Customer Reviews

Ispiration

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

10 songs. One Hour. 9 musicians. Sounds like a cheesy rock game show? Nope. It's the Yngwie cover album. Yngwie, the excellent guitarist, has came out with an album consisting of some of the best 1970's hard rock. Carry On Wayward Son is more metalized, Pictures of Home has that classic Purple-like solo, Gates Of Babylon is a thrilling 7:00 minute killer, with Yngwie playing sitar! Manic Depression is an excellent blues-metal, with Yngwie singing, In The Dead Of Night has the best instrumental section known to prog-rock, Mistreated is that great classic from Deep Purple's Burn, great bluesy riff, Sails of Charon has that classic Scorpions solo, note by note. Anthem is that ol' Rush song, with the weirdest, yet hardest riff known to man. And, the Grand Finale, Child In Time, with the longest solo yet. About 4 minutes of soloing. GREAT! Excellent covers from Kansas, Deep Purple, Rainbow, Hendrix, UK, Scorpions, and Rush. GUITAR RULE!

Coming off the rather bland MAGNUM OPUS, Yngwie returned the following year in 1996 with INSPIRATION, an album of cover songs showcasing his incredible command of the electric guitar as well as some of the songs that were important to his growth as an international rock guitar star. Backed by a host of former bandmates, Yngwie lays into classic works by Kansas, Rush, Scorpions, and of course Deep Purple and Rainbow, the bands of his idol Ritchie Blackmore. Lots of times in the rock world, cover songs never live up to the originals, but that isn't the case with INSPIRATION's 10 tracks where Yngwie puts his own spin on these tunes, and it usually works out for the better. The show starts off with the Kansas classic "Carry On Wayward Son" re-uniting Yngwie with RISING FORCE and MARCHING OUT era vocalist Jeff Scott Soto. The song really shines given Yngwie's ultra heavy guitar tone and searing solo. We are treated to no less than 4 Deep Purple songs, "Pictures Of Home" (from MACHINEHEAD)"Mistreated" (from BURN) "Demon's Eye" (from FIREBALL)and "Child In Time" (from IN ROCK) and 1 Rainbow tune "Gates Of Babylon" (from LONG LIVE ROCK'N'ROLL) proving that the Blackmore influence was profound on Yngwie. These songs are excellent renditions, especially "Child In Time" which has Yngwie teaming up with his TRILOGY vocalist Mark Boals in what is probably the best track on the disc. We also get Hendrix's "Manic Depression", the classic U.K. tune "In The Dead Of Night" featuring superb drumming from Anders Johansson, Scorpion's "Sails Of Charon", and Rush's "Anthem". As stated earlier, lots of musicians from past Yngwie albums are here such as Joe Lynn Turner, Boals, Scott Soto, the Johansson brothers, Mats Olausson, and Marcel Jacob. The disc is produced extremely well and all the songs are full of the guitar onslaught that is an Yngwie Malmsteen CD. Even though he is playing songs by other artists, his trademark neo-classical stylings and over the top playing are all here. The solos sound very improvised and Yngwie seems to be having lots of fun this time out. Check out the long improvisation on "Child In Time" for some of his best playing in a long time. Yngwie has always claimed that he improvised his solos on the spot during recording, but these solos sound a lot less constructed than on previous albums, a trend that would continue on later efforts and had begun around THE SEVENTH SIGN period. The 2000 Spitfire re-issue contains a rather lenghty interview as well as some previously unreleased demo songs from Yngwie's early days.

Full of firey playing and great interpretations of classic rock material, INSPIRATION was a great idea for an album at a time when it seemed Yngwie was lost to the world in a sea of grunge and the beginnings of the nu-metal movement. Not his best, but still a fine effort. Yngwie would resurface two years later on a major label (Mercury) and the album FACING THE ANIMAL which would prove to be better than his last couple of releases.

