Loved all the technical studio talk. One thing that surprises me though is that he keeps saying that Malmsteen was not going for soul. I just listened to Trilogy and every time I hear the song The Queen Is in Love I'm in total ecstasy with how beautiful that melody is. There are so many soulful moments on that album. Many of them Malmsteen's solos. And Mark's singing is so full of soul! But I understand how it's so different from the 70s artists he was working with at the time.
Trilogy is a MASTERPIECE!!! It is my second favorite Yngwie Malmsteen album right after Marching Out. Marching Out is the first Yngwie Malmsteen album I ever got and listened to back in 1988 at barely 10 years old, and it still has a very special place in my heart. Yngwie was the real deal. He had both phenomenal guitar playing chops, and could write amazing songs. He is still my all time favorite guitar player all these years later.
This is an especially interesting interview because, aside from the incredible performances, the production was equally what made "Trilogy" Yngwie's masterpiece. An engineering tour-de-force, such as how the guitar-keyboards-bass gel so tight on the rhythm parts, but you can still hear each one clearly. One of those records where you want to know all the details, "Which mics, and where were they placed," etc..
I actually thought Trilogy and Odyssey had great songs. Yngwie was different from other shredders in that he actually played melodically and soulfully. His vibrato and bends add so much emotion to his music.
Yay!!! I'm so glad you mentioned Yngwie plays with emotion or feeling. That's a misconstrued critique of him not playing with emotion. How much feeling do you need to see him play with? Depends on the song.
@@PaulC39 So true👌I honestly think Yngwie play with more soul than 99.9% of guitarists (tho thats just my opinion). Its sad peeps look past his more emotional solos and songs
trilogy is one of his best for sure, there is a group of them i like i couldn't pick the best. one of things about shredding and yngwie compared to many others is shredding to the beat, a lot of the pretenders just play superfast and its cool and all, but it is not to the beat of the song they are playing it. took me a long time to understand this, fusion jazz guitarists taught me this. eyes opened.
Cool interview, nice dude......have to take issue with the guy though, Trilogy is of course a pinnacle album for Yngwie's chops, but man I love the songs and the compositions on that album...just over the top awesome album from not only Yngwie but incredible performances from Jens and Mark as well. One of the albums that Yngwie literally changed the game for heavy guitar....with Eddie gone now, Yngwie is really the last of the game change guitar players.
I agree, definitely a peak. My favorite Yngwie album. Although, I do have deep love for that Steeler record. I listened to "Queen in Love" and "Suite Op: 5" about ten times each while I put this video together.
@@fullinbloom Right on, man so many great tracks on there(Can't forget Fire, You Don't Remember, I'll Never Forget and Dark Ages as well)....he talks about Yngwie's chops and of course they're incredible...but man so many beautiful solos with some of the best bends and vibratos in the biz, no shortage of feel there.....The solo for Fire...just a beautiful solo(I love the little grooves in some of his lead lines)....I could go on and on about Trilogy.....BTW, if you love Trilogy....man Check out Alchemy....He got back with Boals again and Yngwie took it all to those all time levels and even surpassed them, even new licks...that album is a Masterpiece as well! I'd say that Album is his all time peak, and that's a big statement I know but I stand by it! Thanks so much for this cool interview! Added: Engineering credits to Chris Tsangarides on Alchemy.
Trilogy was a K2 peak for Yngwie. I think Rising Force was the Everest. I think the drums on Trilogy was a Roland R8. Too bad. In RF he had Jetrhro Tull's drummer...Barlow . Trilogy Suite OP5 however was was groundbreaking. I don't think there was rock music like that EVER played on the planet. Some of his most melodic and emotional solos and playing where in Trilogy. Icarus, Fire, Liar and the unparalleled CRYING. To people who think Yngwie had no soul, melody and emotion...the solo on Crying is something even he himself cannot duplicate. It just came from the deepest depths of his emotion. Had that Gilmorish sound as well, very rare Yngwie stuff. The guitar solo on crying may have been his greatest solo ever improvised in his life. The acoustic lines are something Al Demeola would have been envious or proud of. And Yngwie was so young then. Imagine how mature he sounded then. He plays like a kid today. But a master none the less. The one and only. The King of Neoclassical Shred Guitar. He still kills anyone onstage who steps on stage to play with him. G3 ? G6? They play chords when Yngwie plays. They stand back. Nobody really stands toe to toe with Yngwie. Brave of Vai to unleash his patented enless legato assault on Little Wing, but he seemed to be pushing. and appeared timid, almost shy. Yngwie was just groovin and having a good time. He showed everyone who was in charge. Satch didn't even bother. He just played the Blues. Yngwie even told him to trun up his amp LOL. So ends my rant on Trilogy and YJM.
