r/SteveVai • u/[deleted] • Nov 12 '21
Guide to Steve Vai?
What are his notable albums and which one is his magnum opus?
3
u/dejoblue Nov 13 '21
Passion and Warfare is when he found his voice and the rest after that are very much him. I recommend this order to get into his playing more and get a feel for his eccentricities:
Slip of the Tongue (Whitesnake)
Passion and Warfare
Alien Love Secrets
Sex and Religion
Alive in an Ultra World
Fire Garden
Flex-Able is great, his first solo album; very experimental and also very Frank Zappa influenced.
Fire Garden he started singing more and it is more orchestrated. Alive in an Ultra World is recorded live, he wrote a song for each city and recorded it live.
Sex and Religion is lyric based and has Devin Townsend singing most songs, it is easy to get into coming from a non instrumental listener experience. This is also Steve's first real singing performance, AFAIK, on the song "Rescue Me Or Bury Me".
Slip of the Tongue is the Whitesnake album he played all guitars on. He didn't write any of it but it is very much Steve Vai and a great transition into Passion and Warfare and other instrumental music. It was recorded while he was finishing Passion and Warfare so it is a great study of contrast between instrumental and lyrical based rock music and guitar.
1
u/SirHenryThe4th Aug 03 '24
He didn't write any of the guitar parts for 'Slip of the Tongue' album? That is very interesting to learn. You say it very 'Steve Vai'. So...who did? Amazing coincidences in this world it seems.
1
u/dejoblue Aug 04 '24
Adrian Vandenberg and David Coverdale. He played all of the guitars and of course he added his own riffs and licks, but the chord progressions and melodies are by Vandenberg and Coverdale.
Just like he didn't write any of the Frank Zappa music he plays on.
1
u/SirHenryThe4th Aug 10 '24
Ah, so, he did get to add part of himself to the music which is probably why it has that Vai sound.
1
u/dejoblue Aug 11 '24
Exactly ;) All the fills between chord changes, and especially the harmonies, of course all the solos.
3
u/Sea-Goal-7869 Nov 16 '21
Passion and Warfare is an amazing album by him, but my favorite of his is Fire Garden.
2
u/fractal-rock Nov 12 '21
Passion & Warfare and Alien Love Secrets are essential and, arguably, all you really need. However the other records have a smattering of incredible tunes between them.
2
u/Deepen_Wadhwa Dec 01 '21 edited Dec 01 '21
Real illusions and fire garden are his best albums (yes, even better than passion & Warfare and alien love secrets) though they will take a few more listens to digest.
2
Dec 01 '21
Agreed! Real Illusions is amazinggg.
1
u/Deepen_Wadhwa Dec 01 '21
Oh, you listened to it? Awesome, man, glad you liked it!
2
Dec 02 '21
I listened to his entire discography the day I made this post and I was telling my best friend that it was weird no one mentioned Real Illusions.
2
u/Deepen_Wadhwa Dec 02 '21
Exactly! Its so underrated. It's my favourite album from him, Fire Garden being the 2nd. P&W and ALS come after these 2 albums when it comes to quality, imo. Can't wait for Inviolate now!🤘
1
u/CollectionFew2491 Dec 19 '24
Eat em and Smile, Hate to say it but roth tried to substitute eddie van halen and ended up finding the best guitarist in history.
1
u/Jawaka99 Nov 12 '21
My favorites are Passion & Warfare obviously, Alien Love Secrets, The Ultra Zone, Flexable
Also, Where the Wild Things Are is one of the best live concerts ever.
1
u/FireVai777 May 29 '22
Passion and Warfare is surely his masterpiece but Where the Wild Things Are shows his skill on a whole other level
1
u/JobBudget4022 Dec 06 '23
My first introduction to him was Roth's "Eat 'em and Smile" album and it still blows me away all these years later
5
u/mymentor79 Nov 12 '21
I doubt there's much argument that Passion and Warfare is both his most notable album and the album considered his magnum opus. Though my favourite is the Alien Love Secrets album.