ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, JULY 29, 1994
By Steve Newton
Four years ago Yngwie Malmsteen released an album, Eclipse, that showed the Swedish guitar demon finally overcoming the songwriting deficiencies that had made his previous recordings little more than launching pads for his incredibly fast, classically bent solos.
Tuneful craftsmanship had previously been overlooked in the face of the flashy Hendrix worshipper’s fret-burning antics, but Malmsteen’s 1990 release included a few memorable songs amidst the Paganini-inspired showboating.
Malmsteen is back to his tedious old tricks with The Seventh Sign, which sacrifices melody and tunefulness in favour of selfish guitar freak-outs and pompous arrangements.
Former Loudness crooner Mike Vescera’s heavy-handed vocal style doesn’t help matters any, although his stately approach suits Malmsteen’s high ‘n’ mighty ways. When Vescera shuts up and Malmsteen stops showing off–as on the tasty instrumentals “Brothers” and “Sorrow”–The Seventh Sign foretells good music.
Too bad the prediction comes true so rarely on this disc.