He has released music under Yngwie Malmsteen, Yngwie J. Malmsteen and under Yngwie J. Malmsteen's Rising Force.
Born into a musical family in Stockholm, Yngwie was the youngest child in the family. At an early age, he showed little interest in music. It wasn't until September 18, 1970 when at age seven he saw a TV special on the death of Jimi Hendrix that Malmsteen became obsessed with the guitar. To quote his official website, "The day Jimi Hendrix died, the guitar-playing Yngwie was born".
Malmsteen was in his teens when he first encountered the music of the 19th-century violin virtuoso Niccolo Paganini, whom he cites as his biggest classical influence. It has been rumoured that Yngwie believes himself to be the reincarnation of the temperamental, often criticized, and widely misunderstood violinist from Genoa. Through his emulation of Paganini concerto pieces on guitar, Malmsteen developed a prodigious technical fluency. Malmsteen also cites Jimi Hendrix, Genesis, Uli Jon Roth, and Deep Purple as influences.
Malmsteen's contributions to the evolution of modern rock guitar, particularly his embracing of modal progressions and classically-influenced techniques not widely used in rock music, broke new ground and Malmsteen is often credited with the creation of the neoclassical metal genre, inspiring a new generation of virtuoso electric guitarists including Paul Gilbert and Tony MacAlpine.
1980s
In late 1982 Malmsteen was brought to the USA by Mike Varney of Shrapnel Records, who had heard a demo tape of Malmsteen's playing. Shrapnel is synonymous with the shred style of music. He had brief engagements with Steeler, for their self-titled album of 1983, then Alcatrazz, for their 1983 debut No Parole From Rock N' Roll, and the 1984 live album Live Sentence. He left Alcatrazz in 1984, replaced by Steve Vai, and began his solo career.
Malmsteen released his first solo album "Rising Force" (winner of Guitar Player Magazine's Best Rock Album and nominated for a 1984 Grammy for Best Rock Instrumental) which achieved #60 on the Billboard album chart. He was nominated for a Grammy and later Rising Force topped the charts at number 1. This was followed by "Marching Out" (1985). Jeff Scott Soto was the singer on the first two albums.
His third album, Trilogy, was released in 1986. In 1987, former Rainbow vocalist Joe Lynn Turner joined his band. That year, Malmsteen was in a serious car accident, smashing his Jaguar XKE into a tree and putting him in a coma for a week. Nerve damage to his right hand was reported. It was during his time in the hospital that Malmsteen's mother died from cancer.
In the summer of 1988 he released his fourth album, Odyssey. Odyssey would be his biggest hit album, mainly because of its first single "Heaven Tonight". Shows in Russia during the Odyssey tour were recorded, and released in 1989 as his fifth album Trial By Fire: Live in Leningrad. The concert in Leningrad was the largest ever by a western artist in the Soviet Union, and Malmsteen's record sales in Russia totalled 27 million.
In late 1988, his signature series Fender Stratocaster was released, making him the second artist so honored, after Eric Clapton.
Malmsteen's style "Neo-classical" became somewhat popular during the mid 1980s, with notable contemporaries such as Paul Gilbert, Marty Friedman, Tony MacAlpine and Vinnie Moore all reaching prominence after Yngwie. However, only Paul Gilbert claimed Yngwie as an influence, with MacAlpine coming to the neoclassical/shred field by applying his classical piano training to his guitar playing and Moore arriving at a similar style because he shared Yngwie's major influences, Ritchie Blackmore of Deep Purple and Al Di Meola, American jazz fusion great of Return to Forever fame.
1990s
In the early 1990s he released the albums Eclipse (1990), The Yngwie Malmsteen Collection (1991), Fire and Ice (1992) and The Seventh Sign (1994).
Despite his early success, and continuous success in Europe and Asia, by the early 1990s the gratuitous over-the-top stylings of 1980s heavy metal had become unfashionable in the USA. This was displaced by the Seattle grunge movement, where technical ability was replaced by simpler, more emotionally-driven songs. The grunge rock movement may have arisen in part as a backlash to the overly technical metal inspired by Malmsteen and his contemporaries, which despite its often impressive technique was regarded by many as ponderous, bland and self-indulgent.
In the 1990s, Malmsteen continued to record and release albums under the Japanese record label Pony Canyon, and maintained a devoted following in Europe and Japan, and to a lesser extent in the USA. In 2000, he once again acquired a contract with a US record label, Spitfire, and released his 1990s catalog into the US market for the first time, including what he regards as his masterpiece Concerto Suite for Electric Guitar and Orchestra, recorded with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra in Prague.
