Our pedals were digital and our headstocks were pointy. But our riffs were another story. They were still stuck in the past. And they were defiant. They hung out at the bar, dancing the hustle, and refused to leave even after the lights were turned on. Someone called security. And it turned out to be a long-distance call: all the way to Sweden.

Yngwie Malmsteen fused advanced technique with classical motifs to a degree few foresaw and fewer still could emulate. That the genesis was Yngwie’s idiosyncratic idolatry of classic rock guitar heroes and vintage gear was ironic, because his technical mastery fit perfectly with the prevailing vision of modernity. In an era of shiny and new, Yngwie had crafted a world of anachronistic fantasy. And overnight, it became the future.