Vai seems to spend a lot of time looking back these days, reimagining various compositions in different musical formats, but even though that’s essentially what this release is, Modern Primitive stands on its own as a complete and cohesive statement and is an essential purchase for even casual Vai fans.Steve Vai and Legacy Recordings are commemorating the 25th anniversary of Passion And Warfare with a special 2CD edition of the album which includes the first-ever release of Vai's Modern Primitive songs and recordings. The bonus tracks include versions of the two songs that were originally intended to bookend the album (he was right to leave them off: the record flows perfectly in its originally released state), an alternate take on one of the Modern Primitive songs, and the brilliant Lovely Elixir, which ranks up there with his best guitar instrumentals. But most intriguing is the three-part Pink and Blows Over, an ethereal, sprawling track that takes its sweet old time going in all sorts of directions over 20 minutes.Īs for the Passion and Warfare remaster, you’re going to hear things you never noticed before and will be even more in awe of the vision that Vai managed to capture on that historic record.
The Lost Chord, with Devin Townsend on vocals, is utterly haunting and beautiful. I’m legit mad at Vai for sitting on Mighty Messengers for three decades. The majority of tracks feature vocals and some of them are among the most engaging songs he has ever done.
It’s not a Vai guitar album, although there is of course great guitar playing. What stands out most about this record is the sheer strength of the compositions and arrangements. Modern Primitive is the result, and if you’re expecting the weirdness of Flex-Able with the sonics of P&W – or the rawness of the former with the compositional style of the latter – then you’re way off. For the 25th anniversary of P&W Vai decided to dust off material from this era and either finish them off or record brand new versions.
In between his quirky Zappa-esque debut Flex-Able and his commercial breakthrough, the technicolour shredfest Passion and Warfare, Steve Vai had a band called The Classified.
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