Yngwie Malmsteen: The First Guitar Record That Blew You Away

Josh from Fretterverse says:

There comes a time in every guitar player’s musical upbringing when they find that one record, that one pivotal piece of music that completely destroys any hope they had of a non-musical future career. It’s that one CD (or LP/cassette in my case) that is so moving and inspirational that you lose your mind and block out anything and everything that is not guitar-related.

For me, that record has a little bit of a back story. I remember going to the local 7-11 one day to pick up the latest issue of Guitar for the Practicing Musician magazine. Back in the day, this was the magazine to buy. If I remember correctly, Guitar and Guitar World were the only two magazines for guitar out. (I could be wrong about that.) So, I picked up the March 1986 issue and started pouring through the pages. At the time my favorite section was the transcription area. I wasn’t that great at reading music yet, and certainly my ear wasn’t developed.

Perusing the transcriptions, however, led me to a then little-known song by a Swedish guitar player named Yngwie J. Malmsteen. (According to Spinal Tap, the “J” was to separate him from all of the other Yngwie Malmsteen’s out there in the world.)

The song was called ... find out now