Steve Vai
Reel Illusion: Reflection

The latest album from the sensational Italian-American guitarist, for better or for worse, manages to get talked about. Almost 20 years after the release of "Flex-able," originally a vinyl intended only for a few friends, Vai continues to surprise his fans: "alien" sounds and impeccable technique have been his trademark ever since his work with the David Lee Roth Band.

Accustomed to exploring new sonic and stylistic paths, never straying too far from his rocker nature, Vai returns with an "anomalous" concept album. The artist himself explicitly states he does not wish to reveal the storyline yet, which will only become clear with the two subsequent chapters of what is supposed to be a trilogy; rather like reading a novel starting from the middle pages. The album itself, however, suffers from too much sophistication, seeming in some ways artificial, mainly due to the increasingly uncontrollable sound excursions of the Italian-American artist, who continues to toy, greedy and hedonistic, with a rack of very expensive effects, primarily the Eventide synth, not always managing to achieve the desired result. If it is true that technology has a price, what Vai pays is high: warmth and emotion. In pieces like "Building the Church" or "Freak Show Excess," it is clear how excessive experimenting has led the artist to neglect the emotional aspect. Vai also, unsuccessfully, experiments with his own voice: in "Dying for Your Love," he ventures into oriental sounds, among Arabic scales and harmonic minors, decent ideas not rewarded by a voice not always up to the mark, better in the funky-rock of "Firewall" which winks at the master Frank Zappa. Extraordinary instead is "Lotus Feet," as Vai has long accustomed us, the seventh track is always a slow and inspired ballad (see "For the Love of God" or "Tender Surrender"). For 6 magical minutes, Stevie turns off the synthesizers and infernal little boxes and, accompanied by the Dutch symphony orchestra, offers moments of intense emotion as perhaps he never had before, a poignant, moving piece, the guitar speaks, cries, reverberates with emotion, a true gem embedded in an album not quite very successful.

Mannerist and technically impeccable, "Reel Illusion" is certainly not the most successful work of a Vai too often in search of unsuitable solutions, and that's a shame! The seventh track alone is worth the price of the entire CD; what a masterpiece it could have been if the pieces were interpreted with fewer effects and more heart.
A work that I nevertheless recommend to fans of this immense guitarist, who would much more easily understand the intentions of someone who remains a great artist.

Please stay calm, it's my first review :-)