What Happened To Yngwie? 

Check out HOW Yngwie became so good: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-fF2uFcsZu3k.htmlsi=VCf8WAM3ri1rIUES

I think this is honestly spot on, but also, I get the distinct impression that there's also something else happening here. There is a clear decline in the quality of the albums when Yngwie started producing them all himself, and really, I'm talking about the tonal quality. Ignore him doing the vocals and using a shitty drum machine. Even before he started doing that, the mixes become more and more compressed, with a lot of weird harmonics popping out (typically in the higher frequencies). There's only one explanation I can think for this: he's losing his hearing. That shouldn't be a surprise to anyone, he's been performing in front of a whole damn wall of dimed Marshalls for decades. Even if he's wearing plugs (which I've never seen him do), it has to have wrecked his cochlea. I'm sure he hears perfectly well enough to carry conversations and hear what he thinks his music sounds like. But that high-frequency stuff is the first to go, especially when you've got constant tinnitus that you might not even be aware of.

Live In Leningrad is the ultimate for me- Yngwie at his peak and Joe Lynn Turner

Big Malmsteen fan from Steeler to Alchemy, after that more and more downhill albums. He should really swallow his pride and have a Rising Force reunion with the Odyssey lineup before he and the others gets to old. Joe Lynn Turner on vocals 👌🏻

Yngwie is the definition of a person who ended up thinking he is more that what he really is. He says it himself.."I see myself as an artist, as a painter, that does everything by himself.."...Yes, but NOPE. He is an exceptional guitar player, a top 5 of all times easily. But thats it. He is no singer, no producer, no engineer, no drummer....And also he has no personal filter to his own work. And that is why, his latest efforts suck. Because there re no proficient musicians in the other "instruments" to elevate the music, and there is no outer filter with an unbiased honest opinion to say: "This sucks.."

This is an honest video of a genuine Yngwie fan. You said it yourself: without the YM of today we wouldn’t have had the one in the 80. But I think this life pattern is quite common in people with clear genius. It can happen also with other categories. I used to follow a philosopher and his books from the 60s till the 2000s were amazing. From 2000s he jumped to almost unacceptable conclusions. Being original and coherent for a life long time is basically impossibile in people’s career. Aging is so incredibly difficult and problematic. Singers loose the voice. Guitarist loose muscle agility. Philosophers get detached from reality. At high level the candle is burning much faster even in you are a genius.

It was such an epiphany hearing him for the first time; the tone, the phrasing, the vibrato - he has a unique voice far beyond the speed, something that many shredders in his wake missed (myself included). I think you're right though, the clear vision he once had has turned into bloody-minded stubbornness which simply doesn't work when he's also stuck creatively. If he got rid of the idea of the lone genius and drew inspiration from making music with all the gifted people he *could* be working with, I'm hopeful we could see him return to form.

I think part of the problem is that Yngwie never expanded his musicianship. He's playing out of the very same narrow framework he used 30 years ago. And he just did everything you can do in that. Repeatedly jumping up for a bend at the 21st fret, followed by dimished arpeggios followed by a blitz straight down harmonic minor just sounds stale now.

The saddest part of listening to newer Yngwie albums is watching fan covers that are played better than the actual track. If old Yngwie was in the studio with young Yngwie, the young Yngwie would tear him a new one for tolerating such sloppy playing.

Totally agree with everything you said. I was a mega fan even joined the original fan club, helped moderate his original forum, ran a tribute website Yngwie Malmsteen 100% and Facebook group. Then I had to quit. His early stuff was fantastic. Enjoyed everything up to UTF also. He and the music was always better when he had a full band. Now it’s just the case of the emperor has new clothes and no one makes him see the truth. Go back to your basics pretend you’re a struggling musician and give credit where due. That being said in his last video interview with Rick Beato he was surprisingly humble but he still needs a long look in the mirror to reflect on what made him a success in his heyday and get back to that reality. Yngwie’s music is something I want to love again. Now however, since I play guitar as a hobby for enjoyment, I’m back to my heavy blues rock roots instead of neoclassical non-stop.

I think you hit the nail on the head. The psychopathology that made him such a force of nature when he arrived on the scene is the very same that has unravelled his legacy in the past twenty odd years. For me the last listenable album he made was facing the animal. Its really a tragedy worthy of Shakespeare and a lesson to us all. I love Yngwie and have done for thirty odd years but now more in a way that one loved Star Trek. Nostalgia and youth. Thanks for your bravery attacking the elephant in the room.

