Yngwie, my beloved rodent, has passed away.. I came back home tonight... switched on the lights..and there he was...lying on his side lifelessly. At first I thought he was asleep...till I saw his eyelids were hanging open. He passed on....and I wasn't even there for him...he passed on in the fucking darkness. God I feel so fucking irresponsible...
Buried him in the garden....
This was an essay I wrote in in hopefuls to get an exclusive VIP and "a drink with" Yngwie J Malmsteen when he came to Singapore. The VIP session didn't work out though....they were pressed for time. Anyway, I kinda sent this in too late but I'm very glad I wrote it; because (i know this sounds like a "yeah, yeah yeah" kinda thing)this essay is genuine at that point of time. 1 year ago. Now reading it again really brings me back to that time with that teenage fire I had.
But at the end of the day; it's just an opinion afterall rite?
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Yngwie Malmsteen.
Frankly speaking, when I first picked up the guitar, it wasn’t because of the music absolutely. I wanted that feeling of wielding what to me was the most beautifully crafted instrument, in front of hordes of screaming, euphoric people who loved me. A moment of timeless delectation where whatever I did or played would induce such thunderous cheer and salvo, that any individual could have sworn there and then to the realization that dreams were worth relentless pursuing. I wanted to be rock star; a living legend. That was how ignorant I was.
As I went along learning the six-string and was into modern rock bands like Oasis and Suede (which I still love now), this ignorance slowly dissipated as my genuine love for the music grew and as I became more proficient at my guitar playing. However, the image of Sex, Drugs, and Rock n Roll was the hard edge that kept the air of that teenage hormonal ego pervading.
On the 15thMarch, 1998, 4.58pm, a friend of mine in school came up to me, handed me a CD and said,
“Listen to this guy and you will never ever fucking pick up your guitar again.”
I felt indignant and believe it or not, slightly insulted, because I thought my guitar skills were among the much better ones in my school (talk about that ego). The album cover showed this typical 80’s rock star figure whom at that point looked sickly to me, with big, long frizzy hair holding a cream white Fender Stratocaster with a beautiful maple neck (I didn’t notice the scalloped concaves until much, much later) with a big dark brown canvas in the background. Coincidentally, the very guitar I had was also a cheap cream white Squire Stratocaster, only with a rosewood neck. So I thought what the hell, since this old fashioned sicko had the same kind of guitar as mine, I decided to give him a listen. I brought it home, put it in my CD player.
The moment I pressed the “Play” button, my life and musical direction took a 180-degree turn forever.
Almost immediately, that ‘rock and roll teenage fantasizing’ ego and all-time ignorant acclaim of my proficiency of the instrument went out of the window and never came back. I was flabbergasted, appalled and best of all, ashamed. That moment was a rude awakening for me; that slap in the face was indeed harsh, but a good one. I couldn’t find my breath for minutes. I had no idea this kind of guitar playing actually existed, and naturally as one who would describe it when listened for the first time; it was an explosive array of lightning fast technical precision, and a plane of notes I thought only the piano was capable of executing. It was the most beautiful, expressive and emotional guitar-based music I had ever heard, the unique blend of heavy, powerful guitar riffs and classical beauty. For the first time in my life, I looked at the electric guitar and its sound in a totally different perspective. It wasn’t simply just a symbol of fame and an ass kicking ‘noisemaker’ anymore; it was an instrument which you showed respect and exaltation of its actual capabilities when you play it.
Yngwie Johann Malmsteen.
This name, in all its glorification, was all that mattered to me from that moment on.
Contrary to what my friend said to me, I found myself spending long hours in my room unlocking the secrets of Yngwie’s music and the guitar itself with only three elements that were available to me; my CD player, Yngwie’s records and my Squire guitar. Like any obsessed fanatic, I forcefully exhausted all Malmsteen-related information the internet could offer, read every interview, copied every outfit and look and familiarized myself with the eras of the 60’s to 80’s when classic rock and traditional metal was gold.
As much I admired him for his “I don’t give a f*** about what others say, I am just doing my own thing” attitude about his music, I only appreciated the person he was at a much greater level as I slowly figured out his songs, the way he writes and arranges them, down to every single note and scale. He is of one character whereby “if I’m going to do something, it has to be done with utmost effort and I should be satisfied with the end product
just the way I’m satisfied by listening to music that I like, and if why not, better.” A good example of this would be his Inspiration album, where it consists of covers of bands and artists he loved and idolized during his time. Every single rendition of the covers was way better than the originals in terms of punch, feel and strength. Listen to Mistreated and you will know what I’m talking about. And in cases where he adds in his own arrangement and style, he does it such that the integrity of the song is not destroyed (any fan of the original song may not necessarily like Yngwie’s rendition, but I guarantee they will find it more powerful and NOT contorted.) Not to mention his add-ins make the renditions sound way cooler.
