Seventh Sign

Seventh Sign

Editorial Reviews
Product Description
Domestic reissue of Malmsteen's 1994 album. More blues oriented than previous albums, Malmsteen was influenced by Hendrix in the use of a wah-wah pedal. 13 tracks including, 'Never Die', 'Meant To Be' and 'Bad Blood'. Standard jewel case. 20000 release. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Tracks:

Never Die
I Don't Know
Meant To Be
Forever One
Hairtrigger
Brothers
Seventh Sign
Bad Blood
Prisoner Of Your Love
Crash And Burn
Pyramid Of Cheops
Sorrow
Angel In Heat

Album Description

Domestic reissue of Malmsteen's 1994 album. More blues oriented than previous albums, Malmsteen was influenced by Hendrix in the use of a wah-wah pedal. 13 tracks including, 'Never Die', 'Meant To Be' and 'Bad Blood'. Standard jewel case. 20000 release.

Customer Reviews:

Varied and enjoyable, and SUPERBLY sung!.......2006-10-07

Instead of starting the review by talking about the guitar hero who plays here and we all know that shreds like no other, I'll talk first about Michael Vescera, the vocalist. Why? Well, because his superbly melodic and powerful voice makes all the difference on this record. I think Malmsteen at this point doesn't have anything special or revolutionary to say - without taking any merit out from the maestro, of course. But I do welcome Vescera as a true treat to my ears and a great complement to Malmsteen skills, because it is Vescera what makes me really enjoy this release.

However, a great singer and a virtuoso guitar player don't make by themselves a five star record "just by default". There are also songs, and that's what I think is the strongest point of this release. I was waiting something like this from Yngwie since Odyssey, and well, here it is - finally! All the songs in this album are great ones, very pleasant to the ears and at the same time played with perfect musicianship and attitude.

For instance, the opener "Never Die" is a greatly melodic, purely neoclassic song that sounds superbly well - nothing new, yes, but so well done! It's an instant hook. But things get even more interesting while you move forward to the next tracks. "I don't know" is a very old school hard rock piece which shows a totally different side of Yngwie. What a great surprise hearing him exploring other sonic avenues! For once the man attacks with all his Hendrix influences more than explicitly. The tone, the wah, the way of riffing, all quote Hendrix so amazingly well! Then it comes the next track: the entry solo of "Meant to be" is a little masterpiece. I love it! And later on you get "Forever One", a power ballad to kill, as good as it gets from Yngwie - though I won't dare to say it matches "Dreaming", no I won't. :-)

But a very special mention goes to the title track: "Seventh Sign". This song is neoclassic power metal at its best, period. Vescera again does it sooooo well! And Yngwie? Well, he invented the genre as we know it today, so what can I say about him you don't know already? :-)

Another great (and also different!) song is "Bad Blood", kind of power blues / hard rock that reminds me Lynch Mob or Badlands at their best. Another surprise from Yngwie, who successfully moves away from his "normal" musical constructions. Again, I love the vocals. The guitar sounds amazing too. The pre-chorus even reminds me the good ol' Alcatrazz, with some Whitesnake thrown in for good measure. It is so cool! Thanks, Yngwie, for daring to change your style at least once in a lifetime!

And there is also the ballad "Prisioner of your love". Kind of cheesy power ballad again, but still fertile land to let Vescera shine at his best. And the chorus, well, that's "copy & paste" from Bach, I know; but I dig it anyways. Malmsteen always was keen at vulgarizing the old masters, and with this song he does it again - and does it well.

