I really don't understand the reputation of some musicians.

[GuitarBizarre]

Case in point, Yngwie Malmsteen.

This is how people seem to think Yngwie Malmsteen sounds.




This is how Yngwie actually sounds.



My 2 cents: He's the victim of a movement he spawned, whose members were nigh on universally unable to replicate the elements of Ynwgie's music that were actually worth listening to, and focused on those that weren't, perhaps simply because replicating the more rigid and formulaic elements of his work is far easier to achieve simply through rigourous practice, rather than attempting to replicate the nuance or subtly different approach to individual pieces and passages that actually defines his style.

Even a single playing technique can go some way to justifying that statement - Vibrato.

Yngwie's is controlled, smooth, fluid, and can range between subtlety or extremes at any given point. The most important element here is control. Whatever he does with vibrato, he does it evenly, both in terms of speed and width. Even when he changes those two elements within the space of a single note, he does it with control and the changes are smoothly done. His use of the technique works WITH whatever he has composed and has elements of it to match. Wide, extreme vibrato precedes intense passages, subtle vibrato lends interesting flavours to slow passages. Use of one complements the other.

Most of his imitators however, this is not the case, as to use Fareri as an example again, his vibrato is extremely harsh and uncontrolled. It changes speed, changes width, and never seems to match up with the tempo of the track, always occuring at the same pace with the same width regardless of how slow or fast the track is. It occurs instantly when the note is struck, rather than building from the root of that note, meaning its use to build tension or suspense is sabotaged by the players impatience in applying it. It follows fast passages immediately, but rather than providing a rest in motion for a listener to contemplate the impact of the preceding passage, it serves as barely a footnote and is almost immediately swept away by a flurry of notes indistinguishable from those that came before in terms of approach and attack. The notes may be different, but they're all played with the same amount of attack and their rythms don't make even rudimentary use of rubato to lend a sense of motion, unlike those of Yngwie's music, which while no less measured or precise, uses rythmic flexibility and changes in attack to provide each passage its own identity.


I could go on forever comparing the two, but by now I've made my point. It could be I'm missing something in Fareri's music, a sublety of character that belies the flaws I see otherwise, an intentional focus on human imperfection contrasting robotic adherence to rules and formats, but I doubt it.


Does this make sense to anyone? Have I made some form of intelligent argument as to why there is a depth to Yngwie's music that his reputation would imply is non-existant, and that his imitators seem to have missed?


I won't declare Ynwgie's music is an artistic peak or intellectual goldmine, its arguably formulaic and certainly his style hasn't evolved significantly over his career, remaining virtually unchanged since its inception, but it certainly isn't so generic that his songs or passages are indistinguishable, much of his music features passages that are instantly recognisable and individual, though obviously of similar roots. I certainly think that many if not most of the common complaints levelled at his music fit far better the music of his imitators than they do Yngwie's own, if they were to fit that at all. Emotionless playing certainly doesn't seem to fit in my view, though perhaps a lack of development might. Depth of subject matter can't be claimed of Yngwie's music, when it has lyrics, but the delivery of those vocalists he works with, and the competency of his lyric writing is perfectly fitting, if not excellent, depending on the song or vocalist in question.

And last but not least, I point those of you who are sceptic to the opinion of one Mr. Guthrie Govan, who states that while he doesn't consider himself part of the shred scene, and that he has in fact become increasingly wary of it over time, Yngwie is one of few guitarists in that style who "Really sounds as if he means it".