Wait - what the...AC/DC to Steve Vai? What about your obsessive compulsive alphabetizing? Well, I'm only mildly obsessive compulsive. Besides, the CDs are in order, I just jumped out of sequence in re-ripping.
Steve's The Ultra Zone was one of the CDs that got stolen. I've been slowly (very slowly) rebuilding those lost CDs through eBay and wherever else I can find a bargain. I had bought some stuff from Amazon and stumbled on The Ultra Zone on sale for $6.99, so I bought it. When it came in, I decided to rip it immediately since I didn't have a low-quality backup, and I decided to burn some of the rest of my surviving Vai discs. So in addition to The Ultra Zone, I ripped the excellent Real Illusions: Reflections and the more excellent EP Alien Love Secrets at the same time. Unfortunately, I realized that I don't have the even more excellent Fire Garden. I somehow managed to lose that one twice and I still haven't replenished the most excellent Passion & Warfare...
Alien Love Secrets is a spectacular EP sandwiched between Passion & Warfare and Fire Garden. As I remember it, he had already done the Vai band album to mixed reviews and wanted to up the grandeur of Passion & Warfare, but knew it would leave fans wanting for too long, so he gave us the EP to tide us over.
This isn't an EP in the sense of half-baked cover songs and throwaway "previously unreleased tracks." No - these are all new songs recorded just for the EP, only just 7 magical songs over 30 minutes, rather than the normal 12-14 over 80 that he normally delivered. It's hard to pick my favorite, but "Juice" and "Tender Surrender" are towards the top. The 7th song on Vai's albums are always ballads, and "Tender Surrender" holds down that spot in the lineup and it is great. "Juice" is a throw-back shred song which features some of the best clean-picked 16th note runs I've heard. I can't remember too much about the time in my life when this EP came out. It was during a time, though, when I was stocking up on CDs (and debt) and this was one that I regularly go back to.
I'm re-experiencing The Ultra Zone for the first time in a while and I realized I really missed this album. When I listened to it after initially buying it, I never thought it stood up to Fire Garden, so I don't think I invested into it too much. Now that I'm re-experiencing it, I think I wasn't fair to the disc. While it doesn't seem to be as cohesive as Fire Garden, it does have its share of high points. Steve seemed to be going through an Indian phase as a few of the songs - "Blood and Tears" - have an Indian flair through them. "Jiboom" is a pure shred fest and "Oooo" is a good experimental gem. Things take a turn for the very weird on "Voodoo Acid". If there is such thing as voodoo acid, maybe the lyrics are explaining the trip. The guitar playing definitely represents it. For a guy who's never afraid to experiment, this is some of his most out-there playing and use of effects. "Windows to the Soul" fills out the aforementioned 7th spot fabulously. Also included on this album is "Frank" which is dedicated to his late friend and mentor Frank Zappa. It's a great instrumental, although I can't quite put my finger on the Zappa influence - perhaps Steve meant it in a different way?
Real Illusions: Reflections was the first full-fledged studio album Steve released after The Ultra Zone, some 6 years later. Again, my initial reaction when purchasing this album was that it was strong bounce back after The Ultra Zone. Well, I do still think it's better, but the difference isn't as great as my memory thought. The unity and cohesiveness seems to be strong on this album and Steve manages to keep pushing himself both technically and technologically. For me, "Firewall" and "Freak Show Excess" are an incredible 1-2 punch of just flat out Vai insanity. They both feature some of the most complex instrumentation and arrangements that he's done. My only complaint is "Yai Yai", which is sort of a sequel to "Ya-To Gak" off of Alien Love Secrets which I always considered a throwaway.
As an aside, we got to see the tour behind this album and "Freak Show Excess"is so complex, he wasn't ready with his band to perform it live yet...and this was a band featuring Billy Sheehan and Tony MacAlpine, among others.
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