The main issue is that as you said, nobody challenges him. He got in his own bubbled ecosystem and that's how he became a parody of himself. I love yngwie, i picked up the guitar as my main hobby thanks to yngwie (or better, that's when i decided to get my shit together). But seeing how he devolved these past 20 years really saddens me to no end. For me the last listenable album is perpetual burn, that coincidentally is the last album yngwie actually had a singer and a band (altho to be fair, his albums started to sound like shit from the alchemy era and onwards, his last great sounding album is imo facing the animal, which is such an underrated album imo). Then the whole striking down people on youtube debacle happened, and i honestly think yngwie himself has nothing to do with it (you can tell yngwie struggles with technology as the few lives he did on Instagram he didn't even understand how scrolling works lmao and had to have someone from his team there with him helping) and the only one to blame is April (which manages him 360 degrees). All in all, it's a shame really. He truly is the embodiment of the phrase "you are your worst enemy".

He’s a guitar players guitarist. If you’re a civilian, his music can be really hard to take.

I'm a HUGE Yngwie fan and have been for 20+ years. I can play loads of his songs, have learned countless solos note for note and honestly rate him as one of the greatest guitarists of all time. My playing is hugely influenced by Yngwie. In his prime he had it all - godly vibrato, tone, phrasing, speed, songwriting and creativity. I would consider his prime as up to and including Facing The Animal/Concerto. After that he seems to have decided to alienate basically everyone he has come into contact with and let his ego run wild. I recently went to see him in London and it is one of the only gigs I have ever walked out of, and I have been to hundreds. It was ridiculous, just utterly ridiculous. Playing as fast as possible with no letup, his band shoved into the corner of the stage. His chops are still there for sure but I simply wasn't able to endure the entire set. Sad

I agree 100%. I saw him live in 92 on the Fire & Ice tour. He was so good at the time. Then in 95. He was drinking on stage, overweight, basically a wreck, though the playing was still great. Even when he didn't give a shit ! Saw him also in 98 on the Facing the Animal tour with Mats on keyboards. Great show, and he was in much better shape. Alchemy was a good album too, but after that... Nevertheless, he's a legend. I'm 50 and I'm still having goosebumps when I listen to young Yngwie unleash the fury ! (Serenade, Too Young to Die..., Little Savage, Soldier Without Faith, You Don't Remember..., Dreaming, Bedroom Eyes, Final Curtain, Hair Trigger... etc.)

The worst part is that now hes a regular nice guy which really ruins the rockstar mystique he cultivated for decades. He went from being bigger than life to being a nice guy who can shred.

I still put Fire and Ice album on repeat to this day, his early works are such an inspiration, I believe every musician peaks at some point, and then mellows out over time though.

The biggest problem I have with Yngwie's newer material is that the songs are consisting too much of only classical compositions in the form of long solos that seem to go on and on and on forever. When he's got a song that's based on a great hard rock or metal riff, then adds fast classical fills on top and a regular two minute solo later on, which was his formula on the earlier records, that's when I feel he was at his best.

When he first hit the scene, he HAD to have a record label and a producer. Because he didn’t have the resources to do it himself. And at the time, you couldn’t do it yourself. No internet. No affordable home recording equipment. So his tenacity was balanced, as you said, by people who knew how to make a record sound good. His mentality is the same as before but now, he CAN do it at home, unfortunately. Well, everything up until 2007 or so is incredible to me and I will always have it to listen to. So I am grateful. What if there had been no Yngwie? I’m so happy to have that music. He has no apologies to make. But I don’t like the new stuff either :) By the way I saw him on the Odyssey tour with JLT in Irvine CA. I have never seen a better show to this day

Yesterday i attented an Uli Jon Roth live performance. Best concert i ever watched. ULI re-invented him self a few times. for me he is the best thing ever happened to electric guitar . A true Mystic of Sound. But he evolves. He never stays the same. Most guitarists i know stay the same. Yngwie thinks he is still 25 years old, thats why he becomes a caricature of him self. And i really like Yngwie a lot ..as Blackmore once said, i anticipate something great from him in the next years...well ...i guess we all are...anyway he proved him self and he belongs in the pantheon with the all time greats. He inspired as many as Eddie did..thats a great think to acomplish.

