Off: Steve Vai

[Chris Bates]

Bryan sed:
>> I like Steve Vai a lot.  He isn't a wuss (you must be thinking the guy
from
>> Poison), ROBO.  He played with David Lee Roth when he started out solo
and
>
> Not to mention playing with Zappa.  I figure that anyone Zappa chose to
be
> in his band has (or had) something going for them.  I think (hope) that
the
> David L Roth and Whitesnake ventures were just mistakes, or else just
money
> making schemes.
>
> I've got Vai's "Flex-Able" disc, some of which I really like, some of
which
> I don't.  I've not heard anything from his last two discs.  Can anyone
> recommend them, or otherwise give me an impression of them?

And AB sed:

> Boy I started something on this Steve Vai thing.  Will check my lone
Poison
> Cutout tape ($.99) but I think the guy from Poison is Steve Vai Rudy.
Never
> seen him play but a couple of his songs sound pretty good to me.

At last BOC-L lands on my turf :-)

STEVE VAI IS GOD!!!!!!!!!!

Oops, excuse shouting there but speaking as a tech-head guitarist Vai
really
is the man. He's not *neo-classical* like Malmsteen, say, but can mix
jazz,
classical and lots of very heavy metal. And he's got the best attitude,
accepting
his talents as a thing of wonder whilst never being satisfied. Vai has
pushed the
boundaries of rock guitar onto another planet. Not as *sweet* or melodic
as Satriani and some people are put off by his intensity.

To answer the questions:
Bryan, the album *Sex and Religion* is a collaborative effort with an
awesome
young vocalist. Very heavy. His most recent e.p. is a true solo thing -
I'm pretty
sure he plays everything and programmed the drums. The only way to
describe
this is relentless. It's like listening to an air crash. Brilliant!!!!

As for the Roth albums, well *Skyscraper* would be in my top 10 all time
albums
largely because of Vai. He's very melodic on this. However he never
fitted into
Whitesnake who really need British blues men to do the job properly.

As for the Poison guitarist, wan't he CC DeVille?


Chris