Customer Reviews

Alchemy

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

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.

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.

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!

Yngwie J. Malmsteen has once again broke the mold with the release of his fifteenth album "Alchemy". The whole album takes you on a non stop journey of incredible music. The album consists of mainly harder material, he left the commerical stuff off of this one. Mark Boals is back and with a vengence. Mark adds the perfect voice to this amazing album. "Wield my sword", "The Stand", and "Playing with Fire" are a few of the inceredible tunes on this album. Yngwie also brings to us, a three part intstrumental piece entitled "Asylum" which is a perfect for the overall medevial theme of this album. If you are an Yngwie fan as I am, you will be amazed by this album.

This CD is amazing. After a commercial CD(Facing the Animal), Malmsteen made a fantastic album. Even the artwork of the CD is good. The instrumental songs are a masterpiece of metal. All the songs have mystical or occult themes. If you like guitars or like very good and HEAVY music, don't waste your time, get this CD.

Never content with just straight-ahead rock'n'roll,Malmsteen is known for pushing the boundaries of the genre:'Alchemy'testifies-amazing virtuosity and power,this artist has a truly grandiose musical vision that grabs you and never lets go.Having a great vocalist like Mark Boals is the cherry on the top.

I'm not a fan of guitar players, not of instrumental music, not even of Yngwie Malmsteen, but this album is overwhelming, just brilliant!!

I listened to Yngwie because my brothers were fans of 80's hair metal, and well I liked Trilogy and the debut album, but they never did get much into me. Then one day I told my brother that Yngwie had released a new album, he bought it, and when I listened to it, it was love at first sight! I never thought that an album of a guitar player could be this exciting!! These songs are not only a show-off demonstration of power, they are really good rock n' roll! Blitzkrieg, the first tune, rocks from the very first second. Leonardo is outstanding. Playing with fire is incredible!! My favorite of the album. Playing's intro is so exciting! I also love Wield my sword. It's good that Yngwie took the medieval metal theme just to show all those so-call medieval rock bands what GOOD MEDIEVAL METAL is! And Yngwie doesn't even pretend to be one of them!

Overall, I love this album, I don't understand the reason for the changing of covers, but this is Yngwie's best, a true jewel.

"Blitzkrieg" and "Blue" are worthy in comparison to the original Yngwie J. Malmsteen's 1st "Rising Force" album. The concept of this album is no different than his recent releases. It is an excellent recording in terms of his no-holds-bar raw guitar sound and more definitive in years. The biggest drawback was the drums -- sorry John Macaluso, you're a talented drummer but...it sounded like someone was banging on trash cans throughout the hour and kind of killed the recording. Overall I do like the album, it's a signal heading towards his original style by incorporating the full Yngwie "J." Malmsteen's Rising Force name which will eventually lead us to know that Yngwie is rising again -- like how it all started.

Anybody claiming to be a fan of Yngwie's who then bashes on this masterpiece has got to be out of his mind. Alchemy smokes-plain and simple. The solos are unreal, the rhythms are the best Yngwie has done, the lyrics are generally really good (Leonardo and Legion of the Damned come to mind), and the instrumentals leave every other guitarist in the dust. I couldn't believe it when I saw a supposed Yngwie fan give this album one star. Trust me and several other sensible reviewers on this site...if you don't have Alchemy yet, you are missing out on a masterpiece.

Naturally, given that Trilogy is my favorite album...it's no surprise that Alchemy would shoot right up to the top of my list also. Mark Boals returns, carrying all the intensity he had in '86. The instrumentals are incredible...Blitzkrieg has some killer chord progressions reminiscent of "Evil Eye" from Rising Force. "Blue" is also very powerful. No sappy ballads to be found (though even 1 would've been cool) "Blue" can be considered the equivalent to Trilogy's "Crying". Asylum and Sky Euphoria are loaded with some famous Yngwie neo-classical solos. Mats' keyboards are very apparent on Sky Euphoria, also a very nice piece...As for the vocal tracks...Mark is at his best! He is Yngwie's best vocalist in my opinion. (I Don't even think Goran would sound good singing these!)Every song sounds good (Hangar 18, Area 51 is probably the weakest track). Leonardo, and Playing With Fire have some awesome screams and nice rhythms! Another thing visible is that this album is very NON-COMMERCIAL. Yngwie goes back to his "Dio-like Dark Ages style". The lyrics are great...but i still think he tries too hard to rhyme and needs to work more on his grammar. (Folded-blind? ) (I SLAYED a dragon? ) Buy it anyway...very much worth it, to all the other "Trilogy lovers" especially. LONG LIVE YNGWIE!