Yngwie
J. Malmsteen
Yngwie
(pronounced "ING-vay") Malmsteen was born Lars Johann Yngwie
Lannerback in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1963, later adopting his mother's
maiden name following his parents' divorce. He was an unruly child,
and his mother tried without initial success to interest him in music
as an outlet. However, when seven-year-old Yngwie saw a television
special on the death of Jimi Hendrix featuring live performance footage
of Hendrix setting his guitar on fire, he became obsessed with the
guitar, learning to play the music of both Hendrix and favorites Deep
Purple. Through Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore's use of diatonic
minor scales over simple blues riffs, Malmsteen was led toward classical
music, and his sister exposed him to composers like Bach, Beethoven,
Vivaldi, and Mozart. He spent hours practicing obsessively until his
fingers bled, and by age ten, his mother allowed him to stay home
from school to develop his musical talents, particularly since he
was considered a behavioral nightmare. Also at age ten, Malmsteen
became enamored of the music of 19th century violinist/composer Niccolo
Paganini, as well as Paganini's flamboyant style and wild-man image;
this would provide the blueprint for Malmsteen's synthesis of classical
music and rock. By the time he was 18, Malmsteen was playing around
Sweden with various bands attempting to find an audience for his technically
staggering instrumental explorations, but most listeners preferred
more accessible pop music; frustrated, Malmsteen sent demo tapes to
record companies overseas. When Mike Varney, president of Shrapnel
Records -- a label synonymous with the term "shredder" --
heard Malmsteen's tape, he invited the guitarist to come to the United
States and join the band Steeler in 1981.
Steeler recorded one album with Malmsteen on guitar, but dissatisfied
with the band's rather generic style, Malmsteen moved on to the group
Alcatrazz, whose Deep Purple and Rainbow influences better suited
the guitarist's style. Still not quite satisfied, Malmsteen formed
his own band, Rising Force, with longtime friend and keyboardist Jens
Johansson. The new band's first album, also called Rising Force, was
released in 1984; it was a largely instrumental affair spotlighting
Malmsteen's incendiary guitar work and Johansson's nearly equally
developed technique. The album was an immediate sensation in guitar
circles, winning countless reader's polls in guitar magazines, reaching
number 60 on Billboard's album chart (no mean feat for an instrumental
album), and receiving a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Instrumental
Performance. Malmsteen's subsequent albums, Marching Out and Trilogy,
also sold quite well and consolidated his reputation and influence
as a composer as well as a soloist. However, on June 22, 1987, a speeding
Malmsteen crashed his Jaguar into a tree; in breaking the steering
wheel with his head, he received a blood clot in his brain which nearly
killed him and extensively damaged the nerves leading to his picking
hand. In the course of recovery, he learned that his mother had died
and that his manager had swindled him out of his earnings. Undaunted,
Malmsteen regained the use of his hand and recorded Odyssey, his most
accessible, radio-friendly collection to date; the single "Heaven
Tonight" widened his audience beyond a devoted core of guitar
fans and helped push the album into Billboard's Top 40.
Following
a world tour including the then-Soviet Union, the Rising Force unit
disbanded, and Malmsteen formed a new band in his native Sweden for
1990's Eclipse. The album was a success in Europe and Japan, but stiffed
in the U.S. without much promotion. An angry Malmsteen left PolyGram
and, prior to the release of 1992's Fire and Ice, he was married to
and divorced from a Swedish pop singer. Fire and Ice debuted at number
one on the Japanese charts, and Malmsteen toured the world again.
However, disaster struck frequently over the next two years. Hurricane
Andrew destroyed Malmsteen's Miami property; his manager of four years
died of a heart attack; Elektra dropped him from their roster; a freak
accident left the guitarist with a broken hand, in addition to frequent
bouts of tendinitis caused by his lightning technique; and in August
1993, Malmsteen's future mother-in-law, opposed to his engagement
to her daughter, had him falsely arrested for holding the woman hostage
with a gun. The charges were quickly dropped, and Malmsteen secured
a deal with the Japanese label Pony Canyon after his hand had healed
completely. He returned to recording with a vengeance, releasing The
Seventh Sign in 1994, as well as two mini-albums (Power and Glory
and I Can't Wait), and then Magnum Opus in 1995 and the all-covers
album Inspiration in 1996. While his popularity has largely faded
in the U.S. due to a backlash against the excesses of '80s shredders,
Malmsteen still finds audiences in Europe and is more popular in Japan
and Asia than ever.
Discography:
The
Genesis 2002
Attack!! 2002
Concerto Suite Live 2002
War To End All Wars 2000
Anthology 1994-99 2000
Best Of 1993-99 2000
Alchemy 1999
Live In Brazil 1998
Concerto For Electric Guitar & Orchestra In Eb Minor Op. 1998
Facing The Animal 1997
Inspiration 1996
Magnum Opus 1995
I Can't Wait 1994
The Seventh Sign 1994
Fire & Ice 1992
Collection 1991
Eclipse 1990
Trial By Fire - Live In Leningrad 1989
Odyssey 1988
Trilogy 1986
Marching Out 1985
Rising Force 1984
Alcatrazz
Live Sentence 1984
No Parole For Rock N Roll 1983
Steeler
Steeler 1983
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