Steve Vai United States

B57 Mostly Instrumental11 Prog-Adj53
[Awesome Musicianship13, Great Production12, Great Composition10, Good Songwriting11 and Good Coverart10]
added by Mike
Links:BCPA
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Review by Mike published
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S Mystical Shred Modern Prog Rock/Metal

"This is Steve's masterpiece. Freshly coming out of playing with Zappa, on this album he really managed to combine the zappaesqe quirkiness with virtuosic melodic shred. Just about everything about this album is bleeding edge, including the guitar harmonizing (achieved by Eventide equipment)."

Tracks

1.
S Liberty 2:03
2.
3.
S The Animal 4:01
4.
S Answers 2:56
5.
S The Riddle 6:25
6.
A Ballerina 1:43
7.
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10.
11.
12.
13.
S Sisters 4:07
14.
Review by HughesJB4 published
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S Shred Modern Prog-Adj Rock

"For the aspiring virtuoso guitarist, this album is, like Surfing With the Alien, a textbook example in virtuoso guitar and instrumental rock guitar.

It goes from rocking tunes like Erotic Nightmares and The Audience is Listening, which are also very quirky, to quieter songs like Sisters, which displays Vai's talent for rhythm guitar as well, to the absolute masterpiece and incredibly display of soulful playing, For the Love of God"

Review by Mike published
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A Modern Non-Prog Rock

"This album is part of the "secret jewel box", it contains selected tracks which Vai recorded with other artists. I think it's an important album, essential for anybody who'd like to understand Vai and his musical background. Most of the songs are really different from what he did on his solo albums ... but his style is easily recognizable and at the same time blends perfectly with the mood/style of the song."

Tracks

1.

"A straight rocker, recorded with Coverdale/Whitesnake."

2.
S The Rumble 8:01

"Chick Corea, West Side Story ... no further comment necessary."

3.
A Ease 8:08

"A collaboration with Bill Laswell ..."

4.
A Home 5:38

"Another one with Bill Laswell - with a Punk/80s edge to it."

5.

"A song by Martin Schwartz/Bob Harris, with Tommy Mars on keyboards and Steve Vai playing a lengthy, magnificent solo."

6.
A Noah's Ark 6:11

"From Gregg Bissonette's album "Submarine" ... groovy and funky!"

7.
S Drifting 4:01

"A wonderful Hendrix tune performed by a rock group + the London Metropolitan orchestra, with Vai's laid back and tasteful playing in the foreground, plus the wonderful voice of Corey Glover."

8.

"Another Hendrix tune performed with the London Metropolitan Orchestra, this time with Paul Rogers on vocals."

9.

"A beautiful Jazzy song by Bob Harris. It's not standard Jazz though, more like a combination of Ray Charles and the Eagles."

10.

"Another song with Bob Harris, but totally different ... mostly instrumental, with Vai on the electric sitar and Tommy Mars on recorder, with the style being a cross between Jazz-Fusion and World/New Age music."

11.

"A classic Alice Cooper track from his "metal phase" from the late 80s/early 90s."

12.

"Yes, it's that piece from the Mozart opera with the insane soprano vocal parts. It's recorded in a "rock group meets orchestra" setting, a bit like the Transiberian Orchestra. Hearing Vai duelling with the soprano vocals is really interesting!"

13.
A Gone 2:46

"A nice laid back track which Vai arranged for a singer named Lilly ... no weirdo soloing, it's all centered around the moody/emotional vocals."

Review by Mike published
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S Playful Virtuose Modern Prog-Adj Rock

"This is the perfect album to get into Vai. It's a perfect mix of very accessible music from the Blues/Rock domain, as well as some crazy stuff like the highly experimental Ya-Yo Gakk, or the extremely heavy Kill The Guy With The Ball. It covers many - but not nearly all - facets of Vai's style."

Tracks

1.
S Bad Horsie 5:51

"Extremely cool song. Vai makes excessive use of Wah-Wah here - Morley even issued a pedal named "Bad Horsie". The song is very slow, downtuned guitars, and except for the blistering solo the guitars are really slowly and laid back."

