GUITAR virtuoso Steve Vai does what most people can only dream of on asix and seven-stringed axe, continually pushing the boundaries of guitarplaying and the rock genre to stratospheric heights.But ever since the first time he heard an orchestra as a boy growing upin New York, his dream was to "capture and make real the audio vision ofmy mind's eye".
And so comes the release of a double-live CD recording from the47-year-old Grammy-winning guitarist, entitled Sound Theories Vol. 1 & 2, which features his compositions backed by the Holland Metropole Orkest.
But the live tag may be a little misleading.
Culled from five Europeanshows recorded in 2004 and 2005, the songs were studio edited to perfection by the meticulous Vai. The end result is a polished piece of aural art, which also includes the recordings of a studio session and a soundcheck rehearsal jam.
On the first CD, Vol. 1: The Aching Hunger, Vai grinds his trademarkIbanez Jem guitars and lets rip side by side with the orchestra and afour-man band. Songs that feature mind-blowing fret technique like For The Love Of God, a fan favourite from his acclaimed 1990 album Passion And Warfare,sound grand with an added presence thanks to the strings and brass.
This modern classical meets rock dynamic creates interesting moods fromthe foreboding and ominous in The Murder to the moving emotion of Gentle Ways.
For the second CD, Vol. 2: Shadows and Sparks, Vai takes a breather and let's the orchestra have free reign over his compositions. The man may be absent here but the complexity and hyperactive nature ofthe pieces, twisting and turning with many layers, is typical Vai.
These long lush pieces, eight to 10 minutes in length, take thelistener on a journey, like all great progressive rock pieces past andpresent.
A master shredder with more than 20 years of experience in creating andproducing rock-based guitar music, Vai makes it apparent that he's stillgot the groove. - NST
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