Published on Dec 13, 2000
Have you ever wanted an insight on legendary guitarist Yngwie J.
Malmsteen? Have you ever wondered what music helped to shape him
into one of the guitar legends of the ’80s and beyond?
Okay, maybe not everyone is that deep into Malmsteen’s psyche,
preferring just to enjoy his music. Malmsteen’s 1996 release
Inspiration (re-issued on Spitfire recently) takes 10 of the
songs that influenced Malmsteen, and gives him a chance to put his
own spin on things.
If you own the original release of this disc, you’re going to
quickly notice that something’s missing – namely, Malmsteen’s cover
of Jimi Hendrix’s “Spanish Castle Magic”. In its place is a cover
of Deep Purple’s “Mistreated” – though why this change occurred, I
have no idea.
If you pick this disc up expecting to hear note-for-note copies
of the original songs, you’re going to be sorely disappointed.
Malmsteen stays close to the bone, but prefers to put his own spin
on these tracks, allowing him to show how the originals shaped him
as a guitar player. (We’ll get back to this concept shortly.)
Malmsteen even takes a turn as lead throat on Hendrix’s “Manic
Depression” – and, I gotta admit, he does a pretty good job on
it.
While it took me a minute to get used to what Malmsteen was
trying to accomplish on tracks like “Carry On Wayward Son” and
“Child In Time,” other tracks like “Pictures Of Home,” “Demon’s
Eye” and “Anthem” all shine, and Malmsteen’s personal touches on
these tracks are nice changes.
Of course, it helps if you have more than a passing knowledge of
classic rock; otherwise you might not appreciate the spins
Malmsteen puts on songs by U.K. (“In The Dead Of Night”), or an
older selection from The Scorpions (“The Sails Of Charon”). While
Malmsteen’s take on these songs is enjoyable, sometimes it’s hard
to uncover just what he’s trying to improve on.
The second disc in this set features an in-depth interview with
Malmsteen (in which he explains why he didn’t want to do
note-for-note covers, as we hinted at earlier). Interspersed with
this interview (which is fascinating at the start, but peters out
near the end) are tracks which only the drooling, obsessive
Malmsteen fan dares to own, such as early demos from Rising Force
and Powerhouse, Malmsteen’s band he formed in 1978 when he still
lived in Sweden. Also included is a selection from Malmsteen’s
Magnum Opus album, “Music Is Melody”… apparently serving
as a teaser in case you hadn’t gotten around to buying that disc
yet. (Quick note: the teaser works… maybe that will be the next
Malmsteen disc I review.)
One minor note of contention: I wonder why they chose not to
make this interview available in a video format on the CD. They
probably could have fit it on using Quicktime or something like
that.
While
Inspiration seems like it’s a disc for Malmsteen’s diehard
fans, it has more than enough material, music and otherwise, to
keep anyone who picks it up happy.