Yngwie Malmsteen! (Who?)

[The Children of the Revolution]

Has anyone ever heard of Yngwie Malmsteen??

He is a Swedish guitarist that rose to fame in the mid-80's, I believe. And, quite annoyingly, I'd not heard of him until a few months ago... He plays unfathomably fast uber-technical stuff; faster than Satriani (my previous "benchmark") by a mile. He crams every song full of "passion". And he practically invented the "Neo-Classical Metal" genre. He re-wrote several classical pieces for the electic guitar... And they sound gorgeous!

Yngwie is also a highly respected guitarist in his own right.

Pretty good Yngwie Malmsteen "Fan Site"! (http://www.yngwiemalmsteen.net/)

I first heard his music on a superb album everyone should own - "G3 Live: 'Rockin' in the Free World'". It features Joe Satriani, Steve Vai and Yngwie Malmsteen performing their own tracks on CD1, (spectacular) then playing simultaneously in the "G3 Jam" (CD2) - covering Hendrix's "Voodoo Child" and "Little Wing" as well as "Rockin' in the Free World". (Neil Young) All are sublime.

Read about the "G3 Live" event here... (http://www.satriani.com/G3/2003-release.shtml)

So... Is anyone else similarly "experienced"? What do you think of the guy? And the "G3 Live" CD? Or am I the only one that owns it?

[MiniOswald]

im almost exactly the same the G3 cd is the best!
Yngwie is an incredibly fast guitar player, i especially like his 'blitzkrieg' and 'fugue' pieces off the G3.

He's certainly faster than Satriani, who is also brillaint.
I hadnt heard of him until my brother showed my his 'rising force' cd, im definatly going to look into his neo-classical guitar stuff.

[monkeydust]

I can respect Yngwie, but personally I think he's fucking shite.

I admit that he can play fast, though it's also worth noting that he cannot play slow (and stay in time), moreover, his capacity for rythmic variety is minimal, tending to play straight demi-semiquavers or even hemi-demisemiquavers when quintuplets or triplets might be more interesting.

His licks are incredibly reptitive, I've notcied thah he sticks to harmonic minor and diminished arpeggios most of the time. Besides, they're unoriginal as they're taken straight out of pieces by Bach and other contemporary baroque composers.

He does not appreciate dynamics in any sense, other than "very loud" or "very quiet".

His fugues are not actual fugues, he just uses the name because he thinks it's cool.

Vai is actually faster, though he doesn't play incredibly fast all the time. Several other guitarists such as Bumblefoot are also infinitely faster (and more interesting) than Malmsteen.

Malmsteen's stage act is a joke.

He's a novelty act, after you've heard over 10 of his songs, you realise they're all the same and the tacky value of classical music on guitar wears off.

[MiniOswald]

actually Vai is the best of the 3 i think, ive just been listening to the fire garden cd which is tre bien :D

[monkeydust]

actually Vai is the best of the 3 i think, ive just been listening to the fire garden cd which is tre bien

I agree, I personally think Vai's the best also, certainly musically.

Fire Garden's a good album. Have you heard Passion and Warfare? That's probably his best album, though it's all instrumentals.

[The Children of the Revolution]

Vai is faster than Malmsteen? I didn't think so... :blink:

Admittedly, he doesn't make the guitar sing to you quite as much as, say, Clapton. Or Hendrix. But to suggest that he doesn't appreciate dynamics or that he can't play slow is absurd. He is an astonishingly quick guitarist - but first and foremost, he is a talented musician. Have you heard his version of "Red House" (Hendrix)? Quite wonderful; and "slow" (er) in places too. And his "Trilogy Suite Op. 5" or whatever you want to call it - that demonstrates his range of styles perfectly.

You may call him a clown. I remind you, he IS an 80's Swedish musician; it could have been so much worse! (I haven't seen his stage act, though)

Of the three, I prefer Satriani. His music is beautiful - especially "Always with me, Always with you". Quite simple (for his standards) but amazingly emotional too. Or so I thought! :)

[monkeydust]

Vai is faster than Malmsteen? I didn't think so...

He is! Honestly!

Vai's top speed is something like 63 notes a second, Malmsteens is about 10 lower than that. Vai doesn't play fast all the time (especially nowadays), but on certain songs he does demonstrate his amazing speed.


But to suggest that he doesn't appreciate dynamics or that he can't play slow is absurd.

Perhaps I should clarify.

He doesn't appreciate dynamics or play slowly very well. Certainly not as well as Vai. On his guitar instruction video his attempts to play slow fail miserably.


And his "Trilogy Suite Op. 5" or whatever you want to call it - that demonstrates his range of styles perfectly.


I found it pretty repetitive to be honest.


You may call him a clown. I remind you, he IS an 80's Swedish musician; it could have been so much worse! (I haven't seen his stage act, though)


He's fat, pretentious, does stupid kicks in the air and makes smashing a guitar look un-cool.


