Steve Vai Live Around The World CD

Japanese edition of his 2001 double live album includes the bonus track 'Maple Leafs' and could include a guitar pick (initial pressing only). 2 CDs with 16 tracks.

ALIVE IN AN ULTRA WORLD was composed and recorded at concerts in various countries, reflecting elements of the traditional music of the cultures in which they were recorded.
Personnel: Steve Vai (vocals, guitar); Dave Weiner (acoustic & electric guitars, sitar); Mike Keneally (spoken vocals, guitar, keyboards); Philip Bynoe (spoken vocals, bass); John Pustai (spoken vocals); Scott Palacios, Bob Carpenter (accordion); Eric Goldberg (keyboards); Mike Mangini, Chris Frazier (drums).
Engineers: Steve Weston, Doug Kimball, Dave Weiner.
Includes liner notes by Steve Vai.
"Whispering A Prayer" was nominated for the 2002 Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance.
LIVE ROUND THE WORLD follows rocker Steve Vai on tour.
This Japanese edition includes a bonus track and a guitar pick.
Steve Vai is nothing if not a highly ambitious guitar virtuoso. ALIVE IN AN ULTRA WORLD is a unique live album in that it is wholly composed of special songs written specifically for (and dedicated to) 15 nations along THE ULTRA ZONE 2000 tour trail. Each song either employs traditional music elements of the subject country or pays homage to them through the lyrics. It is interesting to note that many of these songs came together during soundchecks in as little as 15 minutes. As Vai is well-versed in an eclectic range of music styles, the songs on this two-disc set are stylistically diverse. The tracks with vocals reflect the flavor of traditional folk anthems, and the instrumentals are rife with various scales, customary instrumentation, and of course, Vai's inimitable guitar technique.
Steve Vai came up with an ambitious concept for the follow-up to his 1999 album The Ultra Zone: to write a series of compositions that related to different countries, and then to perform and record those tunes in the countries themselves. As he acknowledges in his liner notes to the hour-and-a-half-plus double-CD Alive in an Ultra World, logistics prevented him from exactly accomplishing his goals, especially with regard to geography, so that, for example, "Giant Balls of Gold," the song for Poland, was recorded in Greece, and "The Black Forest," the song for Germany, was recorded in Scotland (both with studio overdubs added later). But for a peripatetic musician like Vai, the idea was doubtless inspiring, and it has spurred him to write some interesting pieces, even if many of them have no obvious connections to the places they're supposed to be about. More often, they sound like Vai's usual musical influences. "Blood and Glory," the song for the U.K., has a majestic sound that does seem British, especially if your idea of Britain is guitarist Brian May of Queen. "The Power of Bombos," the song for Greece, is reminiscent of Jimi Hendrix, so maybe it should have been the song for Seattle. And "Devil's Food," the song for Holland, recalls Frank Zappa, whose "Dog/Meat" is even quoted. Some tunes do show obvious national influences, though. "Iberian Jewel," the song for Spain, employs a Spanish guitar and flamenco rhythm; "Incantation," the song for Bulgaria, and "Babushka," the song for Romania, each have a distinct Eastern European gypsy feel; and "Light of the Moon," the song for Australia, borrows the melody of "Waltzing Matilda" in the chorus. For his part, Vai is an engaging, slightly goofy frontman, which allows him to interact successfully with his European and Far East audiences. ~ William Ruhlmann