@@fullinbloom i just listened to the Trilogy record on Apple Music on my flight home yesterday. That album plays in my head constantly, esp. the opening riff for “Fire.” You should do a video on the Fire and Ice album. What an underrated album!
Yeah I saw Yngwie Malmsteen for the first time open up for Iron Maiden for their Somewhere On Tour. It was Yngwie touring for his Trilogy album. It was on of the best metal concerts I have ever seen back in January 7th 1987 at the Omni in Atlanta, GA. Its long since gone.
Saw one of the last shows with Mark on vocals at a small place in Toledo. Glass City Boardwalk. Sept 1986. It was amazing! Saw Yngwie a few weeks later in Cincinnati and Jeff was back on vocals. Love this album!🤘🤘
Thanks for this! what a great, valuable interview. The late great Miles Davis was into the Trilogy album. True story, as told by Davis’ son in Modern Drummer magaine.
Trilogy is my favorite Yngwie album. It's interesting that Ricky says he is about songs. That's why Trilogy is my favorite album. There are riffs and melodies and stories. Songs. The only Jeff Beck album I like is Flash. Both albums have amazing guitar work and cool songs. I agree that Yngwie could have more fans. Because if you look at Van Halen, that's a good indication of what can happen. That's amazing musicianship in the service of songs. It requires collaboration, which is something that Yngwie can't handle. I'm not putting him down about that. I have the same problem. I can't stand people telling me what to do. Unrealized potential is what it is. I love the story about Racer X. That's another great example. Ricky has a lot of wisdom.
Excellent interview, great channel. You do great work brother. Your bumper music/song is so intriguing any reels you in. The way you edit pictures into the interview is top notch. Yngwie is one of my favorites and I wore out there first three albums as a teenager. 35 years later, I finally started to figure out how to play his style and songs on the guitar (at about 70% of full tempo though). Doug Marks Metal Method was not enough to prepare me when I was in my teens for tackling Mr. Malmsteen! Ha. All the best to you and your channel.
Thank you, Douglas. I always wondered if anybody even watched the videos or if I was just wasting my time. Thanks for letting me know and thanks for listening.
I listened this album A LOT when I was 11 years old or something. My big brother had this on cassette and he let me borrow it, when he was outside with his friends. It just once happened that I had left the tape on a table, and my little brother who was maybe 1 year old that time had found it and ripped the whole tape out! I was fucking terrified, but somehow I managed to scroll the tape back in. 😅
I was 17 when I bought Yngwie J Malmsteen's Rising Force on Vinyl. I was talking to a friend at Peacock Park and I was saying that I thought Rik Emmett was underrated. Compared to EVH at the time. He said check Yngwie Malmsteen who he thought was overrated but just not really known. I went home and listened to it and it blew my mind. Awesome album.
I went back and listened to the entire album yesterday. Totally sounds awesome. It must have been wild working with a player like Malmsteen who to this day is almost untouchable. Sure there are lots of shredders but very few with the musicality and the ear for composition that Malmsteen had. Truly one of the greatest guitar players who has ever lived.
Thank you to the interviewer for redirecting the interviewee back to the Yngwie album interview in between all the name dropping. Also, how can you listen to Crying, Trilogy Suite Op5, Fire, and say he's all mechanical and doesn't have soul.
@@stringfellowhawk4843 definitely not ready for Yngwie. Clearly still isn't. Sad that Mr Delena was a part of one the greatest metal albums recorded and just tosses it aside. Clearly he doesn't understand the value of that album.
What a killer interview! I've watched so many of your videos and just friggin LOVE the inside info on production/engineering that you get. But ever since the first Alcatrazz and Rising Force albums blew my freakin' mind in the mid-80s, Yngwie was my guy and I practiced 8+ hours a day and knew and played every song through the Trilogy album note-for-note. I actually played a medley of Black Star/Far Beyond The Sun/Icarus Dream Suite for my senior year talent show in high school, and went on to major in classical guitar, and write/perform neuvo flamenco... all because of Yngwie. I've since grown in musical tastes and styles and don't play Yngwie stuff anymore, but he'll forever be my guitar idol and biggest influence. What a great interview, to hear the stories that no one else gets. I like your style much better than Eddie Trunk's. You seem far less egotistical than Eddie and seem like you'd be an awesome dude to hang with.