Great video man, honesty goes a long way. I first geared Yngwie after i was already introduced to Gary Moore in the early 80s. Yngwies playing blew me out the window, two completely different players but i loved them both. I don't think anyone can handle the task of being the main character of all roles that is needed for the creation of a good album. It's sad that Yngwie is doing vocals on his own, i heard him sing on demos from the 80s before his first solo album and he sounded like crap even back then. In the end i don't think anyone can make him change his mind and bring in pro musicians to record and tour with him, not even himself.

I've heard Yngwie's entire discography several times over and I was in his top 0.01% listeners on Spotify last year I believe, and I pretty much agree with you. I think there's something that's true of just about every artist which is: your end-of-career material will never be as good as your breakthrough material. This is simply because the breakthrough material was revolutionary at its time and everything that follows it will be compared to it and will reference it in one way or another. If you take a band like Megadeth, for example, their latest album "The Sick, The Dying... And The Dead" would be considered one of the greatest metal albums of all time if it came out between 1986 and 1991. But it didn't, instead they released "Peace Sells... But Who's Buying?" and "Rust In Peace" in that time period, both of which ARE considered some of the greatest metal albums of all time. So it's not necessarily that their newer albums are worse, it's just that they're new things assembled with the same old pieces, like when you take apart a LEGO toy after building it for the first time and use the pieces to make something else. This is also true of Yngwie and, much like Megadeth, I believe he did go through good efforts to reinvent himself in the 90s. You have albums that are more symphonic like "Fire & Ice", albums that are more power metal like "Alchemy" and "War To End All Wars", and even some grungier elements in albums like "Facing The Animal" (not to mention the masterpiece that is his concerto). But the 2000s marked the start of an era where these artists from the 80s were living off of veteran fans and none of their new work was getting much attention as it was overshadowed by the rise of metalcore and other new metal genres (you can argue this started in the 90s with grunge, but there were still a lot of people back then who didn't like grunge and continued to listen to the older bands, especially in Europe and Japan). Megadeth also make a lot of questionable albums in the 2000s and 2010s, but they had occasional returns to form with albums such as "United Abominations" and "Endgame", until they convincingly bounced back with their two albums after Kiko Loureiro joined. This is where Yngwie failed: as a purely solo artist who has been distancing himself more and more from other artists, producers or anyone who can give him feedback, he has had zero motivation to reinvent himself in any way. I believe he still enjoys playing, otherwise he wouldn't tour as intensively still, but I wonder if he's lost his passion for composition. Us Yngwie fans know how talented a composer he can be, even if the shredding is what gets your attention first. I can definitely enjoy at least two songs from any of his albums but, much like you, nothing past "Unleash The Fury" is worth listening cover to cover for me, I only do it every now and then to remember the songs. I hope he'll have a change of heart and bless us with at least one more great record before hanging up the axe, with a real vocalist, drummer and producer. But I don't have high hopes.

You’re right. His 80’s material was so much better. I saw Yngwie Malmsteen and Rising Force in concert in the early 80’s when they were touring with Talas on their debut album. I got to meet them and got their autographs. R.I.P. Marcel Jacob.(bass player) 🎸🤘🏼👍

After decades of bridge burning, it's no surprise he's become a has-been. The biography (not the one he put out himself as a response, the other one with over 50 interviewees, former band members, exes and others) paints a pretty clear picture. He made this happen singlehandedly.

The great musicians Yngwie surrounded himself with on the early albums were the cherry on top and I cant imagine Trilogy or Odyssey without Mark Boals or JLT and the Johannsen brothers etc

One of the greatest talents of all time gone to the dogs. A massive fall from grace. So disappointing! After reading the story of his life " As above so below" I am not surprised that he now does everything alone. A narcissist and a bully who treated most of his band members terribly over the years. Arrogant and appalling. He cannot take criticism and cannot work with others. It is hard to believe that someone so musically gifted can accept the rubbish he puts out now. Bad songs with embarrassingly bad mixes and productions. A bit of maturity and self reflection may have got him back on track a few years ago but that isn't going to happen now. What a shame!

Yngwie has always been his own worst enemy.

This is probably one of the most accurate analysis of Yngwie's playing on RU-vid. I agree 100%, especially about the quality of his recent recordings. If he had an actual producer to tell him how awful they sound, and actually listen to him, we might hear something worth listening to. At least he has an entire catalog of material to pick from.

