Customer Reviews

Facing the Animal

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Yngwie said about Mats Leven-the Swedish vocalist on this album-that he can sing anything,from ballads('Like An Angel'-great track!)to Brian Johnson.But what is really notable about this record,besides Malmsteen's exceptional playing,is the amazing drumming of the late Cozy Powell whom Yngwie called'my mentor':there are lessons in drumming here,while Malmsteen's previous albums suffered somewhat from a lack of good drummers(I have in mind 1988's'Odyssey'where the great songs lose due to bad drumming).Here Malmsteen's fiery playing is tempered by overall melody and song structure,creating a very satisfactory and long overdue(in his case)balance.A great album,highly recommended!

Yet another Yngwie album ... I cannot say anything bad about it, but I don't like it either.

Some 12 years ago, Yngwie was my entrance to the neoclassical metal universe. But as much as I loved (and still apprecciate) his amazing and unique guitar playing style, I missed innovative song writing (which I hoped would emerge as it does with many exceptional artists as they grow older and more experienced).

Many reviewers claim that there are few other artists like Yngwie. To those I would like to recommend Tony MacAlpine, Rhapsody, Royal Hunt, Symphony X, Dream Theater (Inner Turbulence Disc 2 and Scenes From A Memory), to name but a few. Each of these artists uses neoclassical elements in a different way. But they all - instead of Yngwie - try to make it sound unique, whereas Yngwie seems to try to create 100% classical songs (or also folklore in case of acoustic guitar parts).

Another point is the poor production quality of most Yngwie albums. I mean, I'm sure he could do better if he wanted to. But we all know that he is very convinced of himself and only does what he thinks is best.

The conclusion: Real Yngwie fans will love this album, because it's what they can expect. Other metal fans that want to get a first impression of neoclassical metal should try the various other artists I mentioned as well as the legendary Yngwie albums like "Rising Force". Although it is rare, I also recommend "Trial by Fire", an early live recording from Leningrad.

Facing The Animal is arguably Yngwie's best album since Rising Force. The vast majority of the songs are very good. FTA clearly has the best songwriting since Eclipse, and more good songs than Eclipse. Mats Leven is also the best singer Yngwie has had since Goran Edman.

The best songs on the CD are Another Time, Only The Strong, and Enemy. What is great about this music is that Yngwie is being true to his core musical values while providing songs that just about anyone can appreciate.

Don't hesitate, buy Facing The Animal now!!!

Malmsteen in the 90's is a more straightforward beast in many respects and albums such as Eclipse, Seventh Sign and this album all deliver up reasonably solid slabs of hard rock songsmithery. This album - originally from 1997 - was co-produced by Chris Tsangarides and feels more sturdy possibly due to this co-production. And the band in the background is pretty handy too - Barry Dunaway (B), Mats Olausson (keys), Mats Leven (vox) and non other than Mr Cozy Powell on drums.

This album contains more of the same in most respects, some dil hard rock (Braveheart + Heathens from the North), some instrumentals (For April + Air on a Theme) and some great rockers like the title track, Enemy, My Resurrection and Another Time. And it's the rockers that make the album. Facing the Animal and Enemy are just great pull out all the stops Malmsteen attacks while My Resurrection plays around with some vocal/axe duelling and Another Time really hits a groove you could park a truck in with great vocal harmonies, groove being a little rare on Malmsteen albums normally. And as an aside, if you can get a version of this with what was originally a Japanese bonus track "Casting Pearls Before the Swine" then you'll be treating yourself to a favour to another full tilt rocker with a tremendous performance from Mats Levens' vocal chords.

Unlike a number of later Yngwie albums I can actually honestly recommend this one to any lapsed fan, you won't be disappointed by the passionate and commited hard rock assault.

