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Steve Vai | The Elusive Light And Sound Vol. 1

A trawl through this guitar juggler's film work.
CD, Favored Nations/Zomba

Tekst: Dave Weil

Publicatiedatum: 04 juli 2002

Steve Vai has a new box set out for the faithful. Entitled The Secret Jewel Box set, the first instalment of the planned ten-CD set includes:

STEVE VAI - The Elusive Light and Sound Vol. 1
ALCATRAZZ - Disturbing the Peace
FRANK ZAPPA - Original Recordings: Steve Vai Archives Vol. 2

The release of this box set seems a bit confusing, as the set is priced at $65 with these three discs, but the remaining seven are to be released separately in the future. Are they included in the price and to be shipped later, or does one have to buy them separately and "fill in the blanks"? The official Vai website isn't clear on this. If it's the former, then it's a great deal. If it's the latter, then spending up to or over another $100 on top of the $65 seems a bit excessive, even for a "limited edition" of ten CDs.

Fortunately, The Elusive Light and Sound Vol. 1 is available separately, and that's the album that I'm reviewing. I'm at a bit of a disadvantage, because the extensive annotations that Vai provides with the box set aren't present with the promo.

Vai opens with a serviceable version of The Kinks' classic song, Celluloid Heroes. It's an interesting way to open this collection of Vai's film work and isn't the wankfest that Kink fans might fear. His voice is serviceable and even conveys a bit of emotion at times, but it's no match for Ray Davies.

Of particular interest to fans (and non-fans, I suppose) is the inclusion of the full "headcutting" duel from the movie Crossroads. With famed Telecaster god Arlen Roth taking the Ralph Macchio role, the battle between good and evil is represented in a guitar duel between the blues acolyte and the Devil's accompanist, Jack Butler (Vai). Macchio, the acolyte, is trying to save the soul of Willie Brown, who sold it to the devil at a crossroads in Mississippi, à la Robert Johnson. It's a fun contrast of styles, especially hearing Vai making his guitar laugh at one point. For those guitar freaks who had to resort to taping this from their VCRs, they can now tape the Eurovision finals over it.

The other films represented are Dudes, Bill & Ted's Bogus Adventure, Encino Man, and PCU. There are plenty of Vai moments included in the 40 segments and more than just snippets of "songs". Classical metalheads will rejoice to have all of this music in one place. With Vai's signature harmonics and dive bombs, he shows that he's the master of controlled cacophony. You hear traces of songs later developed for his solo work and even hear a snippet of the old Argent song, God Gave Rock And Roll To You, a song that Kiss updated to big hair status a while back.

Vai fans don't need me to tell them to rush off and get this album. Depending on where you fall on the guitar-loving scale, this album is certainly worth a listen to determine whether it floats your boat (or bends your whammy bar, as it were). If you're not much of a guitar-oriented person, save your time.

http://www.kindamuzik.net/recensie/steve-vai/the-elusive-light-and-sound-vol-1/1671/
Meer Steve Vai op KindaMuzik: http://www.kindamuzik.net/artiest/steve-vai