1990's 'Eclipse' sees a change of direction for 'Yngwie Malmsteen' as he jumps aboard the 'Pop Metal' bandwagon. While the neo-classical fret work is still present, the overall sound is lightened and the introduction of vocalist 'Goran Edman' only enhances this feel. Vocally 'Goran' is very accomplished especially on the lighter material, however on the harder faster cuts I feel he starts to struggle a bit and comes across similar to 'Stratovarius's' 'Timo Kotipelto'. The thought of 'Yngwie Malmsteen' selling out must have had fans pulling their hair out, but despite a couple of clangers this is still a solid album that thankfully has a lot more variety than many of his other releases.

Well I never thought I would see the day 'Yngwie' kicked an album off with a track called 'Making Love', well he has and surprisingly it's a pretty fine effort. Very commercial in feel but ultimately a well executed lighter number, supported by fine melodic vocals and rich keyboard work. More in the vein of 'Foreigner' or maybe latter day 'Rainbow' and not what you would expect from 'Mr. Malmsteen', fortunately though it turns out a decent endeavour. Continuing in a similar manner in the grooving treat 'Bedroom Eyes', another fine 'Pop-Metal' number with strong chorus and more sweet vocals, supported as always by intricate fret work and overall has a certain soundtrack feel about it. Less enjoyable is the dreary 'Save Our Love', that could be by any lighter 'Hair Metal' band, the only resounding feature for me is the oriental sounding guitar work in the intro. The tempo is restored on the finger blazing 'Motherless Child', here we see 'Goran Edman' worked hard on this swift number, vocally it must be very difficult to sing as there's plenty of lyrics and although he's pushed a little, it still turns out well and at times is very reminiscent of 'Stratovarius'. Hot on it's heels is the dark plodder 'Devil in Disguise', here the rhythm section build a dark chugging beat that works for a backdrop of melodic harmonies, fear not though there's the usual fast fret work from the master himself. Continuing with the darker theme is 'Judas', regrettably here the lyrical work lets the track down especially the trite and repetitive chorus, other than that, this track has a lot of potential. It's back to the commercial Metal feel with 'What do you Want' and 'Faultline', while respectable mid tempo numbers, they just lack that extra something to make them memorable. More noteworthy is 'Demon Driver' a brisk rocker full of sweet guitaring, vocalist 'Goran Edman' seems a little rushed at times, but it still comes across as one of the superior cuts. Just topping this is 'See you in Hell (don't be Late)' an old school 'Malmsteen' ripper with a superb sing-a-long chorus that is phenomenally well sung, the instrumental solo is also worth a mention. 'Eclipse' draws to a close courtesy of the customary instrumental and this one doesn't disappoint, the title track is a solid driving number laced with the usual fast and furious fret work.

Although a departure for 'Yngwie Malmsteen', his band manage to pull it off very well and makes for one of their top albums. There's bound to be a few die-hard fans that turn their noses up at 'Eclipse', but the song writing is stronger than on his usual albums and the addition of more diversity makes for a nice change, from what sometimes seems like one long neo-classical guitar solo interrupted by a few vocals.