Unleash the Fury

In 2002, guitar acrobatic extraordinaire Yngwie Malmsteen was aboard an airplane in Japan and received the surprise of his life. As folklore goes, Malmsteen allegedly made offensive comments regarding homosexuality. A fellow passenger took offense to the comment and proceeded to throw a glass of water on Malmsteen. This sent his temper into a rising force and began a legendary tirade that catapulted Malmsteen back into the heavy metal spotlight for one last time. Amid the fracas Malmsteen launched a verbal spat on the passenger with the phrase "you've unleashed the f*cking fury" being atop the most quotable of moments. Fast forward three years and Malmsteen is still milking this incident for all it's worth, bringing into question whether or not this event was actually staged in order to sustain his career. Conspiracy theories aside, Malmsteen and company basically run the same plays on Unleash the Fury that they do with every other album. There's no denying Malmsteen's virtuosity on guitar, making runs up and down the guitar neck that even the most accomplished guitarist would find troubling at half-speed. But when the vocalist makes his appearance, then things become awkward and irksome. Taking more than contributing, the lyrics and vocal stylings hinder the sole reason for purchasing this record: to listen to the guy make the guitar melt in the palm of his hand. Another predictable exercise, and what starts off with a fury ends with at best a whimper.