I guess I can kind of see the point of view of people who talk negatively about Yngwie and Timo, but personally, I think that that view is rather inaccurate. I feel like I understand where Yngwie and Timo are coming from.
Especially in Yngwie's case, he has something specific that he wants to do, and he hires people to do what he needs them to do. People who work well with him long term are people who buy into the same vision, and are okay with a supporting role. People who don't work well with him long term are those who have a different vision, and want to contribute creative input that is not in line with Yngwie's direction. Why should Yngwie play music that he doesn't want to play? And people who don't want to play Yngwie's music should know better than to accept a position in Yngwie's support band.
I also like Yngwie's straightforward comments. It's actually rather refreshing in the midst of the putrid pool of political correctness that the world has become.
I've never met Yngwie myself, but I know people who know him, and they all have good things to say about him as a person. The only bad things I hear are rumors and hearsay. Nothing firsthand.
Now the trendy thing is to bash Timo. It's a rerun of all the trendy, lemming-like Yngwie bashing that has been going on for years. Timo's right to be angry about people stealing his music. (And yes, it is stealing!) Why would he have anything nice to say about thieves? I wouldn't feel very well-disposed toward thieves that came into my house and stole my possessions. Why should Timo have to?
Anyway, it's just sad to see people jumping on the bandwagon of trying to bring people down. It's a sad commentary on the state of the world. Whether it be the problems with Stratovarius or the whole Michael Jackson thing, the way people are reacting is saying a lot more about those people than it's saying about Strato, MJ, etc.
Well, that's my rant against negativism!
