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Rating:
This album is amazing! It contains 50 minutes of astral and mystical music, which should appeal to anyone with a minimum of musical sensitivity. It's not an album just for guitarists, and although it's almost entirely instrumental, it's never boring or predictable.
Steve Vai has poured all his abilities into it, aided by Chris Frazer on drums, Stuart Hamm on bass, and occasionally Dave Rosenthal on keyboards, to craft a historic record for us. It opens with "Liberty", which could potentially be the new U.S. national anthem, and with "Erotic Nightmares", he presents a hysterical metal-boogie that melts into a slow section of dreamlike oddities. Here and there, Steve's influences come to the fore: the central part of "For The Love Of God", where Vai unleashes furious, endless bursts treated with the wah-wah, closely resembles what Jimmy Page used to do in the instrumental interludes of "No Quarter" (live version 1977). "Sisters" is instead full of Hendrixian reminiscences, while "The Audience Is Listening" and "I Would Love To" hark back unashamedly to Van Halen's "Hot For Teacher" and "Jump". But there's everything in this work: in "Blues Power" a bluesy experiment, in "Ballerina 12/24" an unusual guitar arpeggio and harmonizer, in "Answers" '90s industrial music.
The technical goodies are then so numerous that they can't even be cataloged or deciphered. Steve Vai is a genius, one of those rare artists who manages to hear the "voice of the moon" and translate it into music, just as Fellini did with cinema. This "Passion & Warfare" is something to own and place on the shelf of the most cherished items, next to Van Gogh reproductions, photos of loved ones, and, why not? ...a poster of Marco Van Basten...
Tracklist Lyrics and Samples
04 Answers (02:56)
De antwoorden zijn altijd al aanwezig.
I cannot be ungrateful for what i
Have received from america,
But I'm not the judge.
The judge of justice say, 'led-em-go.'
05 The Riddle (06:24)
So let's make love...
Let's make love again...
Is that a proposition?
Now let's make love.
I pledge allegiance to the flag
Of the United States of America
And to the Republic from which it stands
One nation,
Under God
Individual, which liberty and justice for all.
With liberty and justice for all
With liberty and justice for all
With liberty and justice for all
With liberty and justice for all
Which liberty and justice for all.
08 The Audience Is Listening (05:29)
Now stevie, now don't be nervous, honey, o.k.? I'm gonna go in & i'm
Gonna introduce you & then you're gonna come in with your guitar & you're
Gonna play that nice, nice music you were telling me about; & while you're
Doing that, I'll be sitting in the back of the. we'll have such a good time,
So don't you be nervous, honey. it will relaw everybody, & we'll be so happy.
I'm gonna go n now. I'll introduce you, o.k.? heads up! now you kids you,
All of you, calm down. that's good, o.k. everyone in your own seat, that's
Good. o.k., now, little stevie vai is going to play a composition on the
Guitar. he wrote it all by himself. o.k., stevie, bring your three friends
Up, they can play with you. that seve vai, what a nice little boy. {i wrote
This song for all my friends. when I grow up, I'm gonna be a famous rock
'n roll guitar player.} love it. eh, he, he, go ahead. {and this is my
Whammy bar. and it's gonna be loud.} don't you think that's a bit loud?
Boys!!! it's getting too loud! you're getting out of control, boys. stevie,
Now calm down class, calm down. mr. vai, you've got to turn it down...
{what did you say, you want me to turn it down? you mean down like this...}
(boys, what happened to that nice music? ) that sounds like noise mr. vai.
And I want it stopped! you've all got detention. {uh, oh, here comes
Trouble.} ayy. vai, are you outta your mind? you, guys, ya don't back off.
Ya must be crazy! I'm gonna flip-out. I'm tellin' you. if this is my
Final flip-out, you guys are gonna go with me. {ah, shut up.} will you
Two stop dancing like that. frankie, leave that girl alone! we're not
Gonna have another incident like mildred. come here to me me, vai, don't
You hear me? come here you little snit. wait 'till I get my hands...
Don't you run away. ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay vai. knock it off! get
Off my desk! {hey andrea, check this out.} oh, stevie, you promised me
You'd play nice music; people out of control, dancin' on the desks. playin'
With the girls. that awful noise just make people go wild. you gotta turn
That music down, stevie, please. {i'm fearless in my heart. they will
Always see that in my eyes. I am the passion; I am the warfare. I will never
Stop...always constant, accurate, and intense.} mark my words, you'll never
Amount to anything, steve vai. you'll see, you'll be a bum, in the streets.
A bum, that's it, a bum. I thought you were such a nice little boy. ya
Know what? ya mean, ya got a mean, nasty, vicious streak. why don't you
Just quit school? move to california with all those other bums. go, that's
Where you belong, with all those crazies out in california. maybe you'll be
Famous; {thank you very much.} ha! that's the funniest thing I've ever
Heard. {thank you very much.} you-famous? with that noise? ha! i'll
See ya in jail; {thank you very much.} give me a break stevie, stop it.
You'll see, mark my words.
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Other reviews
By QbProg
Passion & Warfare is an innovative, enjoyable, and exciting album to listen to (even now, more than ten years after its release).
An album to have at all costs, perhaps Vai’s best work, certainly the most original.
By AR (Anonima Recensori)
This is an extraordinary album, here is "Passion & Warfare"!
With this album, Steve Vai was consecrated among the greatest shredders of all time.
By squalo
An album for guitarists only, but to be listened to with critical judgment.
There are many ideas, but laid down in a confusing way and without compositional skill.
By dervin
THIS MAN SINGS WITH THE GUITAR!
Steve Vai plays the guitar in the most honest way possible.
