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I see it's quite tough to read; I promise to do it as soon as possible! Hi Vin!

It's fine, but if you compare Vai with Gilmour for example, where are you going with that? It's not a matter of distorters, but of music and different ways of understanding the instrument; I don't see what comparison could be made and quid prodest?

compare it

Oh well, if you go beyond the limits, then there's no benchmark, I can also tell you that I love Blackmore a lot, for example, and I consider him great, but I can't sit here and compare him to Vai because they are too different to be compared!

Great review, Ronnie! I don’t know the album, but you’ve described it well. Is this record totally perfect, or are there a few small flaws?

I don't think like you about the fact that there are guitarists much more incisive and experimental than Vai; around I see many clones imitating Malmsteen and lacking personality, people who strum a thousand picks per second like Cooley. But frankly, I really don't see all these great guitarists you're talking about who would overshadow Steve Vai. Maybe it's like that for you, but objectively, Steve Vai is unanimously recognized as one of the greatest in the world. It's not like I woke up in the morning and discovered it myself!

Yes, he is certainly the most remembered and undoubtedly one of the most brilliant, also because he has managed to make a name for himself like few others. It's not just about technique; it's also and above all about a great personality of the six strings. His style is unique, and in a landscape of clones and technical exercises often aimed at nothingness, I believe that his work deserves all the more praise. Ajeje, I just wanted to emphasize that Fire Garden Suite is not just a barrage of scales and lightning-fast legato; it is a very complex and ambitious musical composition, where technique is present and prominent only when it needs to be, that is, at the end. The rest, which is 3/4 of the piece, is pure creative genius of Vai. You may not like it, but that's another story. After all, it's not a piece designed to please; Tender Surrender (which, by the way, is also grand and extraordinary!) is much more experimental, but it reflects all of his personality.

ajeje, I really don’t know what to say to you; you even deny the evidence. Being a student of Zappa isn’t meant literally, even if even stones know that Vai was discovered and launched by Frank Zappa, who, as a great talent scout, recognized his remarkable qualities and abilities. Honestly, Hand on Heart is just one example, but there’s also Brother, Dyin' Day, and the very Warm Regards, where the technical skills (which are there and I don’t see why they should be hidden) are thoroughly supported by feeling and a quest for extremely high-quality compositions. Certainly, Steve Vai is not Rusty Cooley, and to pass him off as such is truly a blasphemy—that it is!! Fire Garden Suite is a piece that encompasses all of Vai's experimentation; to say it’s pure technical display is to distort reality. Also, since you say you’ve listened to the album well, you should know that the fast scales are only present in the final part of the piece, while for at least 7 minutes, there’s something entirely different. I mention this for the sake of accuracy since there is a need to emphasize the concept of "extreme technique" even where there are many other aspects that should be considered.

prevail, pardon
A thank you to Mista and to all the other contributions

ajeje, I think you listened to this work with a lot of superficiality. The 400,000 notes per minute you mention are absolutely not present in this album; indeed, there are episodes where the melody and feeling even prevail over the technical aspect. Listen to "Hand On Heart" or "Brother," just to name two examples, and you'll see that you've written a solemn nonsense, dictated by the classic prejudice that one often has against guitar virtuosos. I confirm that Vai is the greatest student of Frank Zappa; the master himself has always admitted it, and he is one of the best successors of Hendrix. As for "Fire Garden Suite," either you have the mental capacity to understand its grandeur, or it's better to refrain from listening to it because reducing it to mere technical display is something truly abhorrent.