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Steve Vai has quite the pedigree. He studied under Satriani, honed his skills
with Zappa, ripped it up in David Lee Roth’s first super band, which featured
bassist extraordinaire Billy Sheehan, and rocked out with Whitesnake. He also
had the time to release several (mainly) instrumental guitar records including
1990’s critically acclaimed and commercially successful Passion & Warfare.
Archives Volume 4 is an incredibly eclectic collection of tracks and
projects on which Vai has lent his guitar-slinging talent.
The thirteen tracks containing 75 minutes are an excellent guide to the wide
range of material to which he has applied his skills. “Sweet Lady Luck” is a
Whitesnake b-side, “Ease” and “Home” are from a Public Image Ltd. Album, and
“Feed My Frankenstein” is included on this collection along with material like
the Zappa influenced weirdness, “Western Vacation” from a project of the same
name. “Drifting” and “Bold as Love” are two Hendrix covers, which feature the
combination of the Los Angeles Orchestra with Vai’s axe work, which creates
absolutely unique presentations of those songs. “There’s Still Hope” from Bob
Harris and “Gone” from Lily provide the slow balladry that Vai’s guitar work can
accentuate and compliment.
Archives Volume 4 is a fabulous collection of the different places Steve
Vai can take you, and accentuates the many modes of his guitar work and the
different directions of his art. It may take a listen or two to get used to the
range, but this is excellent material.
~R. David Smola
pretendcritic@aol.com
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