Another 80's thread from me today- YJM Wednesdays!

[Kapo_Polenton]

Ok, so I had this album and the Alcatrazz release. For the most part the songs suck but holy crap is Malmsteen hungry on this early stuff. Ripping the whole scene a new one with those raw fluid leads. This first album cracked me up because the singing was crap and so were the tunes but how old was Malmsteen? 16, 17? Incredible playing and phrasing. I mean 23:28 of On the Rox, are you serious? Totally blazin. Yeah it is his same old licks but listen to that vibrato and precision. Love it.

 

[Ratou]

No one could touch him back then

 

[Badronald]

Amazing.
Probably my favorite.

 

[EVHpickdust]

Amazing. Here is a clip from 84, just mind blowing

https://youtu.be/dhGHafh_PEE

EVH-esque Catherdral-ish at @ 2:52, and then some.

 

[Jer]

The video fucks up at some point and he sounds out of tune slightly later in the clip but it's still my fav YJM:

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

Bottom line is that we all poke fun at him and anything he has released post Eclipse hasn't really been interesting (not to mention overkill in the lead department) BUT nobody can deny how incredible he was from 83-90 and how much he influenced those before him. When it comes to neoclassical shred, he's the king. Killer Blues chops too. Now if only he could have written better lyrics and more interesting rythms..... (some of the chords he played were cool at least)

 

[yngzaklynch]

Yep YJM is one of the greats!

 

[jimo]

I saw Alcatrazz in this tiny club in Tucson in '84... I have still not recovered.

 

[mudf00t]

You can certainly hear more of the Blackmore influence in this older stuff.

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

Yup, he lets notes breathe and although his runs are fast, you still hear all the notes. Nowadays, it is as if he needs to jam two times the notes in the same time frame making the already fast, ridiculously fast and over played.His tone sucks now too!

 

[Ratou]

His tone on the REH instructional video (highly recommend it btw, you probably won't learn much but it's great to watch) is one of the best strat tones I've heard (for metal/shred), you can hear every note and is incredibly dynamic but still has lots of sustain and punch.

 

[Shawn Lutz]

I have that album, yep....songs suck, Malmsteen doesn't suck however.

I liked the work in Alcatrazz much better and his first 2 solo albums are even better.

I got to see Yngwie at Detroit's St Andrew Hall just before the release of Marching out...small venue, incredible thing to witness first hand. Rhoads and Malmsteen are my two main influiences

 

[Dingleberries]

That vibrato is incredible, total control.

 

[November5th]

He was and still is one of my biggest influences. Hot On Your Heels from the first Steeler album was the first thing I had heard from him, and that changed my life. I do like his songs, playing , and tone from the 80's more than anything more recent though.

 

[bish0p34]

No one could touch him back then

I don't think anyone could touch him now really. A lot of guys have copped his licks, and a bit of his style, but I have yet to hear anyone really get his fire.

 

[JJGray]

I saw Alcatrazz in this tiny club in Tucson in '84... I have still not recovered.

No shit Jimo? I was there that night too, Rockefellers Nightclub. Took pictures that night, and met Graham Bonnet and Yngwie after the show.

 

[jimo]

I saw Alcatrazz in this tiny club in Tucson in '84... I have still not recovered.

No shit Jimo? I was there that night too, Rockefellers Nightclub. Took pictures that night, and met Graham Bonnet and Yngwie after the show.

JJGray, that's so awesome (dang that was a long time ago!) That's the one. They were in that little RV behind the club after. One funny thing I remember about that show was that the ceiling on the stage was really low and Yngwie would lift up the lighting cables that were hanging down in time with the music in between licks (maybe had to be there). Anyway that show really changed my life. As others have the said the fire, control and vibrato in his playing (at a really pretty young age really) was amazing.

People need to remember this was over 30 YEARS ago. There are people now that play Yngwie better than Yngwie but he created a sound and a style that was unique for rock at the time. He took Blackmore, Uli Roth and Al DiMeola mixed in a little Bach and made it his own.

 

[JJGray]

I saw Alcatrazz in this tiny club in Tucson in '84... I have still not recovered.

No shit Jimo? I was there that night too, Rockefellers Nightclub. Took pictures that night, and met Graham Bonnet and Yngwie after the show.

JJGray, that's so awesome (dang that was a long time ago!) That's the one. They were in that little RV behind the club after. One funny thing I remember about that show was that the ceiling on the stage was really low and Yngwie would lift up the lighting cables that were hanging down in time with the music in between licks (maybe had to be there). Anyway that show really changed my life. As others have the said the fire, control and vibrato in his playing (at a really pretty young age really) was amazing.

People need to remember this was over 30 YEARS ago. There are people now that play Yngwie better than Yngwie but he created a sound and a style that was unique for rock at the time. He took Blackmore, Uli Roth and Al DiMeola mixed in a little Bach and made it his own.

Agreed Jimo, it was an awesome show. Crazy thing was that I almost missed the show. It was a Tuesday or Thursday night, one of the nights I might not go to hang out. A friend who was a Graham Bonnet fan (Rainbow) calls me up, and offers to pay my way in if I gave him a ride to the club. I never heard of Yngwie at that time. EVH ruled my life back then, and our friends would argue over guitar players. When I saw Yngwie that night, he blew my mind, never heard anything like that. Yngwie was cool and signed my Rockefellers flyer that had their band promo pic on it. Still have it somewhere. I still have original negatives from that night. Later on out back near their RV, Graham Bonnet gave me a business card and asked that I send some pics. I remember little details still from that night, like when Graham sprayed Chloraseptic in his mouth between songs. I also remember out back later on seeing Yngwie putting a Super Glue-like substance on his left hand finger tips. Things like that you don't ever forget.

If I can dig up some negatives from that night, and scan a few in, I'll share them here.

Very cool to actually find someone who saw that same show!

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

I saw Alcatrazz in this tiny club in Tucson in '84... I have still not recovered.

No shit Jimo? I was there that night too, Rockefellers Nightclub. Took pictures that night, and met Graham Bonnet and Yngwie after the show.

JJGray, that's so awesome (dang that was a long time ago!) That's the one. They were in that little RV behind the club after. One funny thing I remember about that show was that the ceiling on the stage was really low and Yngwie would lift up the lighting cables that were hanging down in time with the music in between licks (maybe had to be there). Anyway that show really changed my life. As others have the said the fire, control and vibrato in his playing (at a really pretty young age really) was amazing.

People need to remember this was over 30 YEARS ago. There are people now that play Yngwie better than Yngwie but he created a sound and a style that was unique for rock at the time. He took Blackmore, Uli Roth and Al DiMeola mixed in a little Bach and made it his own.

That's exactly it.. he was the first and it was HIS style. Others tried to cop it or came along shortly after pretending they had never heard of him but we all know better. If you hadn't heard of him, you wouldn't be playing pedal tone licks alla Bach or harmonic minor at those speeds. Everything is just so right about all his lead playing on those first few albums. I love Marching Out. It's badass and Jeff Scott Soto was absolutely the right choice for that one. His pipes gave way perfectly for that blistering guitar splitting up the middle. Killer stuff.