Today (March 5th) marks the thirtieth anniversary of
Rising Force, the debut studio album from Swedish guitarist/composer Yngwie Malmsteen. This 1984 release went to number 19 in Japan and number 14 in Sweden. Here in the US, it spent forty-three weeks on the Billboard Album chart and peaked at number 60. It also received a nomination for a Grammy Award in the category of Best Rock Instrumental Performance (it lost to Jeff Beck’s “Escape”).
