YNGWIE MALMSTEEN Shafts Former Singer Over Medley Of Guitarist's Compositions

RING OF FIRE, led by former YNGWIE MALMSTEEN frontman Mark Boals, were forced to remove the medley of MALMSTEEN's "You Don't Remember, I'll Never Forget/Magic Mirror" from the final track listing of the band's upcoming CD/DVD release, entitled Burning Live in Tokyo, after the guitarist's representatives informed ROF's Japanese label, Marquee Inc., that they would not be able to use the music for the standard amount of payment that was previously agreed to, according to an official statement from Boals' management company, Mugenkyo.

"Originally, the version prepared for production included [the above-mentioned medley]," reads the statement. "This DVD was the very first DVD for the label, therefore, much time was spent on the project to make sure it was done by the book. We had completed the editing in full by the middle of May 2002 before the building that included Mugenkyo's office exploded. YNGWIE's music was played live to respond the fans requests to hear a part of Mark Boals' musical history given the RING OF FIRE treatment. We followed the formal procedures before the Japan tour and gained the permission for the use of YNGWIE's music from those responsible for the rights to the music, so there wouldn't be any problem for both playing live and recording.

"However, after we finished editing the DVD, YNGWIE's representatives informed the label that we would not be able to use the music for the standard amount of payment that was previously agreed to. Compared with CD, DVD creation involves extremely accurate synchronizing of audio and visual with the time code in editing. This makes it impossible to simply cut one song from the master. A decision needed to be made about whether or not the financial demands should be met, or if the DVD should be re-edited, omitting the song in question, incurring more investments of both time and money. After consulting the label and the DVD production staffs, it proved more financially viable to re-edit the DVD, omitting the music in question, than to pay the amount of money they asked for.

"After all, when considering the final results of the live DVD and album, the difference is minimal. Within their chosen style, RING OF FIRE are already creating their own sound and musical characteristics. So, the members of RING OF FIRE remain unaffected by the circumstances. The label and production staffs are confident that the final product is something to be proud of. We're confident that after you see it, you won't give any of this a second thought. Check out both the album and DVD, and see the RING OF FIRE live experience for yourselves!

As previously reported, Burning Live in Tokyo will be released simultaneously in Japan on August 21st through Marquee Inc. No US/European release date has yet been announced.