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Rating: Yet another record release for the seven-string hero.
A "collage" album of a good 40 pieces (or snippets?), somewhat unusual for someone like Steve, as it is not a true "songs" album but rather a mosaic of compositions of "Vaian" origin used as soundtracks (from the movies “Crossroads - which I recommend, also thanks to the direction of Walter Hill -, “Dudes”, “Bill & Ted Bogus Journey”, “Encino Man”).
The overall impression from listening is that it is a rather inhomogeneous, disconnected, messy work, held together only by the innate and unsurpassed artistic and instrumental class of the most ingenious axeman I have ever listened to.
The album opens with two unreleased tracks (discarded from soundtracks) that are completely debatable, especially the first one (really bad!), followed by 4 tracks taken from Crossroads, where the arrangement of Paganini's Caprice No. 5 stands out, originally created for the duel between Steve as the devil and Ralph Macchio, an arrangement highly sought after by his fans and constantly used to demonstrate to newcomers the technical abilities of the idolized furious guitar hero to whom a certain Frank Zappa was very attached. The remaining tracks (brief and fragmentary) are nothing transcendent.
If you are (like me) avid fans of the "7strings-wizard" (nickname given to him by the English magazine “Guitarist”), get it or leave it, and if you want to approach the Wizard, focus on his more "orthodox" works.
I love him, but everything has its limits!
Commercial news: the album is part of the famous ten-CD anthology box set, of which three can be purchased only online and the remaining seven in stores. If the others turn out to be like this... bleah!
Tracklist and Lyrics
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