And so it seems that the Death Star size ego of the talented but beyond vain Yngwie Malmsteen (who I want to state I adore! as a musician yes, but as a person not so much) is once more out of control because now the Swedish guitarist is dissing literally ALL of his former vocalists in a new interview in the online publication "Metal Wani".
As reported, Malmsteen initially told Metal Wani (transcribed by UG):
"Actually, no .
"I find it very comfortable to sing myself, first of all.
"Secondly, there is a certain disconnect when you write a song and when you have someone else sing it for you. There's kind of like a fakeness about that.
"I always wrote everything. I wrote all the lyrics, I wrote all the melodies, just somebody else sung it.
"And to me, singing is not different than being a bass player or a keyboard player. They're not more important than the other musicians.
"They unfortunately seem to think that they are. I had it with their self-absorbed way, and I'm very much against it.
"I don't like that, I don't like any of those people. I would not like to do anything with them ever again."
**Two of Yngwie's former vocal collaborators, Joe Lynn Turner (of Rainbow!) & Jeff Scott Soto most definitely have something to say about Yngwie disrespecting them and their vocal talents and collaborative songwriting input!**
Rebuttal #1 is from Yngwie's former vocalist Jeff Scott Soto which also includes the verbatim quoted diss from the gargantuan ego from Mr. Malmsteen himself.
Yngwie Malmsteen's former vocalist Jeff Scott Soto - who performed with the guitarist on 1984's "Rising Force," 1985's "Marching Out," and 1996's "Inspiration" - issued the following statement regarding Yngwie's comments about being tired of "self-absorbed" singers:
"This is a fabulous statement, oh my!
"Can't say I blame him, his vocal prowess has increased .05-fold the past two decades!
"Why would he want to work with horrible hacks like myself, Ripper or Joe... and deal with our egos... like wanting to hear ourselves onstage within the cavalcade of Marshalls, or getting our measly salaries on time (or at all)...
"Or maybe it was the desire to be 'buds' that got in the way? Carry on there Sing-vay, you got this!
"On a side note, I wrote more than 3/4 of the lyrics and 1/2 melodies for 'I'll See The Light Tonight,' all of the lyrics for 'Caught in the Middle' and 'Don't Let It End' (he wrote the title and got 50% of authorship) and all off 'On the Run Again' (title included).
"So much for writing EVERYTHING but you must admit, a Puerto Rican 'faking' the praises about a Viking was pretty convincing no?"
Rebuttal #2 is from Joe Lynn Turner who collaborated with Yngwie on my favorite album of Malmsteen's 1988's "Odyssey". Joe Lynn Turner just posted his rebuttal on his Official Facebook (JLT is my favorite vocalist with Yngwie. Joe Lynn Turner wrote all the lyrics for the album "Odyssey" and sang all lead vocals for the album).
Joe Lynn Turner
35 mins ·
MALMSTEEN ARTICLE REBUTTAL
In regard to the recent Malmsteen article, I feel compelled to rebut his delusional statements.
The 'Odyssey' album was his biggest success that he has not since and will never repeat again. It's undeniable that I am responsible for 50% of the writing credits namely the melody and lyrics and 100% of the vocal performances.
Malmsteen's statements can only be taken as the rantings of a megalomaniac desperately trying to justify his own insecurity. His claim that 'singers' are too egotistical is moronic and pathetic coming from him. The fact that he would lash out at all the great vocalists and respectful gentlemen that he had the good fortune and honor to work with is simply outrageous.
How sad does a man become when he has to downgrade others to make himself feel big and important. This man thrives on public approval and needs total control because
he lives in personal fear. I quit 'Rising Force' because of his intolerable and twisted ego.
If your pride is bigger than your heart and your ego is bigger than your head grow up or you will be alone for life. But after all, who can blame a child who shits his pants because he just doesn't know any better.
[Edited on 7/28/2017 by ArleneWeiss]
Round 2 as the bell rings! LOL! Ironically Yngwie openly started all of this by denigrating, humiiiating, insulting, and invalidating all of his former vocalists and then lying about their songwriting contributions as well saying they did NONE and that he wrote 100 percent of all of the songs. Then when Joe Lynn Turner, Jeff Scott Soto and Ripper Owens stand up for themselves while telling him off, he says that they are the ones denigrating him.
