well, we have threads for guitarists like Buckethead and Yngwie Malmsteen and some others(actually i'm the one who made em. hahah). so i thought i might as well creat this one too

so steve vai. an insane guitarist who has jumped from genre to genre. has done traditional rock, hard rock and stuff. then heavy metal. a few world folk music. and tons of other genres. he has an interesting history as well. has been in a movie. a few of his songs end up on sound tracks. he was taught by the great Satriani(sp). is a huge inspiration for John Petrucci(Dream Theater). and he co-started the G3 tour. and if i'm not mistaken, this year, G3 would be hitting austeralia with satriani, petrucci, vai, and shehan(bass).

he has done tons of colaborations with Zappa and bunch of other people.

so yeah...what do you think about it?


personally i like him over malmsteen. not becuase he is slower, but coz he is more versatile. but thats just my opinion.

i saw in a magazine that he is the fastest guitarist ever with 21 notes per second...not even flo of cryptopsy can keep up
but i personally think malmsteen is better.his skills are just unbelievable

Why the hell is he in this area of the MS forum?

Personally, i'd relocate this (if it were possible), to the melodic metal forum, Vai does not belong in the alternative/nu/industrial/avantgarde area...

Written by Guest on 06.09.2006 at 15:38

Why the hell is he in this area of the MS forum?

Personally, i'd relocate this (if it were possible), to the melodic metal forum, Vai does not belong in the alternative/nu/industrial/avantgarde area...

the reason why vai is here is because of the same reason an avan-grade/progressive guitarist, buckethead is here. i had buckethead in progressive/melodic metal section, but they relocated him to this side...

i dont agree with thier listing, but whatever.

as for vai, he isnt the fastest guitarist. that michle angelo batio is supposedly the 2nd fastest guitarist, followed by malmsteen and then some other guitarists. and i have no clue who the fastest is. well i do..i just forgot his name. its all in malmsteens profile on wikipedia.org. but yeah, the reason why i dont like malmsteen is coz...well, he is just fast. technicality wise, malmsteen is better than vai. but versatility wise, vai butchers malmsteen. like you ever heard of malmsteen play the blues? we cant really tell what he is playing simply coz he is masterbating with the freaken neck/fret board.


on a side note, i love his freaken hair! ever saw him in G3 videos? his hair is flying like some greek god or soemthing! i want his hair!


oh btw, i found Vai's movie debut. this is a lil guitar duel between vai and some other dude from the movie 'crossroads'. vai recorded both guitar pieces. and it took vai tons and tons of retakes for that scene simply coz vai couldnt screw up. well he tried screwing up, it just didnt work. so yeah, here it is:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=u7be0zuWDFQ

yeah, i still say its not fair that this is in the melodic metal section, where as buckethead is in the alternative metal section.

Written by Soliloquy on 08.09.2006 at 16:44

yeah, i still say its not fair that this is in the melodic metal section, where as buckethead is in the alternative metal section.

Because Buckethead is avantgardist and alternative whereas Steve Vai isn't. He is progressive and melodic but totally not avantgardist and alternative. Don't get me wrong I love his solo work whereas I dislike most of Buckethead's.

meh, either way.

anyways, whats your favorite song/songs by Vai? ever been to one of the G3 tours? are you planning to go?


the G3 concert, dont know how much it will cost if it hits canada, but the tickets in austeralia are for 100 bucks. so if thats for austeralia, i'm sure the same would apply to canada. that is a tad bit too expensive. but i might go to it. and if they do not sell any merchandise there, then i would say it is a rip.

as for my favorite songs by him...idk. i have to give his 'The Infinite Steve Vai: An Anthology' again. but out those songs, my favorite would have to be his classic, 'for the love of god' 'bad horsie' 'the blood and tears' 'The Silent Within', and a few others....although i can do without the lady with that thick brown accent!

ive been once to a G3 satriani/vai/petrucci in fact it was in canada (toronto) a long while ago i was around 14 by then it blew my mind but as ive always been a HUGE i mean HUGEEEEE satriani fan he was the best out of the three also have almost all their G3 concerts but i gotta say my favorite is with eric johnson for he gives the music the jazzy/bluesy sound like in Red House awesome song but well as this isnt a G3 thread ill say i really like vai specially in his earlier work and hes an artist in makin weird noises with his guitar thou i have to say sometimes those solos are just tooo long for me i rather have him play his normal classics any how he is great well yeah playing with zappa does that to you

I am a fan. I haven't heard a lot of his work, but from what I have heard I am a fan of his 'Sex and Religion' album which I have yet to find in any stores. Not only for his playing but also the fact that it features Devin Townsend on vocals. Great stuff.

