Magnum Opus

Artist: Yngwie Malmsteen
Label: Import [Generic]
Category: Music

Average customer rating:

Format: Import
Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1
EAN: 5016583118822
ASIN: B0000071UO

Release Date: 1999-04-13

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Listmania:

Yngwies best albums

Tracks:

Vengeance
No Love Lost
Tomorrow's Gone
Only One
I'd Die Without You
Overture 1622
Voodoo
Cross the Line
Time Will Tell
Fire in the Sky
Amberdawn

Similar Items:

Alchemy
The Seventh Sign
Fire and Ice
Facing the Animal
War to End All Wars

Customer Reviews:

A quality release.......2006-08-11

At a time when his brand of metal was at it's most hated Yngwie ploughed on regardless. Which not only shows his passion for his chosen subgenre but also a defiant belief in his own abilities and those of his bandmates.

I actually picked this up at Utopia Records - metal haven of Sydney, Australia and mentioned to the my girlfriend of the time what each track would sound like before even listening to it. And you know what - I got 'em all right. That's both good and bad, Yngwie either being in a rut or having built a solid reputation and expectation in his fans. He once said that he wanted his albums to be like AC/DC records in that his fans knew what they were getting. Well, mission accomplished dude.

While painstakingly smooth in execution and with a note perfect rendition of every seconds worth of time, this is actually a fairly strong collection of song based material. The opener, Vengeance, is a little dull musically but No Love Lost is a real barnstormer. The album starts to suffer in the middle, a couple of ballads sapping the listeners will to live though things pick up with the instrumental Overture 1612 which has some blistering runs.

In fact this instrumental sort of separates what I always thought of as side one and side two of this disc. And the second half of the album is, strangely, far stronger and the real reason to pick up this album. Voodoo is a track where Michael Vescera really asserts himself and this track is dominated by the journeyman vocalists talents. Cross the Line is another mid paced rocker which does the job at hand, as does Time Will Tell and Fire in the Sky which has some interesting spark.

Really these tracks represent the best quartet of songs lined up in a row on virtually any post Eclipse Yngwie album. And with No Love Lost and the tasty instrumental Overture 1612 this album was a bit of a pleasant surprise given how poor I was expecting it to be, expecially given the annoying pompous original cover art.

On this album Malmsteen has shown an ability to share the limelight with long time collaborator Vescera and put in some different touches such as the use of sitars and at times deliberately slowing the tempo of the tracks from his usual pace in order to build a groove with a sense of space while also giving long time fans just what they want.

This is one of my favorites.......2001-06-19

I don't understand why some fans don't like Magnum Opus. I guess if you want something with the fire of Seventh Sign, you should listen to Seventh Sign. Magnum Opus is not the most boisterous of all Yngwie's albums, and I doubt it was intended to be. The songs on this album have more of a grandiouse feel to them. "Time will tell", "No love lost", "Voodoo", and "I'd die for you" have a great mystical feel that cannot be paralleled by most artists. "Cross the line" and "Fire in the sky" are great rockers. Critics should give this album a chance.

Magnifique.......2001-05-07

This is an excellent effort by that infinite genius. Magnum Opus features some fantastic songs like Vangeance, Voodoo and Time will tell. Even an ordinary ballad like I'd die without you is given a sterling edge by the power of Malmsteen's soloing. But the real classic on this album, is the instrumental Amberdawn. This single track one of the saddest and most beautiful tracks I've heard itself justifies the buying of this album.

The Best Yngwie Album.......2001-04-28

why dont half the people like this album, its soo damn good. the production is superb, unlike most yngwie albums, also the songs on this are great, vengeance has a jaw dropping solo on it and id die without you is an emotional song.

Yngwie Makes His First Real Mistake.......2000-12-07

In 1995, Yngwie was a distant memory in the United States. At one time the great master, Malmsteen had been relegated to clean up work as a new breed of guitar player was on the prowl. With the "alternative revolution" underway, Yngwie's flash-style guitar playing had been shown the way of Mussolini, buried by the people that had praised it all those years before, in favor of a new "who cares?" attitude when it came to actual playing ability. The punk aesthetic was back and Yngwie was going to have to relie on the foreign market, his true diehard fanbase, to get him through these lean times.

So, in the wake of 1994's stunning THE SEVENTH SIGN, came Yngwie's first really hardcore faux paux....1995's MAGNUM OPUS. Later, Yngwie himself would call the album a poor effort and, while this is true for the most part, there are some saving qualities. Technically Yngwie's best singer, Mike Vescera was back, although the results this time wouldn't be as great. Vescera's vocals seem to hold the album back at times and his performance is uninspired. SEVENTH SIGN touring bassist Barry Sparks was on board in the studio this time as was Yngwie stalwart Mats Olausson on keys and new drummer Shane Gaalass. The band seems to lack the fire of previous efforts and the production of the recording is missing the power of THE SEVENTH SIGN or the smooth polish of ECLIPSE or FIRE AND ICE. Yngwie goes off further into the "let's just burn on the solos" mode of his last record and the whole thing is just awash in mediocrity which is unusual. The opener "Vengence" is probably the best song here, a balls to the wall thrash song taking it's que from "Never Die". Also making the cut is "Voodoo", a haunting track featuring some of the album's creative high points. Here, Vescera is great and these two tracks are the only time the band seems to really gell. The album seems like a quickie and by the end, you feel let down. But all the elements of classic Yngwie do rear their heads...the groove of "No Love Lost", the epic feel of "Tomorrow's Gone", the pop rock of "The Only One", the searing ballad "I'd Die Without You", instrumentals "Overture 1622" and "Amberdawn" (re-named "Dawn" for the re-issue because by then, Yngwie had divorced then wife Amberdawn Landin). "Cross The Line" and "Time Will Tell" are standard fare and by the time of "Fire In The Sky", we're ready to go home. Japanese and Spitfire re-issue bonus track "Cantible" seems to foreshadow Yngwie's guitar concerto, but really, this isn't at all prime time Yngwie Malmsteen. Seeming settled in his groove as 80's guitar icon trying to survive in the 90's Yngwie had seen better days and MAGNUM OPUS was testament to that. With his back against the wall, Yngwie always comes out fighting, and soon, fans would be treated to a fantastic record that would garner much acclaim in Malmsteen fan circles....1996's all cover songs album INSPIRATION.

Music CD:

Music CD

Music CD

Music CD

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Transition ~ Street Talk

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Who's Who in Hospitalization ~ Glands Of External Secretion , and Prick Decay

Masters 38 ~ Robert Gordon

R & B Party ~ Various Artists

The Real Cancun ~ Original Soundtrack

Always ~ Marybell Love