Elmo, you gave a pretty good summary of Yngwie's past and present. I am also disappointed, yes shocked, at Yngwie's recent releases. The recent recordings are no more than bad demo tapes. He doesn't need all that equipment in his studio if he uses a cheap drum machine. Get a Tascam Porta 04 or a 60's 4-track reel-to-reel. No point having a digital studio if you want your music to sound crap.

Yes! Been feeling this way for a long time. Last great album was Facing the animal…. His acoustic sounds terrible Ever since he abandoned full body acoustics. He doesn’t Let phrasing Breathe and be dynamic anymore. Full throttle all the time is not appealing to the ear. Listen to his phrasing on everything early on is genious! He will always be my favorite and why I play guitar was because of him, but before facing the animal…

I saw Yngwie live in the 90s. He's a beast with the guitar in his hands for sure. But unless you're into his thing it gets old and repetitious fast. Same runs and sweeps start to stick out. He's a one trick pony but it is a hell of a trick!

It comes down to dollars and cents. He just wants to make more money. If he has to pay a professional drummer, bass player, producer, engineer, etc., that’s just money out of his pocket. And in his mind, he thinks he can do all of those jobs better. That’s where he is wrong.

He quit collaborating with “a band” - The days of Vescera, Sparks, Terrana RULED \m/ I do appreciate that he’s still doing what he loves rather than holed up, drunk and miserable.

It´s always so awesome looking at the Alcatrazz live from -84, seeing that guy owning the stage, knowing he hasn´t even turned 21 there…😎

Eclipse and the album after is INCREDIBLE

Maybe he's getting older and trying to reinvent himself. He should just stick to the formula he's always excelled at... he can't beat that. Also, Yngwie has played near wide-open 100 w Marshall's for so long, maybe his hearing has suffered as a result and he doesn't realize it. Time does strange things to people when aging starts setting in... tends to change one's perspective in ways many don't realize. Yngwie Malmsteen... one of the best guitarists ever! What can one say against that? I hate time, and what happens to many people when they start aging. We can never go back to our 20's and 30's... yet many people want just that and are never able to shake it and change with the inevitable. Life is very sad, even tragic at times. It is the universe in which we live! Aging pretty much sucks... in so MANY ways!

Do I sense a certain feeling of lost nostalgia in this rant? I'm no musician, but have seen that many musicians change with time. Some for the better and some for the worse. This reminds me of a song they played when I was young. The singer has died some years ago now. I didn't understand the lyrics as a kid. Somewhere I read an interview about the song. The singer was tired of putting on concerts and the fans just wanting his old stuff. So he put this one line in the lyrics of this song: But if memories were all I sang I'd rather drive a truck The only thing truly permanent is change. Thanks Elmo.

I think you hit the nail on the head. I prefer to remember Yngwie as he was in his prime and not for what he is and does now.🤘😎🎸

This happens to all bands who do their best creative stuff in their 20s, eventually creating a marketable product for their loyal fans, and concerts where they play the stuff of the past. ACDC is a classic example that reached their peak with Back in Black. Yngwie was incredible with Alcatrazz, great with Rising Force, the album Odyssey was OK. By now, he'd created a brand that was OK but no longer cutting edge. Take a look at Angus Young in concert today who struggles to play his solos of the past: it's called getting older and Yngwie is probably regretting how far more difficult his solos were in his younger days.

I remember the exact first heard Yngwie. My Gma won a Tele signed by Mellencamp off of the radio and mailed it to me when I was 13. We were on a family trip to the beach, and my dad put in the Odyssey cassette and we listened to the whole thing, both sides. I had never been in such awe or had so many shivers. Truly an experiance & inspiration I'll never forget!

Wonderful analysis my friend. I miss the early albums as well. Cheers 🍻

Yngwie's productive saga was very short (1984-88) compared to his idol Blackmore's (1969-2000). Yet he's like Bach in his own mind. It's hard to be humble & heavy at the same time.

He’s always seemed undecided on whether to be a solo artist, or be in a band. He should be in a band imo. He’s also just incredibly dated. The look, the style, all of it. All the best artists evolve without losing their identity. YM has just become a caricature of his former self.

"no producer" - that's the problem. Nobody to tell him when it's sh*t.

Agreed. And his appearances on Derek Sherinian's albums show how good YJM can be as a contributor with another artist. He really showcased Tim R. Owens' voice on Perpetual Flame. I haven't seen him live since the aughts, but he was a superb showman, too. I always wished he would go 'way outside the box and try jazz, or Wagner, or anything, really. He was the greatest.

