Steve Vai - ...and on guitar (2003)

Steven Siro Vai was born on 06 June 1960 in Carle Place, New York, and his first experience of music started at an early age, when at the age of six he was first introduced to the guitar, seeing an older child playing in his grade school auditorium, and knowing instinctively that he was going to play the guitar someday. At the age of twelve he decided to start playing the instrument, and in 1973 he began taking guitar lessons from fellow New York native Joe Satriani, and playing in local bands like The Ohio Express, Circus, and Rayge throughout his high school years. In 1978, to further pursue his interest in music composition and theory, Vai attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, and after receiving both a notated transcription of Frank Zappa's 'The Black Page', and a recording of Vai's college band Morning Thunder, Zappa was impressed enough to put Vai on salary as a transcriptionist to transcribe his work. After leaving Berklee College of Music and moving to California, Vai auditioned for and became a full-time member of Zappa's band, going on his first tour with Zappa in late 1980. After leaving Zappa's employ in 1983, Vai bought a house in Sylmar, Los Angeles and built his first professional studio, where he wrote and recorded a large amount of music that was not originally intended for release. Out of this material, he compiled his first studio album 'Flex-Able', which he released on his own Akashic Records label. At the same time as the album came out, he'd come to public attention when his composition 'The Attitude Song' was published in Guitar Player magazine, showcasing a number of specialized techniques, such as two-handed tapping, whammy bar acrobatics, sweep picking, alternate picking, multi-part harmonies, and odd phrasing. In between his solo work, and appearing in the film 'Crossroads' in 1986 as the Devil's guitar player Jack Butler, where he wrote and performed nearly all the guitar parts in the duel scene, he replaced Yngwie Malmsteen as the lead guitarist of Alcatrazz, recording the album 'Disturbing The Peace' with them in 1985. Later that year he joined David Lee Roth's post-Van Halen band as lead guitarist, and their 1986 debut album 'Eat 'Em And Smile' was both a critical and commercial success, reaching number four on the Billboard 200 albums chart and selling over two million copies. Roth's subsequent album 'Skyscraper' was released in 1988 and was another commercial success, but Vai left the band after the Skyscraper Tour to work on the JEM guitar that he'd designed, which incorporated a series of groundbreaking designs that have since become staples throughout the guitar industry, and he releasing the Ibanez JEM 777 guitar in 1987. 

From 1985 to 1990 he recorded the 'Passion And Warfare' album at his home studio, and in those five years he also appeared on a number of other artist's albums as a guest guitarist, always adding something a bit out of the ordinary to the recordings. One of these sessions was to record the guitar parts for Whitesnake's 'Slip of The Tongue' album, where he replaced the injured Adrian Vandenberg, and after the album came out to critical acclaim, Vai joined the band on their thirteen-month world tour. In May 1990 he released his second album 'Passion And Warfare' through Relativity Records, winning him a number of awards such as Guitar World and Guitar Player's 'Best Album' and 'Best Rock Guitarist' awards. Vai's next project was to form his own band with Devin Townsend on vocals, T. M. Stevens on bass, and Terry Bozzio on drums and release the 'Sex & Religion' album, and in 1994 he began working with Ozzy Osbourne, writing and recording the 'Ozzmosis' album, before internal conflicts led to the whole album being re-written and recorded with Zakk Wylde on guitar instead. 2001 saw the limited release of 'The Secret Jewel Box', a conceptual ten-CD box set containing unique material from various eras of Vai's career, and he continues to releases albums, either solo or with the band G3, including fellow guitar maestros Joe Satriani and Eric Johnson, as well as playing live for a few years on the Zappa Plays Zappa tour as a special guest, but this collection showcases his guest appearances from his early days as one of the new kids on the block, showing the old guys how it should be done.   

Track listing

01 London 1941 (from 'At The Door' by Heresy 1985)
02 Full Moon (from 'The Epidemics' by The Epidemics 1986)
03 There's Still Hope (from 'The Great Nostalgia' by Bob Harris 1986)
04 Home (from 'Album' by Public Image Ltd 1986) 
05 Funk Me Tender (from 'Funk Me Tender' by Randy Coven 1986)
06 Noah's Ark (from 'Submarine' by Greg Bissonette 1986)
07 Western Vacation (from 'Western Vacation' by Western Vacation 1986)
08 Sweet Lady Luck (out-take from 'Slip Of The Tongue' by Whitesnake 1989)
09 Supergirl (from 'The Best Of Dreams' by Rebecca 1990)
10 Feed My Frankenstein (from 'Hey Stoopid' by Alice Cooper 1991)
11 Speed (from 'Free World' by Munetaka Higuchi with Dream Castle 1997)
12 Room Full Of You (from 'Vertigo' by Billie Myers 2000)
13 Shapes Of Things (from 'Birdland' by The Yardbirds 2003)

