Yngwie J. Malmsteen's Rising Force - Odyssey (1988)

When I first got into metal I have to admit I never gave this sort of guitar masturbating a glance. Many years later I've grown to appreciate the almost arrogant talents of these type of guys and with Joe Lynn Turner warbling over Malmsteen's impressive structures, I have to say that this is pretty cool molten metal. As a fourteen-year old I would have adored this fret burning, especially as lyrically it's all pretty metal in your face, from dungeons to darkness and all that sort of stuff and although a few instrumentals have been slotted in, the guitar work is simply mesmerising. The opening cut 'Rising Force' sounds like Manowar on speed, pure raging rock with a great hook of a chorus and those demon chords of Yngwie. Spectacular stuff, and on 'Hold On' one can only smirk because this is a fantastic metal track, bursting from the flames on a slow guitar chug and those soaring vocals which bleed into a great chorus - I can just picture the lighters glinting in the sea of sweaty bodies at the gig, superb. This is metal shredding at its most brilliant, and whether you can appreciate this sort of craftsmanship or not, 'Rising Force' is THE guitar album to own.Of course, most of us air guitarists could never mimic such quality, so instead we turn the light off and raise a fist to this type of fury. 'Heaven Tonight' has that great mid '80s metal feel, dark corridors and a cold wind in the hair, but again, Yngwie takes the solo to the extreme, blending it wonderfully with the structure of the rhythm and before you know it you'll be lost in the myriad of the strings as Malmsteen caresses the board with an elegance beyond his years, but never once sending the listener to sleep. There's too much metal on offer here for the album to fail and the production to the velvet vocal is of sterling quality. Malmsteen's finest hour if you ask me, a real shade of metal magic.

8/10