YNGWIE MALMSTEEN Didn't Have To Change His Songwriting Approach To Accommodate His Singing Voice

In a new interview with Chris Akin Presents…, legendary Swedish guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen once again addressed why he no longer hires singers, preferring instead to take on vocal duties himself in recent years. Asked if he has had to change his compositional approach to accommodate his singing voice compared to how it was in the past when he was working with outside vocalists, Yngwie said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “Yes and no, because every time I wrote a song when another singer sang it, I wrote the vocal melody and I wrote the lyrics. Except in ALCATRAZZ, I wrote the vocal melody, but Graham [Bonnet] wrote the lyrics, which is the words. The musical melody that he sang, I wrote that. And the same with other singers. Some of the singers, actually, did add words, and I was never happy with that, to be honest with you. And I have to be quite honest, it was just because I was lazy.

“There was a time when I was not so focused and had other things going on and I would allow that to happen,” Yngwie explained. “That’s why. It’s not for any other reason. I’m extremely focused and extremely together right now, so it will never happen again.

“The thing is that, me as a creator, and you’ve gotta also remember this — I don’t know how to say this; I try to say it in many different ways — I am a solo artist since January 1984,” Malmsteen added. “Every record I’ve made, it’s been a solo album. I even consider the ALCATRAZZ album a solo album. No. But seriously, I wrote everything on that too. But STEELER, for instance, I wrote, like, maybe two songs. That was definitely not my thing. But the thing is, everything I did since January 1984 has been my solo albums. So if I hired somebody to sing something or hired somebody to play the keyboards or drums or bass or something, that was exactly it. That was it. Having said that, there was a period, couple of small periods — I’d say late ’80s maybe — where there was some distractions, some bad things going on. And then I let the reins go a little bit. But I was always, at the end of the day, I was producing and at the end of the day, I was always doing that. But even those times, these are my solo albums. I mean, there are solo artists that don’t do anything themselves. They have everybody writing and producing everything for ’em. They still call themselves solo artists. So, I don’t know how that works. But anyway… That’s cool too… I just find it interesting that some people don’t seem to understand that I’ve been a solo artist since 1984. And it stops there.”

Yngwie released a new live album, “Tokyo Live”, on April 25 via Music Theories Recordings. The concert was recorded at the Zepp DiverCity, Tokyo on May 11, 2024 as part of Yngwie‘s 40th-anniversary world tour.

Malmsteen‘s breathtaking technique takes center stage of the 100-minute concert while being cocooned by exquisite musicianship throughout. The setlist tracks Malmsteen‘s illustrious career, from “Hiroshima Mon Amour” and “Evil Eye” and through his remarkable solo career with “Rising Force”, “Far Beyond The Sun”, “Arpeggios From Hell” and “Seventh Sign” all the way up to his most recent material taken from 2021’s “Parabellum”, with “Wolves At The Door”, “Relentless Fury”, “(Si Vis Pacem) Parabellum”, not to mention rousing renditions of “Paganini’s 4th” and “Smoke On The Water”.

Only four of the songs on “Parabellum” featured vocals. The album title is Latin, translating as “Prepare For War”.

After working with some of the top hard singers of the past four decades, Yngwie now handles much of the lead vocals himself in his own band, backed by a lineup that includes keyboardist Nick Marino, bassist Emilio Martinez and drummer Kevin Klingenschmid.

The name of Yngwie Malmsteen has always stood for uncompromising excellence. In a career that now spans more than 40 years he has proven himself to be a unique artist. You can try to categorize him in any way you wish. But the manner in which this supreme Swedish craftsman has continually developed his music makes Malmsteen sublimely transcend any definition you attempt to impose.

He now has a catalogue of 22 solo studio albums, each of which has much to commend. Malmsteen‘s artistry has always clearly incorporated a healthy virtuosity, but his talent goes well beyond a comprehensive control of the guitar. The man is a fine composer and, on recent releases, has also showcased a strong vocal presence and now, with only this fifth live release, it captures four decades of relentless fury and blissful artistry of one of the true greats.