As you can see, I've been mentioning songs and songs and songs, and praising about them one by one. I always listen to this album without skipping a single track, and that says a lot. To conclude, if Odyssey was your cup of tea, this one will be too. And if good music and good rock is your stuff, this album is a no brainer. If not the best (as it would be a matter of taste), "Seventh Sign" is one of the best albums Malmsteen has ever released so far. Five singing and "songwritten" stars! :-)

3.5 - 4 star territory for this release.......2006-08-12

After being dumped by a second major label following the fiasco that was Fire and Ice Malmsteen promptly signed to mobs like Pony Canyon and Music for Nations to get his product out and about in the 90's. Given that it was the 90's the man should of been considered a demi god for being booted by two majors for not being commercial enough. Yet strangely he was lambasted by many for trying to be commercial. And stranger yet so called alternative rock like grungers Pearl Jam and Nirvana were allowed to sell squillions on major labels and still be worshipped. It's a funny old world - but then again success is it's own defence to an extent.

As to this album itself - the first of the non major company product it is a less ambitious work than the previous Fire and Ice. Gone are the orchestral arrangements and string sections and also pushed the background are the keyboards. Instead the album is a quite conventional hard rock Malmsteen album. Heavy rockers such as Never Die, I Don't Know and Hairtrigger have spirit and fire though Yngwies ballads such as Forever One have always been shaky propositions.

Elsewhere tunes like Seventh Sign, Bad Blood and Pyramid of Cheops are reasonably good Malmsteen tracks making this perhaps his most consistent release of the 90's (of his own compositions). A couple of OK instrumentals are almost mandatory for a Malmsteen record and are present and accounted for and aren't too bad. The sparklinkg and smooth production values on display here certainly help these precise tunes, I guess it's a bonus when you cna produce your own stuff, and Yngwie does a pretty good job here.

A somewhat derided release upon it's unleashing, this straight forward collection has actually aged quite well. Fans of his earlier work will find a range of riffs and melodies to keep them happy. And in Michael Vescera Yngwie had a singer who could fully realise his vision - and check out the tune Crash and Burn - a melding of prefectly histrionic guitar shredding and over the top vocals that are a testimony to the skills of both men. Top stuff.

Not his best.......2003-10-29

Come on kids...grow up. His best is the Rising Force LP. Skip the vocals, I wanna hear the raw guitar he's best for! Check it out!

Hail The Maestro!!!.......2003-06-19

Yngwie is back! And better than ever! The power and vibrance of this CD are awesome! It is in-your-face metal with Yngwie playing at the speed of light! Yet it still manages to be heart-felt and melodic. This CD has definitely become one of my favorites. While I like pretty much all of the songs on the CD, I think that "Forever One" and "I Don't Know" are 2 of my favorites. "Forever One" is a great ballad with a lot of heart and has got to be one of the prettiest songs I've ever heard. I love the combination of the softer, more melodic acoustic guitar parts with the more intense sound of the electric guitar in other parts of the song. On the other end of the spectrum, "I Don't Know" is one that really gets you movin' and puts a smile on your face. While it has a totally different feel to it, I really love the guitar work in that one as well! "Bad Blood" is another one that really shines! The only song that I really didn't like all that much was "Pyramid of Cheops". I don't hate it, but it just didn't appeal to me as much as the other songs on the CD. I generally find myself skipping past that tune. But the rest of the CD is on fire! It was a great comeback after the disappointing previous release "Fire And Ice". Yngwie truly shines on this CD! I've heard it said over and over again that Yngwie plays without heart or emotion and while I have never been able to understand how that could be said about him, I think that this CD depicts more accurately than any other how Yngwie very competently combines his passion for playing with his phenominal talent. This is definitely a collection of songs that everyone could enjoy, whether your an avid fan of the Maestro or not.

MASTER YNGWIE.......2002-02-19

In Italy this album is a forgotten rarity. "Never Die" is for me the summary of Yngwie guitar technique. Indimenticabile !!!!!!

