Customer Reviews

Eclipse

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

By 1990, everybody knew the name Yngwie J. Malmsteen and the history of cult shred albums he had released. Coming off the huge commercial success of 1988's ODYSSEY, Yngwie returned to that same pop metal vein to craft quite possibly his best album since MARCHING OUT. Sadly, 1990's ECLIPSE would mark the beginning of the end for Yngwie in the U.S. as the same folks who helped him rise to the status of guitar god, quickly scrambled to crucify his style as repetitive, unemotional and derivitive.

The band had been stripped down and rebuilt with the incredible Goran Edman on vocals(Yngwie's best vocalist up to this point) Mats Olausson on keyboards (not as good as Jens but still a top notch player) Svante Henrysson on bass and Michael Von Knorring behind the drums. The guitar tone shines here as this album is an improvement over the others up to this point in production values (although the raw sound of the first two albums greatly added to the vibe of those early records). Edman's silky cool voice shines on cuts like the bluesy rock of "Bedroom Eyes",the epic ballad "Save Our Love"(one of Yngwie's last great ballads), the Bach'n'Roll of "Motherless Child" and "Judas" and we get one great, albeit short, instrumental, the title cut, "Eclipse". But the standout track here is the album opener "Making Love" with it's way over-the-top guitar solo and super sexy opening riff, we get a true indication of Yngwie's mood on here: polished, radio ready, and still prepared to destroy any and every other guitar player who thought he could try and step on Yngwie's toes! For all out drama, speed, and technique in a dark rock context, nobody could. Yngwie had mastered his art and was living the life of an international rock guitar icon. By now, he was a living legend and his earlier guitar exploits were the stuff of urban legend. We get here, the black trudging evil of "Devil In Disguise", the questioning "What Do You Want" and the all out frenzy of the standout, hard hitting "Demon Driver" as well as the dramatic "Faultline". But, for all these great songs and all this great guitar playing, sales for ECLIPSE were poor in the States which caused Yngwie to begin to criticize his record label and their ad campaign for the album which Malmsteen thought to be non-existent. Guitar magazines had good things to say about the album, but many people began to dismiss Yngwie's neo-classical metal as meaningless drivel. The seeds were being sown for a backlash to Malmsteen's style and music, but only here in America. Overseas in Russia and Japan, Yngwie was bigger than ever and this fan base would never diminish. Full of over the top guitar pyrotechnics and some of his best songs, ECLIPSE showed Yngwie in full form and proved to all his true fans that he was still relevant in the 90's metal scene.

I don't understand why so many people have bashed this album. The songs are well-crafted, and the vocals of Goran Edman are terrific (he's Yngwie's best vocalist). Sure, there's some pop here, but so what? There are enough guitar heroics here to satisy most axe freaks. To all of you "Eclipse" bashers, geez...lay off, will ya? This is good stuff.

The best heavy metal recordings are able to strike the perfect balance between the expressive complexity of progressive rock and listener-friendliness and this release achieved that result. This is a multidimensional album with individually multidimensional songs that are all very heavy.

Starting with "Making Love," a rock-steady track that takes a break to explode into Malmsteen's neo-classical heavy metal stylings on his trusty Fender Strat before rejoining the main progression for a memorable close. Then Yngwie switches from his Beethoven influence to his Hendrix influence with "Bedroom Eyes" that starts with a quick hammer-E on the D string, some wah pedal in the solo and an all-around funky feel on this rock steady track. We then take it down a notch with "Save Our Love," giving us one of the most beautiful solos on the entire record and some excellent acoustic work in the intro. Just as we are feeling serene, Yngwie turns on the power with Motherless Child which simply kills with its lightning solo that takes several turns. Devil in Disguise is song with a darker tone that also begins with acoustic overdubs.

Judas takes us back to that hard, rock-steady feel from "Making Love" along with "What do you Want." "Demon Driver" feels more like classic Yngwie without feeling overly long and being just a guitar solo from beginning to end. "Faultline" gives us a break from the speed with an enjoyable melody, and we're taken on one last fast track with "See You In Hell (Don't Be Late)" which is also able to avoid being just one very long guitar solo and super long. In fact, even the only instrumental on this album (a rarity for Malmsteen) is of a sane length, is not just one great big long guitar solo, but manages to take many different turns.

One particularly good thing about this recording was that the drums did not seem to be on auto-pilot. They fit the feel of each part in each song and only suffered from slight defects such as in parts of "Save our Love" or the fact that they felt a bit mushy, and hollow possibly due to the overuse of effects and mic placement.

