Anyway, this is definitely a pleasing album to the eardrums, in the classic 80’s guitar rock sense, along with nods to classical music screened byway of the rock & roll language, and throw in a nice dash of that spinal tap mazes and monster vibe without the banality and self inflicted sarcasm. Van Halen (minus the now shlock infested awareness of itself) meets Black Sabbath (minus some of the legend status) meets Rush (minus the druids and wood nymphs crying in the background) and then proceeds to pillage the village, burn it to the ground, kill all the orcs & trolls and gallop out of town with an authentic Norwegian Smiting sword strapped to its back, the bounty of a persistent battle with passing fads, radio whores, and wistful gazes on soft candles. None of that is permitted nor given relief from annihilation within these walls. Or something like that.
While not a perfect effort, peppered briefly as it is with misguided operatic angst (some of which, granted, work delightfully), the withering, punishing, perfectly shredded licks and “holy shit, what sound(s) just came out of dude’s guitar?” moments blow these piddling concerns away like whales coughing up perverted carpenters. Do yourself a favor and rock it pronto.
Article comments
1 - Aaman
Fun review - great stuff
2 - godoggo
Why do you people always forget the "J."?
Imbeciles.
3 - godoggo
Oops. OK, new question: what the hell happened to the goddam "J."?
Imbeciles.
4 - Al Barger
Damn Joe, I have very little patience for cheesy guitar heroics, and I make fun of such stuff frequently. Yet this review makes even ME want to give Yngwie a spin. Good work.
5 - Rob
Never got into Yngwie. He can play fast, maybe even the fastest and if there was an Olympic event for such things, he'd probably set a world record. However, I just find he plays with little emotion or dynamics. It's always blistering fast, which at first is impressive, but grows tiresome quickly. I'd much rather listen to a Joe Satriani, Steve Morse, Steve Vai or Ritchie Blackmore.