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Live in Leningrad: Trial by Fire

Yngwie Malmsteen - Live in Leningrad: Trial by Fire Audio CD

A fair review of the Yngwie Malmsteen "Live in Leningrad: Trial by Fire" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Yngwie Malmsteen reviews here, or go back to the Yngwie Malmsteen tabs.

Band: Yngwie Malmsteen
Title: Live in Leningrad: Trial by Fire
Rating:

Release Date: 1989-10-12
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Liar 2: Queen in Love 3: D�j� Vu 4: Far Beyond the Sun 5: Heaven Tonight 6: Dreaming (Tell Me) 7: You Don't Remember, I'll Never Forget 8: Guitar Solo (Trilogy Suite Op: 5/Spasebo Blues) 9: Crystal Ball 10: Black Star 11: Spanish Castle Magic

'80s metal in all its glory
Yngwie was HUGE in Russia in the '80s, and remember at that time they were lucky to even get good blue jeans, much less top notch rock concerts, so this must have been a real event for them! American audiences have never really been able to understand where Yngwie was coming from, but Russian and Euro audiences sure did. This is definitely one of my favorite live albums.

Joe Lynn Turner brought mass commercial appeal/sex appeal to the band (hey, hot girls at an Yngwie concert, eh?) that hadn't been there before. Everything in the '80s was about excess (which I love) and this show has plenty of it, although Yngwie focused himself a bit more on accessible songs during this period considering he was playing to huge audiences, not a small room of guitar nerds wanting to hear about dragons, etc. The popular US myth of the '80s was that all Russian women were sturdy, grim looking old ladies, which we later found to be very untrue!! But seeing really good rock stars (sorry, Gorky Park doens't count!) was a new thing to them, you can tell in videos of this concert that Yngwie was lapping it up! He was one of the earlier Western metal acts to give big shows in Russia.

I like the psychotic effects he uses in the solo spot and the way his band improv'd with him during the solo. Yngwie was in great form and Turner did a great job on all the songs also.

This should definitely be in any Yngwie fan's collection!.

Yngwie's Finest Hour
I love the man and his music (at least his BEST music like the performance recorded in Leningrad). I love Yngwie Malmsteen, I'm sorry, I may not be that objective in my opinion (but I don't think so), forgive me if this is the case, but that's it. I'm a guitar wanker from the eighties too in the end, so I can't do nothing but LOVE the man. He in the eighties meant something very special, a new way of approaching the instrument, the techniques, the music, the same idea of the guitar hero role. He is a GIANT in the history of the guitar, noone can deny this thing. He did his time, probably his career may be considered closed now, because artistically he has already given all what he could give, . . . but man, at the time when this album was released, he was the King. This album is Yngwie's finest hour in my opinion. Apart from the LEGENDARY first record, Rising Force, this is the album I would suggest to someone who would ask me the album to know and appreciate Yngwie Malmteen's music. We all know of course which music is it. Neoclassical music, an hard rock shaped with some classical forms and parts here and there and with a mindblowing guitar work allover. So I'll not spend too much words on Yngwie's brand of music. I'd simply say that this album is the recording of a fantastic concert, where Yngwie played almost all his best songs and instrumentals (some of them may have been left out, but hey . . . it's just a single cd), with great intensity and passion, displaying all his arsenal of licks and ideas with an attitude SO bad that is a pure delight!! The band is tight (fantastic are the duels between Yngwie and Jens Johansson the keys player) and supports Yngwie in the best way. I'd point out the "Black Star" version which is PHENOMENAL, at some point even better than the one recorded in the first album (take not of how Yngwie enters with his solo at 1. 28, a MONSTER!!!), a wonderful version of Hendrix's favourite "Spanish Castle Magic" where Yngwie proves without any doubt that he is a real GIANT of the instrument and its languages and not only a shredder. He literally EATS HENDRIX ALIVE!! The solo Trilogy Suite/Spasebo blues is a GEM in itself and alone deserves the price tag (in the Blues section Yngwie blows any Clapton away . . . listen to how Yngwie shapes the solo, how he has mastered the style, his knowledge of the blues language and the licks, his vibrato . . . astounding). For real. Yngwie is a GIANT in the history of the guitar, be respectful because he deseves to be remembered as one of the 10 or 15 more important rock players ever!!! He eventually stands shoulder to shoulder with his heroes Blackmore and Hendrix because he didn't copied them even if they influenced him heavily (and he always admits this), but he used what he loved in them to shape his own style, which is perfectly recognizable from the very first note, and this is a sign of GREATNESS. YNGWIE IS A GIANT. Thank You Yngwie J. Malmsteen for 25 years of inspiration, for your purity, honesty, integrity and committment to music!

PS (I interviewed two times the man few years ago for a very well know metal magazine here in Italy. I can say that he was really nice, warm and funny. He was in Florence for a concert one of those times and when I told him that in my hometown there was Paganini's violin IL CANNONE on display in a museum, he prayed me to go over there in Florence with my car and to take him back to the museum to see and pay tribute the master's instrument! He even asked me to take a bottle of Brunello di Montalcino with me so we could drink together! =))) he was really funny! It never happened because I couldn't go, but he was lovely!).

GREAT CD, HOWEVER, 3 TRACK ARE MISSING!!!
He opened this show with "RISING FORCE", which should be on this CD as well as "FURY" and "RIOTS IN THE DUNGEON" (I still have the Leningrad show on VHS). Anyone that's a hardcore Yngwie fan should know that Yngwie has never opened a show with "LIAR". I love the CD a lot and I trust there will be a special edition of this CD coming out in the near future. Rock on and Play Loud!!!.

Fret burning frenzy
Perfectly capturing the talented band at his disposal as well as the man himselfs guitar skills this is a good buy for the Yngwie fan - as is the live video of the same tour. Yngwie cuts loose on his first live album. A quick perusal of the set list shows that this material is heavily drawn from the Trilogy and Odyssey records with the instrumental staples of Black Star and Far Beyond the Sun thrown in from the debut.

I guess it all depends on your view of live albums - they rarely convert the non believer but for Yngwie fans this is probably essential. Both Malmsteen and Joe Lynn Turner sound great in their respective roles and the tunes form a pretty strong set. Of course this isn't the whole gig, Yngwie at the time bemoaning his record companys decision to only release a single disc, rather than a double.

There are no massive overdubs on this release, the crowd noise is at acceptable volumes and lastly Yngwie should be congratulated for going to the effort of touring what was still the USSR back then. A whole bunch of bureaucratic obstacles were overcome to get the tour happening and being given permission to record and film in Leningrad at the time can't of been easy. Apparently the tour ended up playing to over 250,000 people all up.

A great buy for fans, a strong live set played with passion.

Yngwie Live....

And by the way the big Yng was there 6 weeks before Bon Jovi. The Live in Brazil '98 is many times better.

You can see a complete list of all Yngwie Malmsteen discography, or go back to the Yngwie Malmsteen tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.