His album sound production is horrible for more than 15 years.

Your right. He’s using the same equipment, but it sounds like crap. Please go back to the Alctrazz love tone. It’s his (wife/manager) who forbids him from his friendship with the Johansson Bros. He needs to make up with Jeff Scott Soto, tell his wife he can have his old friends from Sweden and call Anders and Jens. It’s a tragedy that Marcel Jacob committed sucicide and Wally Voss died. So he’ll have to figure out the bassist. Get Jeff Glixman producing.

He’s trying to save money with the drum machine and his singing. I still listen to Rising Force a couple times a month. It’s a perfect record.

Right on. Totally agree with everything you've said. I just subscribed and happy to make your channel grow.

I don’t know why but he is still one of my guitar heroes. My reference too. He did change the music industry with his songs and playing. Ladies and Gentlemen, presenting Mr Yngwie Johan Malmsteen!!!

Elmo the mighty!! Yngwie has always been a great guitarist, who obviously has incredible discipline and challenged himself at an early age to play with excellence. Where I feel he hasn't challenged himself is with his songwriting, his brand of neo classical rock became tedious for me after a while and even though he's done some great blues, the music I've heard always seems to be in a minor key to justify that harmonic minor scale on too many of his songs. When I first read interviews of him I remember him boasting that he didn't use pentatonic licks like so many other rock players did, the effect it had on me was to leave me starving for him to play pentatonic and blues licks just to get the music to sound like rock again, plus I knew he would play them amazingly well! I've always been much more impressed with Eddie Van Halen, his ability to write truly memorable songs and incorporate so many different and unexpected sounds into his playing.

I think Yngwie did not evolve, didn’t do anything else or different from what he used to do.

This is one of the most refreshing videos I have seen on RU-vid in a very long time. Honestly, it doesn't surprise me that it was you who made it, as you seem very NOT bought in to the commercial guitar script that so many other presenters here subscribe to (ie hawking products and too scared of controversy which might unsettle viewers). That said, you are spot on about Yngwie sliding down the same slope that has taken many guitar heroes from artistic visionaries to blind Napoleonic despots of weirdness. My personal take on him is he began to realize that he, himself, has become the instrument... a thing to be used to construct something by another. That freaked him out and so he has been struggling to keep ''control'' over it artistically. If he did have 100% faith in his abilities he could easily shop the vision aspects out to someone like Lee Ritenour, who could literally restart his career in all the ways that he claims he wants it to restart; with a live sound and a large enough stylistic landscape which he could then fill with his wildest ever explorations. That, I feel, is the only thing that can save him. Ritenour might seem like a random choice but look closer at what he has to offer - from the perspective of bringing in drummers, keys, horns, strings, rhythm sections from all around the world, engineers (some of THE very best ever), and his ability to produce lead and/or backing vocals in any style. Plus, I'm sure Lee is a fan, at a level few of us can truly appreciate, who wouldn't run the risk of letting Yngwie's audience down or Yngwie himself.

Big YNG fan here. Have always and will always love his playing and recognize his as one of the guitar innovators. His big ego is just something I chuckle at and know it’ll never change, much like DLR. While I agree that it’s bad to go into your own bubble and put out crap with a bunch of yes men patting you on the back, I will say I understand his mentality especially getting older. As you age, you feel like just doing what you wanna do regardless of much feedback to the contrary and don’t even want to insert yourself in situations that many be highly dramatic. Like the idea of being/working with a band. Lots of different egos and opinions to have to dance around, so to me it’s very relatable to feel the need to “do everything”.

Great channel Elmo, I think you are bang on the money, no producer means that there is no one "external" to him holding him to account and challenging his approach and output. Yngwie clearly has always had his direction and his focus, it is not serving him well these days - shredding is not appreciated or desired as it once was and there is a massive market of metal music out there with excellent guitar work and vocals. Sure he can rip it up on a guitar, but if that is all layered over a basic drum machine, rudimentary bass and more miss than hit vocals, then it is never going to do the song justice. I mean, we all get it, he is a highly proficient guitarist and has inspired many a guitarist, hugely influential, and has written some truly incredible music. No one disputes what he has done and what he has contributed to music in the past, he just lacks the polish of the final product with his new release. Yngwie has always seemed somewhat "high maintenance" and I imagine that has an effect on the aspect of other artist collaborations maybe even session musicians and he has ended up surrounded, or I guess the better word is isolated, by "yes men" types or decisions.