Ok...so MAGNUM OPUS and INSPIRATION were a little weak. With 1998's FACING THE ANIMAL, Yngwie had crafted great hard rock songs and snubbed his nose to the grunge and alt-metal movements from which his career had never fully recovered. Nobody ever said Yngwie couldn't play guitar, and all of his trademarks are on display here as on all of his other releases. Backed by long time keyboardist Mats Olausson, ODYSSEY touring bassist Barry Dunaway, drum legend Cozy Powell (Black Sabbath, Rainbow, Dio) in one of his final studio recordings before his death in an automobile accident on April 5, 1998, and Mats Leven on vocals, this was Yngwie's best effort since THE SEVENTH SIGN in 1994 largely due to the strength of the songwriting. Mats Leven's vocals are strong and powerful, but his voice seems to get tiring on the ears after awhile. Tracks like "Braveheart", "Sacrafice", "Heathens From The North", "End Of My Rope", "Poison In Your Veins" and the chugging title track stand out, but it's the blistering concert opener "My Resurrection" that makes the biggest impact here. The ballad "Like An Angel" is a sappy, yuck fest that should have been left off, and "Air On A Theme" does nothing to enhance the disc...it's short and rather forgetful. "Another Time" does well as a sum up for this album...hook filled hard rock with big choruses and Yngwie's neo-classical sheen applied in liberal doses. The album does have it's moments and the solo in "My Resurrection" is classic Yngwie. Long time fans were happy to see the guitarist return with a stronger effort and most liked Leven's vocal stylings. It seemed Yngwie was moving back to a heavier direction like in his classic days. This album does have some pop metal hooks and choruses, but it was a harbinger of things to come as Yngwie would return (somewhat) to his vintage metal roots and leave behind the pop excesses on the fan favorite ALCHEMY and his subsequent releases.

Yngwie never disappoints his fans whether they're musicians or not. He proves he's still the king of arpeggios and sweeps. He hasn't lost a step due to that nagging tendonitous either. The songs are some of the strongest to date. The title cut is just killer from start to finish. "Enemy" is probably my favorite tune as it goes melodically some places Yngwie hasn't gone before. This is a "must-have" for any true Yngwie Malmsteen fan. It's great to hear an artist who refuses to compromise his roots or to go off the deep end for whatever the trend happens to be. Besides, metal fans are loyal because the artists they listen to are so loyal to them. Audiences and fans like to hear their artists expand musically, but we also count on our favorites not to dissappoint our expectations. Yngwie never dissapoints his fans. He never sacrifices his talents. Buy this album and you'll see exactly what I mean. Yngwie RULES!!!

This album is very solid from start to finish and happens to be my favorite Malmsteen album and perhaps his finest performance. It features many good songs which has been one the problems in a lot of Malmsteen's previous albums. It doesn't really contain any fillers or recycled tracks which he so normally does, which is why this is his best album. The opening track is very cool "Braveheart". Some other good tracks include: "Facing The Animal", "Like An Angel", "My Resurrection", "Sacrifice", "Alone In Paradise", "Only The Strong", "Heathens From The North", & "Poison In Your Veins". It only features 1 instrumental "Air On A Theme", and the rest of the tracks do feature vocals! Mats Leven is the vocalist and i feel he does a very impressive job! I think he's as good or possibly better than Jeff Scott Soto!

Facing The Animal along with Rising Force, The 7th Sign, & Alchemy would be great introductory albums for new Yngwie fans! But i do recommend Facing The Animal over those!!

I must got this one today and I was pretty impressed and surprised. I hadn't bought anything by Yngwie since about Magnum Opus or Inspiration and it seemed to me like at the time anyway, his stuff was starting to sound the same. I just recently started buying some of the earlier stuff and came across this. I realized it was better to sound similar to your other recordings than to do one of those 180 degreee turns that you never recover from - just ask Metallica. This reminds me of Marching Out in places and the singer reminds me of Jeff Scott Soto. This sounds like kind of a "returning-to-the-roots" kind of an album. I would recommend this to anyone who liked Marching Out - for some reason a lot of the songs here remind me of that album. The keyboards are apparently kept to minimum - yet another similarity to Marching Out. The first couple of songs remind me a little of Seventh Sign or Fire and Ice, but most of this is a refreshing return to earlier material. This isn't radically different from his other albums. Every once in while Yngwie goes in a different direction and then comes back to where he started from without having lost track of either the starting point or the new direction. This is a return home but not with a few embellishments to the sounds of old.
Yngwie still has all of the trademarks of his style. I can't complain. I only wish I'd bought this sooner.

This Album is completely underrated, it may be a little commercial but the songs are tremendous. The cd seems to have energy and passion, it even sounds angry at times. Songs like Facing the animal, Another time, and End of my rope are awsome. The only negative thing i can say is that its not holding up as well as other malmsteen releases, thats probably because ive listened to it a couple thousand times.

my ratings are,
Braveheart-7/10
Facing the animal-10/10
Enemy-8/10
Sacrifice-9/10
Like an angel-7/10
My Resurrection-10/10
Another time-10/10
Heathens from the north-7/10
Alone in paradise-6/10
End of my rope-10/10
Only the strong-8/10
Poison in your veins-6/10
Air on a theme-7/10

Man, I gotta tell you. This is one of Yngwie's greatest albums ever. Power & melody in a perfect harmony. If you're thinking of buying any of Yngwies albums buy FACING THE ANIMAL, SEVENTH SIGN and MARCHING OUT. Then you'll be set for life!!!