Artist: Vai, Steve
Label: Red Ink
Release: 2007
Rating: 4.7/5
The question that pops up while watching and listening to this DVD is: is Steve Vai slowly turning into Frank Zappa? With that little beard under his lower lip he already looks the part, and now the “little Italian virtuoso,” as Frank affectionately called him back when he played in his band in the early eighties, has tackled composing for orchestra too. The move strongly recalls Zappa’s last adventure with Ensemble modern, plus plenty of instrumental escapades from his anything-but-modest musical legacy. Whatever the case, Steve Vai is without a doubt one of the best guitarists of our time, a player whose creativity and range left the blues-lost Satriani and the repetitive Malmsteen in the dust long ago, without neglecting the technique and speed that his early success largely owes its debt to.
This time, with the help of the Dutch Metropole orkest, he’s reworked some of his older ideas, crowned by the masterfully arranged For the love of God, and deftly woven them into the broader, more demanding context of classical instrumentation. In this getup, his music, which has always slipped out of the rigid grip of modern rock, gains entirely new dimensions and reaches its full sonic potential. Vai confirms as much in the interview that the DVD offers in its bonus package, along with behind-the-scenes footage and the orchestra’s standalone set, where he stresses that the guitar, more than a typical rock instrument, has always been an effective tool for realizing the most varied streams of thought. The expanded arrangements of Answers and Libery, found on his most successful album “Passion And Warfare,” are proof of it too, shining in a whole new light with orchestral backing. Likewise, the moving Lotus Feet, a song left off the CD version, comes alive with harp and violins. Its first two notes do strongly recall the popular ballad Feelings, but given the intricate key changes, the dramatic peak and the tastefully played finale, we can safely say any resemblance is purely coincidental. Of course, Visual Sound Theories doesn’t skimp on the acrobatic showpieces typical of the not-so-distant past, but you can also conclude that with its refined harmonic solutions it speaks mainly to more mature listeners, for whom headless fret-board shredding and somewhat worn-out guitar tricks without a proper foundation mean very little. Steve has long had every tool a guitar virtuoso needs at his fingertips, and now he’s learned to put them to good use. Blues legend Keith Wyatt once said that a guitarist is like a chess player, and that knowing the pieces and how they move is only the foundation, not a guarantee of good play, since it’s well known that tools alone don’t make a master. In light of that statement, which every ambitious musician should write down behind their ear, we can happily say that Steve hasn’t just learned to play chess: with this CD and DVD he’s picked up entirely new strategies and expressive tactics and finally earned the title of grandmaster.
So Vai hasn’t turned into Zappa. You could say he’s set his thinking in new frames, upgraded and refined it with dignity from both the technical and the music-theory angle, and with this release created an unforgettable sonic journey that only a discerning connoisseur’s ear will know how to appreciate. For music gourmets only.
Line-up
Steve Vai
Holland Metropole orkest
conductor Dick Bakker
Track list
1. Kill the Guy With the Ball
2. The God Eaters
3. The Murder Prologue
4. The Murder
5. Answers
6. Lotus Feet
7. I’m Becoming
8. Salamanders In the Sun
9. The Attitude Song
10. Gentle Ways
11. Liberty
12. For the Love of God
13. Shadows And Sparks
14. Frangelica pt. I & II
Bonus material:
– standalone Metropole orkest performance
– backstage
– interview
– Steve’s address to the crowd during the concert
Runtime: 131.00 min