Of the three, I prefer Satriani. His music is beautiful - especially "Always with me, Always with you". Quite simple (for his standards) but amazingly emotional too. Or so I thought

I like Satriani, but of the three my favourite is Vai.

Satriani's songs are too often very straightforward. This isn't a bad thing in itself, but after hearing a number of such songs it gets a little repetitive.

Vai, on the other hand has some very interesting (and experimental) songs such as his 'Fire Garden suite'.

For the love of God and Rescue me or bury me (with a 4 minute improvised solo) are also, in my opinion, more emotional than anything satch does.

Vai's technique is also much more varied. Satraini cannot (or at least never does) sweep-pick, moreover he almost always plays strictly legato licks.

Still, he's a great guitarist.

[MiniOswald]

Vai, on the other hand has some very interesting (and experimental) songs such as his 'Fire Garden suite'.

I love the fire garden suite!
especially the acoustic and piano duet section

[Roses in the Hospital]

QUOTE
Vai is faster than Malmsteen? I didn't think so...



He is! Honestly!

Vai's top speed is something like 63 notes a second, Malmsteens is about 10 lower than that. Vai doesn't play fast all the time (especially nowadays), but on certain songs he does demonstrate his amazing speed.

From 'Total Guitar' Jan '04:



FASTEST SHREDDERS:

1 Steve Vai - 20.8 notes per second (The Riddle)
2 George Lynch - 19.8 nps (Wicked Sensation)
3 Kirk Hammet - 19 nps (Damage Inc)
4 Paul Gilbert - 18.8 nps (Addicted to that Rush)
5 Eddie Van Halen - 18.7 nps (You Really Got Me)
6 Joe Satriani - 17.6 nps (The Mystical Potato Head Groove)
7 Nuno Bettencourt - 17 nps (He-Man Woman Heater)
8 Yngwie Malmsteen - 16.8 nps (Far Beyond the Sun)
9 Marty Freedman - 15 nps (Ashes in Your Mouth)
10 Steve Morse - 14 nps (Tumeni Notes)

[monkeydust]

I've seen that survey before, it's a pile of wank.

They picked one or two songs from each artist and estimated how many notes per second were in the fastest section.

Moreover, the missed out the really fast guitarists, who far exceed Vai's speed. People such as Bumbleffot, Michael Agelo, John Petrucci etc.


Anyone who thinks that Kirk Hammet's the third fastsest guitar player in the world has to be an idiot.

[Roses in the Hospital]

...and that's what you get for trying to support someones argument... :huh:

[monkeydust]

Sorry :huh:

I agree with you, but I've seen that poll many a time and each time it gets all the more infuriating. Especially as a number of people believe it's true.

I simply take issue with Kirk Hammet being describedas the third fastest guitarist there is. He frankly is not anywhere near.

[MiniOswald]

isnt micheal angelo the fastest at the moment?

[monkeydust]

I believe so, yes. He's certainly one of the fastest I've heard.

[iwwobblie]

I heard Malmsteen got booed off the stage in Brazil for playing The Star Spangled Banner.

[EL OBiSPO]

Originally posted by Roses in the [email protected] 31 2004, 05:40 PM




FASTEST SHREDDERS:

1 Steve Vai - 20.8 notes per second (The Riddle)
2 George Lynch - 19.8 nps (Wicked Sensation)
3 Kirk Hammet - 19 nps (Damage Inc)
4 Paul Gilbert - 18.8 nps (Addicted to that Rush)
5 Eddie Van Halen - 18.7 nps (You Really Got Me)
6 Joe Satriani - 17.6 nps (The Mystical Potato Head Groove)
7 Nuno Bettencourt - 17 nps (He-Man Woman Heater)
8 Yngwie Malmsteen - 16.8 nps (Far Beyond the Sun)
9 Marty Freedman - 15 nps (Ashes in Your Mouth)
10 Steve Morse - 14 nps (Tumeni Notes)

Its impossible to take that survey seriously. For example... Hammet? 3rd fastest guitarist? I'm able to play the Damage Inc. Solo, I don't find it that testing to be honest. The difference is, Hammet is probably tremelo picking a single note, whereas Bettencort or Malmsteen are likely to be picking each note individually.

And also...

Jason Becker > Malmsteen

Jason Becker and Michael Angelo are the most technically brilliant guitarists to have ever 'shredded', apart from me, obviously :rolleyes:.

[BOZG]

Yeah check out Angelo (http://www.angelo.com). Look at the hair.

[monkeydust]

I'm with OBiSPO on this one, Jason Becker was an excellent guitarist, very original, at least at the time.

It's a shame what happened to him, he could have been another Vai or Van Halen if he could still play.

[refuse_resist]

Originally posted by [email protected] 1 2004, 01:13 AM
I heard Malmsteen got booed off the stage in Brazil for playing The Star Spangled Banner.
:lol:

[gaf]

good guitarist yeah but ,he shouldn't sing or at least should get somebody who don't sing like that