Customer Reviews

Yngwie Malmsteen: Live at Budokan

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

 

 

OK, he shreds like no other. First, the bad. There's no menu when this DVD boots. You can shuffle through the songs easy enough, but you can't highlight ANYTHING from any menu. You have to skip through like a CD.

Now, the good. This is Yngwie at full throttle in 1994. The entire DVD is mostly him and the singer, which is great on both counts. This video is a guitarist's dream. It has lots and lots of up close Yngwie - you can clearly see and enjoy his technique. Forget the left hand - he frets like the rest of us mortals. I believe his technique hinges on his right hand. I've NEVER seen such economy of motion in my life (I'm 55). This is must-have Yngwie in all his glory. He gets a little full of himself, especially toward the end, but he certainly deserves it.

Also, the sound of this DVD is perfect - no problems whatsoever. Especially considering that it's probably run off from VHS type technology.

Bonus - there's some things not on the playlist. Like Yngwie playing AND singing Hendrix' Red House - what a gas!

When you watch Yngwie play (or at least when I watch him play) you realize you are looking at a prodigy, that one in a million talent that comes along every so often in the music world. In terms of the rock/fusion guitar world who else comes to mind as that one in a million prodigy I'm talking about? Well for the short list here are a few others in no order at all: Jimi Hendrix, Eddie Van Halen, Allan Holdsworth, Shane Lawn, Randy Rhoades, John Mclaughlin, Frank Gambale, and Jimi Page. Now I'm sure there are plenty of people who would disagree with that list, and would either subtract or add their own players. Frankly maybe I will come back and edit this review at a later date, as I all of a sudden remember someone I left off who deserved to be there. But that list to me represents players who significantly contributed to the guitar playing world in some fashion or another, usually on a revolutionary basis. Those are the players who made people's jaws drop (and still do) and showed people what was possible with the instrument, took it places it had not been and in the process influenced generations of guitar players to come. In that respect, Yngwie very much deserves to be included in that list, with his single handily creating a style of rock guitar playing known as neo-classical. To this day he still remains its best practitioner.

I will say moving on to the video, it's not perfect. There are some spots where the video quality gets a bit grainy all of a sudden, almost as though the camera went out of focus for a bit. Some other nits to pick: the volume level is not consistent throughout, there is no top menu so if you only want to listen to a song let's say towards the end of the concert you have no way of navigating there other than fast forwarding through each song, the show was not even recorded in 5.1 audio, and lead singer Mike Vescera has all the charisma of a rock. Those are all minor irritants it what is otherwise an extraordinary glimpse into the music of Yngwie live. This DVD is most certainly going to be purchased by guitar players, and in that respect it delivers! The camera work is perfect, and almost always moves in close up during Yngwie's solo's, right where you would want him to be. If the camera got any closer it would bump into his guitar. Watching Yngwie play is an experience in of itself, but watching him play so close up is a revelation. He is simply mind blowing. He plays in such an effortless manner while executing incredibly demanding runs, you just know the man was born to play guitar. He plays it as effortlessly and naturally as you and I breath. Watching Yngwie play can be downright demoralizing, as you just know you will never be as technically proficient as the man no matter how many hours you practice. It's that one in a million prodigy thing I was talking about.

Even though Mike Vescera has zero stage personality, he does have a great set of pipes and he hits all the notes faithfully. The rest of the band is excellent as well, real tight. I was most impressed by an extended solo keyboard piece by Mats Olausson who was with Yngwie from the years 1989 - 2001. Since the concert was filmed in 1994, it understandably pulls most songs from his Seventh Sign album which was released in the same year. The song list is as follows:

Tocata
Never Die
Bedroom Eyes
Rising Force
Bad Blood
Forever One
Pyramid of Cheops
Seventh Sign
You Don't Remember I'll Never Forget
Brothers
Crash and Burn
Heaven Tonight
Black Star
I'll See The Light Tonight

Also uncredited is Yngwie's guitar solo, which he's been playing the same way for years now. Essentially he starts it off with Trilogy Suite, verges off into a bit from his other instrumental Krakatau, and then goes off on an extended solo guitar extravagaza. Another treat to this DVD is the amount of solo nylon string guitar work you get to see. He has extended solo nylon string intros to both Forever One and Black Star, and the man will drop your jaw on the nylon string just as easily as the electric.

In closing, Yngwie plays his heart out on this DVD, and you can tell he really appreciates his Japanese fans. Long after America abandoned Yngwie for the new musical trend at the time known as grunge, the Japanese continued to embrace him and buy up all of his new albums in droves. Yngwie gives them, and us the viewer our money's worth. Simply an indispensable part of any Yngwie Malmsteen fan's collection.

The show is great but this DVD lacks menu and a proper intro. The good news for me is some unnecesary stuff in between the songs have been removed. Example is Yngwie introducing his wife Amber.I got this DVD yesterday from amazon.

I picked up this dvd over the holidays on sale for about $12 not expecting much as far as quality, especially since this show was filmed in 1994 (probably on VHS). At the same time, I've seen Yngwie live in Cleveland about 7 or 8 yrs ago during the Attack! Tour and he was phenomenal! I've seen tons of concerts including Vai, Satriani, Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, Pantera on and on and I've never seen anyone play his heart out and give his all on stage the way Yngwie did...he played for almost 3 hrs and even signed things for fans after the show in the wee hours of the morning. I'll never forget the show.

Basically, I already knew it'd be a great show and probably sound very good. But when I actually watched the show, I was floored! This DVD's quality is awesome. I couldn't be more pleased. I watched mine through my PS3 and HD tv. You can tell that the dvd wasn't made this year but it was extremely good considering its age. There are lots of close-ups of Yngwie playing and lots of different angles. It was well-done. I really have no complaints...even though Yngwie uses a bit of the fog machine for shows, it wasn't a problem. No complaints. But had this dvd been made today with our current standards of angles sound and video quality etc, this dvd would get a 7 or 8 out of 10 still.

As for audio, it sounds perfect...must be from the master sound board. Also, Its loud even on 14....sometimes I need to put regular DVDs on 20-25 to get them loud enough, especially concert dvds, so the sound is very good as well.

Also, Yngwie plays tons of songs on the DVD, not all are listed.

Overall, this video is the next best thing to seeing him live! I can't wait till next tour. Yngwie is the very best living guitar player today...or is at least equal to the very best living players today.

If this DVD was lost, stolen or damaged I'd definitely buy another.

This dvd starts out with a bang and does not stop. Very entertaing from start to end. Yngwie is without a doubt the best guitarist ever. Good song selections newer and classic. I love this dvd and I love Yngwie.

I am not a journalist, I am a musician and a fan of all things hard rock and heavy metal. This DVD has great sound and footage. Sure, no menu page. But that does not hurt the actual concert which is what I pay for.
So, over all an A-.

(Yes, the same review as 'Live Animal')

Mike Vescera is freaking awesome to watch but towards the end of the show his voice gets annoying and he has NO CHARISMA - looks like he got sick of the tour already.

Yngwie showcases himself so much that he accidently reveals that he only has 5 or so stage tricks.

Great DVD, but c'mon Mike, wake up! And really, bright white tennis shoes with shorts and a leather jacket? LOL