I'm not sure if my first listen was alcatraz or stealer in the early 80s(then 1st rising force melted my brain cells)i was in awe by his playing for about the first 10 years...long story short he should get back to his Family that is Soto or Turner & the Johanson bro's ...imao that reunion would be an Explosive Something Else,he owes that to all his fans who supported him over the many years and to those ex band mates, but I think his cement head would not accept that...im still hoping though and I believe he will sell way more than of what he is doing now.

I think you’re absolutely right. He’s a great guitarist but, he’s become hos own biggest enemy. He’s always had a big ego. My cousin in Sweden was a neighbour for a while and told me that Yngwie could be a real jerk, arriving at his house, making a lot of noise, disturbing neighbours and being very rude to them. Having said that, I do love his older work up until and including Eclipse. After that, at least for me, it went downhill. I gave a few albums after Eclipse a chance but finally stop buying them as he had lost the spark. (Again…just my personal view) I did see a video some,time ago, here on RU-vid where he was playing alone on a stage with the rest of the music being played back from a computer I guess. I thought how sad that someone that great would end up doing this. It felt like one of those once great artists (actor, comedian, magician,…) ending up performing in old peoples homes. So sad.

Yeah, Yngwie might sound very similar all through the years, but to his credit, not many can do the same and be STILL BE IN BUSINESS. He's got conviction in what he does, that's kinda cool to me.

"pffft.....nooo" lol. Love when you said that about Yngwei singing his own songs. Classic! Cheers!

Good video, I really loved the live clips that he did with Alcatraz … I missed the young Yngwie.

Very good and valid points you made about Yngwei not willing to compromise which made him but is also brings his decline, however its time for a change in order to continue being an icon that he is.

Well good video. What made Yngwie so great is what also destroyed him. That is true of a lot of people. Sucess can be a double edged sword. What makes you so great, are the same things that will bring you down.

He still makes albums and is very happy. Watch his interview with Rick Beato. He says he's blessed, loves America and is doing what he loves, sounds like success to me.

I have been a big fan of Yngwie for many years and will always admire his playing abilities but one thing almost changed my opinion completely and permanently, this thing is his arrogance, arrogance is ugly, at times his attitude overall was unpleasant and I've met him so I know first hand, I've always been disappointed by that because with that aside, everything else was brilliant and exciting. To be fair, I think this is something that has been periodic with him over the years, presents in spells, it's so unfortunate really. Yngwies music itself has been inconsistent, exquisite at times, messy and sloppy in others. With a person of his undeniable talent and ability, he could easily have reached next to perfection and completion with his career and as a person, that's the aim for any musician at the end of the day isn't it? but sadly he allowed his attitude to compromise his reputation, along with some poor decision making which occurred because of his attitude, over time this systematically deconstructed all of the factors that where otherwise only going to make him shine like the sun and his magic only increase, as a human being and as a musician, he could have made it full circle but these factors in general seem to continue almost like intended self destruction, yet he is not dumb, he would surely be aware of this, I'm beginning to feel that an even more essential element needed for any kind of success is no longer present in Yngwies mind, this being the "care" factor about everything musically and otherwise in his life, it presents in his music as well as his attitude overall. If indeed my suspicions are correct, I don't think I'll ever truly be able to understand why anyone would allow this to even remotely happen, it defies logic and is the opposite to success. I'd be interested to hear from any of you what your thoughts are about this, your opinions are as relevant and valid as mine. I wish you all well and despite the toxicity involved with Yngwie J Malmsteen, I will always be in awe of him as he was around the mid eighties or so, incredible and of no boundaries as a man and musician, could do no wrong, he is due that much from me coz he earned it. Thankyou friends. NA1974🇬🇧.

Like he said on the fire & ice album : I’m My Own Enemy

Lets not forget, the only person who dared to take classic music and express it the way he did on a guitar. back then no one would have believed it, but he did do it. and was special and weird - as always nice video!

I actually read an interview, where he described how unhappy he was with the production on the album "War to end all wars", and maybe that's where he came to think about doing the production himself. I was a huge Yngwie fan, but Attack was the last album I bought. Really nice video man. Loved your thoughts on the topic.

