Yngwie Malmsteen - Perpetual Flame
|
List Price: Our Price: $10.99 You Save: $6.99 (39%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $9.49 (click here) Category: Music CD See more new music releases 
|
|---|
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store
Canadian Music Store
Free Music Notes for Perpetual Flame
Free Music Review: great guitar player, great singer!!
Hit: 5 Stars
Getting Tim "Ripper" Owens as a singer was a stroke of genius. What pipes!! It melds very well with Yngwie's guitar playing too.Free Music Review: Best Malmsteen album yet
Hit: 5 Stars
This is the best album from Yngwie Malmsteen. Tim Owens is one of my favorite singers. This album sort of reminds of Iron Mask.Free Music Review: Perpetual Flame - What An Ironic Album Title...
Hit: 4 Stars
First of all, this has to be one of the most ridiculous Yngwie album covers I've seen yet. That's saying something because he's had some doozies. But the whole pursed lips, pirate shirt opened up to his belly button, hair all puffed out, and a ton of makeup and jewelery would lead one to believe the album title was in direct reference to Yngwie himself. It's almost embarrassing how corny it looks. yngwie is 45 years old and I would say it's time to grow up a bit. On to the songs...
Once you get over the album cover, you'll discover a very solid Yngwie album. Right off the bat the album opens with Death Dealer, my favorite song on the album and a great one to introduce new singer Tim "Ripper" Owens. What a set of pipes this guy has. Incredible power and he is a perfect fit fo yngwie's music. Derek Sherinian's talents are completely wasted on this album. The keys are so far back in the mix, and there are no keyboard solos on the album either. Why would you have someone as talented as Derek Sherinian on your album and not utilize his incredible talents?
The album is well produced. Yngwie is of course way out front in the mix. yngwie has had mixed results with the sound quality of his albums ever since about 1999, when he decided to engineer them himself. They've been a mixed bag. War to End All Wars, an otherwise fantastic album was ruined by the poor production quality. Luckily Perpetual Flame doesn't suffer that fate.
This is a heavy Yngwie album, definitely one of his heaviest albums. I rank this one right up there with Marching out, Alchemy, and War to End All Wars from a quality songwriting stand point. Speaking of songwriting, I for one was extremely happy when Yngwie released Alchemy (my absolute favorite Yngwie album) because it marked a wonderful return to form. Yngwie really lost his way in the 90's with his weakest albums. Yngwie made the switch to commercial based music with Odyssey, and that was still a strong album for the most part. However it quickly went downhill with Eclipse, and then hit rock bottom with Fire and Ice (the worst album of his career). Seventh Sign, Magnum Opus, and Facing the Animal all had a few good songs, they also had way too many love songs and faux cliched 80's metal style tunes. I thought the Yngwie who wrote I'll See the Light Tonight, Trilogy Suite Op 5, Fury, I am a Viking, and Now Your Ships Are Burned was gone forever, replaced by this lame AOR version of Yngwie. Well, the old Yngwie returned with a vengeance in 99, and every album since then has been solid, plus no love songs to be found!
My only criticism of Perpetual Flame are the instrumentals. They do nothing for me. They simply provide a vehicle for Yngwie to shred over. Six plus minutes of shredding gets old, even for someone who enjoys Yngwie as much as I do. The instrumentals are terribly lacking in structure and are the reason for four stars instead of five. Otherwise the vocal tunes on the album are solid, although the tribute song about his Ferrari is a bit corny. Otherwise, if you're a fan of Yngwie, you will love this album and I highly recommend it. I really hope Ripper sticks around for more than two albums, which seems to be the trend with Yngwie's vocalists. He really compliments Yngwie, I would say a match made in Heaven.
Free Music Review: 4 1/2. The Maestro Continues to Inspire
Hit: 4 Stars
Yngwie has shown a degree of energy in his last three albums ("Attack!," "Unleash the Fury," and the new "Perpetual Flame") that had been missing to a certain extent for a number of releases. Though "Alchemy" and "War to End All Wars" for example, had great songs on them (even with the muddy production on "WTEAW"), it was with "Attack!" that I felt again the same excitement I did when I first heard Yngwie in 1983 on the first Alcatrazz release.
