn’t play the studio versions I’d spent countless hours trying to learn.
Anyway, if I remember correctly, they also claimed he improvised his solos in the studio. Trilogy is probably my favorite Yngwie album. I just recently learned the Fire solo, which I think is just astoundingly good. Still, even after 40 years, it’s hard for me to believe he just nailed the solos to “Fire,” “Queen in Love,” or “You Don’t Remember, I’ll Never Forget” (and everything else) just off the cuff, in one take. That’s how the magazines always made it sound though if I remember correctly. At the very least, his solos had to be comped, right? Surely he did multiple takes and they pieced together the best parts?
This kind of touches on something else. I hear these solos on classic rock radio that I’ve heard a million times before and I just marvel at how good some of the phrasing is. I mean, consider something like Appetite for Destruction–or any of these songs pretty much that are staples on classic rock radio Are they really as good as I think they are or have I just heard it so many times it’s burned into my brain and I just think it’s great? Or have I in fact heard it so many times because it is great. I don’t know, but it makes me wonder. “And it makes me wonder.” Is the Stairway to Heaven solo really that good? Or could he have played something else entirely and I would still think it’s great today because I’d have heard it a gazillion times?
