Customer Reviews

Unleash the Fury

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

Driving riffs and blazing solos dominate the opening track "Locked & Loaded". The album's title track has a nice building intro that is comprised of drum and keyboard progressions. Just when you think that the fury is going to be unleashed, Rising Force hits you with a curve ball and the chorus is the exact same tempo. Wanna guess where the fury is actually released? "Revolution" has a music feel to it that's reminiscent of mid eighties Malmsteen material. The double-kick drums and accenting power chords tend to stand out more than Yngwie's signature soloing here.

Holy crap! Yngwie finally found his heavy distortion pedal on "Cracking the Whip". The opening is just monstrous, while Doogie White's vocals drift from melodic to manic. A wicked, thick bass line sets the pace for "Bogeyman. For all the evil sounds and themes the verses conjure up, the chorus is quite uplifting. Yngwie takes the microphone for the first time in I can't remember how long on "Cherokee Warrior". His deep and soulful vocals are backed up by inspiring rhythms and harmonious backing vocals. Haunting keyboard tones and backing vocals set the tone of "Revelation (Drinking With The Devil)". This is clearly one of the more personal songs that Malmsteen has written. He still manages to pull off a grandiose solo of course.

The Bad
Yngwie, please play a different solo once in a while. Maybe a basic blues pentatonic instead of the fancy harmonic minor stuff. I'd like to meet the guys in the creative department that designed the CD cover.

The Verdict
After experimenting quite a bit with his last 4-5 albums, Malmsteen returns to what he does best with 4 instrumentals and 14 song driven tracks. The sound is a little dated, but nobody does it better than Malmsteen. On his latest album, the fury is indeed released

You're going to read reviews below from people who love every movement of air that Yngwie creates with his string vibrations, and from others who think that he is the most boring and predictable player since the instrument was created.

I can understand where each side is are coming from, and, in a way, they're both right. Yngwie's my favorite player; not necessarily the best, but the most entertaining overall (to me) when you combine his technique, his ability and chops, and his presence. I've seen him eight or nine times in concert, and will continue to do so. But - and I've made this complaint before - as the title of this review implies, Yngwie seems content to continue staking ground he's already claimed rather than exploring new territory.

There's some good stuff here. Yngwie always comes through with a decent song to start the album, and "Locked and Loaded" is better than the last couple of albums' lead-off tracks - "Razor Eater" (which was a nice tribute to The Damnation Game, BTW) and "Prophet of Doom". But it doesn't reach the heights of "Never Die" or "Rising Force".

"Revolution" is more than competent, and, it's probably just me, but the flurry from 1:06-1:10 seems even more speedy than usual.

"Fuguetta" - Yngwie's played this as part of (one of) his solos in concert for decades, but it's good to see him finally lay it down in the studio, even with some of the string mutings.

"Cracking the Whip" and "The Bogeyman" both start off with cool heaviness, but then devolve into standard Yngwie and become overall average songs (although Bogeyman is the better of the two).

"Winds of War" - FAKE OUT!!!! The first minute+ of this starts out like it's going to be The Ballad, which I was waiting for (yeah, I love cheeseball metal ballads) but then the song changes over to stock mid-tempo fare.

"Magic and Mayhem" - I think this is better than any of the instrumentals on Attack!! or War to End All Wars.

I'm not going to continue with a song by song blow, but I have to mention how disappointed I was with "Let The Good Times Roll". It's actually a good up-tempo number with one of the better solos on the album - but when I saw the song title I thought, "Yngwie's covering Shirley & Lee? Sweet!" Yes, I thought Yngwie was about to take a risk and put his own touch on a classic doo-wop era song. Silly me.

For the veteran Yngwie fan, you're going to hear bits and pieces of other songs throughout this album. A few examples; the beginning vocals on "Exile" evoke "Anguish and Fear". "The Hunt" - "I Am A Viking". "Crown of Thorns - Crash and Burn". And then we have "Russian Roulette" - which starts off sounding exactly like Richard Andersson's Space Odyssey's "The House With A Hundred Windows". Maybe there's some classical piece that they're both giving a nod to? ( 12/24/05 - And Dream Theater's "Ytse Jam" has it, too. Haven't listened to WDDU for awhile, so I smacked my head in remembered memory when this came on.)