Whitesnake - Herpetology (1997)

This may be seen as blasphemy, but I've always preferred David Coverdale over Ian Gillan as vocalist of Deep Purple, and wish he'd have recorded more albums with them, but at least we have Whitesnake, so I shouldn't complain. The band were formed in 1978 after Coverdale left Deep Purple and recorded his solo album 'Whitesnake' in 1977, with the core studio line-up remaining as his backing band for the tour to promote the album. For the tour they were known as The White Snake Band, and they retained the title, shortening it slightly to Whitesnake, as they continued to tour with Coverdale as his support band. At this time the group was made up of David Coverdale, Bernie Marsden, Micky Moody, Neil Murray, and drummer David "Duck" Dowle, along with keyboardists Brian Johnston, who was soon replaced by Procol Harum organ player and keyboardist Pete Solley. Because of Solley's producing commitments he was replaced by former Deep Purple keyboard player Jon Lord during sessions for the first LP. Before that, though, the band's first recordings were released as the 'Snakebite EP' in 1978, which included a cover of the Bobby "Blue" Bland song 'Ain't No Love In The Heart Of The City', proving that the new wave of British heavy metal could break the pop charts. The debut album 'Trouble' was released in the autumn of 1978 and peaked at No. 50 in the UK album charts, and they followed this with 'Lovehunter' the following year, this time breaking the top 30. Shortly after that, drummer Ian Paice replaced David Dowle, giving Whitesnake three ex-Deep Purple members, and this new line-up recorded the 1980 release 'Ready An' Willing', which was the breakthrough hit for the band, reaching the UK Top 10 and becoming their first entry into the U.S. Top 100. In 1981 the band recorded 'Come An' Get It', which climbed to No. 2 in the UK album charts, but the following year Coverdale had to take time off to look after his sick daughter, and he put Whitesnake on hold while he did that. 

When he returned to music, he reformed the band, and after the recording of the album 'Saints & Sinners' in 1982, he replaced Bernie Marsden, Ian Paice, and bass player Neil Murray with Mel Galley from Trapeze, bassist Colin Hodgkinson, and Cozy Powell as the new drummer. In late 1983, this new line-up recorded 'Slide It In', which was released in Europe in early 1984, and was the band's fourth top 10 album in their native UK, peaking at number 9. However, after securing a major US deal with the Geffen label, producer David Geffen insisted that the album be remixed for the US release, with Sykes and Murray re-recording the lead guitar and bass parts. Starting in 1985, Coverdale and Sykes began writing material for a follow-up studio album, aiming for a more modern approach, adding a slick Eighties studio polish to a band that up until 'Slide It In' had a bluesier sound rooted in the 70's. With Cozy Powell leaving to join Emerson, Lake & Powell, and Jon Lord exiting to reform Deep Purple Mk. II, drummer Aynsley Dunbar and keyboardist Don Airey were brought in, and after the album was put on hold for much of 1986 when Coverdale contracted a serious sinus infection that put his singing career in jeopardy, the album was finished in 1987, taking its title from its year of completion. The album was their most commercially successful, spawning hit singles 'Here I Go Again' and 'Is This Love', but long-term fans viewed it as a sell-out, and an attempt to pander to mainstream tastes at the time. I must admit that this is when I lost interest in the band, and so missed their late 90's albums, but re-issues of their records over the years have unearthed some rare tracks from my favourite period, and so I've collected them here. I've added in the four tracks from that very first EP, as they are confusingly scattered over a number of different re-issues, as well as some out-takes and b-sides from the 80's, and even a few 90's flips that are worth hearing, so sit back and enjoy some good old-fashioned heavy metal.  

Track listing

01 Bloody Mary (from the 'Snakebite' EP 1978)

02 Steal Away (from the 'Snakebite' EP 1978)

03 Ain't No Love In The Heart Of The City (from the 'Snakebite' EP 1978)

04 Come On (from the 'Snakebite' EP 1978)

05 Soul Survivor (previously unreleased 1982)

06 Need Your Love So Bad (b-side of 'Give Me More Time' 1984)

07 Sweet Lady Luck (b-side of 'Is This Love' 1994)

08 Anything You Want (b-side of 'Don't Fade Away 1997)

09 Oi (b-side of 'Don't Fade Away 1997)

10 Can't Stop Now (b-side of 'Too Many Tears' 1997)