Written by Clintagräm on 08.09.2006 at 22:48

I am a fan. I haven't heard a lot of his work, but from what I have heard I am a fan of his 'Sex and Religion' album which I have yet to find in any stores. Not only for his playing but also the fact that it features Devin Townsend on vocals. Great stuff.

if you have an HMV in your area, you can always order it in. it doesnt cost extra(unless its some insane import from soemwhere). if it isnt an import, then you would just have to pay the regular price for the cd, which might, or might not be the same price that majority of other cds are in the store. dont knowabout america, but the majority of prices for HMV cds is about 24. same thing i paid for his 2 disc complition album

Written by Soliloquy on 09.09.2006 at 02:41

Written by Clintagräm on 08.09.2006 at 22:48

I am a fan. I haven't heard a lot of his work, but from what I have heard I am a fan of his 'Sex and Religion' album which I have yet to find in any stores. Not only for his playing but also the fact that it features Devin Townsend on vocals. Great stuff.

if you have an HMV in your area, you can always order it in. it doesnt cost extra(unless its some insane import from soemwhere). if it isnt an import, then you would just have to pay the regular price for the cd, which might, or might not be the same price that majority of other cds are in the store. dont knowabout america, but the majority of prices for HMV cds is about 24. same thing i paid for his 2 disc complition album

Of course, I have ordered CDs before that I couldn't find in stores.

Written by Soliloquy on 06.09.2006 at 17:41

as for vai, he isnt the fastest guitarist. that michle angelo batio is supposedly the 2nd fastest guitarist, followed by malmsteen and then some other guitarists. and i have no clue who the fastest is. well i do..i just forgot his name. its all in malmsteens profile on wikipedia.org.

well,it's not there,but is chris impliterri the guy you're talking about?
http://www.radicalbright.com/wp1/?p=21
also,if a guitarist isn't that technical,but makes wonderful sounds,doesn't he qualify as a good guitarist?

Written by Valentin B on 12.09.2006 at 11:39

Written by Soliloquy on 06.09.2006 at 17:41

as for vai, he isnt the fastest guitarist. that michle angelo batio is supposedly the 2nd fastest guitarist, followed by malmsteen and then some other guitarists. and i have no clue who the fastest is. well i do..i just forgot his name. its all in malmsteens profile on wikipedia.org.

well,it's not there,but is chris impliterri the guy you're talking about?
http://www.radicalbright.com/wp1/?p=21
also,if a guitarist isn't that technical,but makes wonderful sounds,doesn't he qualify as a good guitarist?

they removed it from the wiki link for some reason. and no, i wasnt talkinga about impliterri. this guy used to play around the 80's or soemthing. and then he disappeared. and still, batio is faster than malmsteen. what makes bation faster is his double hand hammers, where as malmsteen sticks to single hand fretting.
and ofcorse, if a guitarist isnt technical, he can be an awsome guitarist. but at the same time, if there are no technicalities what so ever, then the guitarist can be shitty too. for example, kurt cobain. sure he may be famous, but he really sucked. on the other hand, Slash from guns n roses isnt technical ONE tiny bit, yet he makes good music, and is a good guitarist.

i'm not saying you have to be technical to be good. its just that technical is just a skill...sort of. its just the faster you are, the less 'emotion' you have in your songs. like the faster you are, like say you are just shredding all over the place, it wont really matter all that much what your next note would be. simply coz you are shredding. where as if you play it slow, each and every note matters more becuase the ear can pick up single notes faster than having billions of notes played in one minute...you know?

and no, i'm not saying Vai is a shitty guitarist, comparing to malmsteen. they both are awsome guitarists in their own way.

I'm seeing Vai (with Satch and Petrucci) in November, I can't wait. He's been one of my favourite guitarists for years, it's going to be an amazing night.

Written by Hyvaarin on 14.09.2006 at 16:28

I'm seeing Vai (with Satch and Petrucci) in November, I can't wait. He's been one of my favourite guitarists for years, it's going to be an amazing night.

i envy you so much. let us know how that goes.

anyways, what got you guys into vai?