I've only played this all the way through a few times prior to writing this review. I'll keep it my player for a little longer so the songs can sink in a bit more; but I don't see myself sitting through this the whole way much more than that when there's plenty else out there. If you really miss the sound of older Yngwie, hunt yourself down a copy of Yngwie's The Genesis (which you can get for about fifteen bucks at guitar9 dot com.) Now THAT has some fire to it. Horrible vocals, but there's no comparison between the energy of Yngwie in that era versus the complacency of Yngwie in this one. Also, you'll hear the origin of lots of musical phrasing Yngwie used on his first several albums. Or else, and I'm about to commit the equivalent of blasphemy and heresy in the Church of Malmsteen, if you're looking for a more recent album that sounds like old Yngwie, try Joe Stump's Supersonic Shred Machine. That album's one-two punch of "Demon's Eye" and "Wrecking Machine" are more exciting than Yngwie's recent efforts. Go ahead. Excommunicate me. Say what you want, but at least I still believe in Yngwie enough to keep buying his albums.

Unleash the Fury is a good companion piece to his previous Attack!! album. By that I mean if you were satisfied with one, you'll feel the same about the other. That's neither intended as a compliment nor a criticism. It's just that the two sound very similar in terms of production and song quality. Take it for what it is.

I know the dyed-in-the-wool Yngwie fans are going to continue to rave about Unleash the Fury, but as for me, I'm putting Dragonforce's Sonic Firestorm on again. (Man, that album RIPS! Get it, get it, get it.) Unleash the Fury, which would be a worthy achievement for many players, is a collection of singles and (a few) doubles from a power player who should be swinging for the fences.

I cut my teeth technically as a guitar player on the Rising Force and Marching Out albums so I'll always have respect for Yngwie for giving us those 2 albums. At that time his technical ability and style were novel and us guitarists took note. However, I agree with most of the lukewarm reviews here. Yngwie does recycle the same old diminished runs, harmonic minors runs and scalar patterns over and over and has done so on every album since those 2 aforementioned. It would be refreshing to hear him do some soloing in a major key for instance...I know he can do it...he almost never does though. This style of music needs to have alot of refreshing nuance, tempo changes, and scale variations and arpeggios to be interesting...Yngwie doesnt seem to want to explore new musical areas...he needs too...Having said that this album isnt horrible...its simply just more of the same.

i concede what Illoc and Vespa wrote above. i am a malmsteen maniac, i just love his style and what actually rejoice my ears is his melodic trademark. eversince 'facing the animal' this is earnestly not a very constructive and a creative album despite his signature melodic stronghold. is he running out of ideas? unlike WTEAW it lacks a stretch of his flexibility, unlike ALCHEMY and ATTACK it doesn't stand bold in it's messages. what rescues UTF is the sheer vocal prowess of doogie white. thanks man. now i have to say when i heard 'locked and loaded' it blew me away right then. man this should be malmsteen's most played, hard-hitting song. i would give 5/5 for this song. it's pure malmsteen in your face. doogie's vocals it's too good to be true. one of my most cherished yngwie songs. the riff in 'cracking the whip' was trendy in line with mainstream (Numetal if that is what it is called) metal. not like malmsteen but trying to appeal to the new malmsteen army? can't tell. ah! the 'winds of war' invites you to go to war with him and strive for invasion. and i felt like i was in it. again you can't get a better melodically furious sound from doogie. just love it. cherokee warrior could be yngwie's best attempt at singing. the song is good. unleash the fury was different and really good too. as a whole most of the songs have guitar lines repeated and not different and worst for the first time i was dissatisfied and bored with his solos. and as a loyal fan of his i'm starting to worry too. still if you're a yngwie fan buy this because doogie is at his best in this or like me have to have it.

I just get a copy of this album.In my opinion, this album its even BETTER than ATTACK!.All songs are great, but there is not a significant ballad in here (the one here will remaind you a lot of other Yngwie songs (specially Brothers from 7th Sing).It also its a lot of sounds that whe hear in other albums (like his solos, but this is the way he plays.the fact that his playing its somewhat repetitive, doesnt means that should play like Vai or Satriani to keep interesting.If he have to do that, then I provably buy a Vai or Satriani record).
So...in the end :
If you are an Yngwie fan BUY THIS RECORD!!!!!!
If you are a Shredder fan BUY THIS RECORD!!!!!!
If you are a guitar fan BUY THIS RECORD!!!!!!
IF you are a Stach/Vai fan BUY G3 CONCERT DVD!!!!!