I did my best to find out every detail possible of the Maestro, from his family background;
He took his mother’s maiden name of Malmsteen, his former name was Yngve Lars Johann Lannerbach, his father was a military officer, whole family was musical, etc, to little things like;
His favourite perfume (Drakkar Noir), choices of expensive cars and watches, wine, food (mainly Italian, Indian), his love of the British comedy Monty Python and favourite authors like Stephen King (whom I love as well) and Clive Barker and much, much more, and to events in his life;
He got his first acoustic guitar from Poland which was given to him by his mother and first electric guitar from his brother, riding a motorbike into the school hall at age 15 to show how defiant he was before quitting to be a guitar repairer in Stockholm, how he simply went into his commander’s office pointing a gun to his head and said that he would rather die than to serve in the army; like the car crash that almost paralyzed him; that ‘arrest’ that happened outside his place when he was with his nineteen year old girlfriend Amber; a fanatic who dressed, played and even dated his ex girlfriend (boy that one I applaud.), the hurricane that destroyed his home, his learning of his mother’s death back in Sweden and heartbreaking events that made him an even stronger person which eventually led to the release of the Seventh Sign album in 1993.
Which reminds me, he wrote ‘Black Star’ at age 18 (my age presently) and went over to the States to make it on his own with only 2 pairs of jeans and a Stratocaster. He has made his time and name, and realistically, his living, by playing a piece of wood. He has countlessly shed sweat and blood to get to his present status today. Not only do I admire and respect Yngwie for being the god-given talent, amount of inspiration and guitar revolution he is responsible for, but also as a person with core values and principles so bound to the very root and relentless determination in life. Through his music and personality he has taught me values and integrity which are applicable not only to music, but in many, many other walks of life. As much as I want to be an Yngwie wannabe myself, Yngwie’s playing can
never be replicated, simply because it is his style and on top of it all, he
invented it. It is because of this very fact that I have learnt to be true to myself and be straightforward (character and social-wise). One thing I lack learning from him is the extreme staggering self-confidence, which I am still trying, heheh.
For a person who made it on his own successfully by sheer talent and such resolute strength, and a legend who changed the way rock guitar is played forever, Yngwie Malmsteen will always be king, forever and ever. Or by popular demand, as many other billion fans around the world put it; Yngwie is God.
Just another fan
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Some essential Yngwie songs to the newcomer:
Rising Force - Pure kick ass adventurous song. Gives you a surge of a ‘movie-like’ zest.
Brothers - Tender and weepy, this emotional tune will make you cry.
You Don’t Remember, I’ll Never Forget - A tune with an introduction you would kill for. The Live versions are much better.
Prisoner Of Your Love - An example of how a good love ballad should be written. He has also written other ballads that are just as great, like Forever One (Live in Bukodan version is the BEST!), Dreaming and Save Our Love.
And of course, his first album in 1983, Rising Force. This Grammy-nominated album has been defined the bible of Neoclassical Rock.
Today is the worse in my life. The partition of my 160gigs harddrive that contains ALL my work from 1998 all the way to 2004...my first made compositions....all the way to now...I've come so farr....screwed up.
I cannot access the data. It only says "this drive is unformatted; would you like to format it now?"
Like as if it's a brand new partition waiting to be used. The rest of my other partitions on the same harddrive somehow remain unharmed.
Causes for this could be almost anything, which is the fucking infuriating thing. I reformatted my windows; installed the usual stuff back on afresh...everything was working fine. Then ONE WEEK later this error just occured. The peculiar thing is the OTHER partitions on the SAME harddrive are working as normal.
OF ALL MOTHERFUCKING DRIVES WHY THIS ONE?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
I seriously don't give a fuck if my entire mp3 and video collection is wiped out; downloading them again is never a problem. But why....of all drives why has my work drive been taken?.....All my working files are in there. Each song...each piece...each folder contains up to 5 gigs or more of seperate wave file tracks..channels...instruments......project files................Everything...gone.
I'm already planning to invest in another shittier comp but cheap one; and use that SOLELY for internet and entertainment like listening to mp3s and watching movies. My working computer will be COMPLETELY ISOLATED from the rest of the fucking corrupt world.
If this was the work of a hacker...and if i can get my hands on him....i'll fucking TEAR HIS WHOLE FAMILY APART LITERALLY.
