818. Yngwie Malmsteen / Magnum Opus. 1995. 3.5/5

The 1990’s is a decade where Yngwie J. Malmsteen and whatever band he had acting as his support crew in those days should have both met its demise and flourished beyond recognition. With grunge and then alt metal and groove and industrial metal making its moves to inhabit the musical dynamic of the decade, Malmsteen form of power metal and guitar hero antics was never going to thrive in the areas where they have formed solid roots. And, for the most part, this is exactly what had happened. North America in particular turned against him, his attempt to crack the lucrative commercial radio market in the US in particular came to a crashing halt with the onset of the Seattle invasion, and the extending forms of musical genres away from that. 1988’s “Odyssey” had reached #40 on the US Billboard charts, 1990’s “Eclipse” could only manage #112, and #121 with “Fire and Ice” was his final appearance in 1992. But over in Europe, there was still a market for his music. Indeed, the burgeoning power metal scene throughout that continent had Yngwie Malmsteen to thank for its existence in the first place, and his albums still saw reasonable sales as a result. Sweden, Finland and the Nordic areas of his own youth still offered him the love for his music.
All of this must have led to a decision making process in Yngwie’s thoughts coming into a new album. While the world around him was changing its musical patterns, the foothold he had in Nordic countries and Japan must have given him the impetus to continue on his main music focus, and believe he could find a way to make a break in the market if he stuck to his guns. And so came the album titled “Magnum Opus”, one where he kept his gunpowder dry and kept charging at the front lines with his guitar driven songs in the hope that the opposition would fold in his wake.

The album explodes with exactly the kind of opening track you expect from an Yngwie Malmsteen album. The flowery flourishing guitar with all the trademark twiddles and tweaks, great vocals from the front man, on this occasion Michael Vescera once again, and the solid bass and drums underneath which form the base of the track. “Vengeance” does all of these things, following the template that has been well grooved by this stage of Malmsteen’s career. It is just as enjoyable and fun to listen to as most opening tracks on his albums are. “No Love Lost” is perhaps the most commercially pleasing song Yngwie has performed since the halcyon days of the “Odyssey” album some 7 years earlier. The chorus riff and vocal is perfectly written and performed for the commercial market. Unfortunately, by 1995 this had disappeared completely from most places on earth, instead buried in alt rock and industrial metal. For European audiences, while they would still have eaten this up, even they were moving to a faster paced double kick style of power metal, a bit more aggressive and a bit more ballady. This is a great hard rock song, a really exceptional one in fact. If it had come years earlier, it could well have done great things for the band. Instead, it makes a great second up song for this album. “Tomorrow’s Gone” follows and has an eastern almost Egyptian feel about the music and by association the vocals as well. A drop back in tempo and a harder stop start feel about the guitar and vocal brings a moodier aspect to the song. This does however tone down the contribution of Malmsteen’s guitar work for the most part, and when it does come in it is made to work harder and grittier rather than the floury procession it most often attains. As a counter point to the songs to this point of the album it actually works quite well, and Vescera's vocals are perhaps the best part of the song.
“The Only One”, in much the same way as “No Love Lost”, is a very commercially structured track, everything about it looking for the radio and singles charts. And, in exactly the same way as the flaws are exposed in the reasons behind that particular track, they come in to play here as well. This just isn’t the right time. It feels, when listening to this song on this album, that the moment has passed, and that this has been dreadfully misdiagnosed as a song for the time. Is it okay? Yeah, I guess so, especially if you like the 90’s albums “Eclipse” and “Fire and Ice”, because that is what is sounds like it is from. It... just doesn’t fit. And, further on to that is “I’d Die Without You”, the dreaded ballad. Apart from Yngwie’s classically toned acoustic clear guitar doodle to open the song, this really does tread down a path that has been worn away to almost nothing in the years passed. The most shuddering thing about this song however is the similarity of the chorus in music (and vocally) to the Tom Waits song “Downtown Train”. Listen to the chorus of that song, and then the chorus of this song. I think you will be suitably staggered and will never be able to listen to this song again without thinking of that other track.
“Overture 1622” is the atypical Yngwie Instrumental piece, and one he still composes and plays brilliantly. You certainly can’t knock what he does when he decides to go down this path. And yes, for some it may sound the same as the other instrumental pieces he has done over the years. But I still love them, and this one is no exception. It is then followed by “Voodoo”, which delves into areas that sound both familiar and yet distant. It has similarities to it as already discussed from the albums that came out with Goran Edman on vocals, the style of the track structure is similar and the vocals are as well. There is a lot to like about this style of Yngwie song, and the fact it is incorporated here is still a pleasing aspect of the album. Yngwie’s soloing in the middle of the track also helps to anchor the track to that era.
“Cross the Line” is... well... NOT an Yngwie Malmsteen song. This riff and bassline are more like late 1980’s LA glam metal than anything that Yngwie usually offers us. And – once again – it's at least half a decade too late for this kind of material. Hey, it’s fine to listen to now, but at the time this album was released, it was waaaaay too late for this. Yngwie’s guitaring too is so unlike him it is almost disturbing. This is almost LA Guns or Ratt like in composition and performance. On many listens to the album, I can enjoy it now for what it is. But it is such a change up, many fans might just pass this over as a result. I couldn’t blame them if they did.
“Time Will Tell” moves back into the mystical themes musically, Yngwie utilising eastern classical acoustic and clear guitar again, before powering into the opening riffs. It is an interesting musical style to go to again, but he has shown he is not afraid to visit several different styles on this album, none of which actually should work in that era of music. What they DO happen to do is appeal to his fan base. Vescera’s vocals are a star attraction again here. “Fire in the Sky” treads a typical post 1990 path with its musical track, the basic fast paced rhythm of the song with Vescera singing along the riff, leading into the instrumental solo break with playoff between the keys and Malmsteen’s guitar, and then back into the end of the song with the vocals into the chorus and the conclusion. It’s all fine to listen to – all Malmsteen lovers will enjoy it - but it certainly isn’t breaking any new ground when it comes to either his music or the genre in general.
The album then concludes, as per most of Yngwie’s album, with an instrumental which showcases his amazing guitar skills to ensure that this is the final memory you have of the album when it finishes. “Amberdawn”, named after his then wife, is a classic Yngwie instrumental track, beautiful in its composition and easy to listen to in awe, while again not bringing anything jaw dropping to the conclusion of the album.