2000s
After the release of War to End All Wars in 2000, singer Mark Boals left the band. Yngwie went on tour with former Ark vocalist Jorn Lande. Due to various tensions on tour, Jorn left before the recording of Yngwie's next album, Attack!!. He was replaced by former Rainbow vocalist Doogie White. White's vocals were well received by fans, and it seems that he has become a permanent member of the band.
In 2003, Malmsteen joined Joe Satriani and Steve Vai, with whom he toured as part of the G3 supergroup.
Yngwie released Unleash the Fury in 2005. 'As stated in an issue of "Guitar World" magazine, he titled this album after the infamous 'airline incident', which occurred on a flight to Japan for the 'Odyssey' tour. He was drunk and was behaving obnoxiously, until he fell asleep and was roused by a woman dumping water on him. Enraged, he shouted, "You stupid bitch! You've unleashed the fockin fury!" The audio from this moment was caught on tape by a fellow band member.
In 2007, Malmsteen was honored in the Xbox 360 version of Guitar Hero II. Players can receive the "Yngwie Malmsteen" award by hitting 1000 or more notes in succession. February 2008 saw the replacement of singer Doogie White with former Iced Earth and Judas Priest and current Beyond Fear singer Tim "Ripper" Owens, with whom Malmsteen had once recorded a cover of Ozzy Osbourne's song "Mr. Crowley", for the 2000 Osbourne tribute album Bat Head Soup: A Tribute to Ozzy. The first Malmsteen album to feature Owens is titled Perpetual Flame and was released on 4 October. On 25 November 2008, Malmsteen had three of his songs ("Caprici Di Diablo", "Damnation Game", and "Red Devil", all from this latter album) released as downloadable content for the video games Rock Band Rock Band 2 and later Rock Band 3.
In 2008, Malmsteen was a special guest on the VH1 Classic show "That Metal Show". On 10 March 2009, Malmsteen's label Rising Force released Angels of Love, an all-instrumental album, which featured acoustic arrangements of some of his best-known ballads. In August 2009, Time magazine named Malmsteen No. 9 on its list of the 10 best electric guitar players of all-time. Malmsteen recently released another album compilation entitled High Impact on 8 December 2009.
2010–present
On 23 November 2010, Relentless was released, the second album to feature Tim "Ripper" Owens on vocals. The US version featured a remake of "Arpeggios From Hell" as a bonus track. Yngwie appeared on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on 3 February 2011 to promote his album. On 6 August 2011, Malmsteen made another appearance in the United States, playing a rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" before a game between the St. Louis Cardinals and Florida Marlins at Sun Life Stadium. Although rarely seen in his native country of Sweden, Malmsteen played one gig there in 2012. On 7 July, he ended the Getaway Rock Festival in Gävle, which he was headlining with Nightwish and Manowar. On 5 December 2012, Malmsteen released the album Spellbound. 2013 saw the release of Yngwie's official autobiography Relentless.
On 12 June 2014, Malmsteen kicked off his "Guitar Gods 2014 Tour" at the F.M. Kirby Center in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania alongside ex-Guns N' Roses guitarist Bumblefoot and guitarist Gary Hoey. In February 2015, it was announced that Malmsteen was in the studio working on a new album.In April and May 2016, Malmsteen was one of five guitarists featured on the Generation Axe tour.
In 2018, it was announced that Malmsteen had signed with Mascot Records, with a new studio album expected the following year. In 2019, Malmsteen released Blue Lightning, featuring blues rock songs - mainly covers - with Malmsteen's virtuoso playing.
On May 8, 2021, Yngwie Malmsteen was reported to have launched the Parabellum album and video for the "Paganini-referencing" track "Wolves At The Door". Since COVID-19 restrictions prevented touring, Malmsteen had more time to record the album, and was "clearly delighted with the results."
Specialized guitar
Aside from technical prowess, distinctions of Malmsteen's guitar style include a wide, violin-like vibrato inspired by classical violinists, and use of such minor scales as the Harmonic minor, and minor modes such as Phrygian, and Aeolian. Malmsteen cites the Fender Stratocaster and the single coil pickups (of which he uses his custom design by DiMarzio, which are actually a vertically-stacked humbucker mounted in a single coil housing Malmsteen sought to combine the tone of a single coil with the reduced noise of a humbucker) as being instrumental to his unique tone. The Malmsteen signature model Stratocaster made by Fender is based accurately upon this combination.
The guitars he uses are recognizable by the addition of a custom scalloped fretboard. This is similar to a regular fretboard, but with wood 'scalloped' or scooped away to form a concave shape in between the frets. Malmsteen allegedly conceived this design as a teenager while working in a music store in Stockholm, Sweden when he came across a 17th century lute with a scalloped neck using the raised wood as frets. However, this can also be viewed as an influence from Ritchie Blackmore, one of his most readily admitted idols, who also favors scalloped neck Fender Stratocasters. Malmsteen himself has said he learned most from Ritchie Blackmore's guitar riffs and solos as a beginning guitarist. Also, jazz-fusion guitarist John McLaughlin used scalloped fingerboards long before Malmsteen came on the scene.
