Yngwie Malmsteen - Alchemy

Yngwie Malmsteen is arguably the most technically accomplished hard rock guitarist to emerge during the '80s. Combining a dazzling technique honed over years of obsessive practice with a love for such classical composers as Bach, Beethoven, and Paganini, Malmsteen's distinctively Baroque, gothic compositional style and lightning-fast arpeggiated solos rewrote the book on heavy metal guitar. His largely instrumental debut album, Rising Force, immediately upped the ante for aspiring hard rock guitarists and provided the major catalyst for the '80s guitar phenomenon known as "shredding," in which the music's main focus was on impossibly fast, demanding licks rather than songwriting. Malmsteen released a series of albums over the course of the '80s that, aside from slight differences in approach and execution, were strongly similar to Rising Force, and critics charged him with showing little artistic progression. He was also reviled as an egotist whose emphasis on blazing technique ultimately made for boring, mechanical, masturbatory music with no room for subtlety or emotion. Malmsteen responded by insisting that since he was already playing music he loved, he had no desire to develop any further, and that his love did come through in his playing. He also vehemently insisted that it was his imitators, not him, who reduced songwriting and composition to merely generic vehicles to show off the guitar player's amazing technique. Toward the end of the decade, Malmsteen fell out of favor with metal audiences, and even some of his musician fan base seemed to tire of him and the incredible amount of practice it would take for them to emulate him. Following a series of personal setbacks, tragedies, and even injuries, Malmsteen eventually resurfaced on small, independent labels and then recorded at a prolific, rapid pace, continuing to play the music he loved in his patented neo-classical style.

My first impression of this CD was that it sounded similar to "Trilogy" (mainly due to Mark Boals returning on lead vocals). Yngwie has abandoned his recent commercial writing tendencies on this album in favor of classic medievil tales of dragons and demons. He still plays with the fire and energy that has been his trademark all these years. Alchemy is a fine CD and there are some real gems on here. Most notable songs include, "Leonardo" (the ingenius Latin intro sets the mood for the entire song ), "Blue" (very emotionally driven) , "Legion of the Damned" (in your face Yngwie fury), and "Asylum" (a three part masterpiece). Malmsteen's last release, "Facing the Animal", was definitely his most commercially appealing CD, but "Alchemy" is a good solid listen for any fan. Yngwie on a bad day is still better than most of the music being released today.

1. Blitzkrieg
2. Leonardo
3. Playing with Fire
4. Stand (The)
5. Wield My Sword
6. Blue
7. Legion of the Damned
8. Deamon Dance
9. Hanger 18, Area 51
10. Voodoo Nights
11. Asylum I: Asylum
12. Asylum II: Sky Euphoria
13. Asylum III: Quantum Leap