Yngwie J. Malmsteen

Yngwie J. Malmsteen (born Lars Yngve Johann Lannerbäck, June 30, 1963) is a guitarist from Sweden who achieved widespread acclaim in the 1980s due to his technical proficiency and fusion of classical music elements with heavy rock guitar. The Americanized pronunciation of his first name is ING-vay.

1980s

In late 1982 Malmsteen was brought to the USA by Mike Varney of Shrapnel Records, who had heard a demo tape of Malmsteen's playing. Shrapnel is synonomous with the "shred" style music. He had brief engagements with Steeler, for their self-titled album of 1983, then Alcatrazz, for their 1983 debut No Parole From Rock N' Roll, and the 1984 live album Live Sentence. He left Alcatrazz in 1984, replaced by Steve Vai, and began his solo career.

Related Topics:
USA - Shrapnel Records - Steeler - Alcatrazz - No Parole From Rock N' Roll - Live Sentence - Steve Vai

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Malmsteen released his first solo album "Rising Force" (winner of Guitar Player Magazine's Best Rock Album and nominated for a 1984 Grammy for Best Rock Instrumental) which achieved #60 on the Billboard album chart. He was nominated for a Grammy and later Rising Force topped the charts at number 1. This was followed by "Marching Out" (1985). Jeff Scott Soto was the singer in the first two albums.

Related Topics:
Rising Force - Guitar Player Magazine - Grammy - Billboard - Marching Out - Jeff Scott Soto

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His third album, Trilogy, was released in 1986. In 1987, former Rainbow vocalist Joe Lynn Turner joined his band. That year, Malmsteen was in a serious car accident, smashing his Jaguar into a tree and putting him in a coma for a week. Nerve damage to his right hand was reported.

Related Topics:
Trilogy - Rainbow - Joe Lynn Turner - Jaguar - Coma

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In the summer of 1988 he released his fourth album, Odyssey. Odyssey would be his biggest hit album, mainly because of its first single "Heaven Tonight". Shows in Russia during the Odyssey tour were recorded, and released in 1989 as his fifth album . The concert in Leningrad was the largest ever by a western artist in the Soviet Union, and Malmsteen's record sales in Russia totalled 27 million.

Related Topics:
1988 - Odyssey

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In late 1988, his signature series Fender Stratocaster was released, making him the second artist so honored, after Eric Clapton.

Related Topics:
Fender - Stratocaster - Eric Clapton

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Malmsteen's style "Neoclassical" became somewhat popular during the mid 1980s, with notable contemporaries such as Paul Gilbert, Tony MacAlpine and Vinnie Moore appearing in Malmsteen's wake.

Related Topics:
Neoclassical - Paul Gilbert - Tony MacAlpine - Vinnie Moore

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