Search - Yngwie Malmsteen :: Instrumental Best Album

Aaahh, those pesky licensing issues

Paul Lawrence | Australia | 05/23/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Best of albums are great excuses for generalised comments about an artist. They also allow fans to bemoan song selection! And you don't have to be an Yngwie devotee such as myself to spot the biggest problem here and that is it only contains songs from The Seventh Sign album onwards. A huge blow.



What is here is great stuff and it's kicked off by the track Brothers with Yngwie really making his guitar bleed. Dawn continues the albums mellow start and as the album unfolds it becomes apparent that Yngwie has a broader pallette than he's given credit for. Also what occurs is the realisation that his later albums through the 90's and 00's are in possession of many fine instrumental moments.



Of course this is all instrumental and that's an issue - no vocals so vastly reduced connectivity unless your a guitarist. Also regardless of the precise playing and the Euro goth twinges adorning this release there is no Black Star. Not Trilogy Suite Op.5. They do cheat a bit to get around licensing issues by using a live version of Far Beyond The Sun but it's not as good as the version from the old Live in Leningrad set.



A good album for fans such as myself but newcomers would be better off getting the Yngie Malmsteen Collection and/or Best 90-99 if they want to go the compilation route. Or better yet grab Marching Out and Trilogy."