Average customer rating:

I recommend this is you're into shred fest guitars...
Hail The Maestro!!
Heavy...
really great
Just great

The Seventh Sign
Yngwie Malmsteen
Manufacturer: Pony Canyon
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B00000JOE1
Release Date: 1999-03-26

Tracks:

Never Die
I Don't Know
Meant to Be
Forever One
Hairtrigger
Brothers
Seventh Sign
Bad Blood
Prisoner of Your Love
Pyramid of Cheops
Crash and Burn
Sorrow
Angel in Heat

Customer Reviews:

I recommend this is you're into shred fest guitars..........2004-05-18

...which I am, of course, into! The good news about this CD has some cool song-crafting, not following trends, being 100% Yngwie as we know and love him! The bad news is that (although) this CD has some cool song-crafting, it is not following trends, remaining 100% Yngwie as we knew and loved him.... In other words, not much has changed from this CD than the last several. Some Yngwie purists will rejoice with this, others who like musicians who progress (not necessarily follow trends, but evolve as musicians) might see this CD as the same ol' tricks. Making this CD interesting, though, is former LOUDNESS vocalist Mike Vescera, adding an operatic 80s feel. Not as bluesly and soulful as the mighty Joe Lynn Turner or as "spandex" sounding as Mark Bowles, but Vescera adds his flavor to Malmsteen's work here... a good combo. The rhythm section could have been any decent drummer and bassist in Miami. My fav tracks are title track and "Forever One". Enjoy!

Hail The Maestro!!.......2003-06-19

Heavy..........2000-01-19

Besides being his heaviest album ever-also he plays faster than the speed of light on this one-this album has very strong blues leanings adding more warmth to the overall effect on the listener.Vescera is a powerful vocalist(also check out his work with the Japanese band Loudness,and his recent solo outing plus his stellar appearance on Grapow's new solo album).This is a very hard hitting Yngwie album,essential for any dedicated Malmsteen or Vescera fan.Top notch.

really great.......1999-10-23

this is the Yngwie's best rock album. It'simple but it has power like none. Vescera has a beautiful an very rich voice. Terrana is the Yngwie's best drummer ever. References to classical music -Bach, Paganini- are really clear.

Just great.......1999-10-16

I think this album is great for people who likes to listen to music. The solos are fantastic! NEVER DIE

Average customer rating:

A Killer progressive Metal album!!!
Great CD
Not just an all-star line-up but...

The Seventh Sign
Section A
Manufacturer: Lion Music Finland
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Rock | Imports | Stores | Music
ASIN: B0000A9DON
Release Date: 2003-10-14

Tracks:

Seventh Sign
Riot
Pray for Rain
Nightmare
Tomorrow
Man in the Mirror
Killing Fields
Into the Fire

Customer Reviews:

A Killer progressive Metal album!!!.......2006-01-29

Guitarist from Denmark, Singer from Sweden, keyboards and drums from Germany. Some of the best musicians from Europe and the US combine to make an awesome album! Enevoldsen really does well on the guitar. The singer is very good as well. Derek Sherinian does some cool keyboard solos. Gunther Wurno from Vanden Plas also does some good keyboard work. The songs are written very well, and the production is very solid. If you like Dream Theater and Symphony X, Section A will surely please. They are not clones of DT or SYX. They are unique and should be appreciated! Highly recommended!

P.S. - If you like to download the album instead of buy a physical copy, Itunes sells this album for $7.92.

Great CD.......2003-11-27

This was unexpected. I heard the cd on a sampler in a store and bought it right away: it's very good music. Altough most of the album is mid-tempo or slow, the musicians really shine. Fans of symphony x might like it.

Not just an all-star line-up but..........2003-11-04

Section A is Danish guitar virtuoso Torben Enevoldsen's brainchild. He put this project together when he decided to take a break from releasing instrumental solo albums. I have never heard of Enevoldsen before; my main interest in Section A came from a review where I read that former [Beyond] Twilight vocalist Anders Engberg was the singer and the album was also going to feature two members from notable German prog metallers Vanden Plas. Gunter Werno is a great keyboard player and Andreas Lill is an awesome drummer.