Even for the experienced guitar player, the scalloped fingerboard proves very difficult to perform on, as there is no surface contact between finger and wood to aid in the feel of the vibrato motion. The strings of the guitar, when fretted, are easily pushed sharp and out of tune. The highly accurate, delicate yet controlled touch required to play properly with Malmsteen's modified Stratocaster is elusive for most, and an integral part of Malmsteen's technique.
Seventh Sign
Yngwie Malmsteen Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
No one's listening, I'm filled with fear
Hear the warning, in the prophet's word
Day by day, we're destroying this world
No more water
No more blue skies
No one cares, no one tries
To save what we once had
Rich and poor (rich and poor)
Burn in hell (burn in hell)
Hear dooms days bells (dooms days bells)
Ringing loud (ringing loud)
I see black clouds
We are making lucifer so proud
World at war (a world at war)
Rich and poor (rich and poor)
Burn in hell (burn in hell)
Hear dooms days bells (dooms days bells)
Ringing loud (ringing loud)
I see black clouds
We are making lucifer so proud
Blind leading the blind
No one sees the seventh sign
We're left behind
There's no more hope, the day has come
What we have done, can't be undone
Too many years, we've lived in sin
We know for sure, the beast will win
Fight fire with fire, to start to run
Don't trust a liar, like we have done
We've lost the battle to the evil one
Blind leading the blind
No one sees the seventh sign
We're left behind.
The lyrics in Yngwie Malmsteen's song "Seventh Sign" express a sense of despair and urgency for the state of the world. The opening lines show a crumbling earth and impending doom, with the singer feeling fearful and alone in their concerns. The lyric, "No one's listening, I'm filled with fear," highlights how difficult it can be to get people to take notice of the danger we're in. The reference to the prophet's words suggests that the situation has been foretold, but people still fail to take action.
The middle portion of the song focuses on the loss of what we once had, with no more water or blue skies. The lyrics suggest that humanity has failed to care for the planet and that we're now paying the price. The reference to a war-torn world, with the rich and poor burning in hell, represents the social divides that exist and their role in causing such devastation. The reference to Lucifer suggests that the devil is pleased with the destruction we've wrought.
The final portion of the song shows a sense of hopelessness and resignation. We've lived in sin for too long, and the beast will inevitably win. The reference to fighting fire with fire is a call to action, but it's ultimately too little, too late. The final lyric, "Blind leading the blind, no one sees the seventh sign," highlights the sense that we've been oblivious to the warning signs and are now paying the price.
Line by Line Meaning
The earth is crumbling, the end is near
The world is on the brink of collapse and its demise is imminent
No one's listening, I'm filled with fear
No one pays attention to the warning signs and the singer is concerned
Hear the warning, in the prophet's word
Listen to the prophecy alerting us to the impending danger
Day by day, we're destroying this world
We're slowly but surely destroying our planet through our actions
No more water
There will be a severe shortage of water in the near future
No more blue skies
The sky will turn dark and gloomy due to pollution and other factors
No one cares, no one tries
Nobody seems to care enough to take corrective measures
To save what we once had
To preserve what we had in the past, we need to act now
World at war (a world at war)
The world is in a state of conflict
Rich and poor (rich and poor)
There's a growing disparity between the rich and the poor
Burn in hell (burn in hell)
People will suffer the consequences of their actions, leading to hellish conditions
Hear dooms days bells (dooms days bells)
The bells toll to signal the end of the world, the doomsday
Ringing loud (ringing loud)
The bells are ringing loudly, almost deafeningly
I see black clouds
The skies are dark and ominous, with foreboding clouds hovering above
We are making lucifer so proud
We are unwittingly playing into the hands of the devil by contributing to the destruction of the world
Blind leading the blind
The ignorant and misguided are leading others to disaster
No one sees the seventh sign
Nobody is aware of the seventh sign, a harbinger of doom
We're left behind
Those left behind are destined for a bleak and hopeless future
There's no more hope, the day has come
All hope is lost, the end has finally arrived
What we have done, can't be undone
The damage has been done and cannot be reversed
Too many years, we've lived in sin
We've indulged in sinful activities for far too long
We know for sure, the beast will win
The devil will emerge victorious in the final battle of good vs. evil
Fight fire with fire, to start to run
We need to take drastic measures to counter the impending disaster
Don't trust a liar, like we have done
We shouldn't trust those who have misled us into this predicament
We've lost the battle to the evil one
We've lost the battle to the devil
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: YNGWIE MALMSTEEN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind