Yngwie Malmsteen Trial by Fire Live in Leningrad 89 Reissue DVD 2007 AMRC vbr

It's the Eighties, so be prepared to have fun listening to some excessive axework in this great live record. Yngwie plays here with the intensity you expect from a guitar hero of his magnitude, up to burning his guitar out. His performance is passionate and brilliant, even when he missed out some notes here and there - but I love that: he didn't hide his errors in order to retain the actual "taste" of the live show, and I think that's a very honest attitude.
The guy unarguably is one of the greatest guitar players of all times - yes, he is; in spite of any critic, any rumor (or fact) about his ego, any repetitive playing or anything else. :-) This album demonstrates how good he actually is, as Yngwie proudly shows all his abilities off, from the purely neoclassic shredding in "Black Star" and "Trilogy Suite", to the explicit quotes to Paganini, Bach, Beethoven and the likes all the way along, to the frantic riffing in any of his own songs with vocals, to the bluesly soloing in the Hendrix's song "Spanish Castle Magic" and in "Spacebo Blues" - at whose end he also amuses the crowd with some great feedback and guitar effects.
Furthermore, the choice of sung pieces is great. This CD contains many of the best vocal tracks of Yngwie's early solo career - mainly from "Trilogy" and "Odyssey". Joe Lynn Turner's mellow vocals seamlessly fit into Yngwie's style, yet doing far better than Mark Boals when singing those songs from the "Trilogy" album. The production honors his voice, and that's fair to his amazing performance.
Lynn is a great songwriter too. "Odyssey" (the studio album to whose tour this gig belongs to) includes a bunch of amazing material. That material is showcased in "Trial by fire" in a clean manner. I still think that the Yngwie/Lynn combination was a killer one from the songwriting point of view - just tell me: do you *really* believe that those cheesy and ridiculous love lyrics are specially worst than those others lyrics about warriors, dragons, knights, swords and kings? C'mon! :-)
By the way, going back to Joe Lynn Turner, I'd want to point out some few things about him in this review. This vocalist has been widely criticized because he aims commercialism too much, because he's mellow, because he's not aggressive enough, because he doesn't like wailing, etc. Maybe all that is true, but he has one of the greatest, cleanest, most perfectly tuned and most melodic voices ever heard in the rock genre. He also has a superb tone and a truly wide vocal range - listen carefully to his interpretation of "Liar". Isn't it GREAT? In addition, he is a master of dynamics - the enormous load of feeling that he delivers in "Dreaming" says it all! And he doesn't miss a single note in this album! This album witnesses that he can perform live as a genuine vocal god. Honestly, I believe he deserves much more recognizance for the flawlessly job he does here and in every band where he has performed (including Rainbow and Deep Purple).
Back to "Trial by Fire", this album contains an excellent choice of Yngwie Malsmteen's "hits" (if so can be said) and astonishing guitar pyrotechnics complemented with vocals of the highest quality. I strongly recommend this CD even for Yngwie newbies. Hard rockers will appreciate it too. So, go for it NOW, put it into your CD player, fasten your seatbelts and enjoy! The trip will pay off, I guarantee you that