I love both of these artists, 2 of my favorites of all time. However, trying to compare the two is like comparing apples to oranges. I mean, I look at it like this: Before I ever heard Symphony X's music, what I had heard from other people was that they were a cross between Yngwie and Dream Theater. While I do agree with that in some instances, I don't completely agree. Symphony X is very different from both DT and Yngwie, but I would agree that maybe SX is a tad closer to Malmsteen. More neoclassical elements, which DT doesnt really do. Notice I said "tad", because that's where the similarties stop. What you need to realize is that Yngwie is a solo artist. Its his band, but what Yngwie says, goes. He's the dictator, he's the king in his world. Yngwie will tell you straight away that his band doesnt consist of a democracy. He may be open to suggestions, but ultimately he's going to go with HIS view. And thats his right, its his band, they are hired guns who last one album, one tour (usually lol), and on to the next group of players.
Symphony X is a band that consists of input from ALL the members. They feed off each other, work as a unit and for the most part, I think everyone has a chance to share their vision within the group and it works for them. I think they work more as unit. Yngwie is his own thing. One of the major differences you can see between the two is the diversity that SX has, that Yngwie lacks. If Yngwie was more open to other peoples suggestions, his more recent works would be a lot more diverse, but they aren't because is who he is, and he's not going to change. Am I disappointed in his lack of diversity? Absolutely.However, anyone who is familiar with Yngwie at this stage of the game knows what to expect from him, whereas SX has been a band that really gives something different with each album: Damnation was different from Divine, Divine different from Twilight, V different from Twilight, and of course, the Odyssey very different from V, etc. Look at Yngwie in the last 5 yrs in particular: Alchemy, though I thought it was OK, i didnt think it was great. War to End All Wars sounds no different than Alchemy, just has shittier production, and then of course we have Attack!...well, im not going to even get into that, lol....production on it is ok, but again, the album is flat to me. I'll always love Yng for Marching Out & Trilogy because I think those songs were better back then, I enjoyed his soloing better back then,and thats just me,but ill always be a fan, just not so much for his recent works.
Lastly, Im a guitarist of 14yrs, who's very much into the shred style. Im very proficient at is myself, and as far as Yngwie being more technical than Romeo, thats really at matter of opinion. If you listen to the Dark Chapter, you can tell that Romeo is just as technical as Yngwie, but what you need to realize is that Romeo is more of a songwriter than Yngwie is, so he doesnt feel the need to play clean picked, scaler sequences and sweep arpeggios on every solo. Sometimes he goes legato, sometimes he's playes is a bit slower. He's more diverse in that respect. Yngwie is only more technical MORE OFTEN because he's still concerned with putting his trademark shred solos into every song. Nothing wrong with that, thats his choice, but it makes him less diverse b/c everything tends to sound the same all the time. In fact, I think Yngwie shred's more now than he did during the pre-Odyssey days, before the accident. His techinque changed a lot after that. He's still fluid, but if you listen to his solos on Trilogy, Rising Force, Marching Out, Alctrazz, Steeler, you can hear the "attack" of his pick hitting the strings..in fact, I remember Romeo saying something about that regarding Yngwie. His techinque now is kinda blistering and it doesnt have the same feel, he's still awesome and all, but he's not the same.I'm glad Yngwie didnt sell out, im glad to hear he still does what he loves to do, but I wish he was more diverse. Peace
