Yngwie Malmsteen will release BLUE LIGHTNING globally on March 29 via Mascot Records / Mascot Label Group. Ahead of the release, a new lyric video for the title track has been dropped which you can watch below.
Yngwie shares, “”I wrote the title track Blue Lightning specifically for this album. The track is very free, everything on it is improvised. I hope you’ll enjoy it.”
To call Yngwie Malmsteen a ‘maestro’ or ‘virtuoso’ is to state the obvious. But such terms don’t do sufficient justice to either his talent or impact. There are innumerable guitarists who have copied a small part of the vast musical spectrum that defines him, but nobody comes close to achieving what he has over a period of nearly four decades.
This man is an undoubted pioneer, someone whose style and creativity has inspired so many others. While he first came to everybody’s notice in Los Angeles with Steeler’s self-titled album (1983), followed by Alcatrazz’s ‘No Parole From Rock ‘N’ Roll’ the same year and ‘Live Sentence’ (’84), it’s been what he’s done since in a distinguished and far ranging career as a solo performer and band leader that has momentously shown Malmsteen’s craft and worth as one of the elite guitarists on the planet. Combining skills that span a vast spectrum of inspirations, he stands as a giant, melding melody, technique and an epic scope in a unique and inclusive fashion.
Now, with Blue Lightning, the man highlights not only his enduring dexterity and diversity, but also pays homage to those from the Blues world who have fueled his artistic spirit for so long.
“I have always played around with old songs, both live and also in the studio. I did a similar album called Inspiration a while ago (1996), and it was Mascot who came to me and suggested I do a Blues record.”
“Now, I grew up in a classically trained family, and people know me for playing in what is called a neo classical style. But when I got a guitar for my fifth birthday, what I would try to emulate were John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers – I would jam along to what they did on record with Eric Clapton (‘Bluesbreakers With Eric Clapton’ album). That’s something people don’t realize about me – I do have a strong interest in the Blues. So, when Mascot came to me with the suggestion of doing an album of songs in this style, it didn’t faze me at all. In fact, it seemed so natural.”
What Malmsteen has done here is combine choices which might seem almost obvious with some that will turn heads. He shares, “There were songs that were immediately clear I wanted to do. These were the likes of “Purple Haze” and “Smoke On The Water” which I have been playing since I was a kid. But then I also went for something like “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” which I wasn’t sure I could do. In this case, it’s about trial and error. I am delighted that I was able to do justice to the original.”
