Rising Force
Premiere Issue
Dec 16, 1993
Hello to everyone...
...and welcome to the premiere issue of Rising Force!
Your subscriptions have been overwhelming: we've broken my goal of 50, and are
upto 57. I bet you thought you were the only one listening to this kind of
music. We have pretty good geographic coverage - while 75% are American (50%
edu, 25% com), the other 25% cover Canada, UK, Finland, France, Greece, Holland,
Russia, Sweden, and Taiwan.
We have several submissions already for the first issue, and I will start
compiling a list of neo-classical musicians, albums, tracks, and solos.
I believe I've solved the problem of having the distribution list in the header
by BCCing this to everyone. This should prevent replies from inadvertently
going to everyone on the list. Please let me know if that is NOT the case.
Here we go! [My comments are bracketed. I have edited a few things, to divide
your submissions into the appropriate sections. Let me know if this is not OK
with anyone. -Ig]
-----Reasons you joined -------------------------------------------------------
[These are your quotes. To keep it simple, I didn't credit in this section -Ig]
--
Halleluyah, brother!!!!!
It's about damn time I start talking with people who know the difference
a real guitar player and their a*le.
I mean, jeezz, gimme a break... STP, Pearl Spam, Soundgarden and
Nirvana?!?!?!?! Oh, yeah, they really have a mastery of the instrument.
I've been playing guitar for right around 3 years or so, and I can
honestly say that the first day I picked up the guitar I played better
than these schmucks who are clogging the radio and TV waves with their
"three chord progressions behind a wall of distorted noise".
Thank you sooooooooooooooooooooooo much for finally giving those
of us left who still like to hear Mr. Malmsteen, Gilbert, Tafolla,
MacAlpine, Moore, Bettencourt, Petrucci and the like. I especially
like the part about turning us onto new players (that Dan guy you
mentioned... what's the scoop? [Later in issue -Ig]).
Looking forward to pow-wowing with some people with taste for a change.
--
It's a f*g shame to see a lot of great neo-classical shredders get baked in the
press because of this grunge bulls*t. As a guitar player, I respect a persons
ability to play technically, and in most cases also with feel. It's amazing what
they try to pawn off as feel these days....
--
The classic content of rock is heavily under publicised, and any info on other
suitably gifted musicians would be well appreciated. After all, if it wasn't for
hearsay, I'd never have found out about the likes of Yngwie, Impelliteri or
Kuni.
--
I am not a guitarist, but I played classical violin and viola for 10 years. I
think that my training in classical music allows me to appreciate the
neo-classical guitar style, regardless of what is now trendy.
I was glad to see you mention Lillian Axe, Extreme, and Europe,
bands that I like and that seem to get slammed frequently for whatever
reason. A flame-free forum would be a welcome service.
--
I'm always looking for cool new guitar godz!! :')
i miss the days of great bands like yngwie, racer-x, vinnie moore, tony
macalpine, cjss, etc and have no idea who's shredding with mike varney
these days.
--
It sounds like a God send for those of us who can appreciate melody in
heavier music.
--
I really dig Yngwie's guitar playing and would like to know about other
guitarists that can compete with him.
--
I am an Yngwie Malmsteen fan and I am curious to see if other bands incorporate
his style.
--
I have JUST discovered Yngwie Malmsteen and I love his work. I want to get
more of his music as well as find out more about groups that play neo
classical stuff.
--
Finally a serious mailing list!
-----Music you're into----------------------------------------------------------
From: Brad [email protected]>
I'm into Yngwie, Vinnie Moore, Tony MacAlpine, David Chastain, and others,
as well as even Al DiMeola, Bach himself, and prog. metal bands like
Fates Warning and Dream Theater.
From: [email protected]>
My favorite guitar players are
Uli Jon Roth--much underrated guitar player--used to play lead for
the Scorpions during the 70's
Michael Schenker--great stuff with U.F.O and his solo music
Randy Rhoads--he could of been the best guitar player out today..
and of course
Yngwie Malmsteen!!! especially his early music
From: Kalle [email protected]>
Lars Erik Matsson and maybe John Norum (latter was the true Europe
guitarist) should be added, if you are making a FAQ-list of these musicians.
[I am, and both of these will definitely be in my list. Mattson has an album on
Leviathan, and Norum has a couple solo albums (with vocals), the latter (Face
the Truth) is only available in Europe. -Ig]
From: Michael [email protected]>
Well, I like Yngwie, and I am a Dream Theater fanatic
From: Andrey [email protected]>
I`m a fan of Dream Theater and also like other groups You listed.
From: Efrain [email protected]>
I am a classical guitarist who started out by listening to the Beatles.
