Swannie

He has a great vibrato and that wasn't meant to be derogatory, I was really just trying to say he's not playing what's often considered "soulful" playing.

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RobGLA

Yngwie created an original sound by taking a little of what Richie Blackmore was doing and going way beyond that in terms of combining classical with rock sensibilities.

As far as him being overrated, how do you rate musicians and music to begin with? If you like the genre he's fantastic. If you've looking for someone that plays for the song and is subtle move along.

I like his playing, still enjoy it and really loved it when I heard it as a teenager because of the fantastic energy in his runs, the exaggerated vibrato and the way he used the trem bar as well.
The only negative thing i would say is that for me, when you've heard a couple of his albums you pretty much know what you're gonna get and lyrically it can be rather silly. But again if you want lyrics like Bob Dylan you listen to Bob Dylan. I still like his most melodic material the best, so my faves would be the albums Rising Force and Eclipse.

As far as being egotistic, when he was 20 and the big guitar hero was upon him, I'm sure he enjoyed the ride and part of the bravado that goes with the image is playing the part, being brash and over-confident so who knows.

I met him at a NAMM show a few years back and he was a pretty funny guy. In recent years he seems to take himself a little less seriously, which considering the puffy shirts is probably for the best

One final thought for me is that we need larger than life characters in music. Sometimes you want to see everyday people playing music, but other times you want to be really entertained by something different and Yngwie is an original.

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Zaphod_Beeblebr

Uli Jon Roth did it first really Go listen to Sails of Charon by Scorpions; one of the most underratedly influential songs and guitarists of the electric era.

That said, Malmsteen was the one who really supercharged it and made it 'metal'; before him it was always more hard rock than anything else. And the speed of course, oh my sweet jebus the speed...

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Supernaut2k

Yngwie is an interesting one,

Put yourself in the shoes of a young guitarist in the 1980's, You have guys like Van Halen and RR putting out amazing stuff, then suddenly a young guitarist from Sweden comes along and essentially creates a whole new style of playing over night.



Love him or hate him, you can't say he wasn't "great" in the mid eighties. His vibrato, picking and melodic sense were at a genius level, he was literally on another level.

Today it's a different story, he's become a parody of himself, kind of sad really.

dicam

Agree with supernaugt about when YJM came on the scene. Bear in mind that he had an injury after a car accident which may have had some affect on his playing.

The man is legend and Rising Force is a brilliant album. His best IMO. His present day stuff is not atop the same standard. The album cover to Perpetual Flame says it all really.

Stephen Quinn

Yngwie is a great virtuoso and has composed some brilliant guitar work. Though speed does play a huge part of it most of the time, there is still feeling in his playing.

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calebrocker

Guthrie has said in interviews he admires Yngwie for all the passion he puts into his music, and he means every note he plays. A lot of the "Yngwie copycats" have seemed to have neglected that (Rusty Cooley)

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Second Rate

I've seen the argument that Yngwie is overrated made quite a lot in recent years, but if you put him in the proper context of his era (as Supernaut said), he is most certainly not overrated. At the time when Malmsteen first appeared, what he was doing was something new. Really, the nearest comparison you would have had at the time would likely have been Steve Hackett or Ritchie Blackmore, and they never did things with the degree of speed, intensity, and technicality that Malmsteen brought. As for his playing being soulless, well... abstracts like that really are in the mind of the listener, aren't they? I happen to find Guthrie Govan's playing sterile and boring, but that doesn't make it a factual statement for me to say that his playing has "no soul." So, really, stop with the "Guitarist X's playing is soulless, guitarist Y actually has soul and feeling in his music." It just makes you sound like a pretentious twat.

Barricade_28

Yes, and yes.

EclipseRising

I think Malmsteen is great one of my all time favorite musicians. His songwriting skills are way underrated. also BTW he is coming out with a book about his life. Comes out in May 2013

http://www.amazon.com/Relentless-Me...teen+relentless

EclipseRising

How To Become A Better Guitarist By Listening To Yngwie Malmsteen

http://shredknowledge.com/how-to-be...fb_source=pubv1

sock_demon

I enjoy the earlier works like Ill see the light and Rising force (more rock-based songs) than his classically-inspired pieces. And honestly, the guy can't play blues for crap.

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2PtDescartes

Yngwie's great I saw him open for Dio. He's way better than me. Yeah his vibrato is incredible.

I can't say he hasn't made some bad choices through his career though. Some people talk him up way too much, some people hate his guts. What else is there?

TomLloydJones

I remember the first 'Yngwie' I ever came across (consciously) was actually played by Dave Kilminster on a guitar magazine CD, and from there I had to get the YM collection. Holy cow. I actually struggle to think of anyone who made me feel that same sense of bewilderment. Of course that was when I hadn't been playing long and I hadn't come across the other big shredders, but still- whilst ridiculous in many ways, I find his playing immensely satisfying (on his earlier albums at least).

Unfortunately I just can't get that feeling from his later work and the whole Concerto Suite exercise seemed a little off to me. I spent my college years defending him as honestly, his music did mark a rapid change in direction in my tastes! But damn he can really play.

It's tempting to say 'wouldn't it be great if he played guitar with [insert great band's name here]', but I think he needs to be over the top- that's his style and his personality and to contain it would spoil the fun, not to mention being impossible. So I salute Yngwie, for having the strength of mind to play how he wants to play, and doing it very, very well!

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Dr Sixstring

I think Yngwie is really good, but does have an ego. Saying things like "I don't ever practice", which kind of shows he doesn't have a lot of passion. I think their are guitarists like Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, John Petrucci, Guthrie Govan, etc., that care so much more about how they play and their attitude about their skill. Like Satch, Vai, and Govan are always saying they want to get better. But Yngwie doesn't really care, it seems like he's given up caring about what he sounds/looks like.

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Dr Sixstring

I think Yngwie is really good, but does have an ego. Saying things like "I don't ever practice", which kind of shows he doesn't have a lot of passion. I think their are guitarists like Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, John Petrucci, Guthrie Govan, etc., that care so much more about how they play and their attitude about their skill. Like Satch, Vai, and Govan are always saying they want to get better. But Yngwie doesn't really care, it seems like he's given up caring about what he sounds/looks like.

Edit: Also, a LOT of his music sounds like the same thing over and over. As some people said.

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Gregguitardude

I can't stand Malsteens music but have to say techically he is a very good guitar player. Though I would rather listen to a million others before him.

thf24

I just got back from seeing Yngwie perform at the Beale Street Music Festival in Memphis, and he was absolutely fantastic. Very goofy, but the energy in the performance was unbelievable, and he had three other amazing musicians to back him. Great show despite the low production value (his guitar tech would occasionally jump over and trigger a single fog machine).

Overrated? In his genre, not in the slightest. Anything outside that is apples to oranges. Egocentric? Definitely, although I've heard he's mellowed out a lot since his earlier years. But in my opinion, when you're that good at something you love, you can act however you want (within some degree of reason).

Also, anyone who thinks he lacks "soul", you must never have heard any of his blusey or slow tracks or passages. If you want to hear a robot, listen to Michael Angelo Batio. Also, you have to understand that a lot of the "soul" and feeling in Yngwie's style of music comes from the composition, not the actual playing. Although I'm not accusing anyone in particular, I believe the "no soul" argument is thrown around a lot by players who are looking for a reason not to acknowledge an aspect of guitar playing that they're lacking in.