The rampant ego of Yngwie J Malmsteen

gubble

Has anyone else seen the museum at the Marshall Factory?

It's nice that they let Yngwie take it out on tour with him as a backdrop.

I don't really know much about the chap or have heard much of his playing but I reckon he's a right hoot at parties !

Offset

viz said:

He’s obviously got sloppy over the years and he has failed to develop his ‘musical’ style one iota since he got fast at playing, plus he has quite a large ego; however it’s fascinating watching him speak as a young man and seeing what his goal was, what he was trying to achieve in his career. There’s a really good video somewhere that just pinpoints exactly the trajectory he was on, and he has simply pushed it all the way from that day onward without deviating. He was also quite funny and quirky as a young man, and also very honest and open. Fascinating. His playing is so tedious though. I love him. 

Edit. Here: 

https://youtu.be/a3Wupm1GwHQ

https://youtu.be/25mOFqhVzCE

Is that his mother, his brother, his sister or his wife?

viz

Offset said:

viz said:

He’s obviously got sloppy over the years and he has failed to develop his ‘musical’ style one iota since he got fast at playing, plus he has quite a large ego; however it’s fascinating watching him speak as a young man and seeing what his goal was, what he was trying to achieve in his career. There’s a really good video somewhere that just pinpoints exactly the trajectory he was on, and he has simply pushed it all the way from that day onward without deviating. He was also quite funny and quirky as a young man, and also very honest and open. Fascinating. His playing is so tedious though. I love him. 

Edit. Here: 

https://youtu.be/a3Wupm1GwHQ

https://youtu.be/25mOFqhVzCE

Is that his mother, his brother, his sister or his wife?

The one on the left? Don’t know!

proggy

I like him because he shreds on a traditional looking Strat, and not one of those multi-coloured pointy ones.

wibble

Love his early stuff and his picking technique is so effortless, but he has become a pardoy of himself.

This clip is so Spinal Tap

Philly_Q

wibble said:

Love his early stuff and his picking technique is so effortless, but he has become a pardoy of himself.

This clip is so Spinal Tap

To be fair to him he looks in much better shape physically now than he did then, but he's undoubtedly a bit of a self-parody.  I think he does have a sense of humour and some self-awareness - he's not Steven Seagal! - but he still has a big ego.

menamestom

The whole point of the guitar for me is the way you can hit any pitch in between the ‘perfect pitch’. The personality is often in the imperfections.   I think striving to be perfect and achieving it can sometimes leave nothing but mechanics and robotics.  And bad hair.   And terrible high kicks.  

lysander

His younger self seemed a lot more likeable and down to earth.
Gonna guess that the booze and drugs took a toll.

DLM

Crumbs, this old hat again! Have we seriously not done this since moving to tFB?

@Philly_Q These "In the Listening Room" 'blind' columns were a regular feature of Guitar for the Practicing Musician for years. An internet community I sat on the outskirts of for years (it shared some common members with this one) used to swap mix CDs with no track listings at their meatspace meets and there'd then be a thread with comments in a similar vein to what we see here. A good way of opening one's mind.

Anyway: no such thing as bad publicity, all Yng talk is good Yng talk for those of us who worship him. The truth will out!

Placidcasual79

who is Yngwie Malensteen? And who the f*ck are dreadful theatre......

Here is some music that doesn't really have any guitar playing on it but is doused with rock 'n' roll

beed84

Looking back at the guitarist I was when I was 21, I was pretty terrible. However, I'd been playing for 5 years by this point and thought I was pretty good at the time. I have old band recordings that definitely prove otherwise. 

On the other hand, Malmsteen had released Rising Force at 21. By 25, he dropped Oddysey on us. I was a marginally better guitarist at this age and spent more time getting pissed with my mates. Comparatively speaking, Malmsteen was lightyears ahead of anything I could do, despite his inspiration and my futile efforts trying to play like him.

His level of playing and ridiculous technique at such a young age is unfathomable. It's even harder to comprehend knowing he did so on a strat with high action and scalloped frets. Like he could've made it harder for himself. I don't think any self-respecting guitarist can question his ability. I dare anyone to listen to Far Beyond the Sun and say it's crap, even if you don't like his style of music.

I personally love his charisma, flamboyance, honest expression and the fact that he simply does not give a f***. He seems like one of the last '80s rockers who has maintained that persona. And if I could play even just a little bit like him, I would probably be doing the same.

In short, he's a bloke who can play guitar ace. What's not to love?

Teetonetal

beed84 said:

Looking back at the guitarist I was when I was 21, I was pretty terrible. However, I'd been playing for 5 years by this point and thought I was pretty good at the time. I have old band recordings that definitely prove otherwise. 

On the other hand, Malmsteen had released Rising Force at 21. By 25, he dropped Oddysey on us. I was a marginally better guitarist at this age and spent more time getting pissed with my mates. Comparatively speaking, Malmsteen was lightyears ahead of anything I could do, despite his inspiration and my futile efforts trying to play like him.

