I eagerly awaited this album, as I knew 'Yngwie' had changed record companies and a completely different lineup was to be brought in, so I thought he might try to change things around a bit, and hopefully break the recent run of adequate but repetitive albums. I was however wrong!, well mostly, to be sure this is a better release than 'Alchemy' and 'War to End all Wars' but the style of guitar driven 'Neo-classical' metal has altered very little. As with the previous album it's produced by 'Yngwie Malmsteen', (I can hear people shaking at this statement) thankfully he has got it pretty much bang-on with 'Attack!!', the crisp production is light-years ahead of the murky sounding 'War to End all Wars'. Another bonus is the addition of former 'Rainbow' man 'Dougie White', while I wouldn't go the ends of the earth to sing his praise, I do prefer him to 'Mark Boals', while at times there is a similarity, 'Dougie' is less high pitched and can go slightly 'Ronnie James Dio' on the heavier tracks. As always 'Yngwie' takes over all the guitar duties, while 'Derek Sherinian' and 'Patrick Johansson' supply the keys and drums respectively, although the latter are overshadowed by the furious fret work they turn in creditable performances.

As with many previous albums the lyrical weaknesses are again prevalent and the opening cut 'Razor Eater' is a fine example. Musically its solid, a harder edged number for 'Yngwie', with new boy 'Dougie White' sounding good on the aggressive but unconvincing lyrics. Better is the furious belter 'Rise Up', the song writing is much stronger here and the gusty vocal approach is supported by a backdrop of blistering fret work. The plodding 'Valley of Kings' has some nice twists and turns especially the typical neo-classical blazing, unfortunately as a whole it's too long-winded and in places lacks melody and sounds awkward. For me the top track is 'Ship of Fools', a good grooving rocker, that is really quite catchy, (not a word normally associated with 'Yngwie's' work), the chorus is a delight and the guitar solo is pure hell-bent genius. Continuing in the rich vein of form is the title track, again its lyrically crude but as a whole is a crunching ripper, full of fast and furious guitaring that takes you to one end of the scale and back again, before you know it. The customary instrumentals number three and the standout one for me is 'Baroque & Roll' a dazzling piece of neo-classical inspired fret work, that shows the Swedish shredder is still at his peak. 'Majestic Blue' is more of a laid back piece, but not the conventional blazer we're used to. 'Air' is a short variation on a theme by 'Bach', well that's what 'Yngwie' says anyway, its a fairly lightweight dull number and not the standard rocket ride. Other noteworthy tracks include the 'Gillan' sounding 'Stronghold', 'Mad Dog' which is slightly implicative of 'Accept' and the predictable but solid 'Valhalla'. 'In the Name of God' sounds like a cross between 'Impellitteri' and 'Stryper', with its blistering axe work and Christian lyrics, definitely one of the better tracks though, which includes sweet vocals and thumping riffs. 'Yngwie' himself takes over the vocals on 'Freedom isn't Free' and has got a surprisingly good voice, a sort of 'Jimi Hendrix' meets 'David Coverdale' and although its not a classic it adds a slice of much need of variety. The closing tracks include the chugging but unremarkable 'Touch the Sky' and the theatrical sounding 'Iron Clad'.

Well I have to hand it to 'Yngwie' another album that just clocks off at under 70 minutes, he certainly gives his fans plenty, just a shame its all a bit too similar. Overall one of his better recent releases, but it won't be good enough to silence the critics.