"Perpetual Flame" continues the energy and the shredding, but for me it has always been about the melodies that Yngwie creates, and this release fully satisfies that need.
Those who think that Mr. Malmsteen is repeating himself are simply not listening, AT ALL. Yngwie has no need to play African music, or ska, or disco. His loose combination of baroque, blues, and traditional power metal provide a wealth of variety for the musically educated ear. (If you are having a hard time appreciating Yngwie's music, you can always go to something that is truly simplistic and unoriginal, such as Metallica.)
Tim Owens is an important element of giving "Perpetual Flame" an overall heavier, tougher sound. This may be Owens' best vocal performance ever, with a combination of harshness, smoothness, and some excellent screams here and there. (He IS the "Scream Machine!") Naturally it's unknown how long the musical relationship will last, but Owens is one of the few people who has a voice that can do justice to the wide variety of expression that is found in Yngwie's compositions.
I have given this release 4 1/2 stars, with a slight deduction because of the track order. I think it would have helped the flow of the album if the instrumental tracks had been spaced out more evenly. As they are, though each is an excellent track individually, there is a bit of a disruption, kind of a disjointed feel in the second half of the album.
Like me, Yngwie is a middle-aged family man, in some ways mellowed, but he has definitely shown that the flame can keep burning, and that there are musicians who have the integrity to stick to their visions, regardless of the mindless, derivative non-art that is being passed off as music all around them. (See, for example, Metallica, Nu Metal, and most death/black/doom/goth metal bands.)
There are a few stalwarts still inspiring people to be real musicians/artists, such as Uli Jon Roth, Paul Gilbert, and Michael Romeo, but unfortunately most people are too lazy to spend the time required to truly understand and appreciate great music. The assertion that Yngwie is boring is no reflection on Yngwie, but it tells us a lot about the lack of effort and musical sophistication on the part of the bored individual.
Personal Favorite Track: "Be Careful What You Wish For"
Free Music Review: Yngwie steps up with his own record label and new album.
Hit: 4 Stars
New album from the leader of the neoclassical metal scene Yngwie Malmsteen; the first to be released under his own record label "Rising Force Records"
As most are aware, this release features overqualified American metal vocalist Tim `Ripper' Owens (ex Judas Priest, ex Iced Earth) as the lead singer of "Rising Force". According to interviews, Malmsteen considers this album to be differentiated from his back catalogue due to extensive use of string instruments within arrangements.
That is quite true, however that put aside, "Perpetual Flame" is quite accurately a step ahead in the course that commenced with "Attack" (2003) and continued with "Unleash the Fury" (2005); Overall "Perpetual Flame" falls slightly short in comparison to the previously mentioned releases: Although all songs have the neoclassical structure (as expected), most lack that additional epic element which makes for forceful songs. Additionally Ripper puts nowhere near the performance he delivered while in the ranks of "Iced Earth". Possibly his approach is compromised by the "guidance" of Malmsteen, subsequently sounding no better or worse than previous "Rising Force" lead vocalists.
Never the less, a more scholastic approach over this album would insist on the fantastic "Red Devil" (Track 4) which is so catchy (brings to mind the commercial 1988 album "Odyssey") that makes one wish that the rest of "Perpetual Flame" sounded quite like this.
In addition "Damnation Game" (Track 2) is certain to put a smile on all old school fans with a riff that definitely brings "Marching Out" (1985) in mind.
Finally "Be careful what you wish for" (Track 7) is filled with the hacked up guitar/bass melodies and drum patters that defined the "Attack" (2003) album.
Malmsteen has returned with another studio album and for most that is always great news. It does not break new ground nor does it match his mid 80s masterpieces, still it offers many fine moments. In the years to come `Perpetual Flame" might as well be broadly considered as one of his most diverse albums.
Is this album good? Indeed it is.
Could it have been better? By all means YES.