Yngwie J. Malmsteen’s Rising Force
War to End All Wars
Spitfire
Another year, another Yngwie album. But really, the production on War to End All Wars isn’t half as botched as word-on-the-street’s letting on. Sure, the oft-stilted, boxy drum production (especially on those kick ones) occasionally nearly-stunts Yngwie’s usually fluid turning-of-electric-phrase, but even that minor quibble can hardly hold back what has become another shining period for the great Dane, starting with last year’s return-to-form Alchemy and following through to this most recent one. So, with the resurrection of the Rising Force moniker, it stands to reason that War to End All Wars sounds much closer to Marching Out than it does to Odyssey, right? Damn fucking right. Malmsteen’s flirtations with (once-)Top 40 radio metal/hard rock have finally met the grave in all forms, and he’s even gotten the on/off Mark Boals back at the mic, the man rendering Euro-chuggers (most of the album) such as “Prophet of Doom” and Hollyrock buttshakers (more of the curio) such as “Bad Reputation” with equal clear-piped aplomb. You probably know him, and if you do, you definitely know whether you love or hate him, but there?s no holding back Yngwie when he gets back to the idiom where his technical and composition skills meet a (nearly) equal balance. Marching on…
Spitfire, http://www.spitfirerecords.com
