Yngwie J. Malmsteen/Sweden 1995

On November 17th, Yngwie Malmsteen’s performance in Sundsvall, Sweden, from his 1995 world tour after the release of “MAGNUM OPUS” will be released on CD using excellent soundboard sound sources! Although this live performance was released more than 15 years ago, the master this time uses the highest quality materials obtained through special routes from overseas. With a wonderful sound that is firmly out of the low and high tones of the guitar, listeners can enjoy the ’95 Yngwie sound that has begun to mature! After the end of the tour for “FIRE & ICE” in 1992, Yngwie released “SEVENTH SIGN” in 1994 with a new lineup that includes former LOUDNESS member Mike Vessela as singer, replacing all members except keyboardist Mats Olausson. Mike’s excellent singing voice on a variety of songs, from grand, stylized numbers to bluesy songs, was wonderful, and the content was highly praised by fans, greatly appealing to the scene that “Yngwie is still alive and well”. In 1995, he released “MAGNUM OPUS”, which followed the previous work but added harder and more aggressive elements. Although it was not as good as “SEVENTH SIGN”, which was evaluated as a masterpiece, it is still supported by maniacs who say that “it has a mood that is similar to the ALCATRAZZ era”. After the album release, Yngwie went on a large-scale Japan tour for about a month in September of the same year, and energetically circuited not only big cities but also regional cities such as Kagoshima, Utsunomiya, Sapporo, and Iwate, making a strong impact on Japanese Yngwie fans. After the Japan tour ended, Yngwie will start a European tour including his native Sweden from November to the end of December. This work contains the middle performance in Sundsvall, Sweden, with a stereo line source based on the broadcast sound source. The clear separation and official mix and balance unique to broadcast sound sources are wonderful listening, and you can hear the dynamic performance with excellent brightness from the opening “Vengeance”. In audience recordings, the keyboard, which tends to be buried in Yngwie’s guitar, can be heard well, which is a characteristic of a high-quality line recording like this work. Perhaps because he was conscious of being broadcast, Yngwie played with more accurate picking than usual (for the ’90s) in every scene, demonstrating his original Yngwie-like ability. In particular, the solo arrangements of the aforementioned “Vengeance”, the following “No Love Lost”, and the obligatory “Far Beyond The Sun” have a mood reminiscent of the ’80s (Yngwie’s MC in his native language also gives a Swedish atmosphere, making it a little listening point). The songs you can listen to here are mainly from the new album “MAGNUM OPUS” and the previous album “SEVENTH SIGN”, and it’s nice to hear a lot of songs from Mike’s time, which are now rarely played except for the standard songs. Mike also performs powerful and emotional performances throughout the live show, and his singing in the energetic “Never Die” and the moving “Forever One” is impressive. “I Am A Viking” is also a great song, with a strong voice different from Jeff Scott Soto. Not only keyboardist Mats Olausson, but also the rhythm section, who later worked under Michael Schenker, do a good job, and Barry Sparks’ technical bass solo and Shane Garas’ powerful drumming overwhelm the listeners. The “MAGNUM OPUS” numbers “The Only One” and “Fire In The Sky” are played in succession in the second half, and they are really intense! The main part is about 55 minutes long, but in the second half, five tracks are added as a bonus track from the November 15th performance in Helsinki, Finland, which was the live performance just before the Sundsvall performance. In addition to “Rising Force”, which was not recorded on the main soundboard, you can enjoy Yngwie’s long solo parts such as “Overture 1622”, “Trilogy Suite OP:5”, and “Red House” in the middle of the show with an audience recording with excellent directness, visibility, and realism. The section featuring Yngwie’s solo parts, which fans want to hear the most, on the standard songs from the Joe Lynn Turner era, will entertain fans as a major listening point of this work that is not inferior to the main part. Not only in the ’90s, but also in Yngwie’s career history, the set features “SEVENTH SIGN” and “MAGNUM OPUS”, which were masterpieces, and the set that can be said to be the best even when Mike Vessela was enrolled, and the listening response is perfect throughout the whole work. The main part, the soundboard recording from Sundsvall, has not been reissued for a long time and is now rarely seen, so this CD release using a better master is good news for fans. The volume of the main part and bonus is 79 minutes in total, so don’t miss this must-listen for all Yngwie fans! Live at G2, Sundsvall, Sweden 17th November 1995 STEREO SBD 1. Vengeance 2. No Love Lost 3. Never Die 4. Icarus Dream Suite Intro. 5. Far Beyond The Sun 6. Forever One 7. I Am A Viking 8. Guitar Solo 9. Red House 10. Voodoo 11. The Only One 12. Fire In The Sky STEREO SOUNDBOARD RECORDING Live at The Tavastia Club, Helsinki, Finland 15th November 1995 13. Rising Force 14. Overture 1622 15. Trilogy Suite OP:5/Krakatau/Guitar Solo 16. Red House 17. Guitar Solo incl. Badinerie (J. S. Bach), The Star-Spangled Banner, etc Yngwie Malmsteen – Guitars Michael Vescera – Vocals Mats Olausson – Keyboards Barry Sparks – Bass Shane Gaalaas – Drums