I think I had read his name a lot on a guitar forum, so I checked out 'For the Love of God'. Bam, I was hooked .

i think my first song from him was bad horsie. and i still love the song. i found out about him simply by picking up a guitar. hahaha. i didnt bother going to any forums. though i should, and learn a technique or two

time for me to resurrect the thread, as i recently started covering satriani, and Vai. and covering others is something i dont do all too often...

anyways, interesting fact i found out about Vai. he made a custom guitar in which he used his actual blood for the paint. he withdrew a pint of blood, and illegally smuggled the blood over to japan, where some dude divided the blood to 300 guitars. the efect of the paint looks soemthing like this:



whats even cooler about the paint is that each and every guitar has a different pattern for the paint, as all are completely different and random.

Written by Soliloquy on 15.09.2006 at 18:07

Written by Hyvaarin on 14.09.2006 at 16:28

I'm seeing Vai (with Satch and Petrucci) in November, I can't wait. He's been one of my favourite guitarists for years, it's going to be an amazing night.

i envy you so much. let us know how that goes.

Well, I arrived with a friend during Petrucci's first song. I'm not familar with his solo work, so I can't give song names or anything - it was kinda long and fastish, with some really impressive playing. Got a bit boring after a while, which happened in pretty much all of his songs...

Next Vai came on . Can't remember the exact setlist, but I know it contained 'Whispering A Prayer', 'For the Love of God', 'Answers', 'Building the Church', 'Freak Show Excess'. Seeing 'Whispering A Prayer' was amazing, it's one of the most beautiful songs ever written, and he played it perfectly. Vai's set was full of energy and emotion, and was technically astounding. Billy Sheehan did a really cool solo, too.

Satch (who I met the day before ) followed. Once again, I can't remember his setlist, but it contained 'Flying in a Blue Dream', 'Satch Boogie', 'Crowd Chant', 'Summer Song' and 'The Extremist', which was more than enough for me. He was the first guitar god kinda player that I discovered, so seeing him live was a bit magical. By the end of his set I was aching for the G3 jam, though...

Halfway through Satch's last song Vai came on and joined in. Petrucci came on shortly after, and started up 'Voodoo Chile'. Really rockin' jam, but the sound was off, so I couldn't quite make out a lot of what Petrucci was playing. This continued through 'My Guitar Wants To Kill Your Mama', which was a more interesting jam, with Vai pulling out some pretty cool stuff. The jam ended with 'Rockin' in the Free World', which REALLY suffered from unclear sound and unfocussed playing. Though it was certainly cool, the jam section of the show was a little bit disappointing.

As I had predicted, Vai won the night .

that sounds awsomely orgasmic! yeah, ive seen couple of petrucci videos from G3, and he really isnt impressive. its funny to see him jam with satch and Vai, coz those guys just have an awsome ear for the notes. where as petrucci keeps looking at satch's, and vai's freat board, and looks so out of place.

it would be cool to see someone like Romeo(symphony X) and Alexi or someone else toher than petrucci there. but its all good

I think his technique is unique and I love him for that he doesn't do the I'm the fastest guitarist alive like malmsteen but he does the I'm a good guitarist thing....

Written by iMPERiAL_iCE on 09.12.2006 at 19:01

I think his technique is unique and I love him for that he doesn't do the I'm the fastest guitarist alive like malmsteen but he does the I'm a good guitarist thing....

look up stuff on Buckethead. he is similar in that. the only difference isthat no one has seen buckethead's face. and hes really random and weird. yet good guitarist

Written by Soliloquy on 09.12.2006 at 20:33

Written by iMPERiAL_iCE on 09.12.2006 at 19:01

I think his technique is unique and I love him for that he doesn't do the I'm the fastest guitarist alive like malmsteen but he does the I'm a good guitarist thing....

look up stuff on Buckethead. he is similar in that. the only difference isthat no one has seen buckethead's face. and hes really random and weird. yet good guitarist

Yeah I've heard a lot about this Buckethead guy but never really heard anything for guess I'll give him a try.....thnx

i made a section for Buckethead in the Alternative section. his recomendations for songs are on there too.

I think the first time I heard Steve was either when I went to GC and lifted(Yes it's wrong & stupid, but I'm done with that part of my life now) a copy of his DVD of him in the UK I believe. And after that I went to a record store with my cousin & got 2 cd's of his Flex-Able & Real Illusions:Reflections. While I found his old stuff to be good, his new stuff just blew me away.

Defiantly one of my fav/most inspiring guitarists I've heard to this day.