2.
S Juice 3:44

"This is the one track that you should listen to to find out whether Vai can play or not. As a listener quite fittingly says at the end of the track: "Shut up - we know you can play!"."

3.

"This is one of the rare occasions of a true 14/8 rhythm - and it really feels totally natural. Add to that the beautiful melody, and you get one of my favorite Vai songs. There's also a mind blowing bridge with totally ingenious chord progressions."

4.

"Vai's tribute to Hendrix. Listening to (and watching) Steve play these exceedingly difficult chops with ease makes you want to throw away your own guitar. And at the end we get a Brian May like delay-harmony section - wonderful!"

5.
B Ya-Yo Gakk 2:52

"Here Vai used samples of his little son and constructed a song around them. It's nice, but ultimately a little bit annoying."

6.

"Prog metal par excellence. Exceedingly difficult music, for all the instruments - not just the guitar. Intricate polyrhythms, signature changes etc. etc.. The good thing is: In the context of the song it all makes sense. The song is about a fictional game where some guys are chasing another guy which has the ball (to kill him, as the title suggests). It's amazing - when you listen to the song you see him running, avoiding obstacles ... and getting caught in the end. The second part (the God Eaters) is totally different - one lonely guitar playing a melody over a layer of keyboards. Sort of like the step into the afterlife for the poor guy who used to have the ball."

7.

"This song won Vai a grammy - and rightly so. Extremely tasteful Bluesy Rock music (technically it's not a Blues), with cool organ accompanyment by Tommy Mars."

Review by Mike published
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S Instr Modern Prog-Adj Rock

"I like all Vai albums, but I think that this may be his most balanced output. The first half is purely instrumental (some "experiments" in the short tracks aside), and it's as close as Vai ever got to Satriani's style. But even here each song contains some weird parts that Satch would never do.

I prefer the second half though, and the ending of the first half with the brilliant Bangkok/Fire Garden Suite. The second half also features Vai on vocals on every track except the last one, and he does a really good job. He has a powerful voice with much variability, and songwriting is really great here. What's left to wish?"

Tracks

1.
2.
3.
A Dyin' Day 4:29
4.
B Whookam 0:36
5.
A Blowfish 4:03
6.
7.

"What a beautiful melody. It's so sad that many people continue to bash Vai and claim that he's a mindless shredder who can't write decent melodies. Well, this track in particular proves them wrong."

8.
S Bangkok 2:46

"The funny thing about this track is that it was written by the Abba songwriters. Vai found a tape from the early 80s and couldn't remember - he accidentally thought he wrote it and constructed the Fire Garden Suite upon it. Brilliant stuff - very classically influenced with beautiful structure."

9.

"Awesome. If you ever doubted that Vai is an exceptional composer - listen to this track. It's really diverse - the first third is drivin by acoustic guitars, the second third is dominated by piano, and the last third is quite heavy prog metal."

10.
A Deepness 0:47

"Another display of Vai's extreme emotionality."

11.

"What a cool song! Here Vai switches from introverted artist to extroverted entertainer - quite effectively. I really like this "blues with a twist" and his use of the Wah-Wah pedal. In fact there's a pedal named after this song (Morley)."

12.

"Great vocals & vocal melody here by Vai. A very unusual composition - it amazes me everytime I listen to it."

13.
14.
S Brother 5:04
15.
B Damn You 4:31
16.
17.
B Genocide 4:11
18.
Review by Mike published
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S Weird Quirky Modern Prog-Adj Rock

"This is a stellar release from one of the best and - at the same time - most underrated guitarists ever. Two common preconceptions about Vai are that his primary asset is technical prowess and speed, and that his playing and songwriting lack emotions. Well, on this album he again proves that both assumptions are wrong.