Engberg and the Vanden Plas guys aren't the only musicians on this project. Well known keyboardist Derek Sherinian from Alice Cooper, Dream Theater, Planet X, and Yngwie Malmsteen also appears on the CD providing some beautiful keyboard textures. There is, however, no bass player. Torben Enevoldsen, besides playing guitars and some keys, also lays down the bass. I think this project could use an independent bassist though, since the bass work is hardly audible on the entire CD. Enevoldsen is no doubt a great guitarist, he plays great guitar solos, uses a lot of sweep and alternate picking, but I would much rather prefer a bass player to provide intricate rhythms. Also while drummer Andreas Lill is an absolutely excellent drummer (just check out his work on Vanden Plas' Beyond Daylight), his drumming is mixed a bit too low, much to my dismay. What you hear on most of the CD is 1) Enevoldsen's guitar playing: soloing and riffing, 2) Andy Engberg's amazing vocals, though he too seems to have restrained himself a bit. I know very well that he has a great range and can hit the high notes quite easily. It's a shame we don't get to hear much of it, and 3) the keyboard textures. The rhythm section seems to unfortunately have been pushed behind quite a bit. Without a bassist to complement the flow of the music and Lill's low mix, the album doesn't go unscratched. It overall sounds like another solo offering of Enevoldsen with excellent musicians barely backing him up.

Also when you have two amazing keyboard players, you could well make use of their incredible technique. It's just on the opening title song "The Seventh Sign" where "the band" shines perfectly as a unit. When I first heard this song I was pleasantly surprised and thought this could be one of the best prog discs to come out in quite some time. Unfortunately they seem to lose their pace and tempo after track two and instead of experimenting with different styles, they prefer to stay within the same song structures stylistically. Enevoldsen plays his song solos using lots of sweeping and alternate picking and exhibiting his impressive vibrato. His guitar tone doesn't change much through the entire album. Vocalist Engberg sounds amazing on the title track, his killer scream right in the beginning is as impressive as always. However he doesn't sing this way much after the first two songs. Most of the tracks are mid-tempo save the guitar solos, so they don't really call for his high singing much either. I would prefer to hear his really proggy high-ranged singing more on this 57 minute album. Since this is the guitarist's project, his playing and performance are central to the songwriting. Maybe he wanted to be a step ahead of the rest of the musicians. At least this is my understanding. It would be hard to keep up with a godly singer, two amazing keyboardists and a great drummer.

Anders and his friend Welen have written the lyrics, while Enevoldsen wrote the compositions. I am quite pleased with the lyrics on this CD. It seems like Anders had some cerebral statements to make. None of the lyrics on the album are similar to what you hear on most prog metal albums nowadays. For example the second song "Riot" deals with the corruption in politics, how some politicians control the media for their own good, how they harm democracy, etc. Musically the title track is the most progressive and open song of the album. It gives each member a certain amount of space to exhibit their talents. Opening with a well-orchestrated Latin intro, Engberg enters the song with one of his well known screams and is followed by the guitars. The keys enter adding a great atmosphere to the track, before the vocals start off. I really like the guitar and keyboard solo in the middle, which sounds like Sherinian to me.

"Pray for Rain" is the first ballad-like song on the CD and the album from this point on loses its tempo never to pick up again. Engberg decidedly remains within a certain range, and most of the songs evolve around Enevoldsen's somewhat neo-classical guitar playing. Almost all the songs on this album have long fade out guitar solos performed by Torben. The fourth song "Nightmare" somehow reminds me of the victim in Evergrey's concept album In Search of Truth. It's about an individual who is trying to maintain his existence in society despite all the negativites, though musically it's a completely different entity. "Tomorrow" is the longest on the disc, almost 10 minutes in length, and it kicks off with a beautiful piano intro (Gunter Werno?) and builds up slowly where it gets to the point of some more guitar and keyboard solo trade-offs.

The rest of the album pretty much continues in the same vein, never branching out too far. So, this is a very easy album to listen to in the way that once you get the gist of Enevoldsen's musical approach you know what you can expect from him. I do like it, but feel it could have been better, especially with all these great musicians in the fold. Judging by the first two songs, I also think they could have created better compositions as opposed to writing similar songs stylistically. Fans of Dream Theater's earlier work and Symphony X might like it, though this album is more straightforward than those bands' works. Magnitude 9 is another band that comes to mind.