OK I gotta admit, the level of expectation for this album even from long timr devotees such as myself was tiny. And at the time of this albums release (2005) Yngwie had all the profile of an ant on the metal scene radar. But this album ain't half bad. Sure, after the horrific tryptych of Alchemy, War to End All Wars and the abominable Attack! the sound of a surgeon sawing your leg off would probably sound OK, but this album starts to recall the mid to late 90's second purple patch for the Swedish fretboard burner.

The opener Locked and Loaded (rips live by the way) gets down to business with few prissy pretensions and the second tune of Revolution is also a bonafide rocker. In fact this album is a touch like Attack! in that the majority of the songs are straight ahead rockers. Except the quality here is a vast improvement. And Yngwies production job is more in the mid spectrum of the sound range which means not everything is high pitched white noise which is an impression that's stuck in my mind in regards to War to End All Wars.

Other points to consider are the 18 tracks which would normally stunt an album but the feel of this album isn't half bad. It doesn't feel plodding when you listen to it from end to end. A few obligatory instrumentals do help to break things up a little though none of those here really grabbed me. I'd far prefer to the rockin' tune Cracking the Whip than yet another pretentious solo with a latin/muso name like Fuguetta.

Still playing wise the guy still has it and here there is a real sense of passion and urgency on this disc that has been missing from some of his recent albums. And some of the tunes do show some mobility, for example Winds of War (Invasion) which has a start reminiscent of the ballad come rocker Final Curtain from the Fire & Ice album only to swerve into a slow and weighty rocker. A number of other tracks here are also heavied up by being slowed down - not that it works for all the tracks it's tried on but this is something Yngwie has started to do a little more so it's nice to see some belated development from the guy.

Lyric wise this is the same sort of stuff Yngwie always blathers on about. Cold Scandinavian concerts totally in keeping with his history and gothic leanings. Though at least by not dealing much with issues or real life he can't exactly date, though there is some loss of human connectivity with such an approach.

I like this album. Can't give it more than three stars though as it IS a touch naff lyrically in places, slightly overlong and he hasn't gotten fully into stride again but for longtime fans or lapsed fans this is a good buy.

By the way - the enhanced section of this CD isn't much to write home about. Get yourself one of his tutorial videos for greater insight. But at least he's trying to add a little extra value and keep currenty.

And Yngwies band this week - Dougie White on vox here sounding vastly more comfortable and part of the team, Joakim Svalberg (keys) and Patrick Johansson (D).

I think the last album (Attack) was better because was the first time we get the formula Dougie+Yngwie, but this is great. Personally I think the song cherokee warrior is an yngwie effort to improve his sing style. Fuggeta...you can find that song in TRIAL BY FIRE. Guardian Angel mmmm you can build that song if put some parts of all Yngwie songs (almost). Locked and Loaded, Magyc and Mayhem, The Bogeyman, and unleash the fury are great and in some way original songs. I have the japan cd and the artwork and production are beautiful, and the bonus tracks is best!
I think this is a great year for shreders'lovers: we have new and great material. So if you're an Yngwie's fan just get this great album because BAROCK AND ROLL is something difficult to cure!!!

Okay, I gotta say that I simply do not understand how all these "fans" of Yngwie can be so critical (I'm referring to all the negative one star reviews of UTF - Japanese edition) or even downright insulting. Gee, I'd hate to see if they weren't fans... My point: Take B.B.King for instance. He's been playing the exact same style with the same licks for his entire career and he commands nothing but respect for it. So why is it that Yngwie gets flack for it? People have this strange gripe that he should "evolve" or "expand" his style. Why?! AC/DC, Aerosmith, Megadeth, The Rolling Stones and countless other bands have kept the same sound for years & years and their fans wouldn't have it any other way. It's usually when a band/musician strays from what made them successful in the first place is when it hurts them. Yngwie created a new style of music & inspired guitar players the world over - that's more than most bands/musicians out there have done yet because he sticks with this style people criticize him. I'd say he's keeping his true fans happy, like me.
I purchased Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force when it first came out in '84 and while he's had a bumpy road along the way, Unleash the Fury & Attack!! have been among the strongest albums of his entire career. This is a heavier Malmsteen (playing wise - leave the weight jokes at the door since he's now lost that extra poundage!). Odyssey this is not (Thank God). He now no longer worries about trying to bring in new fans by writing light radio-friendly pop-rock of "Heaven Tonight" or the horrid "Teaser." This is a raw, heavy and very fast Yngwie - the way he was meant to be. I'm sorry but if you don't like his current stuff I doubt you were ever a "fan."
Now onto the album:
Unlike his previous album Attack! (which I loved after hearing only once) it took several listenings to fully absorb and appreciate UTF. Going into this I kinda feared the infamous double album theory - you know, Rising Force/Marching Out, Eclipse/Fire & Ice, Seventh Sign/Magnum Opus, Alchemy/War to End All Wars and usually the first being better of the two. I still love Attack! but UTF is fast becoming a new favorite. There's more texture & complexity here than Yngwie's shown us in quite some time. This might be due, in part, to working on his next concerto while writing UTF.
Thank you, Yngwie, for an awesome album. Whatever you do don't change! Your true fans like you just the way you are.

