During a recent appearance on Metal Edge, the Smashing Pumpkins guitarist Jeff Schroeder listed five favorite hair-metal albums of all time. He also included Yngwie Malmsteen on his list and praised his magnificent guitar playing skills.
The Smashing Pumpkins released their eleventh and latest album, ‘Cyr,’ on November 27, 2020. After the band announced the new album, they supported it with five new singles. The album generally received mixed reviews from critics. Some praised it for its innovative style, while others criticized the band for moving towards an electro-pop and new wave sound.
It is known that they have been working on a new concept album right now, but they haven’t announced an exact release date yet. The band had previously announced the ‘Rock Invasion 2 Tour’ in support of their 2020 album, which was initially postponed due to the pandemic and then entirely canceled. After two years of break, they recently informed the fans about the new tour dates. They’ll hit the road in the U.S. between May 2, 2022, and May 29.
Before their upcoming tour, the band’s guitarist Jeff Schroeder came together with Metal Edge and listed his favorite hair-metal albums. He chose Yngwie Malmsteen’s second solo studio album, ‘Marching Out,’ released in 1985, as his second favorite album. Schroeder revealed that Malmsteen was an important figure in his childhood, and his fantastic guitar playing greatly influenced him. The guitarist explained that what he loves about the album is especially Malmsteen’s ‘monstrous guitar playing’ from the record’s beginning to the end.
Jeff Schroeder speaking on his favorite Yngwie Malmsteen album:
“It’s hard for me to pick a specific album from Yngwie, but if I had to, it would be ‘Marching Out.’ I was born in 1974, so by the time I was nine or ten years old and started playing guitar, it was 1984, and we were just hitting this high point of amazing guitar playing. And everybody knew who Yngwie was. I remember buying ‘Rising Force,’ his first solo album, in the mall, and I keep such good care of my records that I still have it with the original plastic on it, with the price tag. Brand new it was $5.98 or something like that.
Why do I love ‘Marching Out’? First off, it’s just absolutely monstrous guitar playing from beginning to end. And songs like ‘I’ll See the Light Tonight’ and ‘Don’t Let It End’ are fantastic. But I even like ‘I Am a Viking’ I know it’s the song that’s kind of made fun of, and it is kind of funny, but the solo on that song is just ferocious. I mean, Yngwie just had no fear at the time.”
He continued by saying:
“Here’s an interesting story: I grew up in the L.A. area, and when I was 16, Yngwie did a signing at Tower Records in the suburbs by my house. And so I drove there by myself and waited, like, three hours in line at this Tower Records with my Yngwie poster. And then you get up to the front of the line, and there he is, with the leopard jacket, the sunglasses, the full Yngwie.
I realize now he was probably wearing the sunglasses because he was totally hungover, but it just seemed so awesome. I didn’t even talk to him. I mean, I probably said ‘Thank you,’ or something like that, but you only get like three seconds, and then it’s ‘Next!’ They just wanted to get everyone in and out. And there were so many people in line with their guitars. Just all these dudes standing out there with their guitars, going into Tower Records. I don’t think you’ll ever see anything like that again.”
Jeff Schroeder also recalled his brief first encounter with Yngwie Malmsteen when he waiting at Tower Records to get his autograph. Schroeder didn’t have a chance to talk to him for long, but still, he was extremely excited to see Malmsteen in front of him. It was an unforgettable moment for him to see all those people waiting in line with their guitars to get them signed.