Your absolutely right after Odyssey it's been rubbish, or probably as I stopped listening. Still think hes fantastic and good luck to him he seems to be enjoying life. But creatively he's done. Still a legend

I agree with pretty much everything you say here. His career choices in the last ten years or so (maybe longer - I haven't really been keeping track) have been quite hard to understand, but what you say is probably the truth. He's become a victim of himself. What elevated him to greatness in the first place is also what now brings him down, and people that could possibly challenge some of his modern day decisions are nowhere to be found, because he doesn't want anyone around for that. I'll always respect Yngwie for his fantastic early work - the albums, the playing, the tone - but these days I'm really not finding much in his music to keep my interest. It's probably not all Yngwies fault though. I don't find myself as interested in shred based music these days, no matter who's doing the shredding. I was waiting for him to try something drastically different all the way back in the early 90s, hoping to see him take some risks and apply his undeniable guitar talent to some totally unexpected projects, but in hindsight I was obviously incredibly naive to have such ideas. And, no, I don't consider that symphonic thing he did to be a big enough step away from his comfort zone. Maybe not a step away at all really.

Great balanced video. Very interesting. Elmo, many thanks, I find your words and attitude and playing very inspirational!

I do totally agree. Last albums are drenched in echo and too many notes. Please, Fire and Ice, come back ...

Here is another take...If anyone else in the world got in a major life threatening car accident, acquired brain damage, nerve damage, then had to relearn to play guitar.... we'd applaud them for half his talent. Yet, here we are criticizing a brain damaged version of the hero we all once loved. We can clearly hear the decline after his accident. Brain damage can manifest in many ways. Sometimes, not so obvious on a basic level, but very evident in the exceptional. If he were an average dude working in a factory... probably not even noticeable. But take a musical virtuoso??? Signs are showing pretty hard in reflection to pre-accident Yngwie. What I hear is a guy that is playing shadows of memories he once had. I doubt the guy would admit it, but I can guarantee he still suffers symptoms from that accident. He's just too prideful to come out and admit it. But we can all hear it. So I feel like we are all criticizing a permanently brain damaged version of a hero we all share. Anyway, that's my opinion.

Call Ander, Jens, Jeff, and get Jeff Glixman to produce.

Listening to Yngwies albums of the last 15 years is like listening to end endless banjo solo. It’s sounds good for a minute, but gets old quick.

The same that happened to me: he grew older. 😅

Wow in this video you're literally 100% echoing my thoughts on this. I really do think the underlying issue was the '87 accident though. Although he has those insanely good video demos of solos in the 90s (you know, the ones with bookshelves full of scrolls in the background) - like Deja Vu, which is a much better version of the solo than the one played on the actual album, and Seventh Sign, also waaaaay better than the album - I think his picking hand just wouldn't do exactly what his ear wanted.. and it just went downhill over time.

i have to agree that the new albums are not the best but on november i saw him live in milan and with the real drums and good singer (the keyboard player was singing the metal songs) it was a very unforgettable show and as an huge yngwie fan one of the best days of my life

Love your work Elmo!

"...And he became huge..." Yes, he did. (Hee-hee!) Your point about his mentality being why he became the iconic guitarist that he did also being why he's gone off the rails is...um...on point! (Actually, I hate that "on point" slang. I guess it's better than "leet" or "on fleek," though. Maybe.) This is something I've ruminated on: quite often one's strength is one's weakness. I personally noticed it in relation to talent. Musicians with talent would advance quickly, sometimes quite far, only to suddenly seemingly run into a wall while someone else with less talent who didn't get better as fast would surpass them. My mental nickname for it was "The Talent Trap." The talented individual would quickly reach great attainments and then get stymied for further advancement while the less-talented individual would pass them by because the less-talented was _required_ to deal with a more difficult problem than the more-talented, and had developed strategies to deal with it: self-discipline, scheduling, little practice and learning "hacks," etc., that the more-talented one never had to develop. Talent can take you far, but only _so_ far. I'll say this for Yngwie, though. All the bad-rapping about him that I've heard was from other musicians. On the other hand, all of the stories I've heard about him in relation to fans or the general public have been positive. Well, except for the "now you've unleashed the fury!" incident.

He's not exactly the most diverse musician in the world. And there's only so many times that a shift from phrygian-dominant to diminished really sounds interesting. Because Yngwie is so great, and was so successful so young, and was really driven by an underdog mentality, that he never found the need to evolve. I'm not going to say that he didn't take any risks with his music. But they were more like logical extensions of what he was already doing. I mean, who was really surprised when he did a concerto album? I'd love to see him do an album completely outside his comfort zone. I bet he'd kill it.

