Without a doubt the definitive neo-classical rock guitar album. It all went downhill from here.
Yngwie’s music does have its drawbacks and may not be for everyone. Yngwie has great techniques founded on classical guitar and violin but that doesn’t make a rock ‘n’ roll album for a variety of reasons. First of all, heavy metal or hard rock is primarily rock ‘n’ roll which means blues. Although classical guitar and classical music often have a strong influence on metal it’s not rock ‘n’ roll. Secondly, apart from Jimmy Hendrix, I can’t think of many rock bands where the lead guitarist is the entire band.
However, “Rising Force” is by far Yngwie Malmsteen’s best record. Every single song is fast, classical, shreds, and contains blazing-fast solos. Malmsteen proved that he is amongst the fastest shredders to have ever played the instrument, and this album is a prime example of that.
Welcome to Yngwie’s world. Nothing would be the same in metal guitar after this record, and strangely, at the same time, nothing would change in Yngwie’s world after this Rising Force. There’s no doubt that Yngwie is one of the greats when it comes to guitar playing but the main issue is that he overdoes it so much that it becomes boring.