It is what you would think. Three dudes sitting on a set that looks like Bill & Ted's basement and a live studio audience where black metal t-shirts and long hair are part of the strictly enforced dress code. They get surprisingly high quality guests (for the metal/hard rock world). One host is a guy named Eddie Trunk who is the resident metal expert, and there is a segment called "stump the Trunk" where audience members ask metal trivia questions and if he can't answer, they get metal-related prizes. He is rather difficult to stump. The other two guys are wisecracking comedian/metalheads who do not take the proceedings nearly as seriously as Trunk does. Other features include pulling out a blackboard and debating/analyzing such issues as: Queen vs. Queensryche (Queen unanimously won that one).
Anyway, last night, one of their guests was Yngwie Malmsteen. Aside from having the greatest metal name ever, this Swedish born metal legend has been the butt of jokes from non-metal fans for years. Long regarded one of the most technically proficient guitarists of all time, he is also the poster child for souless noodling. Wikipedia's description of his technique is as follows: "Malmsteen is known for his technical fluency and neo-classical metal compositions, often incorporating high speed picking with harmonic minor scales, diminished scales and using sweep picked arpeggios...Also, Malmsteen favors the harmonic minor scale, and often uses diminished arpeggios and phrygian scales and draws an influence from Bach and Beethoven."
Personally, I've never listened to a note Yngwie has ever played, so I can't comment. But the criticism usually goes something like this: "I would rather listen to Neil Young's one note solo in 'Cinnamon Girl' over Yngwie Malmsteen any day." The classic example of what my friend over at ANCIANT calls "craft over art." Anyway, having heard the name for decades yet never having laid eyes on the legendary Yngwie, I was intrigued to at least see the guy.
ABOVE: Eddie Trunk (left) questions Yngie Malmsteen (right) on VH1 Classic's That Metal Show
One of my favorite exchanges in any interview anywhere went something like this:
Question: "Have you ever written a riff so massive, so awesome, that even you can't play it?"
Yngwie (dead serious): "Actually (dramatic pause) I have. I was able to get it down, but have never been able to figure it out again in all of its awesomeness."
Also, on why Yngwie usually tours as a solo act with hired hands versus working as a member of a band: Yngwie: "no band has ever been able to contain me." Trunk: "I mean, of course. You're Yngwie Malmsteen."
4 comments:
That interview sounds incredible.
I'm amazed you never owned or listened to his music. I had two of his albums (on cassette!) in high school. Probably it was because I was such an avid reader of Guitar Player. They had him in there every few months and always made it sound like he was someone you HAD to hear.
That interview does sound incredible though. I need to check out that show.
And by the way, I'm not saying one note of Neil Young vs Yngwie. You'd need the whole solo. Or, really, the whole song.
That's what I said. Not one note of Neil Young, but the entire guitar solo of Neil's in "Cinamon Girl" comprises of one note, played over and over again. But it sounds great.
You're right; I misread it. My bad.
You should download a few Yngwie tunes. See what you think.
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