Review by SilentScream213 for Yngwie J. Malmsteen - Eclipse (1990)

Yngwie begins the new decade with his most mainstream release yet. It’s a pretty smooth transition from Odyssey – the AOR and simplicity turned up a bit. It starts off pretty dull, and a good portion of the tracks are unmemorable anthems. The lyrics are quite poor, though they’ve never been great.

It’s not all bad, though – Eclipse is the first album where Yngwie uses his guitar to start layering simple yet effective melodies in almost New Age style. They play off keys and vocal harmonies, and there are some moments where all the sound comes together in really nice ways. Vocalist Göran Edman actually steals most of the songs, as for once Yngwie doesn’t do a whole lot of shredding and soloing. I won’t lie, these songs are about as uninspired and passionless as radio pop, but Göran certainly doesn’t lack ability, and he’s got a few fantastic hooks here. The album also ends with a string of really strong material, meaning it leaves a poor first impression, but a much stronger lasting one. I liked it more with each listen.

Overall – some of his worst, but also some of my favorite material from Yngwie.