Reissue Reviews

Reissue Reviews

Metal-Rules Reviews

Yngwie J. Malmsteen's Inspiration, Facing The Animal, Alchemy, The Best Of 90-99, Double Live, Concerto Suite Op. 1, Magnum Opus, The Seventh Sign. Spitfire Records Master Series 2000 | Rating: 4 out of 5 |Reviewer: Keith McDonald
The legendary guitar God, who for some time, never saw any of his studio albums see the light of day here in the States, sees a shit-load of his albums released in time for the Christmas rush. Nothing new here though, just straight ahead great guitar work that only Yngwie can deliver. Tracks like Seventh Sign, Voodoo, Facing The Animal and Brothers prove that Yngwie has staying power, which most artists, even though great at one time, sorely lack. Most people would quick to grab the Best of compilation instead of this package, but fans would be missing out on some great material. (ed note: fans who are in their right mind already own most all this anyway :-) !!!!!) The Double Live disc is great, and what better to hear the master deliver his hits than live and in your face. The production is great, the musicianship is over the top and the overall packaging makes this series a must for all die-hard fans that might had to spend on import prices. Good move by Spitfire to get these albums here.

HardRadio Reissues Review

Yngwie Malmsteen - Spitfire Reissues (Spitfire)
Online access HERE.
Without much explanation or indeed illuminating credits, Spitfire have taken most, but not all, of the Yngwie catalogue and given it a more or less straight reissue. But there are little surprises sprinkled surreptitiously throughout. For example, Yngwie's really smokin' covers album, Inspiration, offers a (reduced) second disc previously only available in Sweden, highlight being four old demos. The interview from the Swedish disc is not included here [webmaster's note: the interview is embedded within the music tracks]. There is also an album called Double Live, previously Live In Brazil from '98, that sees its first US release here. Europe's version of The Best Of '90 - '99 also sees its first U.S. release here. Also, two of the albums, Magnum Opus and Seventh Sign, contain one bonus track each. And overall (whew!), most albums get new cover art and booklets, mostly consisting of what looks to be hastily conceived photo shoot footage. Well, actually that's not really fair; they are all fairly (and frustratingly) different, and as usual when anybody does this, the spines don't have the same design either, one of them not matching the other seven! There you have it (and there you have it probably wrong on some small details). A great catalogue if you don't have it already, and a few rarities made affordable. Rating: 7

KNAC.COM Reissues Review

Yngwie J. Malmsteen - War To End All Wars & Reissues (Spitfire) : By Blake Kuehn, Contributor. Monday, November 20, 2000 02:49 PM.

After an interesting interview with Yngwie J. Malmsteen, KNAC.com Managing Editor/Street Walkin' Cheetah Armored Frank e-mails me to see if I would like to review the new Yngwie album, War To End All Wars, in addition to his entire re-mastered, re-released post-Polygram back catalog. That's a lot of fucking Yngwie to review but I like a challenge. Twenty-five bucks is twenty-five right? For myself, the true measure of a musician's talent is their ability or inability to pull off a good live show. Plus, I like anything live so I found myself reaching for Double Live immediately. Live albums usually offer a good cross-section of an artist's body of work so I was pleased to find that many of the tracks on Double Live were also part of the re-mastered series thus alleviating the need to listen to every CD in a shortened timeframe. The re-mastered series includes: Concerto Suite for Electric Guitar, Inspiration, Best of 1990-1999, Double Live, Magnum Opus, The Seventh Sign, Facing The Animal, and Alchemy.

I have my limits so I'm keeping it somewhat short. Double Live takes Yngwie fans through standout tracks like Facing The Animal, Trilogy Suite, Gates of Babylon, and I'll See The Light - which is one of my favorite songs. For those like myself who have never seen Yngwie live, this album is a clear representation of what his abilities are in a live setting. The production is clear and captures the live energy that so many live albums lack. Suffice it to say, the rest of the re-mastered series is a welcome addition to any music collection.

Concerto Suite for Electric Guitar is an extremely enjoyable piece of music to listen to and by far the best out of the entire series. It captures an aspect of Yngwie's music that is often understated and sometimes even lost - the true depth of his classical influences.

War To End All Wars **
Concerto Suite for Electric Guitar *****
Inspiration **
Best of 1990-1999 ***
Double Live *****
Magnum Opus ***
The Seventh Sign ****
Facing The Animal ***
Alchemy ****

Daily Vault: Yngwie J. Malmsteen Reissues, Spitfire Records .

CONCERTO SUITE FOR ELECTRIC GUITAR AND ORCHESTRA IN E FLAT MINOR, OP. 1
Review by: Christopher Thelen
Access Online HERE.

Yngwie Malmsteen is a classical musician trapped in the body of a rock & roll guitarist. I don't think anyone who's followed the Swedish guitar virtuoso's career would deny that - I don't think even Malmsteen would deny it. Yet as much as he seems to enjoy rock music, there's always been a part of Malmsteen which seemed to cry out to do an actual classical album.