Yngwie Malmsteen's Rebuttal per his Official Facebook Page Sunday 7/30/2017 approx 12pm
STATEMENT REGARDING PAST VOCALISTS:
Hello all,
Firstly, we would like to apologize in advance that this statement must even be written, but it seems that some comments from past vocalists that Yngwie has worked with in the past have been getting twisted and blown out of proportion. Allow me to set the record straight.
I think the response to Yngwie's off-hand comments (of which his previous hired vocalists were not specifically named) has only served to prove them true - because Yngwie said something that they didn't like, they came out enraged, spitting insults and profanities at him. This of course leads to the media bloating their responses and proclaiming it to be some sort of "feud" when it's absolutely nothing of the sort.
Yngwie never mentioned any of them by name (the journalist did, however) - he merely stated that he was not interested in working with any singers anymore because he did not feel it conducive to his style of writing and performing. If Yngwie had a problem with his hired musicians having an ego, he had every right to fire them (they did not "quit" or "leave" as they would like to have you believe) because it was, and still is his own project. He leads and he has the final word.
It's very unfortunate that these past hired vocalists must resort to mudslinging and insults to elicit any kind of media attention towards them. Such classless, puerile words are ungentlemanly at best and absolutely disgraceful at worst.
Meanwhile, these hired vocalists have been attempting to reach Yngwie throughout the past 35 years and to as recent as this year, have tried to reconnect with Yngwie, start projects and/or be rehired by him, among other things. At the same time, they have repeatedly spouted out these increasingly juvenile insults - a recent incident telling Yngwie to "sit on this" (a picture of the vocalist's middle finger) on social media sticks out particularly - which makes it very hard to believe their reaching out is based in any sort of goodwill. These incidents tend to increase in frequency when their attempts are not humored.
Above all, the most laughable thing about the statements from all of these different singers is that they all claim to be individually and solely responsible for Yngwie's success! How strange and amazing is it that they all did it by themselves? It would be slightly more believable if they had the ability to generate media coverage without attaching Yngwie's name to themselves - but alas, this is not the case, and as such their stories only seem to be about their tantrums toward Yngwie.
It is simply impossible, then, for one to take such statements seriously when these vocalists have sung such a different tune when dealing with our end. To literally take a picture of yourself flipping off Yngwie's family and then right afterward show up at his concert asking for free tickets does not do a lot to instill trust. Such behavior simply comes across as being disingenuous and trying to ride on Yngwie's coattails.
I think that these past hired vocalists would find it in their best interests to do as Yngwie does by moving on and focusing on creating and performing new music, instead of grasping as tightly onto the past as they can.
Thank you for your time and I bid you a good day.
~Daniel Baker, Malmsteen Management
This 1988 video interview with Yngwie & Joe Lynn, at 1:34 in Yngwie even says that they co-wrote the "Odyssey" album together and that Joe Lynn wrote 99 percent of the lyrics. I LOVE Malmsteen and think he is beyond badass, but is he having a senior moment now saying that all of his former vocalists including Joe Lynn Turner wrote NOTHING!
Well that's telling them. They joined his band and not the other way around.
That said he is the biggest a**hole that I ever met in music without a doubt. And I met a lot of a**holes so that says something.
Lucky I didn't drop him. I got that in a minute so they must have too and still joined his band. I wouldn't last an hour.
Not sure why any of them would take the time to respond to comments like that from YM.
Oh well....
Everyone has a plan, till you get punched in the face,
Side note. Just saw Yngwie is going on tour this fall and It kicks off here in Indy 10-20-17.
Everyone has a plan, till you get punched in the face,
Side note. Just saw Yngwie is going on tour this fall and It kicks off here in Indy 10-20-17.
I assumed there must be a project from the "Viking" forthcoming given the obvious barely interesting controversy Mr. Malmsteen has unleashed. Low and behold, an upcoming tour! Imagine my shock..... 😛
While I can certainly see and hear the technical virtuosity of Mr. Malmsteen, I've never been a fan of his playing as it all sounds the same to me. But that's just me and I can certainly respect anyone who's a fan. The beauty of music is its ability to stir different things in different people.
