Yngwie Malmsteen - Attack!!
Published October 28, 2002
Widdlywiddly-widdlywiddly-widdlywiddly-widdlywiddly-wooooo! Yes, Swedish neo-classical guitar shredder Yngwie Malmsteen has a new album out.
As ever, the revolving door of musicians gives yet another line-up. This time he's got ex-Rainbow singer Doogie White, former Dream Theater man Derek Sherinian on keys, and Yngwie stalwart Patrick Johansson on drums.
Musically, it's much what we expect from a Yngwie album; a lot of blindingly-fast scales and arpeggios, and songs with violent imagery. Sadly, most of the songs are fairly ordinary, with the standouts being the two of the instrumentals, "Majestic Blue" and "Air". Derek Sherinian's talents are largely wasted, since the keys are mostly inaudible. On one song, Yngwie proves to the world he can't sing when he takes the vocals of "Freedom isn't Free".
Lyrics are either mindless macho crap or gloriously dumb, depending on your opinion. For example, in "Valhalla", we get this Spinal tap-esqu gem:
We come from the north We come from the ice We live dangerously And very short lives We fight day by day Sailing the seas
Makes his earlier "I am a Viking" look like a classic.
Overall, this is neither better nor worse than any of his previous umpteen recent albums. Yngwie has been a parody of himself for years. Although he's got an undoubted instrumental talent, he's never been more than a mediocre songwriter and a truly terrible lyricist. He really ought to team up with a singer that writes, but sadly his gigantic ego prevents him from collaborating with anyone else with some compositional talent, I'd love to hear him do an album with Dio, for instance, but I can't see it ever happening.
I'll rate this one as a mere two (out of five)
- Yngwie Malmsteen - Attack!!
- Published: October 28, 2002
- Type:
- Section: Music
- Filed Under: Music: Hard Rock, Music: Rock
- Writer: Tim Hall
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Comments on this articleComments
Agreed - "Odyssey" was by far his best album, which proves my point.
BTW, Andrew Ian Dodge has pointed out this is officially a Rising Force album, not a Yngwie album. Still, I'll call it a band album when I see a name other than Yngwiddlies in the writing credits. :)
Now listening to 1994's "Seventh Sign", and even this album is vastly better than "Attack".
I think my review was too kind...
I disagree that Odyssey and Seventh Sign are Yngwie's best albums, these are maintream geared rock albums in which he limits himself to appeal to a greater audience.
Rising Force, and Trilogy in my opinion show the pinnacle of Yngwie's talent.
I disagree that Odyssey and Seventh Sign are Yngwie's best albums, these are maintream geared rock albums in which he limits himself to appeal to a greater audience.
Rising Force, and Trilogy in my opinion show the pinnacle of Yngwie's talent.
I disagree that he is a parody of himself. Would you say that about Judas Priest, Maiden, or any other metal band who has stood the test of time? The fact is he is a showman in concert an his albums. It's that kind of showmanship that is missing from today's bands. As for the music, did you NOT listen to "Facing the Animal"???? My lord, that is some of the best songwriting he's ever had. Is Attack on par with some of his other greats? It's up for debate...but credit has to be given for him holding true to his guns.
Just my take on the subject
It's Music in the End...I you like listening to it you Like Listening to it, if you don't, you don't....I personally like it regardless of reviews..I really like Concerto Suite.....But thats just me...
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Yngwie's best album, without a doubt was 1988's 'Odyssey' which he did with former Rainbow singer Joe Lynn Turner. It did veer into pop-metal land with the Top 40 hit, "Heaven Tonight", but since Malmsteen actually allowed Turner to write most of the lyrics and compose some of the music, it went beyond just the usual screaming guitar solos and incoherent lyrics.