In 1998, Malmsteen got his chance with Concerto Suite For Electric Guitar And Orchestra (I'm truncating the title) - yet, for some reason or another, this disc went all but unnoticed in America, as did quite the handful of Malmsteen's releases in the '90s. Eight of these albums have now been re-released, including Concerto Suite (many of them with more detailed cover art - the cover seen above is actually from the original release); we'll get to the other discs soon.

If there is one Malmsteen album that is a must-own, this is most definitely the one. I mean no slight against Malmsteen's forays into the world of heavy metal, nor do I wish to deny him the title of guitar god he's earned over the course of the past 16 years. But Malmsteen accurately re-creates what good baroque-style classical music was, with the modern twist of a screaming Stratocaster.

Oh, sure, this could have been a risky venture with the Czech Philharmonic. Malmsteen could have easily turned his volume up to 11 and drowned out the work of his fellow musicians, losing them in a flurry of hammerons and pulloffs. Instead, Malmsteen wisely allows his work to blend with the orchestra, not overpower it. What this allows for is the electric guitar to truly become a member of the orchestra, and everything comes together in a wonderful blend.

What Malmsteen also does is blends the world of electric and classical guitar (if he's not playing a classical at times, he sure fooled me) wonderfully. In selections like "Prelude To April" and "Toccatta," Malmsteen may get to some serious shredding, but he also shows how beautiful of a guitarist he can be. Even in the powerful selections like "Icarus Dream Fanfare," "Presto Vivace" and "Finale," Malmsteen makes you almost think you're listening to a plugged-in piece from Bach or Paganini. Imagine some people's surprise when they discover that the whole suite was written by Malmsteen - incredible!

Malmsteen's selection of the Czech Philharmonic is also inspired. I mean no disrespect to any symphony in America, but I just don't think they could have captured the nuances as well as a European collective (especially working with a European-born guitarist). This is simply a synthesis of talent that comes together to form one unique voice.

Classical music may never make a musician rich, with rare exception, and Malmsteen has most definitely left his mark as one of this generation's most talented rock guitarists. But Concerto Suite For Electric Guitar And Orchestra proves that Malmsteen is equally as skilled as a classical composer and musician. Here's hoping he continues to challenge himself by writing more works like this.
RATING: A

Electric Basement Reissues Reviews

YNGWIE MALMSTEEN REISSUES in Brief (Spitfire)
All reviews by Brian Coles
Access Online HERE.

Facing The Animal - This is a fierce, metal mad return for the guitar God. Mats Leven provides gruff yet ernest vocals on "Braveheart", the bludgeoning title track and others. Basically, this is a modernized version of Rainbow's "Long Live Rock 'n' Roll". A nice, sparse production sound and thick guitars.

Seventh Sign - Michael Vescera takes over vocals on this extra melodic power metal set. Not too different than Facing the Animal, but a tad more melodic. Surprisingly, one of the best tracks on the album is the laid back "I Don't Know", a tasty metal waltz with amazing guitars and vocals.

Magnum Opus - Michael Vescera continues as Yngwie's throat of choice. This time more vicious and unrelenting, as on "Vengeance." Yngwie remains a premiere medieval axeman, weaving together jaw dropping solos and melody. The album as a whole takes on an edgier feel that the two above. Still, musically, another killer addition to the collection.

Concerto Suite for Electric Guitar and Orchestra in E flat minor Op. 1 - No doubt Yngwie has the talent to pull this grand, orchestral set, but its appeal is undoubtedly more limited than the completely metal efforts. Oddly, the orchestra almost buries the guitarist at times. Being that Yngwie himself takes production credit, this a unique situation. There is also a lot of reverb that takes away some of the musical crispness of his recent metal efforts. A mixed result.

Rising Force - Alchemy - Forging forth under the famous Rising Force moniker, the album gets a closer look by some, but ultimately, this is simply more of the same, top notch '90s gothic metal the man and his cohorts have cranked out consistently over the last while. Mark Boals handles vocals. The production extremely similar to the other albums it draws upon. Powerful, well mixed and heavy handed.

The Best of 1990 -1999 - The set chronicles the faceless commercial Yngwie of "Gimme, Gimme, Gimme" to the much better sword and sorcery metal mentioned above. There is also a couple live tracks thrown in - "Rising Force" and "Gates of Babylon". Although a fine collection for the most part, there is no way this could represent such a rich output without coming of as thin and unrepresentative. Get all the Medieval albums and you won't be disappointed.

Double Live - If the casual fan were to pick up exactly one Yngwie release from the last couple of years, this might be the one. 2 CDs showcase Malmsteen conquering some of the best tracks from his career, all live and more spontaneous than the album tracks. Yet, to be fair, there is little wrong with the studio albums and there exactitude, for the precision is based on passionate structures anyway. The main gripe with this though, is that the mix buries the guitar and, much like Rainbow's Live From Germany, where the performance is diluted by the mix more than one would want under perfect circumstances. Another mixed bag, but a nice starter album.