Happy birthday to Steve Vai one of the best guitarists ever.

I prefer Buckethead and John 5 who everyone should check out!! But Steve Vai is awesome,I saw him at London guitar show and it resurrected my faith in him, im looking forward to the new album!

I watched some his concerts and he is very good but his teacher (Joe Satriani) is better for me

Vai is sick and is so much better than Malmsteen its unbelievable. That's a fact.

Steve Vai has postponed his planned tour of North America until the fall. The first U.S. leg of dates will now begin on Wednesday, September 28 in El Cajon, California and wrap the first week of December. The itinerary will now feature performances in 52 markets as opposed to the initial plan of staging 54 shows. All ticket and VIP purchases will be honored for the rescheduled date. Vai's performance in Atlanta, Georgia will now take place at the Variety Playhouse instead of The Eastern and due to scheduling conflicts, the Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Billings, Montana shows will no longer be a part of the tour.

The following appearances are confirmed:

Sep. 28 - El Cajon, CA @ The Magnolia
Sep. 30 - Riverside, CA @ Fox Performing Arts Center
Oct. 01 - Las Vegas, NV @ House Of Blues
Oct. 02 - Phoenix, AZ @ Celebrity Theatre
Oct. 04 - Salt Lake City, UT @ The Rockwell at The Complex
Oct. 05 - Boulder, CO @ Boulder Theater
Oct. 07 - Oklahoma City, OK @ Tower Theatre
Oct. 08 - Dallas, TX @ House Of Blues
Oct. 09 - San Antonio, TX @ The Aztec Theatre
Oct. 11 - Austin, TX @ Paramount Theatre
Oct. 12 - Houston, TX @ House Of Blues
Oct. 14 - Birmingham, AL @ Lyric Theatre
Oct. 15 - Macon, GA @ Hargray Capitol Theatre
Oct. 16 - Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse
Oct. 18 - Clearwater, FL @ Bilheimer Capitol Theatre
Oct. 19 - Ft. Lauderdale, FL @ The Parker
Oct. 20 - Orlando, FL @ The Plaza Live
Oct. 21 - Ponte Vedra Beach, FL @ Ponte Vedra Concert Hall
Oct. 22 - Charleston, SC @ Charleston Music Hall
Oct. 23 - Charlotte, NC @ The Fillmore Charlotte
Oct. 25 - Alexandria, VA @ The Birchmere
Oct. 26 - Harrisburg, PA @ [to be determined]
Oct. 27 - Port Chester, NY @ The Capitol Theatre
Oct. 28 - Glenside, PA @ Keswick Theatre
Oct. 29 - Red Bank, NJ @ Count Basie Theatre
Oct. 30 - Huntington, NY @ The Paramount
Nov. 01 - New Haven, CT @ College Street Music Hall
Nov. 02 - Providence, RI @ The Strand
Nov. 03 - Boston, MA @ The Wilbur
Nov. 04 - Rochester, NY @ Kodak Center
Nov. 05 - Albany, NY @ The Egg
Nov. 07 - Greensburg, PA @ Palace Theatre
Nov. 08 - Warren, OH @ Packard Music Hall
Nov. 10 - Detroit, MI @ Masonic Cathedral Theatre
Nov. 11 - Morgantown, WV @ Metropolitan Theatre
Nov. 12 - Nashville, TN @ CMA Theatre
Nov. 13 - Louisville, KY @ Old Forester’s Paristown Hall
Nov. 14 - St. Louis, MO @ The Pageant
Nov. 16 - Chicago, IL @ Copernicus Center
Nov. 18 - St. Paul, MN @ Fitzgerald Theater
Nov. 19 - Lincoln, NE @ Bourbon Theatre
Nov. 20 - Kansas City, MO @ The Uptown Theater
Nov. 21 - Sioux Falls, SD @ The District
Nov. 22 - Des Moines, IA @ Hoyt Sherman Place
Nov. 23 - Fargo, ND @ Fargo Theatre
Nov. 25 - Bozeman, MT @ The ELM
Nov. 26 - Missoula, MT @ The Wilma
Nov. 27 - Seattle, WA @ Moore Theatre
Nov. 28 - Portland, OR @ Roseland Theater
Nov. 30 - Turlock, CA @ Turlock Community Theatre
Dec. 02 - Napa, CA @ Uptown Theatre Napa
Dec. 03 - Los Angeles, CA @ Theatre at Ace Hotel