Alcatrazz was designed to be a vehicle for showcasing former Rainbow vocalist Graham Bonnet. Instead it ended up being famous for being a springboard for some of shred guitar’s biggest superstars. The band’s first guitarist was a 19-year-old Swedish upstart by the name of Yngwie Malmsteen. With the support of MTV, who played both singles from the band’s 1983 debut album No Parole From Rock N Roll in fairly heavy rotation, Malmsteen would become a superstar and forever revolutionize what it meant to be a guitar hero. Unfortunately, Malmsteen and Bonnet did not see eye to eye for very long and the guitarist would exit the band before the end of the first album’s tour cycle. He would go on to form his own band, Rising Force, and within the span of a year record two of the greatest neo-classical heavy metal guitar records to ever exist.

“I Am A Viking” is the fifth track from Marching Out, the second album by Swedish guitar virtuoso Yngwie Malmsteen and his band Rising Force. The track features the vocals of the legendary front man Jeff Scott Soto. This video was filmed live in Japan during Rising Force’s 1985 tour.

Watch the Video here below.

Swedish guitar virtuoso Yngwie Malmsteen, who is best known for his flamboyant and over the top approach to his guitar playing, which combines elements of classical compositions with a blinding speed and a healthy [unhealthy?] dose of ego which helped made his genre – heavy metal – and him rather legendary in the 1980s, is releasing his autobiography entitled Relentless: The Memoir on May 21, 2013.

The book’s official description reads as follows:

Right now, the first three albums from Yngwie Malmsteen, the Swedish guitar virtuoso whose perfect blending of classical guitar and heavy metal made him a musical icon and guitar hero in the 1980s, are on sale for under $6 each (in CD and MP3 formats). All the listed CDs are “AutoRip,” which means if you purchase the CD, you’ll ALSO get the MP3 download for FREE. I’ve also included for each album the release date and some of its noteworthy tunes. If you want just a taste of what Malmsteen has to offer, just watch the video here below and be prepared to be blown away.

Rising Force (1984)
CD $3.99 | MP3 $5.00
Black Star, Icarus Dream Suite Opus 4, Now Your Ships Are Burned

Marching Out (1985)
CD $5.99 | MP3 $9.49*
I’ll See The Light Tonight, I Am A Viking, Don’t Let It End

Trilogy (1986)
CD $5.99 | MP3 $5.00
You Don’t Remember, I’ll Never Forget, Queen In Love, Fire

If you’re looking for more music deals, be sure to check out the 2,000 albums on sale right now for only $5 each in MP3 format.

From Fandango to Purple, from Rainbow to Yngwie – the king of AOR lead vocalists Joe Lynn Turner has done it all. But he never chooses the easy route.

I grabbed the great man for an extensive chat about projects past and present including his time spent with notorious guitarist Ritchie Blackmore in Rainbow and Deep Purple, his history with current blues master Joe Bonamassa, and “˜crazy’ six-string virtuoso Yngwie Malmsteen.

Tuner’s most recent album, Emotional Fire, with his Sunstorm project has been on the receiving end of some extremely positive reviews. This seemed like a good place to start.

Geeks of Doom: First of all, you’ve had so much great feedback for the Emotional Fire album you must be really pleased.

Joe Lynn Turner: Well not only am I pleased, I’m very surprised. I’d like to preface this by saying I didn’t have any chance to put any of my old material on it. Usually [on albums with] Sunstorm I’ve got three to five songs on it of old material that has never been recorded. I was in Turkey at the time for like a month down in Antalya and I had no hard drive with me, I just had this little mini computer so I told Serafino [Perugino, album executive producer] “˜I really can’t get to any of my material.’…He went around in search of material [and] came up with the two Michael Bolton’s and the Cher [songs], which I sang backgrounds on [originally], God only knows how long ago that was.