This is the case throughout the album and for heavy metal, this is fine, but the worst offender of vocals being mixed far too low was "Devil in Disguise" - it almost sounds as though Goran was singing in Sanskrit or Latin during the verses, it was so low. If you're going to go through the trouble of actually writing and then overdubbing vocals, they should be mixed so that you can at least hear them--even if we can't make out the words. On an album like this, it probably doesn't even matter anyway.

Regardless, that does nothing to affect the ability to enjoy this album. There basically were no bad songs on this album and if you love heavy metal with some of the cleanest, well thought-out licks and riffs ever composed, this album is for you.

This CD is so great. I was suprised--I didn't think it was going to be so great. I read several reviews bashing this album, and I am glad I didn't listen to them. It's not as commercial as I was expecting. "Making Love" and "Bedroom Eyes" are pretty commercial, and maybe there's others that are kinda radio friendly, but all in all, it's not. My favorites are "Making Love", "Save Our Love", "Motherless Child", "Devil in Disguise", "Judas", "What Do You Want", "Demon Driver", "Faultline", "See You in Hell (Don't Be Late)", and "Eclipse". "Bedroom Eyes" is good, but not a favorite of mine. "Devil in Disguise" and "What Do You Want" are absolutely awesome! If you want fantastic guitar playing with great songs, don't hesitate--buy "Eclipse" now!

you may also hear goran edman sing on other bands such as street talk, kharma and glory. this cd titled eclipse is pretty good, songs such as [making love, judas, and faultline] for example are songs with soul. i believe that he has been the best vocalist for rising force. be sure to check out this cd titled eclipse, you won't regret it.

other recommendations-fire and ice by yngwie malmsteen is a good cd and goran edman sings vocals on that cd too.

goran edman is the best vocalist out there right now(in 2003). once again, making love which is sung by goran edman on the eclipse cd is excellent. it really is a beautiful song-for a person who is from the european anglo cycle(white guy) he sure has alot of feeling/soul ability. goran edman is from the country of sweden.

I am a die-hard Yngwie fan and own the majority of his albums, even those from Steeler and Alcatrazz. Over and over again I have heard Yngwie fans (and even Yngwie himself) put down his albums Eclipse and Odyssey because they are "too commercial". I'm so tired of hearing that. Who cares if they are a little more commercial??? It certainly doesn't diminish the talent that this man has! There is some incredible guitar work here! I like his less commercial albums too, but to be quite honest with you, Eclipse and Odyssey are the two albums that I listen to most frequently and those are the tunes that stick in my head when I'm not listening to any music at all! Yes, this is a more commercial album and other guitar-shredders may not appreciate it as much as some of Yngwie's other albums, but for those individuals who are not musicians themselves and/or those that are not avid guitar [people], I think that Eclipse and Odyssey are the two best albums for them to buy to be introduced to Yngwie. Once he captures you with these two albums and you get an appreciation for the talent displayed on them, you'll want to own everything that he does. Yngwie is a phenominally talented musician and there is a lot of great guitar work on this CD. While I enjoy all of the songs, my absolute favorite is "Making Love". The guitar solo is awesome on this one! Sends chills up your spine! And I have to agree with everyone else, that the lead singer, Goran Edmund is definitely the best Yngwie has ever teamed up with. While others have stated that this is not "technically" one of Yngwie's best CD's, I personally feel that it is awesome!

All the songs on this album are good. The music is very heavy, has alot of rhythm and Goran Edman's vocals are fantastic. This cd has popular tunes that made it big when the album got released-like Making Love, and Judas. I have to say that Goran Edman has a clean voice, and sings pretty well.(I strongly believe that he has been the best vocalist that Yngwie has had! ) I recommend this album to anyone who reads this summary. The music is good, the singing is good, and the cd has many songs. Goran Edman also sings on the "Fire and Ice" cd by Yngwie Malmsteen.

This might not be the best Yngwie's album when it comes to solos and guitar playing virtuosity, but I definitely think it's the best group album (meaning, there's a balance within the songs, it's not just a solo album, which most yngwie's records are even when "rising force" is printed in the front)featuring the greatest songs and melodies. And they do have that unmistakable Yngwie feeling.

Fans were and still are divided on malmsteen's inclusion of songs that are "ballads". I personally love them and find them more classical sounding than the faster songs. He started doing these in the previous album Odyssey which with his new singer propelled him to hights of fame unprecedented by a neoclassical band. The album Eclipse changes the singer again, but the success train doesn't derail for a second. There is a wide, quality, stadium filling tone here, and the songs have memorable hooks. This definately belongs in a collection alongside the first four albums

I have all of Malmsteen's albums and this is the one I listen to the most. The keyboards are just teriffic, especially on "Motherless Child" and "What do you Want?". The guitars, of course, are great too. Goran Edman is a good singer, but I would have liked the vocals to be a bit stronger. This album gives me a cool, smooth, elegant feeling. I love it!