Oh, and some rhetorical questions for the haters who think they know better:

Have you ever had a Grammy nomination?

Has your debut album ever entered the billboard top 50 w/ no advertising save word of mouth?

Have you released over a dozen studio albums? Not to mention Live & Best Of collections?

Have you toured & performed in practically every country on earth?

Have you inspired millions of other guitarists to want to play your style?

My guess is your answer is no... but Yngwie has... ;)

Guitar Player magazine's April 2005 issue lists Yngwie's 1984 debut solo cd "Rising Force" as one of the greatest moments in guitar history. Here we are over 20 years latter - so can he still come up with the goods? Well of course he can because he's the Master. His first studio album in 3 years is over 73 minutes long and includes 4 classic instrumemtals including the amazing "Magic and Mayhem". Dougie's singing continues to get better as does Patrick Johansson's powerhouse drumming. Best songs are "Cracking the whip", "Winds of war", "Beauty and a beast", "Russian Roulette" and the classic "Cherokee Warrior" with the Master on lead vocals. The best track though is "The Bogeyman" - with the Master playing one of the heaviest and dirtiest bass riffs you'll ever hear. He plays bass again just like on his last few albums so while he saves money we benefit by getting killer bass playing!

Hail Mr. Malmsteen! Wow, thank GOD I have Dream Theater and Yngwie Malmsteen on my side. Without these two giant musical forces...rock music would be dead. Who will "RISE UP"? WHEN THEY HAVE GONE???
Yngwie has done some stinkweeds in his past. Alchohol, record companies, bad backup singers and musicians all have been factors. In the case of "War to end all wars", it was a simple blatant outright HORRIFYING mix and engineering disaster that killed a GREAT album! One of these days I am personally going to remix the album myself, just for my own collection.
I have almost all of this mans work. I expect no less than what he can give, and no more either. This album is Yngwie at his best, and no more. He has already been the master-over achiever for his 3rd decade of albums. What else do you WANT? Shall he play something like RUSH, and tone down his sound to POP? He would DIE FIRST, because Yngwie has suffered that humiliation already- I am speaking of "Fire and Ice", "Eclipse", and "Live in Leningrad."
Those days are gone. He has been in command at the helm since "Magnum Opus" 11 years ago- and thank GOD for that. The reviews are blatantly obsurd, not considering this man can do what NO ONE ELSE CAN DO, and to top it off, he has forcefully loaded CD's to the hilt of late- and in the meanwhile, plugged down some of the most amazing bass-lines alongside his incredible fretwork! Oh- and his vocal range is getting better as well.
As of yet, I have not heard John Petrucci try and copy this man- in a traditional Dream Theater tribute they are so famous for. Why? Because he will not insult himself- the SECOND best guitarist on EARTH, by attempting what he simply cannot do. That says alot, and any tributes to Yngwie would be scary at best. Copycats- go home. You are pathetic.
So basically- upon listening- I got Yngwie at exactly what I expected. Thank GOD again, for just exactly THAT. I do have one idea for Yngwie. I know the classical album has been done. It is brilliant. What I would love is an "Yngwie Unplugged" set. You listening Mr. Ferrari? Give us a show with just the classical, spanish and acoustic set.
Your fingers will survive!!! Please buy this album. Buy it and blast it right back at all the wannabes and even moreso, the pop bands and the RAP! HAIL YNGWIE!