Steve Vai Live

The entries in Sony Legacy Playlist series may be packaged as budget compilations, but they really do represent the best-known and most representative tracks by a given artist during their tenure with the company. Former Frank Zappa sideman and guitar virtuoso Steve Vai's volume is no exception to the standard. Included here are 12 studio and two live cuts from his long tenure with Sony and Epic. The cuts are arranged aesthetically rather than chronologically, making for a very solid mix. This one kicks off with “Erotic Nightmares” from his third album for the label, Passion and Warfare. Also included here are “Lotus Feet,” “Salamanders in the Sun,” “Love Secrets,” and fine live versions of “You’re Here,” and “Whispering a Prayer.” In addition to these 14 cuts, there is also bonus CD-R material to boot. While fans may have everything here already, this set serves as an excellent, modestly priced introduction to Vai’s solo work.

Steve Vai played with a wide variety of acts during the '80s – Frank Zappa, David Lee Roth, John Lydon's PIL, and Whitesnake, among others – as he became one of rock's most sought-after hired guns. In addition, Vai launched his own solo career, which come the '90s would be his sole career focus. The 2003 double-disc set Infinite Steve Vai: An Anthology is comprised almost entirely of Vai's solo work (save for a Whitesnake song, "Kitten's Got Claws," and one by the obscure outfit Alcatrazz, "Lighter Shade of Green"). While most "guitar shredders" got a bad rap come the '90s, Vai was always an exception to the rule – there's no secret that Vai was one of the most technically accomplished guitarists in all of rock, but he always knew to put songwriting before soloing (something that most of the other guitarists of the era failed to do), and inject his wacky sense of humor into his playing.

Steve Vai played with a wide variety of acts during the '80s – Frank Zappa, David Lee Roth, John Lydon's PIL, and Whitesnake, among others – as he became one of rock's most sought-after hired guns. In addition, Vai launched his own solo career, which come the '90s would be his sole career focus. The 2003 double-disc set Infinite Steve Vai: An Anthology is comprised almost entirely of Vai's solo work (save for a Whitesnake song, "Kitten's Got Claws," and one by the obscure outfit Alcatrazz, "Lighter Shade of Green"). While most "guitar shredders" got a bad rap come the '90s, Vai was always an exception to the rule – there's no secret that Vai was one of the most technically accomplished guitarists in all of rock, but he always knew to put songwriting before soloing (something that most of the other guitarists of the era failed to do), and inject his wacky sense of humor into his playing.

Steve Vai played with a wide variety of acts during the '80s – Frank Zappa, David Lee Roth, John Lydon's PIL, and Whitesnake, among others – as he became one of rock's most sought-after hired guns. In addition, Vai launched his own solo career, which come the '90s would be his sole career focus. The 2003 double-disc set Infinite Steve Vai: An Anthology is comprised almost entirely of Vai's solo work (save for a Whitesnake song, "Kitten's Got Claws," and one by the obscure outfit Alcatrazz, "Lighter Shade of Green"). While most "guitar shredders" got a bad rap come the '90s, Vai was always an exception to the rule – there's no secret that Vai was one of the most technically accomplished guitarists in all of rock, but he always knew to put songwriting before soloing (something that most of the other guitarists of the era failed to do), and inject his wacky sense of humor into his playing.

A live recording from the Generation Axe tour, featuring Steve Vai, Yngwie Malmsteen, Zakk Wylde, Nuno Bettencourt and Tosin Abasi, will be released on June 28. Titled Generation Axe—The Guitars That Destroyed the World: Live In China, the collection culls performances from the tour’s 11-city run in Asia in 2017. The album will be released via earMUSIC as a CD digipak, limited colored 2LP+download and digital.

A live recording from the Generation Axe tour, featuring Steve Vai, Yngwie Malmsteen, Zakk Wylde, Nuno Bettencourt and Tosin Abasi, will be released on June 28. Titled Generation Axe—The Guitars That Destroyed the World: Live In China, the collection culls performances from the tour’s 11-city run in Asia in 2017. The album will be released via earMUSIC as a CD digipak, limited colored 2LP+download and digital.

A live recording from the Generation Axe tour, featuring Steve Vai, Yngwie Malmsteen, Zakk Wylde, Nuno Bettencourt and Tosin Abasi, will be released on June 28. Titled Generation Axe—The Guitars That Destroyed the World: Live In China, the collection culls performances from the tour’s 11-city run in Asia in 2017. The album will be released via earMUSIC as a CD digipak, limited colored 2LP+download and digital.

Visual Sound Theories is the video complement to Steve Vai's double-CD Sound Theories Vols. 1-2, which finds the guitarist working with an orchestra, the Holland Metropole Orkest, in a concert of his music…

Stillness In Motion: Vai Live in L.A. was recorded October 2012 at Club Nokia in LA while Steve was on his two year worldwide Story of Light tour…