Love him or hate him, Yngwie Malmsteen is one of the most influential guitarists in metal. The Swedish musician’s lightning-fingered technique ushered in the 80s shred boom, which countless young guitarists picked up on until it seemed like the whole world was in a six-string arms race to see who could play the most notes in the quickest time.
As revolutionary as he was, Yngwie never made any secret of his classic rock influences. And chief among the people who inspired him was legendary Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore - a man who Malmsteen was frequently accused of ripping off, something he constantly denied.
Still, he was always open about the impact Blackmore in particular and Deep Purple more generally had on him. And of the all the albums the British hard rock pioneers made, there’s one in particular that blew the young Ynwgie’s mind when he first heard it.
Speaking to Classic Rock in 2008, the guitarist pointed to Deep Purple’s monumental 1972 live album Made In Japan as the album that changed the course of his life.
“I was just nine or 10 years old when my elder brother brought home Made In Japan,” he told Classic Rock. “I’d already heard Deep Purple’s In Rock [1970] and Fireball [1971], both of which had affected me in Biblical proportions. For some unbelievable reason I wasn’t familiar with Machine Head [1972], the studio album that so much of Made In Japan is based on. I went out and got Machine Head because I had loved Made In Japan so much, but as a naïve little kid from Sweden I couldn’t understand why Lazy and Space Truckin’ had suddenly become so short.
“No other live album had such a huge impact on me. Made In Japan had so much crazy energy, man. Back then, without the internet, MP3 players and thousands of radio stations to choose from, hearing a new record for the first time was such a religious experience. I actually wore out three or four copies of the vinyl edition.
He went on to say how the album inspired his own playing in a unique way.
“This is how much it absorbed me. The album is mixed with the guitar panned hard left and the Hammond organ on the right. I often listened to the album with Blackmore’s solos turned down, replacing them with my own and recording them onto this cassette player of my uncle’s. I took the tapes into school saying: ‘Listen to this.’ My friends would go: ‘Yeah, Made In Japan. So what?’ But it was me playing the guitar! I had everything down so faithfully; I even knew when Blackmore touched his pick-up switch, so I did the same thing… I could’ve fooled anybody.
“I love the actual sound of Made In Japan. It was produced by the whole band but mixed by [Deep Purple bassist] Roger Glover and [drummer] Ian Paice. Those two did such a great job. In fact the only criticism I could make is the sleeve artwork – I’d have died for more of those photographs.
“Later on I acquired recordings of all three gigs that were recorded [August 15-17, 1972, in Osaka and Tokyo], and it made me realise they’d really picked the right takes. Some of the others were out of tune or a little iffy. In a way it slightly detracted from the magic.
“Sadly I never saw the Mk II line-up of Deep Purple until they regrouped for the Perfect Strangers album [in 1984]. But my very first concert was Rainbow on their Rising tour, at the age of 12. And I’ve since hung out with Ritchie Blackmore, Ian Paice and Roger Glover. I also got up on stage with Ian Gillan in Stockholm in 1990 – the footage is on YouTube.
“But even now, when I put on Made In Japan in my car I still go: ‘Fuck! This is an incredible album.’ It really is amazing.”
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