Alchemy

Yngwie Malmsteen | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 7, 2000)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Spitfire
• ASIN: B000050I4B
• Also Available in: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #181,936 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #61 in Music > Rock > Rock Guitarists > Shred

Track Listings

1. Blitzkrieg

2. Leonardo

3. Playing with Fire

4. The Stand (The)

5. Wield My Sword

6. Blue

7. Legion of the Damned

8. Deamon Dance (7, 405, 926)

9. Hangar 18, Area 51

10. Voodoo Nights

11. Asylum, Pt. 1: Asylum

12. Asylum, Pt. 2: Sky Euphoria

13. Asylum, Pt. 3: Quantum Leap

Editorial Reviews

1999 outing from Sweden's premier heavy metal virtuoso guitarist. 13 tracks. The initial pressing only comes in a full color slipcase with a one-sided, full color 14.5 inch x 16 inch foldout poster of the cover art. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars REMINISCENT OF TRILOGY, November 17, 1999

By 

BUDDY HICKS (Broussard, LA USA) - See all my reviews

Yngwie has returned with his album Alchemy. My first impression of this CD was that it sounded similar to "Trilogy" (mainly due to Mark Boals returning on lead vocals). Yngwie has abandoned his recent commercial writing tendencies in favor of classic medievil tales of dragons and demons. He still plays with the fire and energy that has been his trademark all these years. Alchemy is by no means his best CD, but there are some real gems on here. Most notable songs include, "Leonardo" (the ingenius Latin intro sets the mood for the entire song ), "Blue" (very emotionally driven) , "Legion of the Damned" (in your face Yngwie fury), and "Asylum" (a three part masterpiece). Malmsteen's last release, "Facing the Animal", was definitely his most commercially appealing CD, but "Alchemy" is a good solid listen for any fan. Yngwie on a bad day is still better than most of the music being released today.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally, a new Malmsteen CD that I *enjoy*, March 29, 2000

By 

M Godlaski - See all my reviews

If you are like me, then you were disappointed by most of the work Yngwie has done since he finished touring off of the Odyssey album. It seemed every effort was trying way too hard to be a stereotypical "commercial USA heavy-metal album".

Alchemy is Yngwie at his best. The first thing that hit me was the instrumental work. Nearly 20 minutes of instrumental material adorn this new 68-minute disc. The very first track (Blitzkrieg) is one of them, and it rocks. I had become so tired of the mellow 2-minute instrumentals on his last few discs, and Blitzkrieg was a pleasant surprise. All the great Yngwie licks are present, with a few new tricks as well. Fast, furious, and hard rocking - which is all a true Yngwie fan really wants!

As the disc played on, I was surprised to find myself really enjoying even the lyrical tracks. The riffs are adequate at worst, and downright addictive at best (as in Playing with Fire and Deamon Dance). The solos in each song never seem forced as they often did on Seventh Sign and Magnum Opus. Each solo flows out of the song smoothly and fits it well. The song writing is much more mature than it was in the days of Marching Out and Trilogy, yet it follows the same themes of Gothic horror, mystical events, and fantasy that are Yngwie's specialty. Although the lyrics at times seem to have been beaten into place with a hammer to fit the rhyme scheme ("The Stand" in particular seems to be a half-written song), they are at times intelligent and catchy - and nearly always fun.

The instrumental work is what really makes this recording shine. As mentioned, 'Blitzkrieg' is a wonderful foray into Malmsteen at his jamming best. 'Blue' is a pseudo-blues tune that is fantastic. Effortlessly mixing blues progressions and licks with his neoclassical background, the track is a pleasure to listen to again and again. Finally, the 3-part 'Asylum' finishes off the CD weighing in at over 11 minutes. Asylum begins with a 3 minute track of lightning-fast Yngwie guitar work which blends Gothic darkness with classical flavor. Part II 'Sky Euphoria' is as beautiful as it is brilliant. Elegant violins fill the background and Yngwie plays some of his best clean-tone work ever. Finally, Part III 'Quantum Leap' rips back into metal-mode, and the most surprising thing of all is that for the last 3 minutes of this song Yngwie doesn't play a single lead... he merely provides a rhythm track as the drums as keyboards take center stage with a pounding beat that finishes off the CD.

This is perhaps Yngwie's best work ever. Nothing on the CD seems forced or faked, it's all smooth and natural sounding - you can almost *feel* that Yngwie was having a great time playing these songs. When Yngwie was working with Mike, I got the feeling that the songs were examples of Yngwie trying too hard to be something that he wasn't. These new tracks all feel so smooth and flow so well. It's nice to have a Malmsteen CD that features great *songs*, not just great guitar playing.

This CD is worthy of the "Rising Force" name that hasn't been on one of his discs in over 10 years. With Mike out of the way, Yngwie is free to do what he does best, and any fan of Yngwie should be very pleased with purchasing this CD. Don't pass it up.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You Can't Get Much Better Than This! 5 STARS ., March 12, 2003

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Alchemy (Audio CD)

To the other reviews on here: this is NOT just for die hard fans, and it is NOTHING like Trilogy-Trilogy was a great album, but Alchemy is the most progressive/power album I think he has ever done; possibly his heaviest also. The 5 star rating goes way past that: make it more like 10 stars because every song on here is very heavy, and has in my opinion, his best solos and playing in general, ever. There's not one ballad; in a way, this one should have been called, Attack!! instead of the newest one out. His playing is always amazing, even on ones you might not like, but Mark Boals does an amazing job in the operatic vocal department here, and I never really liked him that much in earlier releases. Everyone is going to have their favorite singer on whatever album, but this one cannot be denied: Yngwie pulled off a masterpiece on this one. If you liked, Facing The Animal, Trilogy, or any of the earlier stuff and wished Yngwie really just floored it, then GET THIS ONE! 10 STAR RATING FROM SCRAGGY'S TOMB OF POWER METAL, USA. Cheers!