The 1980s were lousy times for rock music. At least, in the West. But every cloud has a heavy metal lining: the great rockers of the 1970s discovered that they were ever so popular in Soviet Union. By the end of the decade, they were touring the former evil empire en masse, among them Black Sabbath, Ian Gillan, Nazareth, Pink Floyd, Uriah Heep... and Yngwie Malmsteen’s Rising Force.
Malmsteen probably is the only truly great rock guitarist to emerge in the 1980s. I have no clue what, if anything, YJM is doing now, but by mid-1990s he was already fading from collective memory. Therefore, I arbitrarily declare that Malmsteen was on peak of his career exactly when I saw him (twice) live in Moscow in 1988. The band, fronted by Joe Lynn Turner, was phenomenal. The crowd was as ecstatic as could be under the circumstances (don’t forget the heavy militia presence). And yet, it seemed that Yngwie, still in his twenties, was basking in the past glory. The Force has risen, but it was already time to settle down for bed.
Even if Malmsteen recorded only Rising Force, it should be more than enough to guarantee him the place in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, to which he remains to be induced.
Listening to the album for the first time, Yuri said: “This guitar solo is longer than Rimmer’s special salute”.
In my Zumba classes, I use the first 22 seconds of Black Star as a break between some tracks.
On the CD booklet, moſt of the text, including ſong lyrics, is typeſet in blackletter.
Which is probably to the beſt as the lyrics does not make much ſenſe.
No comments:
Post a Comment