Vai - Real Illusions: Reflections Review (Part I)

On the eve of my vacation, I would like to take the time to write up a review of the first half of the latest Steve Vai album "Real Illusions: Reflections".

First a disclaimer: this is a guitar player's album and Steve Vai has always been a guitar player's guitar player. So, to the average listener, this may just sound like a bunch of noise. However to anyone who has ever composed, seriously played an instrument, engineered or produced a record, or wanked out on the guitar, this album is certainly frightening and mind-blowing.

1) Building the Church - When you have the classically trained Tony McAlpine as your keyboard player, you have my attention instantly. Vai has McAlpine open with a legato flury followed up by a smooth, d-tuned groove by Vai, bassist Billy Sheenan and drummer Jeremy Colson. Immediately, I was struck by a theme that would later become apparent throughout the album: Vai's focus was clearly geared more towards orchestrastion. There are many layered guitars, counter-balancing one another in rhythm and tonally through out melodic, main themes. Most of it is very subtle though, as the backing rhythm is a straight rock groove that makes your foot stomp...not tap...stomp.

2) Dying For Your Love - Here Vai gets back into his Zappa roots. For the last 4 records, Vai has experimented with singing, and these tracks usually get skipped by me. It's always bummed me out since he always played with such quality musicians, why not a decent singer? However, this song is really weird and his freakish voice really works here and the entire song is orchestrated and layered in a methodical way. Each passage is played differently and his haunting lead passages are a perfect compliment. It was a tune that I had to get used to, but I like it now.

3) Glorious - Another song that started out with a rather a standard rock beat. But, the lead melody that comes in is a clean guitar, with a wah that is modulated to sound like a crying cat. Then, he proceedes to play a 64th-note passage that doubles with Tony McAlpine in perfect harmony.

4) K'm-Pee-Du-Wee - This slow 38 bpm song is style where Vai is at his best. Vai is one of the most articulate guitar players in terms of the breadth of vocabulary that he brings to the instrument. He begins by playing sweet, haunting passages that change with each phrase; it's almost as if he is telling a story throughout. Vai always gets a hard time for being overly obsessed with technique, and I find the argument lazy and ignorant. Vai uses a myriad of techniques to challenge your mind and your soul in ways you didn't think possible and this is one of the best examples of this. This is one of my favorite tracks on the record.

5) Firewall - Another vocal track. Vai is making me eat my words as this song is just plain fun! The rhythm track is sort of funky, yet his the main chorus has an orchestrated horn section that is Tower of Power-ish, while his 7-string plays in a low funky growl. Not only that, the percussion in the background is doing all sorts of wacky stuff.

6) Freak Show Excess - This is by far my favorite track on the album, and now one of my favorite Vai tunes ever. This song is a perfect blend of creativity, flawless orchestration that modulates in several different keys throughout, and a demonstration of total technical mastery. Steve was inspired by Bulgarian wedding music when he wrote this tune, and you can hear all the odd ghost notes throughout that modulate his passages ever so subtlely. Here is what makes Vai a master versus just a guy with fast fingers; he makes it sound effortless within a flowing rhythm. When the third solo breaks down, he is actually playing the piece in a 17/16 time signature. I sat down to figure this passage out, and it took me 4 hours to figure out all the notes, while taking me 4 days to actually play it without screwing up. The end of the tune ends in typical Vai silliness with a hammer-on, pull-off wank that combines whammy-bar techniques that make his guitar flat out scream.

Ok, Songs 7 - 10 and a summary later...