Eight years after its maiden jaunt, the G3 concert series continues to celebrate six-string excess for guitar geeks across the globe. The brainchild of legend Joe Satriani, G3 showcases Satch, his accomplished former student Steve Vai, and a wildcard support act. While the series has featured axe-slingers of a bluesier sort, the 2003 tour found the neo-classical king Yngwie Malmsteen joining the fretboard fray…
Six-string wizard Steve Vai, along with his one-time teacher Joe Satriani, set the standard for rock guitar virtuosity in the '80s. Born on June 6, 1960, and raised in Carle Place, New York, Vai became interested in the guitar via such legendary artists as Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, and Alice Cooper as a teenager and, upon starting high school, took lessons with an older player from the school, Joe Satriani.
Hey Stoopid is the 19th studio album by rock singer Alice Cooper, released on July 2, 1991. After his smash 1989 hit album Trash, Cooper attempted to continue his success with his follow-up album, which features guest performances from Slash, Ozzy Osbourne, Vinnie Moore, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Nikki Sixx and Mick Mars (both of Mötley Crüe). Hey Stoopid was the last music album to feature bassist Hugh McDonald before he joined Bon Jovi as their unofficial bassist in 1995. According to Cooper assistant Brian Renfield, an alternate cover was originally considered, described by Renfield as being "hardcore with hypo needles, pills…" Notably, the track "Feed My Frankenstein" features famed guitar duo Steve Vai and Joe Satriani playing together, accompanied by Nikki Sixx on Bass. In 2014, "Dangerous Tonight" was featured in the video game Watch_Dogs.
Maybe the only surprising thing about Chickenfoot's critically dismissed 2009 debut was that anyone should have been surprised at its eventual commercial success. After all, there was just no way that America's average Joe classic rock consumer was going to resist spending all of that disposable beer money on a super-sized union between Sammy Hagar, Joe Satriani, Michael Anthony, and Chad Smith, no matter how meager its artistic rewards. Temptation embraced, the broth thickens with a second Chickenfoot LP – cheekily named Chickenfoot III – that offers much the same in terms of musical and intellectual stimuli (don't laugh) with its rather shameless though surely to-be-expected, exploitation of the vintage Van Hagar aesthetic.
Commemorating the 25th anniversary of Passion and Warfare comes a special 2CD edition of the album which includes the first-ever release of Vai's Modern Primitive songs and recordings. Based on song sketches and works-in-progress penned, and recorded, by Vai following the release of Flex-Able, the artist's debut album, in January 1984, the music on Modern Primitive has been completed by Steve for release as a full album bonus disc in the Passion and Warfare 25th Anniversary Edition. Passion and Warfare 25th Anniversary Edition was remastered from the original ½" Ampex 456 30ips analog master tapes.