Influences: Yngwie Malmsteen
The 1980's were a great tie for Guitar music, with many interesting trends appearing, maturing and becoming mainstream. One of the trends was the rise of Shred.
In 1984, I was in the Campbell Tower Records. It was a common destination for me, and I spent countless hours there, spending countless dollars on vinyl LPs and later Compact Discs.
One of the charms is that the store had a pretty killer audio system (it was a music store after all) and the staff spun albums to feed the ambience. Mostly, it was pop fare, some hard rock (when AC/DC’s Back in Black came out, it was a frequent spin). Occasionally, they would let the freak play, mostly on Sunday’s.
I am not sure what day, or what the circumstances were, but one day, they played something that turned my head. The most amazing music was coming over the loudspeakers, it was fast, it was furious, it was in your face. It blended virtuosity, amazing chops, impressive composition, and just a wall of music.
The album was “Live Sentence: No Parole from Rock n Roll1” and I was mesmerized. The era of Shred guitar had entered my lexicon.
The young guitarist behind this wall of notes: Yngwie Malmsteen. He effortlessly wove classical and new-classical motifs into hard rock. Sure, Richie Blackmore, and Uli-Jon Roth had blazed that trail before, but the one who crystalized the “Bach and Roll” genre is unarguably Yngwie.
Playing a Fender Stratocaster that was non-standard, fitted with a scalloped fretboard2, and hotter pickups3 he played through a wall of Marshall amplifiers, Yngwie Malmsteen was a trendsetter like Eddie van Halen, spawning an army of imitators, names that are not commonly heard, but who often took the concept further.
Names like Vinnie Moore, Tony MacAlpine, Jason Becker, Marty Friedman, and many more who are littered throughout my album collection. But frankly, my go to when I am in a shred mood, is, has always been, and will always be Yngwie Malmsteen.
Can you blame me?
This is the opening track on the Live Sentence album. It still gets my blood moving.
Yngwie’s first band in the USA was Steeler, led by Ron Keel, and much later I finally was able to buy their albums. It is interesting to see the evolution of Malmsteen from Steeler, to Alcatrazz to his solo work (his band is called “Rising Force).
To this day, Yngwie Malmsteen remains a staple in my collection and listening diet.
Those in the know spilled a lot of ink about the piss poor production value, and the mediocre sound of the original tapes. I didn't care, I played that CD over and over, with several tracks being on my “Daily Grind” play list.
https://guitarspace.org/electric-guitars/scalloped-fretboard-guide/
I am unsure of what he used in the early era, but later he used souped up Seymour Duncan’s, and they are now standard on the YJM Stratocaster)