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Magnum Opus

Yngwie Malmsteen - Magnum Opus Audio CD

A fair review of the Yngwie Malmsteen "Magnum Opus" 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: Magnum Opus
Rating:

Release Date: 1999-04-13
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Vengeance 2: No Love Lost 3: Tomorrow's Gone 4: Only One 5: I'd Die Without You 6: Overture 1622 7: Voodoo 8: Cross the Line 9: Time Will Tell 10: Fire in the Sky 11: Amberdawn

Defiant til the end!!
Just goes to show Yngwie's absolute belief in his music, I give him much credit for sticking it out, popular or not. This was of course, a VERY unfashionable album to make in the grunge infested mid '90s, a miserable time to be a music fan in the US. I can't say the same for most artists. I remember reading a review at the time suggesting Yngwie must have mental problems and/or be caught in a time warp to release an album like this during the so-called Alterntive Nation era. Without a doubt, Yngwie clearly wasn't paying attention to trends on MTV or otherwise!! He remained true to himself.

One thing that is different is that this album has some very heavy songs! Hard to believe he got so much crunch from single coil pickups, but he did it on some songs and at other times had a more vintage Yngwie crunch. Yngwie had very nice guitar tones and production on this one, including very nice drums. I think of this as a wintry sounding album, with deep reverbs and lush keys. I consider the keys to be one of the best features of the album, especially on Amberdawn, which makes me think of being somewhere in the frozen north. Mike Vescera did a great job again, I was hoping Yngwie would let him hang around (the previous Vescera album, 7th Sign, was even better). This is the last of the Yngwie albums I immediately rushed out to buy as he had a bit of a slump after this, only to come back strong later.

I think all of the Yngwie albums up to and including this one would make any Yngwie fan happy, although as I said earlier, casual fans should be careful after this one! .

Surprisingly Good!
I was not impressed with this after only a few listens, but over time this one really grew on me. This one is very addicting. its a very listenable album that has 9 great songs and only 2 not so great ones. Its also very similiar to seventh sign. Vengence is a great opener, that took me a while to appreciate. the whole cd is fantastic. the lone instrumental overture 1622 is awsome. stadouts are vengence, tomorrows gone, The only one, Overture 1622, and Amberdawn.

Ratings:
Vengence-9/10 takes a few listens
No love lost-5/10 not good
Tomorrows gone-9/10
The only one-9/10 better version of (heaven tonight)
Id die without you-8/10
Overture 1622-10/10 perfect insturmental
Vodoo-8/10- great singing and chorus
Cross the line-6/10 a little weak
Time will tell-8/10 great singing
Fire in the sky-7/10 catchy song
Amberdawn-8/10 guitar sounds like van halen.

A quality release
Which not only shows his passion for his chosen subgenre but also a defiant belief in his own abilities and those of his bandmates. At a time when his brand of metal was at it's most hated Yngwie ploughed on regardless.

I actually picked this up at Utopia Records - metal haven of Sydney, Australia and mentioned to the my girlfriend of the time what each track would sound like before even listening to it. And you know what - I got 'em all right. That's both good and bad, Yngwie either being in a rut or having built a solid reputation and expectation in his fans. He once said that he wanted his albums to be like AC/DC records in that his fans knew what they were getting. Well, mission accomplished dude.

While painstakingly smooth in execution and with a note perfect rendition of every seconds worth of time, this is actually a fairly strong collection of song based material. The opener, Vengeance, is a little dull musically but No Love Lost is a real barnstormer. The album starts to suffer in the middle, a couple of ballads sapping the listeners will to live though things pick up with the instrumental Overture 1612 which has some blistering runs.

In fact this instrumental sort of separates what I always thought of as side one and side two of this disc. And the second half of the album is, strangely, far stronger and the real reason to pick up this album. Voodoo is a track where Michael Vescera really asserts himself and this track is dominated by the journeyman vocalists talents. Cross the Line is another mid paced rocker which does the job at hand, as does Time Will Tell and Fire in the Sky which has some interesting spark.

Really these tracks represent the best quartet of songs lined up in a row on virtually any post Eclipse Yngwie album. And with No Love Lost and the tasty instrumental Overture 1612 this album was a bit of a pleasant surprise given how poor I was expecting it to be, expecially given the annoying pompous original cover art.

On this album Malmsteen has shown an ability to share the limelight with long time collaborator Vescera and put in some different touches such as the use of sitars and at times deliberately slowing the tempo of the tracks from his usual pace in order to build a groove with a sense of space while also giving long time fans just what they want.

This is one of my favorites
I guess if you want something with the fire of Seventh Sign, you should listen to Seventh Sign. I don't understand why some fans don't like Magnum Opus. Magnum Opus is not the most boisterous of all Yngwie's albums, and I doubt it was intended to be. The songs on this album have more of a grandiouse feel to them. "Time will tell", "No love lost", "Voodoo", and "I'd die for you" have a great mystical feel that cannot be paralleled by most artists. "Cross the line" and "Fire in the sky" are great rockers. Critics should give this album a chance.

Magnifique
Magnum Opus features some fantastic songs like Vangeance, Voodoo and Time will tell. This is an excellent effort by that infinite genius. Even an ordinary ballad like I'd die without you is given a sterling edge by the power of Malmsteen's soloing. But the real classic on this album, is the instrumental Amberdawn. This single track one of the saddest and most beautiful tracks I've heard itself justifies the buying of this album.

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.