Customer Reviews

Instrumental Best

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Made in JAP in 2004, Serial# PCCY-01689, Playing Time 62:41

This 15-track CD is a compilation of previously released material covering the 1994 to 2000 era, but features instrumental-only tracks (actually, track 9 isn't instrumental due to the over-and-over chanting of the word "Takada"...)

The japanese market has been very good to Yngwie, and this compilation obviously demonstrates that fact (check out how many compilations of his material have been released over there... astonishing!)

The CD covers a wide spectrum of intensities, but excludes tracks from the earlier part of his career (the "Polydor" era), which is a shame... tracks from the early albums like "Trilogy" and "As Above, So Below" would have been fantastic additions to this CD.

What stands out most (at least to my ears) on this compilation is the SUPERB remastering work that was done to the material taken from the "War To End All Wars" album... I quite honestly couldn't believe how bad the original version sounded, despite Yngwie's phenomenal guitar work.

So this CD is for completists, as it unfortunately contains NO unreleased material... basically a purse-snatcher (hence the removal of 1 star!), but with fantastic content.

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.

Its just what it says it is, the instrumental best of Malmsteen. Essential listening for any metal guitar player.

A little "stale" for Yngwie stuff, but good nonetheless. I have pretty much every cd he's ever made except for the imports. I go through Yngwie "phases" where I don't listen for years then go back to listening again. In my eyes, he's the most creative/engergetic and emotional guitarist ever. Everytime I listen to his music I hear something a little different that I may not have heard the other 100 times. I've only listened to this CD a couple of times in favor of some more mellow stuff, but he will always be #1 in my eyes.

It is one of the best CDs I have ever listen to! It is a must to have it in your collection if you are an admirer of such kind of music!

all instrumental in this album are very good don't loose your time buy it and enjoy it (* _ *)