The Seventh Sign
Average customer rating:
The Seventh Sign
Yngwie Malmsteen
Manufacturer: Steamhammer Europe
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Rock | Styles | Music
General | Rock Guitarists | Rock | Styles | Music
Shred | Rock Guitarists | Rock | Styles | Music
General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music
Hard Rock | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music
Hard Rock & Metal | Imports | Stores | Music
ASIN: B00008Z5GL
Release Date: 2003-01-01

Tracks:

Never Die
I Don't Know
Meant to Be
Forever One
Hairtrigger
Brothers
Seventh Sign
Bad Blood
Prisoner of Your Love
Pyramid of Cheops
Crash and Burn
Sorrow
Angel in Heat

Average customer rating:

The Seventh Sign
Yngwie Malmsteen
Manufacturer: Phantom Sound & Vision
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

Hard Rock | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

General | Rock Guitarists | Rock | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000A2OZPE
Release Date: 2001-12-06

Tracks:

Never Die
I Don't Know
Meant to Be
Forever One
Hairtrigger
Brothers
Seventh Sign
Bad Blood
Prisoner of Your Love
Pyramid of Cheops
Crash and Burn
Sorrow
Angel in Heat

Average customer rating:

The Seventh Sign
Yngwie Malmsteen
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Rock | Styles | Music

General | Rock Guitarists | Rock | Styles | Music

General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

Hard Rock | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Fire & Ice
Inspiration
Unleash the Fury
Facing the Animal
Eclipse

ASIN: B000006MFI
Release Date: 1994-05-09

Tracks:

Never Die
I Don't Know
Meant to Be
Forever One
Hairtrigger
Brothers
Seventh Sign
Bad Blood
Prisoner of Your Love
Pyramid of Cheops
Crash and Burn
Sorrow
Angel in Heat

Average customer rating:

Expensive, but worth it.

The Seventh Sign
Original Soundtrack
Manufacturer: Proarte
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Movie Soundtracks | Soundtracks | Styles | Music

General | Soundtracks | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00008FLXD
Release Date: 1993-01-29

Customer Reviews:

Expensive, but worth it........2006-01-08

I didn't see the movie but the soundtrack was recommended to me by a friend.

Although mainly orchestral in the conventional sense, the overall sound could honestly be described as "unconventional". Strings and woodwind instruments, sounds and voices (I think), chimes and drums, plus other utterances are put together to create an ambient atmosphere that is dark but not sinister, maybe a little chilling and spooky but not really scarey. There doesn't seem to be any electronic manipulation, but there are sounds and noises that I cannot readily identify.

The orchestration is masterfully assembled and produced, yielding an extremely interesting listen here. Although not technically dark ambient/electronic, it should appeal to almost all fans of that genre.

At 46:11 in length it would be nice if it went on longer, but if it was played in a loop I don't think that many people would notice. As the title of this short review said, this disc is expensive, but is definitely worth it. It is a welcome and proper addition to my collection of Dark Ambient, Electronic, and Experimental music collection.

Average customer rating:

Seventh Sign
Malmsteen , and Yngwie
Manufacturer: Sanctuary
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
ASIN: B000LX3RGA

Average customer rating:

Perpetual Destiny
Seventhsign
Manufacturer: InsideOutMusic
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000N0FDT0

Product Description

Progressive Power Metal 1996 InsideOut Music, Germany Track Listing: 1. Aurora 2. Losing You 3. Red Sea 4. Cut 5. Beholder 6. Darkheart 7. Existence 8. Tearing Away 9. Biocide10. Tear 11. Liquified (bonus track)

Average customer rating:

Seventh Sign
Section A
Manufacturer: Lion
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
ASIN: B000LX3WUQ

Music Info: