Yngwie Malmsteen - Perpetual Flame
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Free Music Notes for Perpetual Flame
Free Music Review: Malmsteen w/ Owens should be great, right?
Hit: 3 Stars
I admit that I'm not a diehard Malmsteen fan; what got me interested in this release was the addition of Tim "Ripper" Owens. I absolutely loved Owens' work in Priest and Iced Earth, and was curious how Owens' powerful, emphatic vocal delivery would mesh with Malmsteen's neoclassical songwriting style. I'm afraid the results are mixed to say the least.
The first thing that hits you is that the production is sub-par. The guitars & drums don't explode like they should; everything seems compressed a great deal, and the vocals sometimes seem buried in the mix. Musically, there is zero originality, and a lot of the songs are just TOO DAMN LONG (always a bad combination). A good 25 minutes can be cut from the album length (appx. 70 min.), and the album would benefit tremendously from it. The first half of the album is more song-oriented, whereas the second half turns into the Yngwie Malmsteen "over-indulgent, I'm the greatest guitar player in the universe- let me prove it to you" show, which for me is a total snooze-fest. He even attempts to sing (track #10- 'Magic City')- why, when he has Owens at his disposal, I'll never know.
Speaking of Owens, he tries his best with the material he has to work with, but his style doesn't fit Malmsteen's style at all. Also, midway through the album you almost forget he's there (this has a lot to do with the instrumentals all towards the end of the album).
"Highlights" include 'Live to Fight (Another Day)', 'Be Careful What You Wish For' and, although a little too long, 'Eleventh Hour'. Overall, however, this is quite a disappointing release.
Free Music Review: Very good, but not great
Hit: 3 Stars
Choosing Tim Owens for a vocalist on this album was genius - there are few vocalists out there today that can match his power and range in this style of metal. However...they're so washed out with effects and multi-tracking that you loose a LOT of what Ripper can deliver (listen to him in Beyond Fear, Iced Earth or Priest, that's the stuff!). As far as the songs - it's Malmsteen, you know exactly what you're going to get - over the top shredding epics and this album is no exception. The problem is that as "the" pioneer (if not the father) of this genre you would hope for some growth but it's a lot of the same riffs - not to single out Malmsteen..Michael Angelo, Vai, etc. they all end up repeating themselves - that doesn't make them any less great. This album does suffer from some sloppy playing here and there - the tempo in "Lament" noticibly drops between 8-14 seconds into the song, which makes me wonder why didn't anyone say - "let's do another take" - errors like that are made by first-timers, not seasoned vets like Malmsteen. Otherwise the album has a lot to offer, repeat or not, the man's playing blows me away and the addition of Ripper is the greatest move yet - in fact if it wasn't for Ripper, I'd probably have waited to pick this one up - we'll see how long Yngwie keeps him around.
*Pair up Ripper with Jeff Loomis - now we're talking!!
Free Music Review: its good but far from great
Hit: 3 Stars
Yngwie is a man amongst himself. His playing has set the bar at a level that has taken guitar playing to a whole new height since he first came out. Everyone has basically tried to be Yngwie. But here in lies the problem: Yngwie has become his own worst enemy. He has been copied so much, that his material itself has become boring. He has come out with great albums throughout his career but this is not one of them. By song #5 you get the point. He fails miserably at even slightly broadening his musical horizons. Yngwie is Yngwie and I dont expect him to reinvent himself every album. There are artists that are known for what they do and not going away from that. But when you stick to that vein, it better be done very well each time. It is great to hear Ripper Owens on the album but his vocals are too far back in the mix(afraid of sharring the attention Mr. Malmsteen??). I am a big Ynwie fan and he has greatly influenced my guitar playing and my taste in guitar playing. But his career has got to the point that he has proven what NOT to do: expand his horizons. It just ends up being the same old songs rehashed, the same scales, the same appregios, the same lyrics, the same production, etc, etc....Yngwie, we know you have the ability to reinvent the wheel. We dont expect you to do that, but please atleast make it BETTER!!!Free Music Review: Generic Vocalist Hurts Proceedings
Hit: 3 Stars
I have to disagree on the vocals - I think this guy is pretty weak. Dougie White was much more expressive and had more than one sound. The three-name guys (Jeff and Joe) were also stronger by far, even allowing for the differences in musical style. Only the guy on Magnum Opus is more annoying than Ripper in my book - and that album still has many good songs. This album doesn't really have tracks that jump out at me as favorites - that's a bad sign. It's probably long past time that Yngwie branched out into concept albums, soundtrack work, anything that will get him away from making almost exactly the same album again. How about a psychedelic album, a female vocalist, or trying influences from other composers - Wagner or D. Scarlatti, maybe? (Give a listen to Forever Changes, dude.) Anyway, still a pretty solid album in spite of my gripes.Free Music Review: Good Guitars, yngwie blazers, expect better production
Hit: 3 Stars
Yngwie's guitars are good, i would prefer Jeff Soto or Michael Vescara on Vocals..Yngwie is magestic on the guitars. I would prefer the classic Yngwie melodies, and better vocalists of the past albums.The last 4 albums have average mixing and production. Older stuff had great production, all the polgyram/ polydor records.