Third album in for the Swedish guitar whiz and already a pattern is starting to emerge, not only for his technical fret mastery, but the rate at which 'Yngwie' gets through musicians. Vocalist 'Mark Boals' makes his first appearance here and in my opinion It's a step in the wrong direction, his later work on 'Alchemy' and 'War to End all Wars' hardly inspired me and I'm not overly impressed by his work here either. 'Joe Lynn Turner' and 'Jeff Scott Soto' in my view are much superior in range, style and power. Overlooking this, the song writing on 'Trilogy' is some of the best on any 'Malmsteen' album and 'Yngwie' himself flatters rather than overpowers the music.

'Trilogy' starts off very promisingly with a string of fine songs, 'You Don't Remember, I'll Never Forget' is the opener and immediately impresses with decent lyrics, a strong melody and an excellent neo-classical guitar solo, the only down side is 'Mark Boals' unusual delivery, as he seems to over-pronounce most of the lyrics. Following on in heavier fashion is the pulsating 'Liar', a chorus heavy rocker that while pretty simplistic, is very catchy and as always braced by superlative guitaring, 'Boals' works the lyrics pretty well, but 'Joe Lynn Turner' rips on the live version from 'Trial by Fire'. The pace subsides for the mid tempo 'Queen in Love' a solid number, which includes strong backing vocal contributions, tidy 'Johansson' keyboards and a ripping guitar solo. The first instrumental is brought about by the balladsy 'Crying', which commences very acoustically, think Spanish guitar, but picks up towards the end, overall a bit subtle and long-winded for my liking, but all said nicely executed. It's back to the rockers again with the brisk paced 'Fury', this should be an impressive song, but it just doesn't work for me, despite 'Yngwie' furious performance, it flows awkwardly and is finished off with shrilly vocals. The second half opens with 'Fire' another track which flatters to deceive, I expected a ripper but this comes across very commercial sounding, a little 'Dioesque' but too light and chart friendly, overlooking this 'Yngwie's' solo is as always superb. Slight improvements are made with 'Magic Mirror' a chorus heavy stable, that in my opinion could do with, heavier, harder vocals than 'Boals' could provide. The pace drops for the 'Dio' style chugger 'Dark Ages', a riff driven plodder that lyrically is pretty strong, but all told, a tad sluggish for my liking. The album bows out with 'Trilogy Suite Op:5', a stunning 'Yngwie' fuelled instrumental, which is all the better for some excellent 'Jens Johansson' keyboard work, that should not be overlooked.

Overall a very solid album, but I can't help feeling the vocals of 'Joe Lynn Turner' or 'Jeff Scott Soto' would have made this a more memorable album. Don't get me wrong 'Mark Boals' is far from a poor vocalist, but a little more power and passion into the songs would have really enhanced them- Listen to 'Trial by Fire' to see what I mean.