ajejebrazorf

"he brought classicism and the schemes of classical music into an electric instrument": aside from the fact that this isn't necessarily a merit, the classicizing arrangements (which doesn't mean making classical music or being on par with great composers) in rock have been around long before, going back to the birth of progressive. As for Malmsteen's way of playing: it's terrible, a total inability to phrase (he might be incredibly fast, but the word "captivating" is alien to him; even at a thousand notes per second, rhythmically he is uniquely flat), complete musical ignorance. Yes, he can read sheet music but understands nothing about music: someone who says that others should accompany without too much flourish while the guitar must be in the spotlight and other similar nonsense shows the depth of his musical conception. But really, do we want to talk about how banal and ridiculous his "classical" arrangements are? And those rock ones that sound like they came straight out of Europe records, but even uglier and more embarrassing? Do we want to discuss his complete lack of imagination, the fact that he believes he is doing blues yet always plays his ridiculous hyper-fast licks, all the same, and that he thinks he is doing flamenco while again playing his ridiculous hyper-fast licks, all the same? Here we are talking about a charlatan who since he has used harmonic minor and diminished scales and has used an orchestra (it's also at Sanremo, and has always been in pop) would have brought classical into rock, he and Shostakovich the same thing, brrr.

What would his "merits" be?

but I separate personal value from historical value, indeed I don't care about historical value but I would recognize it: when it comes to Malmsteen, we can indeed talk about historical demerits. This portly Swedish kabuki has been influential and tremendously harmful to music and good taste.

If that's the case, no one conceived of the gas chamber before Nazism; it seems clear to me that it was a significant innovation. Thank you, Nazism.

but no, Malmsteen is terrible always, really terrible. I haven't heard everything, but from what I've heard (including his early albums that are called "the best"), it's crap. I've never heard anything he played that was above the crap level. It's incredible that in 2008 there are still people talking about him even with respect.

but ENOUGH SHIT hasn't anyone written it yet?

Great review Spacca... but I’ve always associated Part with minimalism, why do you say it doesn't relate?

"remembering the Suicide for the sense of oppression and the Hawkwind for the cosmic expansion" and that would be enough to perfectly frame them. I liked them quite a bit (it's been a while since I've listened to them, I think I'll give them another listen). I have a video of them, and seeing him live, he's a pretty impressive guy.

"that Ford beats Leone 3 to 0 makes no sense at all, and in fact these two directors are the ones who have set the rules in Western cinema." I prefer Peckinpah to Ford, let alone to Leone (who, although very talented, seems to be exalted beyond all limits here), and in any case there are several great Western directors.

Take it with a grain of salt, but I read somewhere that in Italy there was practically a law (don't ask me what it regulated) that required an Italian name to appear in all parts of the film and even in the direction, and that Ragona was just a front name; while the real director would be Salkow, who wouldn’t have just "cared for" the American version, as commonly reported. After all, considering how things go, for example, among songwriters, it wouldn’t be that strange…