Being a guitarplayer myself I like to listen carefuly to records and these are my conclusions for thisalbum:
1. Yngwie is unique, wild and very fast on the guitar. A lot of us can only dream of having that kind of speed in the fingers. But the thing with Yngwie is that he's ALWAYS playing fast and every solo is ALWAYS like the one before. Blackmore, who's one of Yngwie's big influences, can much better adjust the speed of his solos and make them really functional. 2.Yngwie seems to be less concerned with the other musicians in the band and what they have to offer. His solos are recorded way too loud and during these moments you can barely hear what the others are doing. At times the songs get very muddy, especially on this album.
3. Yngwie's guitar sound is one of the best you'll ever hear. But the bass guitar (mostly played by himself) always sucks. It's not much more than a vibrato-like hum throughout the whole record. I think it could be done a lot better with a good bass player, but Yngwie will probably disagree ...
4. I couldn't detect one version here that is better than the originals. It's just Yngwie showing off and freaking out and I'm sure he had a great time recording this. I can listen to four songs in a row but five would be too much !
I give the album 3 stars.

This is by far some of Yngwie's best work ever. Being a big Deep Purple and Rainbow fan; this album is musically superb. Gates of Babylon, Mistreated, and Child in Time are excellently arranged. The song that impressed me the most was In the Dead of Night which I had never heard before. The line-up of various Malmsteen musicians who are very talented makes this a worthwhile treat. If you enjoy the various bands covered on this album, you must get Inspiration. I've been cranking it in my car since I got it. Long Live Yngwie!

Even if you are not a Yngwie Malmsteen fan (like I am) but dig songs by Deep Purple, Rush, Scorpions or Kansas this is the definite CD to buy!!! Youll wear out the songs Anthem, Carry on Wayward Son and Sails of Charon.

Inspiration is an album of cover versions of Deep Purple, Hendrix, Kansas, Rainbow, Uli Jon Roth and Alan Holdsworth. Regardless of what you've heard, this album is great - not a dud on the whole album. The critics whined, but we ignored them then and we will ignore them now. Most of the criticism aimed at Yngwie is prejudicial anyway. There is nothing wrong with the way that Yngwie plays - all guitar heros have their trademarks and Yngwie is no exception. If you like the original versions of these songs then you'll probably like Yngwie's versions of them. Most of them are faithful to the originals except of course for the solos. Ynwgie is a top notch, well-respected guitarist in his field. Yngwie is making music for the guitar players out there not the MTV burn outs. He clearly has an incredible technique which he displays frequently. I recommend this album along side of any of his others and maybe even above some. It also places Yngwie in the same category as his influences. Guitar players will have a field day figuring out the solos and others may simply just enjoy some inspired covers of some forgotten or nearly forgotten classics. Well done.

Swedish guitar virtuoso, Yngwie Malmsteen, is firmly settled in a musical niche. Producing his own unique style of neo-classical metal, since the early 80's, Malmsteen has never succeeded in achieving mainstream popularity even within the metal genre. With his blazing speed, and expressive vibrato technique, he is undeniably one of the great guitar heroes to emerge in the 80's, introducing a level of virtuosity never before seen, and expanding the neoclassical genre in metal. In magazine interviews in the 80's, the typically brash guitarist, stated that most contemporary music, and musicians, held little interest for him. Two exceptions, were guitarists who attempted to introduce themes and modes from classical music into the metal genre. Namely, Ritchie Blackmore (Deep Purple, Rainbow), and Ulrich Roth (Scorpions).

True to his word, when he decided to pay tribute to his musical roots, Yngwie selected songs from these noted artists. Indeed, Blackmore's influence is dominant as five of his songs are covered. "Pictures of Home", from Deep Purple's classic album Machine Head, is one of my favorite Purple songs, and Yngwie's version is quite hot. Unlike Blackmore, Malmsteen doesn't need to worry about being democratic, and provide equal time for a (Jon Lord) organ solo. He is free to rip away, and that has never been a problem for him. The ability to play super fast, appeals mainly to guitar players (which I am), but it does not always lend itself to memorable solos. So it's nice to hear the slow and bluesy, "Mistreated", where Yngwie shows what he can do when playing to a slower groove. "Demon's Eye", is another slow Purple song, where Malmsteen streams his rapid-fire notes to a blues beat. Blackmore once said, that one of his favorite solos was from "Gates of Babylon". Interestingly, Malmsteen chooses to cover this Rainbow song. For his version, Malmsteen's solo seems to utilize every cliche in his arsenal, while staying pretty close to the spirit of Blackmore's original. All in all the song is quite well done. Winding up the album is DP's "Child In Time", usually a favorite for their live performances. In concert, the song would feature Jon Lord's organ playing, then Ian Gillian's screeching vocals, and finally Ritchie's wild tour de force solo. Malmsteen's cover version does pretty good justice to the established formula, though the emphasis is of course on the guitar playing. His extended fretboard antics showcase a style of playing that was prevalent in the 70's, though he smartly cuts the song short after the solo.

