Artist - Yngwie Malmsteen’s Rising Force
Album - Unleash The Fury
Label - Spitfire Records
Reviewer - David King
A man that has helped reshape the way musicians play guitar, is back with his new solo album, Unleash The Fury. That man is the guitar virtuoso known as Yngwie (pronounced Ing-Vay) Malmsteen. This album is somewhere around his fifteenth (sheesh) studio record, on top of around seven ‘live’ and ‘best of’ releases. Among some circles, aspiring guitarists hail this man as a god. But while Unleash The Fury proves that Malmsteen is undeniably incredible at his instrument, the album lacks somewhat in other key areas.
Right off the bat, it’s easy to notice that lyrics are rather on the cheesy side. And as much as great music guides a song along well, if listeners are distracted by something not so great, it can detract from the song entirely. This aspect tends to hinder many of the songs throughout, but to be fair, a few tracks here and there aren’t too bad in the lyric department. My one other gripe with the record is that it becomes a little long-winded. Few bands can pull off an 18-track album and maintain a listener’s interest the whole way through, and Malmsteen’s solo moniker, Rising Force, doesn’t seem to keep up the momentum. There’s so much music that after a while it tends to almost become background noise and I’m sure Malmsteen & Co. want people to take a full listen.
But as sporadically cheesy and long-winded as the record may come across, one cannot dismiss the impressive instrumental delivery offered by every single member in Rising Force. The vocals are very well done and sound reminiscent of Symphony X, while the bass comes through very well and actually has a presence despite the star of the record being the guitars. The drums are also extremely solid and compliment the other parts, rather than just solely keeping time. And of course it is a treat to listen to Yngwie’s guitar work. The instrumentals especially shine his talents and will make any die-hard musician and Malmsteen fan experience musical ecstacy.
Unleash The Fury is definitely an album that will have musician’s enthralle_d and want to go jam, but for the casual listener it may miss the mark a bit.