Great show Elmo, great topic, and I too am confused by Mr. Malmstein’s approach to production; I too think that he needs an expert producer.

Last good album from YM, Magnum Opus, facing the animal was so so....sad too.

Yngwie was never the same after the car crash in 1987. By the time I started following Yngwie's music in around 1988, that had already happened. I knew about the guy from guitar magazines but never got hands on the material. I was at some drummer's house, who played Marching Out. I got my stuff on as much Yngwie stuff as I could get. I could see there was a difference in the Odyssey album in the way he picked notes, and eventually I learned about the car crash. I listened to Yngwie well into the nineties. I followed the album releases: Live in Leningrad, Eclipse, Seventh Sign, Magnum Opus, FTA, ... eventually I probably got Yngwie fatigue or something. Already that stuff was not the same like Marching out or Trilogy. As of today, I've not heard any new Yngwie stuff since around that time. Except in 2003 or so, I saw him with G3: Satriani, Vai. He was awesome. It was because of Yngwie that they were able to pull of the "Rockin' in The Free World" song. Yngwie held that tune together and knew how to solo over it intelligently, and sing.

Yeah, he can play. But what was the name of that last album again? I dont know either 😢

i have also lately been asking myself that question. What the hell has happened to Yngwie?? Sad... Yngwie was my teenage inspiration when i started playing an electric guitar.

I'm definitely a great Yngwie fan .. Rising force as the most surprising and Odyssey the best .. you are right, there's something with the sound, but hey .. thats his call :-)

Yngwie is definitely a legend. I'd like to see him quit for a break & go do something new to him,like sailing? Hiking? Painting? Construct furniture? Intruduce a new element to his life, which camn alow him to sing & come up with new ideas.

I think everything upto and including "Inspiration" was great (or at least very good). After that something happened. I like the albums "Attack" and "Unleash the Fury" though.

I nearly got whiplash from nodding my head in agreement so much! :D I'd love it if Yngwie got himself a producer who could say, "That's a great riff, Yngwie...when you wrote it 35 years ago! Write something new." I see Yngwie that in the 80s he was a trailblazer who was swinging a huge machete through an untamed jungle (and many others followed his lead). However, since then, he has just dug himself into a trench by going back and forth over the same thing again and again while still swinging that machete into empty air. The last album has too many elements of him effectively ripping off himself by rehashing the same old song titles, lyrics, riffs, and borrowed classical pieces. Unleash the Fury was the last decent album for me.

Trilogy is my favorite Malmsteen album.

It's bizarre. He seems such a mellower person these days, being older and quitting booze some years back, so one might think he'd look back and realise how good those early albums and live shows were. A hard rock band, with songs and an incredible guitarist. It's really sad when you see this weird live show he's been putting on the last few years, a dreadful waste of talent. This is the guy who created Far Beyond The Sun, FFS?!

Spot on analysis. I only really listen to the 1st 4 albums, but quite like Inspiration and Eclipse. Saw him live recently - the previous time was the Eclipse tour - and it was a good gig. I guess as long as he's happy with his current situation, that's the main thing.

It was about time someone made a video about this. Completely agree with your vision Elmo!

I think he is just great, one of the gamechangers. However the newer generations dont appreciate this "shred" genre like how it was.

I’ve heard him play the Blues a couple times and was shocked how good he sounded, with what everyone is saying here maybe that would be a change and boost in his career, he wouldn’t have to abandon his main forte but expand on his genre capabilities, kind of like Jeff Beck, we’ve all heard Beck play all the styles throughout the years, when you saw him, you saw Beck and whatever he was playing that night, no expectations of a particular playing style or genre, always something new and exciting happening live, I think we need a killer Blues album from Yngwie ( with a band)

You are spot on my friend. I am a huge Yngwie fan, but his decline after Fury is tragic. He is the only guitarist I know that got worse with age, especially on the writing/production side.

I just saw him in concert in my home town a few months ago. Great show. He's still got the chops.

I absolutely agree with you. I have been a huge Yngwie fan for a long time now. Unfortunately, I can't stand his more recent music. I wish he would look at everything honestly and reassess some things. I realize that Yngwie will always be Yngwie. At least I will always have the stuff I like...

If you saw this through the lens of narcissism, you might understand the direction of his career after the neoclassical phase shifted away from the limelight

Rick Beato interview clears alot about Yngwie.