Scorpions, was never the same band, after guitarist Ulrich Roth left the group. Roth's "Sails of Charon", a metal masterpiece, receives the full Malmsteen treatment. The remake is excellent, even the vocals and harmonies are hauntingly similar to the original. Yngwie's fingers blister up and down the fretboard. If you have ever seen him play, either live or on video, you know how effortless his playing appears when executing these complicated runs and arpeggios at such high speed. He is truly amazing.

Yngwie previously covered Jimi Hendrix's, "Spanish Castle Magic", a version of which is included in the reissued release. So another Hendrix tune is not really a surprise. "Manic Depression" is an interesting selection, but sounds pretty good upon receiving the Yngwie touch. Kansas's "Carry On Wayward Son" is a surprise, as I was unaware that Malmsteen was a fan of their music. The same goes for Rush, though being very partial to the early Rush recordings, "Anthem" is a great addition to the collection, although I did not appreciate the changing of the song's lyrics. Yngwie's racing wah wah laced solo, simply sears the eardrums.

All in all, a powerful collection of cover tunes by one of metal's die hards. For more check out the Deep Purple tribute "Smoke on the Water", which features two songs with Yngwie on guitar, "Speed King" and "Lazy". Malmsteen's music may always find favor with just a niche audience, but I expect to always be in that niche.

While it would be easy to call this a stopgap release somehow I doubt it, it's not the sort of thing Yngwie does. At the time he put out Live in Leningrad some people tried to accuse him of stopgap measures but he countered with the comment that he had 30 tunes written at his home. He's certainly prolific within his idiom so I'm inclined to take this at face value, that it was a project intended for fun and for the fans. Basically if your not a fan of Yngwie this collection of tunes will be of limited appeal to you but for fans or the adventurous then it's pretty cool.

This disc sees Yngwie in good form. Coming off the back of his Magnum Opus album, perhaps his best for some time, the man is brimming with confidence and zeal, laying down great solo after great solo. And the various vocalists also rise to the occasion. Having a range of vocalists on this disc was a risk, there was always the chance that the album would come across as fragmented but somehow this hasn't occurred. In fact it's brought about a cool vibe that imples people had fun making this album.

Listening to this disc one last time to refresh my mind as to it's attributes I couldn't help recalling the review of this album in Metal Edge which made a number of pertinent points. One was that the production was teflon coated and that secondly, with three tunes penned or co-penned by Ritchie Blackmore what was Yngwie going to do to Blackmore next? Take up stalking?

All jokes aside this is a great album to pick up if your a fan of Yngwie, flipping through the liner notes where he thanks people for introducing him to different songs or writing them in the first place is a nice touch. And the admittedly teflon coated production job is also pretty good. Though purists ad older rockers may check out the track listing and cry sacrilege, my opinion is to just jump in and enjoy a guy giving an honest rendition in his own style of tunes that inspired him or that he loves. And importantly at the time this album came out many of hte classic bands who wrote these tunes were totally uncool, it's not as if Yngwie picked songs by then popular artists and claimed to like them (a la Slayers punk covers album), you can feel this is where his hearts really at.

This is my favorite Yngwie album. It's interesting to consider, is the fact that it's all cover tunes the thing that frees him to play such outstanding music throughout?

I mean, he's a good composer and all, but it seems that, freed from songwriting obligations, he's free to just blow (in the good sense of the word).

Tune after tune is electrifyingly great. Some of them are mind-boggling. He reaches into a stratosphere here where few mortals have gone.

I put this disc into my CD player and the player goes, "Oh, YOU again!"

I agree with firebird phil's comments for the most part. As good as Yngwie is I sometimes find his playing a bit too over the top for me. Nothing here will make me forget the originals but there's nothing wrong with Yngwie covering some of his favorite tracks. It's just that sometimes his playing sounds like just a blur of notes with not much feeling behind them.
Less speed and more emotion works for me. For all his amazing talent I'll take Victims of The Future era Gary Moore over Yngwie any day of the week.
Even Dave Meniketti works better for me. Personal preference I guess.