Skip to main content

Yngwie Malmsteen - Blue lightning


Yngwie Malmsteen.

I have been a big fan ever since I first heard the 'Odyssey' record as a young teenage boy just getting into guitar music. I was drawn to the arrogance of just having a picture of yourself as an album cover as the guitar player in the band as I always saw music as a band effort at that time. If you're a guitar player you will know who Yngwie is and you will most likely have your own strong opinion about him. One thing that not an opinion whether you like his playing or not is that he is/was an innovator on the instrument. He has an iconic sound you can spot a mile off and I personally, enjoy it a lot. 

The new album.

"Blue lightning" is being advertised as a blues album but I would use that term very loosely talking about this collection of music. Whilst you would think covers of Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton would be straight up blues he has chosen the more hard rocking songs from these artists alongside ZZ Top, Deep Purple, The Rolling Stones and The Beatles songs. If you're expecting faithful renditions of any of the tracks then you will be in for a shock. What will come as no surprise however, is that sweep picking and the harmonic minor scale can found all over the place and played at superhuman speed. Basically he's Yngwie'd the shit out of them. Alongside the covers are four original tracks of variable degrees of blues. 'Blue Lightning' being slightly bluesy in that he uses the minor pentatonic blues scale and '1911 strut' which is more in line with what you would expect on any other Yngwie album. My main criticism is that I wish he had got a better vocalist to work with him. His singing is OK but having worked with the likes of Joe Lynn Turner and Ripper Owens it's clear there are better options available to him than singing it himself.

Is it any good?

I was able to listen to it a few times from start to finish without wanting to skip any if it so that's a good start. Even the overplayed 'smoke on the water'. As an Yngwie fan already I really like the album purely because it at least tries to be different from all of his previous work which can get a bit repetitive at times. I'm not a blues purist but I would consider myself a fan of the genre. The harder side of the style is where I usually gravitate towards. To give you an idea, my favourite 'blues' players are Gary Moore and Joe Bonamassa. I use quotations because someone might debate the blues credentials of those players. If you're more into BB King and the more traditional players then I can only imagine the disgust you might feel if you hear this album. 

Here is the title track.



Track listing:
1. Blue Lightning
2. Foxey Lady
3. Demon’s Eye
4. 1911 Strut
5. Blue Jean Blues
6. Purple Haze
7. While My Guitar Gently Weeps
8. Sun’s Up Top’s Down
9. Peace, Please
10. Paint It Black
11. Smoke On The Water
12. Forever Man



Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Live review - Witch Tripper

Date - 23.3.18 Venue - The Hairy Dog  City - Derby Cost - £5   Line up : Primal  28 Double Ritual King Witch Tripper  This is the first time I've been to The Hairy Dog and I don't think it will be the last . The stage is as good as any small club gig I've been to the lighting effects, projector backdrop and smoke we're all used to good effect and added to the joy of watching these bands. I'll get onto those now... First up we're Primal. I'd never seen or heard these before. A Nottingham 3 piece (drums, guitar, vocals) that when I first saw them thought 'Where's the bass?'. It turns out they don't need them because their 1 guitarist sounds like 3 with all the effects that he uses. The sound reminded me of Rival sons/Royal Blood. Not really my kind of music but not bad by any means. I got the impression they are a band that hasn't gigged very  much because the whole thing for me lacked confidence. The vocalist barely loo...
Post a Comment
Read more

Nick Johnston - Wide Eyes In the Dark

Release date: 19 Apr 2019 Nick Johnston   I first heard of Nick Johnston from a suggested YouTube video of his entire "Remarkably Human" album. The artwork image stood out to me and I was in the mood for new music and I left it on in the background. I ended up listening to it few times through and then going and buying his entire 4 CD biography, a ticket to see him live and the guitar tab for the RH album. Quite simply, I was hooked. As a preface to talking about the new album I'll briefly go over the development as I see it from the previous 4. The first to albums are a wide spread of styles where Nick is still exploring and developing his sound. By the third album 'Atomic Mind' the sound is more refined but still has the odd wild track. It is only at album number 4 where 'Remarkably Human' has a continuous theme and what is now a style that you can distinguish quite clearly as Nick Johnston. You can always tell his playing on the previou...
Post a Comment
Read more

Whitesnake - Flesh and Blood

Release date : May 10th 2019 Whitesnake fans are often divided between which era of the snake is the best. Some prefer the more old school bluesy approach of the early days but to me that's too close to the deep purple sound compared to what would eventually become what is to me the 'signature' sound. That is the John Sykes / Steve Vai big hair '1987' and 'slip of the tongue' era. What keeps Whitesnake consistent are the powerhouse vocals of the legendary David Coverdale. In his prime he was one of the best vocalists in rock music as far as I'm concerned. Years of screaming like the rock god he is has taken it's toll on the old vocal chords though because in recent years at live shows you can hear that the high scream is more a metal roar and you can sometimes hear the struggle to reach where he should be. That's if I had to criticise. I think it's forgivable given his career. Another thing worth noting is the whoever is...
Post a Comment
Read more