Later came Randy Rhoads, and I was hooked. Even though I don't play metal /rock,
I enjoy listening to people like Vinnie Moore, Yngwie and Dream Theater
From: JC [email protected]>
I am a big fan of this type of metal. The bands that I am especially
interested in that fit this category are:
Helloween, Gamma Ray, Viper, Angra, Chastain, Cacophony, Skyclad,
Running Wild, Dream Theater
From: Jeff [email protected]>
Thank you sooooooooooooooooooooooo much for finally giving those
of us left who still like to hear Mr. Malmsteen, Gilbert, Tafolla,
MacAlpine, Moore, Bettencourt, Petrucci and the like.
From: Derek [email protected]>
Lillian Axe is a great band, and Yngwie is one of my faves.
From: Simon [email protected]>
Yngwie, Impelliteri, Kuni
From: [email protected]>
This isn't only about Yngwie, is it? I don't really like him, but I like
guys like David T. Chastain, Joe Satriani, John Petrucci...
From: Pete [email protected]>
I was glad to see you mention Lillian Axe, Extreme, and Europe
From: Mike [email protected]>
I've been a fan of Yngwie's and others(Friedman, Becker,Gilbert, etc) for
years and I thought I was a dying breed.
From: Rob [email protected]>
i miss the days of great bands like yngwie, racer-x, vinnie moore, tony
macalpine, cjss
-----News/Rumors---------------------------------------------------------
Some of you may have heard rumors about Yngwie in jail. Here's what I've
been able to gather:
Mostly found on net: [email protected]>
He threatened his girlfriend's mother with a shotgun and the police came
and took all 3 of them back. It was shown on MTV, he looked 30 pounds
overweight, and he said something to the effect of "This has been a really bad
year". Yngwie was later released without charge and the girlfriend and him made
a joint statement saying it was all her mother's fault for the trouble, and how
she has always been against their relationship and how she is still going to
marry Yngwie according to plan and she isn't under any pressure from anyone
about it. He did have a cast on his hand from (he says) punching a mirror.
His manager died.
Elektra has dropped him. He is now shopping for another label.
From: Ranan [email protected]>
His new singer will be Mike Viscero (sp?), formerly of Loudness. Bassist
ex-V.Moore?; keys - Mats Olavsson (same).
Found on net: [email protected]>
His real name is Yngve Malmsten - he changed for some reason when he moved
to the US. The pronunciation of 'Yngwie' differs a lot from the Swedish name
'Yngve', the name he has 'twisted'. In Swedish you would pronounce 'Yngve'
(difficult to explain) with a soft 'g', without any stress on that letter.
'Yngwie', from a Swedish point of view, is not pronounced 'ing-vay' but reather
'ing-vee' or maybe 'ing-vii'.
Tony MacAlpine just released _Madness_ on Shrapnel. I haven't heard it
yet,so I don't know if it's instrumental, classical, or what.
Found on net: [email protected]>
If you want something new (relatively) to listen to while you
wait for the new Yngwie album, go pick up Joe Stump's album.
'Guitar Dominance.' It is on David Chastain's Leviathan label.
Trust me on this one...
-----Submissions----------------------------------------------------------------
[When you send me stuff, can you please sign it, as my mail reader strips the
headers. -Ig]
From: Peter [email protected]>
[part of an alt.thrash post -Ig]
Having grown up with classical music and o n l y classical music for a
great part of my life, I still am so used to its complexity and musical
appeal that I cannot survive without it for long. Metal (at least in some
of its forms) contains many things, though, that I often miss in classical
music:
- an attitude that I agree with
- a message that I support
- views that I understand
- an environment that I love
Being a constant listener for years now I have enjoyed many albums and
bands. The reason why I came to metal is probably that (at least the kind I
like) is closer to classical music, i.e. more complex, musically more
interesting than any other style I have encountered so far. The only thing
that has always bothered me is that even though bands were innovative they
never got away from their roots too far. Especially the "pop" format of
many albums and songs is something that I often have problems finding
interest in.
I therefore had ideas that are voiced here now a long time ago. Why, I
asked myself, don't bands do on a whole album what they show they can do in
instrumentals? Write an amazing piece of music without having the old
patterns over and over again! I would even go further. For me only the
first step is writing an all instrumental album whit many pieces on it. The
next step would be combining them. There have been some half-hearted
attempts to do this in the past, but all they turned out to be were single
songs glued together without much understanding. Take step two! Write ONE
piece, one long piece that still does not get boring. Maybe divided into a
few parts for easier understanding, but keep it coherent. That was what I
was hoping for after .. And Justice, but got thoroughly disappointed.
Last step, even though not necessary, would be to bring the vocals back
in. I will not use terms normally used for a piece of work like this in
classical music, you should be able to figure them out for yourself. (If I
did I would have metal as well as o....a fans attacking me).
Peter
When will you rage ?