Not that I really like this song or want you to watch the whole thing, but the first 10 seconds behind him you can see this obnoxious amount of Marshall heads and cabs. 😉
[Edited on 8/2/2017 by jszfunk]
Everyone has a plan, till you get punched in the face,
Not that I really like this song or want you to watch the whole thing, but the first 10 seconds behind him you can see this obnoxious amount of Marshall heads and cabs. 😉
And with the drummer sitting in front of the cabs no less. If you notice later in the vid, looks like he is playing through 2 Marhsall half-stacks off to the side of the stage. EVH does the same thing, perhaps to a hair lesser degree, but of course EVH is playing arenas and sheds and not clubs so it doesn't have quite the same douchebaggery effect as Yngwie.
Not that I really like this song or want you to watch the whole thing, but the first 10 seconds behind him you can see this obnoxious amount of Marshall heads and cabs. 😉
And with the drummer sitting in front of the cabs no less. If you notice later in the vid, looks like he is playing through 2 Marhsall half-stacks off to the side of the stage. EVH does the same thing, perhaps to a hair lesser degree, but of course EVH is playing arenas and sheds and not clubs so it doesn't have quite the same douchebaggery effect as Yngwie.
HA!! Yeah I notice just a couple of the heads turned on. I was thinking the exact same thing when I was typing this about EVH.
Everyone has a plan, till you get punched in the face,
Yngwie will soon be playing at the Ridgefield Playhouse, a nice tiny little theater near here where we've been blessed by appearances from DTB, DB & GS, and Gregg, among others....that place won't know what hit 'em when Yngwie J brings in his wall of Marshalls!
I actually saw Yngwie a zillion years ago opening for Iron Maiden on their "Somewhere in Time" tour. It was really a very good show; I think Yngwie is probably terrific for a 40-minute opening slot. A full 2 hour show would probably get old.....
The Yngwie vid is sort of like a train wreck, and I had to watch parts of it again. I think I counted about 12 cabs and 28 heads that he wasn't using in the line behind the drummer (i.e., excluding the two angled half stacks on the side of stage he was using). This in a large club / small theater setting, I presume. I wonder how many are hollow with no speakers or internal amp/tube guts.
EVH has 10 half stacks for a 20k seat arena show, of which 4 heads appear to be on and 3 cabs mic'ed. So about half of the visual is for show, and the rest would seem logical to have two full systems (wet/dry) for use, as well an emergency clone setup powered on and ready to go at the flip of the switch in case he blows a tube or speaker on his primary setup. Although now that I think about it, I thought EVH tended to have his rig including heads and racks off stage run by his guitar tech. But who knows.
The Yngwie thing is absurd.
[Edited on 8/3/2017 by Zambi]
Wondering where Yngwie's wall of sound is here. I LOVE this.
Yngwie Malmsteen Live with Japanese Philharmonic Orchestra - Full HD
HA!!! To funny!!!
Everyone has a plan, till you get punched in the face,
That is common place ever since the eighties. I never really understood it.
VH for the Fair Warning Tour started with the mountain of cabinets and has pretty much stayed that way ever since. Too funny. As if some cabinet 20 feet off the air would serve a purpose for stage sound.
One thing about Yngwie - he is real good at what he does. It may not be for everyone but there is no denying the talent.
My favorite song by the Swedish madman along with Joe Lynn Turner who Co-wrote this and the 2 had great chemistry together. When Yngwie plays something with some real melody lines and not just the speed metal, you can hear how really talented he is. And also an amazing live showman and performer who really knows how to razzle dazzle the audience.
Yngwie J. Malmsteen - Heaven Tonight (1988) (Music Video) WIDESCREEN 720p
I always thought that the Odyssey with JLT sounded like a weak Rainbow album.
Yngwie is good at what he does but by the 2nd album Marching Out - he had played all the variations on the same thing that I personally needed.
yngwie is good at what he does and is not a shredder. he is tying to play classical violin pieces on electric guitar.
