Vai is just a mo fo' !

[VitaminG]

yep, a lot of his tunes actually are "describing" sex (musically)... I understand why many don't like this stuff... they probably love those arpeggio wankers so much who musically "describe" masturbation of a 15 year old teenager
some are into fucking... some are into jerking off... I'll take the first one

sweep up.....sweep down.....sweep up.....tap......sweep down. Impressed? That was my E#min7aug4 arp. So tell me, what's your NPS?

I'm not as into Vai as I used to be, but I still enjoy his music. I picked up that DVD that he played with the orchestra recently, can't recall the name of it. Good stuff! I get that some people prefer the more accessible stuff he did with WS & DLR though.

btw, I wouldn't call Loomis junior league, not by any stretch. If that is your impression, I'd think you'd based that opinion solely on one of those "Betcha Can't Do This" vids on YouTube. He is the Real Deal, phenomenally talented, a great riff writer & very creative with his lead playing. He uses sweeps, taps, etc as a means to an end, not as the reason to solo. Much like Vai.

[khabibissell]

I would like Vai alot more if he'd lose the damn fan...

[bibz]

I was about to add the fan and the leather pants are the most important parts of his show

Vai is the extremist prophet to the guitar, he's doing more with the guitar then anyone else imo, which is why it sounds so weird to alot of people.

[Endrik]

btw, I wouldn't call Loomis junior league, not by any stretch. If that is your impression, I'd think you'd based that opinion solely on one of those "Betcha Can't Do This" vids on YouTube. He is the Real Deal, phenomenally talented, a great riff writer & very creative with his lead playing. He uses sweeps, taps, etc as a means to an end, not as the reason to solo. Much like Vai.

that was a little joke Gary
the dude can play for sure... his leads leave me kinda cold though... nothing unique or really memoriable about them in my opinion... riffs are his strong side

I really don't like about 99% of instrumental guitar albums... the playing could be great but the overall writing and vibe is usually very unimpressive... a lot of it is just crazy leads over simplistic backing tracks... that's why I could call those things junior league

Vai is more of an composer than guitarist... he puts more effort to the overall composition than to the guitar parts... you got progressive drum beat, funk bassline, jazz chords, modern classical arrangements and progressions and eastern melodies on top of all that... not many are doing that.

That's why I like his solo stuff... a lot of stuff is happening musically... not really hook oriented but it's a lot like modern classical music... many don't like it and contemporary classical stuff... I understand that.... but I rather take Varese over Bach etc. dudes and players with baroque influenced style.

A big bonus is also that Steve is the master of emotions... he took it farther than most players and is giving you his deepest and freakiest emotions musically. Much like Miles Davis. Can't really play "nicely" to express some sick fantasies and feelings.
I guess that's another thing wich makes people either love or hate his music.
It's that they can feel those emotions or they don't.
Or the music that Steve plays... the colors of his music matches with people's emotions or they don't.

That being said Steve is better songwriter than most of the guitar wizards when it comes to hooks and other commercial elements. His got platinum records to prove that (the DLR albums). But he doesn't really care about doing that these days. I do wish he would make a really good rock album with kickass songs.

[bibz]

I do wish he would make a really good rock album with kickass songs.

Yeah but when guys like satch and vai write killer rock songs they tend to screw them up by singing on them

[akoch]

It's kind of odd for me... While I love instrumental guitar, I give Vai least listening time, even less than Satch. While I do pay respect to his proficiency etc, but for whatever reason he goes at the expense of others. Macalpine, Moore, Malmsteen, Friedman, etc I find listening too much more often.