I F'n LOVE that album. That album got a lot of listens at a time in my life with a lot of big changes I went through. That's what usually makes music so special. Great interview... again. Time to go listen to "You Don't Remember, I'll Never Forget" in the headphones at 11 :-) P.S. 48 tracks is a lot! Back in the early 90's I was trying to make music on an old pawnshop bought Tascam 4 track cassette. LOL.. Ohh how times have changed!!
@@fullinbloom You aren't kidding. Me and my buddy went in halves on it. He maybe used it once, while I found myself up till 3AM recording stuff when I had to be at work at 6AM haahaa. Needless to say I missed a few days of work! Ahh, the good old days. Keep up the good work my friend. Always look forward to your posts.
lol @ trying to throw shade at the Johansson brothers for being too 'mechanical' They are advanced machines, they are NOT going to lower themselves to make it easier for you to understand them. I think what happened was that you couldn't comprehend that they were creating something new, while you were trying to force them into a pre-existing mold to make it more palatable to your understanding. The fact that they're still touring and recording today with that same level of intensity, passion and skill validates their approach over yours. That sounds more snarky than i meant it,.. sorry,...i'm grateful for your input in making history!
"I don't care how good you are or what you do, if you want to have lasting notice in this business, it comes down to songs." - It's amazing to me that there aren't more great players who use songwriters. Just because you can play well and have great stage presence doesn't mean you're also a great songwriter. How could any professional musician justify overlooking such a potentially valuable resource?
This album needed some oumph Some aggression in the sound , but It really does sound like the way he likes , basic and airy Amazing interview btw Can we make an episode with the marching out producer ??
I like the interview . This engineer is right .Musicianship is fantastic but song writting is an entirely new galaxy or element . Malmsteen is one of a kind and I also will respect him .Personally i use to just write guitar solos and now write words sing write the music and am capable of working with a producer and engineer .I believe the music is only one piece of a great song . It's gotta all work together and you gotta be open to be really really great .Great interview here!!!
Great interview, I can relate to everything he said about engineering and producing, top man, still love this album and it's in my top three guitar albums of all time 🔥
I really enjoy your interview style. Some interviewers drive me nuts. I guess it’s about my interests that keeps me listening, but you are very good and I like the channel a lot. Cheers!
It’s unfortunate that Yngwie didn’t use Ricky DeLena for later albums. The quality of the engineering and production was never the same after on his subsequent albums. The albums he did later in the 90’s amd 2000’s had some great moments, but he tried to do everything himself and the sonic quality suffered - especially on Alchemy and War to End All Wars. Yngwie really needs to consider getting back JS Soto or M Boals back on vocals too. All Yngwie fans pretty much agree that those 2 vocalists really complimented Yngwie’s style and brought his music to a much higher level. I would also add that Jens Johansson brought a lot to the table in terms of embellishments and chord structure to the songs, something I feel was severely lacking after he left Yngwie’s band.
I have to disagree, well at least partially. I like a lot of the albums he made in the 90's (Eclipse actually being my favorite album from him) but I do agree that by the time the 2000's rolled in he just gave up and got lazy.
I know this is an old post but I totally agree. The sonic quality of malmsteen's last albums is really bad. Being a great musician and a great engineer is actually rare. It's difficult to be great at both. Although there are some who have. But also recording in small home Studios you cannot get a large room sound for the ambience. But malmsteen's drums are over compressed as everything else is. The record sound really really bad and I can't listen to them.
IMO the must have albums from Yngwie are (in no particular order) Marching out, Rising Force, Trilogy, Eclipse and Live in Leningrad (which has some Odyssey songs on it).
Thanks for listening, Rick. I was kind of thinking he might be straying too much while I was doing the interview. He did deviate some, but usually, he included a certain engineering technique or approach into those stories. But when I listened back to this interview from start to finish, I felt like I saw a different side to it. I know many people are just listening for a cool story, but I started doing these interviews because I'm a recording engineer myself. At this point, I've talked to a lot of producers and engineers, and usually, I already know what they are going to say before I ask the question. There are certain rules to the game, and they're pretty standard, and I've known about those rules for a couple of decades. However, in this interview, I thought he offered some great insight. That mic placement technique on the cone was taught to him by Eddie Van Halen. An engineer can chug along for years before they get a pearl of wisdom like that, and it came from Eddie Van Halen!! Priceless. Now, anyone who listens to this interview can know about it. I wanted to interview Ricky because I love the sound of this Yngwie record, and I thought he gave us all a good idea about his approach and how he got that sound. Having said all that, I get what you're saying. I don't know how many engineers actually listen to my podcast, I would think it's nothing compared to the people who just want cool stories. I dig the cool stories, too, but personally, these are the interviews I love.