(Werewolf)
From: Stel from Belgium
[Stel declined to join us; his mailbox is full enough. However, he shares: -Ig]
Do you know X (Japan)? They are definitely your thing!
They do all their albums in two versions. A symphonical and a 'Metal' version.
It's amazing how little changes there have to be to make a symphonical
('classical') version of a Metal song.
Mekong Delta have done the opposite. They have taken classical
stuff (like Mussorgski and Bach) and have turned it into Metal.
Also stuff by Herrman out of the film PSYCHO has been re-worked by
them. Brilliantly! There is an album out with only those songs. You should get
it. If you cannot find it I can either give you coordinates or send it off to
you.
From: J|rgen B. [email protected]>
Are there any other lists for Guitarists out there ?(any with tabs?)
From: Simon [email protected]>
Kuni is a Japanese guy, now living in the US I believe. He was a gifted
piano and classical guitar player as a child. At the age of 14, he heard Kiss,
and decided that this was how a guitar should be played (?!) He released his
first solo album in 87/88 I think, called Masque. It is mostly song based, with
many guest musicians, but there are a couple of solo tracks. The pressing of
Masque was limited to 100,000 copies, by Polydor, and I think most of these went
to Japan. Luckily I managed to pay a good deal of money for one ;-) I've not
heard much of him since then. He is a very accomplished guitarist, with a thin
melodic sound. I was hoping that he would release other albums, but nothing so
far, although I have seen him in an album credit list for someone else - just
can't remember who!
[I think I saw him in an Alex Masi credit. -Ig]
Incidentally, what do you think of Ronnie Le Tekro of TNT?
From: [email protected]>
Do we get to flame Joe Lynn? Or for that matter, flame *all* the vocalists
since Jonas Hansenn? Jonas Hansenn (I'm certain I misspelled that) is the
guitarist/sometimes vocalist of Silver Mountain, the band that Jens and Anders
got their start in, in Malmo Sweden. I'm 90% certain that Jonas et al play on
the early Yngwie demos from around 1980 (pre-Alcatrazz) (it sounds like them,
and the sound of the Yngwie demo is very similar to the sound of a Silver
Mountain demo from about the same time period). Silver Mountain's first two
albums ("Shakin' Brains" and "Universe") are both pretty cool; their later stuff
is forgetable pop-metal in the venerable Yngwie-with-Joe-Lynn tradition. (The
Johansen brothers both play on "Shakin' Brains".) Silver Mountain had quite a
following in Japan, but are very obscure otherwise; only "Shakin' Brains" was
released in the US. I'm not even sure if their more recent work has been
released in Europe. I've only seen their stuff as Japanese releases. Yes, of
course Silver Mountain is named after the Rainbow song.
Is Vinnie Moore going to go back to the classical stuff? I saw him play
in Chicago last winter, and he only did songs from the first album and
the new one. I was quite disappointed, although he did play for 90 minutes
or so.
[I thought "Last Chance" from _Meltdown_ was similar to his older stuff. -Ig]
From: me
I just got the latest Riot album Nightbreaker (I'm not sure if it's
available yet) and it definitely has a few neo-classical parts. They are speed
metal at times, reminiscent of Helloween.
-----Discography----------------------------------------------------------------
Here's a first draft of the neo-classical album discography. This means an
album that is at least half neo-classical.
Artist Title Record Co. Instrmntl?
------ ----- ---------- ----------
Alcatrazz No Parole From Rock & Roll Grand Slam(?) 1
Yngwie Rising Force Polydor 6/8
" Marching Out " 2
" Trilogy " 2
" Odyssey " 2
" Trial By Fire:Live in Leningrad " some+solos
" Eclipse Elektra 1
" Fire and Ice " 3
Tony MacAlpine Edge of Insanity Shrapnel Yes
" Maximum Security Squawk Yes
" Freedom to Fly Shrapnel Yes
MacAlpn/Aldr/Rk/Srz Project: Driver " No
Vinnie Moore Mind's Eye " Yes
" Time Odyssey Squawk Yes
Joey Tafolla Out of the Sun Shrapnel Yes
John Hahn Out of the Shadows Leviathan Yes
Lars Eric Mattson The Exciter Leviathan Yes
Impelliteri Stand In Line Relativity? 1
" [EP] " 0/4
Maestro Alex Gregory Paganini's Last Stand ? 7/10?
Daniel L. Dalley Power Important Yes
Yes, this is the Dan Dalley I mentioned in my original post. He is a guitarist
from New Jersey, who's Power album (a few years old) is EXTREMELY classical. He
was featured recently in one of the guitar mags.
In future issues I will publish a list of albums with SOME neo-classical
content.
-----Conclusion-----------------------------------------------------------------
This wraps up our first issue. Please email me with any suggestions,
submissions, topics, etc. I'll put the next one out in a couple weeks, unless
there is a lot of mail from you guys.
Farewell.
