Guitar Hero Yngwie Malmsteen Talks Heavy Metal Legacy Ahead of Oct 5 Gig

Kyle Mullin | Sep 26, 2018 8:30 am | Add a comment | 2641 reads

We all know, and quite a few of us have even been, that teenager with a guitar constantly strapped across one shoulder, and dreams of being a rockstar all but printed on a shirtsleeve. But Yngwie Malmsteen surpassed that cliche by taking such longings to a far greater extreme at a much earlier age. When he was still in primary school – that's right, not yet in high or even middle school – the would-be metal legend was already forming bands and playing non-stop.

To say those efforts paid off would be an understatement. In the ensuing years the now 55-year-old Stockholm, Sweden-born guitarist, has applied classical music theory to heavy metal and is now considered a pioneer of the neoclassical metal genre, so much so that Time magazine ranked him among the top 10 greatest electric guitar players of all time. He’s played with Barrie Barlow of the band Jethro Tull, who played drums on Malmsteen’s Grammy-nominated debut 1984 LP Rising Force, and chipped in on the metal goodwill project Hear ’n Aid, which raised money for famine relief in African in 1985 and included other stars of the genre like Mötley Crüe, Twisted Sister, Judas Priest and was headed up by Ronnie James Dio.

Ahead of Malmsteen’s Oct 5 performance in Tango 3F, the heralded guitarist tells us more about his legendary heavy metal run.

Everyone in my family was extremely musical and growing up in that environment definitely formed my early "education" in music theory, improvisation, composition, and technique.

I started gigging and recording when I was eight years old. From the very beginning, I would form “bands” around myself as the undisputed leader, composer, lead guitarist, and lead singer.

Barrie Barlow, with whom I collaborated on Rising Force, was a great drummer, but also extremely funny, always quoting Monty Python, which is an absolute favorite of mine.

It was a great honor, no doubt when Time magazine rated me among the 10 greatest guitarists of all time.

When it comes to being regarded as a pioneer of the neoclassical style of metal... From the very beginning, I was fusing baroque classical with hard rock, always adapting violin techniques to the electric guitar. It was just something I heard in my head, never somewhere else.

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