This album is not for the faint of heart - I'm sure that many people will not be able to get into it. Steve Vai is a guitarist, and of course all the songs have lengthy guitar solos. But the reason for giving this album 4 stars on a website for progressive music is that here he goes way beyond other shred guitarists. Joe Satriani's Engines of Creation has a similar concept, but The Ultra Zone is like ten times more adventurous and bizarre. You can hear his Zappa influences throughout the album, not just on the song "Frank". The whole album is a mixture of weird Avant-Prog and cool Jazz-Metal- Fusion - except for a few songs which are not very progressive, and that is the only reason for me not giving this album 5 stars."

Tracks

1.

"Quot; Let the might of your compassion arise to bring a quick end to the flowing stream of the blood and tears ... " Quite an unusual album opener ... Vai's excursion in World music and Indian folklore. The song flows nicely, meandering through different soundscapes and occasional solo spots."

2.

"A very funky song, and many cool breaks. It is based on a simple melody - but beefed up with some African rhythms, samples and weird chord progressions."

3.
S OOOO 5:12

"This is the first weird tune - and the first real highlight of the album. Vai often uses his guitar to mimic vocals, and here the solo guitar literally screams."

4.
S Frank 5:09

"This song is obviously dedicated to Frank Zappa, for whom Vai used to play in the early 80's. It's a majestic tune, and it doesn't resemble any Zappa song. Vai uses very colorful voicings which remind of Eddie Van Halen just a little bit. In the middle of the song Vai plays an amazing laid back solo, and his use of the vibrato bar is nothing short of amazing. Jeff Beck's song "Nadja" is the only song I know which is equally majestic."

5.
S Jibboom 3:46

"Quot;Just go for it ..." ... this is another homage, this time to Stevie Ray Vaughan. It's the only song on the album which is not particularly progressive, but it's still a nice fusion of Blues and Jazz-Funk. In the latter half Vai plays some familiar SRV voicings in a very funky rhythm."

6.

"This is the first - and one of the few - tracks on this album with vocals. The lyrics tell a weird story of how to have intercourse with a swarm of bees - or something like that. Vai uses morphed vocal parts for the bees' voices - watch out for the queen of the hive ... later in the song she gets angry and the song climaxes in a weird solo by Vai's octafuzzed guitar and the queen and her hive, who sound like dozens of Indian temple mistresses on a x10 timewarp trip ..."

7.

"The 7th song on any Vai album is always a beautiful ballad. This one is very nice - no alarms and no surprises, if you will. The rhythm is quite odd: 7/4 grouped in 3 + 4, with the accents cleverly positioned to throw off your counting."

8.

"Now this is a track for all the polyrhythm maniacs out there - the vocals, drums and various instruments lead a life of their own here. The song starts without drums, followed by a short bridge dominated by cleverly orchestrated choirs. The rest of the song is dominated by Vai's guitar solo."

9.

"Another ballad ... beautiful, and quite funky and uplifting at times. Not very progressive, but outstanding nonetheless."

10.

"If I had to recommend one single track to someone who doubts Vai's progressive talent, it would be this one. Here Zappa really shines through - without the music sounding like any Zappa song I know. It shows that Vai really matured as a songwriter, compared to his early progressive songs on Flex-Able. The song features many different parts, interesting breaks, horn sections, wild unisono vibraphone runs, dramatic slow downs and accellerandos ... awesome. And during all of that it never sounds constructed or forced - as complex as it is, this song is based on a simple melody."

11.

"The most interesting aspect of this song is that Vai plays it on a three neck guitar on stage. And yes, he plays on all three necks simultaneously, you'll have to trust me - or go to one of his shows. The song is based on some futuristic sounding chord progressions, and flows rather nicely for about three minutes. The following 2 minutes are pure Jazz Fusion, remotely similar to parts of the Fire Garden Suite."

12.
A Here I Am 4:12

"This is again a rather straight song, and a nice change after the previous two weird tunes. The use of layered guitars in combination with the vocals in the chorus is quite remarkable."

13.
B Asian Sky 5:33

"This songs is like an extension of Fever Dream, with lots of Asian elements thrown in, including Japanese vocals."

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