First of all it is quite surprising to see the string of musicians that have accompanied Yngwie into the studio for this one, three singers, Joe Lynn Turner, Mark Boals and Jeff Scott Soto, Jens Johansson, Mats Olausson and David Rosenthal on keyboards, Marcel Jacob on bass and Anders Johansson on drums. So the surprise is to see that with some of the folks Yngwie managed to overcome old differences at least for the recordings.

Musically it is all classical stuff, starting out with KANSAS' classic "Carry On Wayward Son", I love that song and the following "Pictures Of Home" (originally by DEEP PURPLE) also sounds very good in the version of Malmsteen, sounds fresh and energetic, good one! Or classical RAINBOW with "Gates Of Babylon" (also covered by TAD MOROSE on their "Sender Of Thoughts" album)… And so it continues, RAINBOW, Jimi Hendrix, U.K., SCORPIONS, RUSH, they all get their share, DEEP PURPLE even four times, so I think that there is some connection to be made, don't you think?

Anyways, the versions are impeccable and also Yngwie Malmsteen himself is not pushing to the fore, but embeds his wizardry into the song itself, showing a very good sense for interpretation and still managing to show us how good he is with his guitar(s). So after all it mostly is a question, if you like the songs from the late Sixties and Seventies, not so much the performance on this CD. I for my part never liked Jimi Hendrix (I mean, I very much appreciate and acknowledge how important he was and that he was a damn good guitarist, don't get me wrong, it's just the songs…), but here Yngwie even takes over the vocals himself on "Manic Depression", something we don't see/hear very often!

So overall a worthy investment, if you like Yngwie and also the sound of that time back then, because the performance is great, the songs are classics, so now decide for yourself! (Online July 2, 2003)