I disagree with this rampant opinion that Yngwie is a product of the 80's. His look, style, guitar sound is anchored in 70's influences (Jimmy Page, Ritchie Blackmore, Jimi Hendrix). As much as I feel he tends to overplay (he didn't always do this), I still find him to be the most impressive and passionate player.
Yngwie's set was pretty good. I liked how he played some of his older pieces from "Rising Force". I think he should be a bit more in tune w/ his band however. He solos just a bit too much. Although his sound was not very good on this DVD and is sometimes over-compressed, I generally like Yngwie's clean and delicate notes.
Vai had the most impressive band (trade off w/ Tony MacAlpine was cool) and was very entertaining w/ the crowd. He certainly did steal the show! I do find his music to be a little too quirky and un-melodic for my taste, but his guitar antics were very entertaining!
They did not pick the best songs for Satriani to put on this DVD, but when I saw them in concert I was quite impressed w/ Joe's compositions. I think Satriani has a nice sophisticated jazz feel to his music, not in all songs, but he played some very tasteful pieces. Creating real melody w/ jazz compositions is quite impressive in my opinion, as it seems difficult to do. Before I saw Joe I was convinced he was more of a standard (1,4,5) blues/rock player. Now I see many more dimensions in his music.
I don't understand however why someone would accuse Yngwie of being a "limited guitar player". He mastered Ritchie Blackmore's playing by the time he was ten years old! Steve and Joe are certainly awesome, but even they do not convey the effortlessness that Yngwie does. I am not saying he is THE greatest guitarist, but I believe he is the most gifted.
His arrogance and stage antics did turn me off a bit during the final segment. I thought he could have toned that down and been more of a team player when he shared the stage. He was a guest after all.
I suppose I tend to defend him when he is so often accused of being a "has-been" or "80's cliché". This is a trend-following attitude that bores me.
It was more entertaining to see them in concert than on DVD of course. Those three guys looked like they were having so much fun! Three guitar gods all together is a great experience! I give it an 8 out of 10.