I remember Anders Johansson saying that Yngwie apparently brought a loaded revolver into the studio one day during this album’s recording and was shooting a round each time Anders hit the snare… the only track in theory that could’ve happened with is IMO Fury (since the snare beats are vaguely reminiscent of gunfire)
In his book during this record Yngwie wanted to replace the sound of the snare on a track with the sound of a gun he had..they recorded it but they were not happy with the results.
I would have loved to hear how they recorded the bass on Trilogy. The production itself isn't really my cup of tea and especially the drums are pretty weak in my opinion. The bass tone, however, is absolutely smashing. Have tried to figure out how they recorded it, but couldn't find any info on the net. Even some of Malmsteen's later and weaker albums have this great bass tone.
"if he had a team around him that found him the right songs, he'd be a mega megastar" - Indeed, but Yngwie's ego wouldn't couldn't allow for that. I love Yngwie, but this dude is right and maybe the level of success Yngwie does have is the trade-off for doing things 100% his way and perhaps Yngwie is good with that. However, you have to wonder if Yngwie could just have relinquished some control, would he have become a megastar with a household name.
This guy loves to drop names and has a really high opinion of himself, and that's ok, as he's had a lot of chops, but I think saying everything has to breath is the same as saying everything has to have 4000 notes a measure. It's all subjective, and someone like Yngwie has earned his way by being so good. I admire him for his tenacity and sticking to his guns. It's all subjective. 🤣🤟
Trilogy and odyssey we YJM best albums IMHO. They talked a lot about Yngwie needing to open up and work with other musicians and songs to give him a little more commercial viability and him working with Joe Lynn Turner on his next album proved this to be true. Sadly YJM let his ego get in the way. He and Joe could have really moved his career up into a much large plateau but he just cant get past his own ego, so he will remain a guitar players guitar player never having reached the stardom he sees in his own head.
"Steve Vai/Yngwie Malmsteen not a great songwriter" I can't believe that in 2021 people still hawk this nonsense about. Soul does not equal 3 chords a 4/4 beat and 3 mics on a kit while the band all plays facing each other in a room jamming a 12 bar blues. Soul is a feeling that comes from subjective perspectives.
I kind of agree with the bass thing. Yngwie much too often just double plays his guitar line or on the beat of the drum, so it isn't much of a separate line/melody and it can lack groove which would be possible: just listen to more recent neoclassical metal, the bass can stand out and on its own feet. Yngwie often liked the bass and drums like a steam engine, not like horses pulling the wagons, if you will.
I enjoyed the first few minutes about Jeff, Rod and Ron but this nonsense about the Johanson brothers (especially Jens) being mechanical (like the Japanese ????) , Yngwie's weak songwriting and that only kids !!! are into virtuosos left me almost speechless. The claim that classically trained musicians are per se "soulless" (whatever that may mean, considering the fact that they are not playing "Soul Music") is a widespread cliche among the musically semi-educated. All these black vs white generalizations and the Europe/Japan reference are flat racist. It's funny to notice again and again how some US-Americans can't get over the fact that a bunch of european kids taught them how to play the electric guitar properly. As far as "Trilogy" is concerned, at least Mr DeLena admitted that he messed it up on this one.
I think what this guy is trying to say is that Europeans and Japanese musicians are very technical and well rehearsed but lack a certain spontaneity. It becomes a math test instead of a visceral experience. Of course not in every case.
Thanks for uploading! If you have a second, we recorded some original blues tunes. As fellow music fans, we'd love if you'd check it out. It's on our page. Don't be too tough on us :)
I actually agree with Ricky, Trilogy imo was the worst produced classic Yngwie record. Good songs, but sounded tinny compared to the full-bodied attack of its predecessors Rising Force and Marching Out. A downgrade from Marching Out especially which had aggressive tones fitting for heavy metal and where Yngwie's notes were blazing through the mix.
The solo construction discussion shows Yngwie is full of crap when he says all his solos are improvised and never the same twice. I've heard demos from Facing the Animal and those solos are near identical to the album. What a liar..... sings: LIAR!
Facing the Animal was the album right before Trilogy, right? Oh, wait. It was years later. Maybe Yngwie changed his approach to soloing by then. I'll take the word of the co-producer of the album about how solos were recorded over some sensitive fan with demos from an unrelated album. Not sure why you are so angry with the dude.