It is fair to say that I have had my ups and downs with Yngwie Malmsteen and his albums over the years. From the very beginning, his first four albums and first live album, all released between 1984 and 1989, all grabbed me to my heart, and I still love them as much today as I did when I first heard them. From that point there was a difficulty. HIs 1990 album “Eclipse” and following tour of Australia failed to really live up to my demanding expectations, and along with other factors in life and with music, I then missed his releases from the 1990’s, including this album. It wasn’t until the release of his 2005 album “Unleash the Fury” that I rediscovered him as an artist, and wondered if I’d missed a trick in having ignored his material for almost 15 years. So I began to go backwards and chase up those albums he had released while I had been on hiatus, to see just what may have occurred. And overall, even though I have enjoyed bits and pieces of those albums, none of them really grabbed me as being top shelf albums. Until this one. Because when I first heard this album, I WAS transported back in time to better days.
As with other recent releases just prior to “Magnum Opus” this is a very commercial sounding release. There is no doubting the quality of Yngwie's guitaring, it is spectacular throughout. In fact, in many places it is the equal of anything he had produced up until this time. Michael Vescera, formerly of Loudness and many other projects, once again lends his vocals to this album and he sounds terrific. The rhythm section and keyboards are also all great. So what’s not to like?
Back off the shelves and back in the CD player this week, and I have heard all of the things as described in the previous section of this episode. And the great thing about the differences and changes and styles of the songs on this album when listening to it 30 years later is that it doesn’t affect the enjoyment of the album. On its release, it must have been weird though. Grunge and alt rock ruled the world, and here was an album that contained some songs that were looking to utilised the style and genre from 5-7 years prior, styles that for all intents and purposes in 1995 were dead! I do wonder how I would have felt about that if I had listened to it then instead of not for another decade after its release.
The majority of the songs here seem to be structured that way. Yngwie's solo's in the middle of the songs that require vocals are great. The places where a tough sounding start comes in, such as with "Vengeance" the opening track. When it wants to be a bit harder and a bit faster, it sounds great. But when the sensibilities change - sometime in the middle of a song - it just sounds a little out of place. Songs like "Vengeance" and "Voodoo" are really good songs. Even the very Eclipse-era sounding "No Love Lost" sounds fine here. But they are dragged down by songs such as "The Only One" and "I'd Die Without You" and "Cross the Line" that can't cut the mustard.
Despite this, I have really enjoyed hearing this album again over the last week or so. I’ve given it 10 really good listens, and I would not be averse to continuing to listen to it a bit more. It isn’t a perfect album, but as a showcase to Malmsteen skills and Vescera's voice, it is well worth any fan of their work checking it out.