His level of playing and ridiculous technique at such a young age is unfathomable. It's even harder to comprehend knowing he did so on a strat with high action and scalloped frets. Like he could've made it harder for himself. I don't think any self-respecting guitarist can question his ability. I dare anyone to listen to Far Beyond the Sun and say it's crap, even if you don't like his style of music.

I personally love his charisma, flamboyance, honest expression and the fact that he simply does not give a f***. He seems like one of the last '80s rockers who has maintained that persona. And if I could play even just a little bit like him, I would probably be doing the same.

In short, he's a bloke who can play guitar ace. What's not to love?

Got to take issue with the scalloped frets bit. As someone who spent a lot of time with my own scalloped guitar, I can honestly say it helps you play much faster. It requires you to have a nice, light and relaxed fretting hand. It discourages you to push till you sense the fretboard and helps you press only to the fret wire. It looks crazy as each fret has a huge hole, but if you press hard enough to get to the wood, it will bend the string, sound wank and be a bitch to play. Scallops are a speed enabler.

I bought the guitar from Dave Killminster who was my guitar teacher at the time, specifically to help me combat problems I had with left hand speed. I was so heavy handed and tense. This guitar improved my left hand dramatically. Strung with 11s too!

one of my regrets is not buying a malmsteen sig back in 99. I ended up with Gibson, but I really wish I had gone for the fender. It was a dream to play!

Placidcasual79

beed84 said:
I dare anyone to listen to Far Beyond the Sun and say it's crap, even if you don't like his style of music.

 Far Beyond the Sun is crap.

axisus

beed84 said:

Looking back at the guitarist I was when I was 21, I was pretty terrible. However, I'd been playing for 5 years by this point and thought I was pretty good at the time. I have old band recordings that definitely prove otherwise. 

On the other hand, Malmsteen had released Rising Force at 21. By 25, he dropped Oddysey on us. I was a marginally better guitarist at this age and spent more time getting pissed with my mates. Comparatively speaking, Malmsteen was lightyears ahead of anything I could do, despite his inspiration and my futile efforts trying to play like him.

His level of playing and ridiculous technique at such a young age is unfathomable. It's even harder to comprehend knowing he did so on a strat with high action and scalloped frets. Like he could've made it harder for himself. I don't think any self-respecting guitarist can question his ability. I dare anyone to listen to Far Beyond the Sun and say it's crap, even if you don't like his style of music.

I personally love his charisma, flamboyance, honest expression and the fact that he simply does not give a f***. He seems like one of the last '80s rockers who has maintained that persona. And if I could play even just a little bit like him, I would probably be doing the same.

In short, he's a bloke who can play guitar ace. What's not to love?

Yngwie has a few problems, ego and arrogance to name a couple, which make people want to dislike him. If people want to dislike him they want to dislike his playing. I think that if he'd have been a humble, nice guy like Vai, Satch et al, history would have probably held him in higher esteem. 

I admire his playing, but I have never liked the man at all. 

EricTheWeary

beed84 said:

Looking back at the guitarist I was when I was 21, I was pretty terrible. However, I'd been playing for 5 years by this point and thought I was pretty good at the time. I have old band recordings that definitely prove otherwise. 

On the other hand, Malmsteen had released Rising Force at 21. By 25, he dropped Oddysey on us. I was a marginally better guitarist at this age and spent more time getting pissed with my mates. Comparatively speaking, Malmsteen was lightyears ahead of anything I could do, despite his inspiration and my futile efforts trying to play like him.

His level of playing and ridiculous technique at such a young age is unfathomable. It's even harder to comprehend knowing he did so on a strat with high action and scalloped frets. Like he could've made it harder for himself. I don't think any self-respecting guitarist can question his ability. I dare anyone to listen to Far Beyond the Sun and say it's crap, even if you don't like his style of music.

I personally love his charisma, flamboyance, honest expression and the fact that he simply does not give a f***. He seems like one of the last '80s rockers who has maintained that persona. And if I could play even just a little bit like him, I would probably be doing the same.

In short, he's a bloke who can play guitar ace. What's not to love?

I guess that’s also a description of part of the problem with him. He came racing out the block full of promise, made a couple of albums demonstrating amazing technique, his work with Alcatrazz showed he could work in a band context and then, to the casual observer at least, just repeated himself with ever diminishing returns for the next 25 years. 

Joe Satriani or Steve Vai or Paul Gilbert have done their own things but they’ve also gone outside their comfort zones a bit. You could say Malmsteen has stayed true to his vision or you could say he’s just failed to live up to his potential and failed to do anything interesting for the larger part of his career. 

Reverend

I really like the early records, and far more than anything by the likes of Vai,  Satch or any of the 80s shredders.  
Mind you, i like most of those bands from the scene he came from

ICBM

beed84 said:

In short, he's a bloke who can play guitar ace. What's not to love?

His personality and most of his music...