“Heaven Tonight” by Yngwie Malmsteen on the Sunday Song Spotlight

One of Yngwie’s most commercially successful records was 1988’s collaboration with Joe Lynn Turner called Odyssey.  Several of the songs felt like they were aimed at radio, most notably “Heaven Tonight”.  With prominent keyboards and an undeniable melody, it seemed Yngwie sought to emulate late 80s Rainbow.

With music by Malmsteen and lyrics by Turner, “Heaven Tonight” really checked all the boxes for an 80s rock hit.  Solid verses that serve to set up the release on the chorus.  Thick, memorable chorus.  Wicked guitar, though not overcooked as Yngwie has been guilty of in the past.  As a result, the album went Top 40 in the US.  Top 10 in Yngwie’s native Sweden.

The Turner/Malmsteen collaboration only lasted for one record, though a live album was also released (Live in Leningrad).  Turner returned to sing two Deep Purple tunes on Yngwie’s covers album Inspiration, but this here is the peak.  “Heaven Tonight” indeed because it never got better than this.

This feels like Paradise
We’ll be in Heaven tonight

Lost in a dream in the arms of the night
Two lonely prisoners of our own device
Don’t let me go, hold on together

You wanna know if love can be real
I wanna take everything I can steal
Love on the line, it’s now or never
Why can’t the night last forever?

This could be Paradise
Holding you here by my side
If we just close our eyes
We’ll be in Heaven tonight

Run through the night down streets of desire
Burning my soul, my heart’s on fire
Give up the fight, it’s sweet surrender

With trembling hands we reach for it all
Two desperate hearts waiting to fall
I need you now, now more than ever
Why can’t the night last forever?

This could be Paradise
Holding you here by my side
If we just close our eyes
We’ll be in Heaven tonight

44 comments

    1. Absolutely agreed John. I have the Mark Boals and one of the Mike Vescera albums but Turner has magic.

      Did you see Yngwie’s latest comments about singers? Apparently he says they all want to be Elvis.

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        3. That Razorfist dude that sourced you in his Dokken career review absolutely loves Goran Edman and swears that Eclipse is the best Yngwie album. He said that Goran had a Michael Jackson-esque Mowtown quality to his vocals. I can’t agree with the dude there. Anything after the Joe Lynn Turner album is a snooze fest for me!

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        5. Razorfist is a massive Michael Jackson fan, so that’s probably his bias with Goran. He has made some very interesting extensively researched rebuttal videos to the serious allegations Michael Jackson has faced. Definite food for thought.

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        7. Yeah, I believe it’s a three part series, the last one being a direct rebuttal to the Leaving Neverland documentary which didn’t exist when he did the first two. He also did a video about Cosby that was also eye-opening. Not sure how I feel about Bill, but after that video I know that he didn’t for one second receive a fair trial. That whole situation was absolutely insane, I recommend you check that one out.

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        9. I’m definitely not completely convinced Cosby was a saint, but the video definitely proves the dude never got a fair unbiased trial.

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        11. Oh yeah, it’s probably even worse than you think. The judge in his trial had previously ran in an election as District Attorney with the express purpose of persecuting Cosby. The main evidence used against him was a tape he did for the courts under the pretense that it would never be used as evidence in a trial. Then they used it in the trial that incarcerated him for years. That’s just the tip of the iceberg.

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        13. I don’t think very highly of Cosby anyway just to be clear. Some of his comedy makes me laugh, but that Eddie Murphy bit about him from Raw was hilarious and made him seem like a weird prude.

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        14. When growing up, Cosby was considered good clean humour. And that was always his thing. Good for all ages. Not my style personally but I think we should always try to separate the art from the artists. There’d be no one to listen to otherwise. I’m sure every one of us could be “cancelled” for something.

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        21. Despite his asexual nature, I think the visual of Jenny Agutter on her walkabout will pull him out of any Blaze trance that he’s currently experiencing.

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        23. She was an actress in the film Walkabout, a classic of Australian cinema. She was also in the 2012 Avengers movie, was the smokin’ hot nurse in American Werewolf in London, and played a doctor in Darkman.

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  2. I bought this back in 88 and it got left behind because it was well 88 and look at the records that came out that year. I may have to stream this one at some point.

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