It's always hard for me to read reviews of Yngwie Malmsteen's albums, because they always tend to fall into two categories: first, the aspiring guitar players who put more emphasis on Malmsteen's skill with his instrument than his actual music and whose sense of hero worship for Malmsteen leads them to venerate his recordings based purely on the speed of his soling ("if you like REAL guitar playing, check this out!"); and second, the pretentious would-be music journalists who feel compelled to dismiss anything he does based purely on the fact that he's Yngwie Malmsteen ("he plays with no feel, it's all just mindless speed and fireworks," etc.) Neither perception of Malmsteen's work is very accurate, and both are wrong for the simple reason that there was much more to Malmsteen's early work than mere guitar pyrotechnics and flashy speed-of-light arpeggiated solos -- a fact that his worshippers don't seem to care about and that his detractors refuse to acknowledge.

Malmsteen does, in fact, play with a good deal of feel and emotion on this album. His love and enthusiasm for making music show through in everything he plays here. And of course, at this point in his career, Malmsteen was still a guitar virtuoso of the highest order. Even though Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore had been the first heavy metal guitarist to incorporate classical scales into a hard rock style, and Ozzy Osbourne's late right-hand man Randy Rhoads had perfected what would come to be known as the neoclassical style of heavy metal guitar, Malmsteen built on their work, creating a fully-formed and innovative style. Make no mistake about it: Yngwie Malmsteen is an exceptionally talented guitarist, and this album was one of the last moments where he actually demonstrated it.

But what both Malmsteen's fans and his critics fail to realize is that there's a lot more to look at in his music than just instrumental prowess. "Rising Force" is made up of genuinely good songs. "Black Star" is one of the all-time great rock instrumentals; it's one of the few Malmsteen instrumental composition that's actually built around a signature riff and contains a distinguishable solo (and what a solo it is!), rather than the entire song being the solo. The same can be said for "Evil Eye" and "Little Savage." "Far Beyond the Sun" and "Icarus' Dream Suite," by contrast, feature Malmsteen using a technique that Joe Satriani would often employ: namely, letting his guitar take on the role of "lead vocalist."

The real lead vocalist of Malmsteen's band, however, was a talented young self-taught singer named Jeff Scott Soto. Soto is one of the finest vocalists in all of rock music, but on this album he rarely gets a chance to show it. His vocals are only featured on two tracks, neither of which lets him show what he's capable of. "Now Your Ships Are Burned" makes terrible use of his amazing range, and "As Above, So Below" only hints at the feats of vocal brilliance he would achieve on Malmsteen's second album, "Marching Out." As it is, Soto manages to hold his own on this record and sound convincing, even while singing Malmsteen's sub-par lyrics.

Both "Rising Force" and its follow-up, "Marching Out," see Yngwie Malmsteen in rare form, as his amazing instrumental talent is actually matched by the music he uses it to create. It's just a shame that most people -- including those who actually like Malmsteen's style of playing -- don't allow for him to do anything musically interesting, which is what he was most certainly doing on this album.

This album is by far one of greatest guitar albums of all time... however, not because you can listen from beginning to end any time of the day, this album includes 3 songs which are masterpieces, of course they are: Black Star, Far Beyond the sun, and Icarus... for the people here that reviewed the album as being "with no feeling" , these people need to open their minds a bit more... there is no such thing as no feeling, as Steve Vai once put it , "thats somethig that a 10 year old would say", Yngwie is fast, very fast, he however is not even close to being the fastest... his speed adds to the songs, which are very tough compositions... One review said that comparing Bach and Yngwie is insulting to the great classical composer, this is another ridiculous statement, I think Bach is a genious and one can not compare a classical composer who changed the history of music hundreds of years ago to a guitarist in these last 50 years that guitar has been existent... Once again talking about this album, BUY IT, if you play guitar BUY IT, i listen to it everyday, mostly because im in the beginning of FAR BEYOND myself... Malmsteen used Paganini as his major influence, thus it is another reason that one can not really just talk about Bach, This album is great and full of feeling, when upset, or sad, even happy... this album will touch something in you, if it doesn't then its not your type of music, listen to something else... I know people (and Im sure you all do) that say classical music has no feeling, these people cant experience music, but simply blast it in their cars (dont blame them, poor people)... This album is amazing...

I own Concerto Suite For Electric guitar and thought the playing was excellent. I did enjoy the music, but I was very interested in hearing some of Malmsteen's metal albums. When a friend asked if I wanted to see him live, I went along and was totally blown away. I'd been meaning to buy Rising Force (if not another one of his albums) but that gig was what made me.

And I have to say that impressed is not the word. I was absolutely amazed by what I heard. From the doomy Black Star (proof that slow and emotional is also heavy) and the fast guitar/keyboard duelling in the speedy Far Beyond The Sun through the epic Icarus Dream Suite to the closing piece, Malmsteen plays some of the most amazing guitar I've ever heard.

Overplays? Well he always has, he always will and he always should.

But, continuing on that, there is the age old "no emotion" thing that people criticise. Emotion is not a fact - some music can convey emotion to some people. My sister says that Unchained Melody by the Righteous Brothers (NOT the Gareth Gates version which she hates) sends shivers down her spine. But it does nothing for me. Similarly, she does not feel the same passion and intesity exude from Randy Rhoads' guitar solos in Ozzy Osbourne's Mr Crowley that I do. Yngwie Malmsteen DOES play with emotion. Maybe you don't see it and that is fair enough, but others do.

At the end of the day, 75% or so of this is guitar soloing (think Nicolo Pagninni's 24 Caprices played on a Fender Strat - Malmsteen cites this piece as a major influence in his playing) so it may not be for everyone. There are only 2 songs with vocals and even then guitar is still dominant. But if you like technical guitar music, like classical and like it indulgent (well it is, but for many that's a plus) then this is a highly recommended album.

Yngwie Johann Malmsteen is one of the most technically accomplished guitarists from the eighties "shred" era, when guitar playing was all about showing off with obscenely fast fretboard gymnastics. On this, his debut album with his old bandmates from Sweden, he stunned the guitar world and inspired a generation of gratuitously fast guitarists to bone up on their alternate and sweep-picking abilities. Coupled with a strong sense of classical harmony and Hendix inspired phrasing, Yngwie's unique playing is still regarded by many as the definition of great guitar playing, and this is exemplified by his incredible virtuosity on tracks like "Far Beyond the Sun". A subtler side to his playing is shown on the "Icarus Dream Suite", whilst the two vocal excursions are acceptable (if not classics!). I would definately recommend this album as an excellent example of the blending of technical wizardry, classical harmony and blistering showmanship that is present in Yngwie's playing.

although the genre is metal, but this is not one of your **oohhhh lets headbang to the deadpoundingly fast music** kind of records. This, ladies and gentlemen, is a masterpiece in music and records such significant and mammothly significant are made once in a lifetime. The ideal setting to listen to this album is in a dark, cool room, unperturbed by anything, and RELAXED. Yngwie will then take you to a journey which you'll never forget, every track is brilliant par excellence, there is not even one sub-standard song, the vocals, the drums, the bass, the keys and yes the guitar, they are just PERFECT.

and anyone who says you need to be a guitar nerd to understand and appreciate the album is just a moron. For the, so to say, musically *uneducated* this might seem to be random notes playd here and there the first time but listen to it 3-4 times and you are guaranteed to be swept away by the, one and only, ever amazing Mr. Yngwie Johann Malmsteen.