Published on Dec 31, 1998
In the world of guitar virtuosos, there is a fine line between
genius and overindulgence. If only Steve Vai had discovered not to
cross that line.
A pupil of fellow axemaster Joe Satriani who cut his
professional teeth with the late Frank Zappa, Vai got the most
exposure of his solo career back in 1990 with his album
Passion And Warfare. Enlisting the aid of fellow Whitesnake
bandmember David Coverdale for spoken word asides, Vai tries to
create his own unique world shaped by his guitar-driven music. And
while there is no denying that his six-string work is exceptional,
if I wanted an autobiography, I would have bought the book at
Barnes & Noble.
The problem, believe it or not, isn’t that Vai tries to get too
showy with his playing. Instead, he takes this whole project and
begins to take it – and himself – too goddamn seriously. C’mon,
Steve, it’s a
freaking record album! I don’t need to hear such
philosophical comments like, “We may be human, but we’re still
animals”… and I could have lived without the recitation of the
Pledge of Allegiance in “The Riddle”.
And the song that’s the best known off
Passion And Warfare, “The Audience Is Listening,” well…
was the video written for the song, or was the song written for the
video? This tune just has too defined of a script to not be a
creation for MTV – and that, frankly, is a dangerous use of the
music. I guess it is a cute idea to try and picture Vai as a little
kid shredding away in his classroom, but it also reeks of a “dig
me” attitude.
Musically,
Passion And Warfare is standard fare, with “Erotic
Nightmares” being a personal highlight (the work of bass
ubermensch Stu Hamm is especially noteworthy.) This track
shows both the style that Vai learned from Satriani as well as
Vai’s own unique voice in the music. If only there were more
moments like this on
Passion And Warfare, but they’re few and far between.
(“Greasy Kid’s Stuff” is another standout that falls into this
category.)
If you’re into good guitar work (or even if you’ve followed
Vai’s work through stints with Zappa and David Lee Roth), then
Passion And Warfare will light up your world from time to
time. But, methinks the man regards himself too highly – and he
hasn’t earned that right yet.