Infinite Steve Vai: An Anthology CD - Import

This forman includes a different tracklisting to the North American version.

Personnel includes: Steve Vai (acoustic & electric guitars, guitar, keyboards, bass, programming); T. M. Stevens (vocals, bass); Devin Townsend, David Coverdale (vocals); Mike Keneally (guitar, keyboards); David Weiner (guitar); Stuart Hamm, Philip Bynoe, Bryan Beller, John Sergio (bass); Terry Bozio (drums, percussion); Chris Frazier, Mike Mangini (drums).
Producers: Steve Vai.
Compilation producer: Jeff Magid.
Includes liner notes by Jon Wiederhorn.
The mercurial talents of six-string slinger Steve Vai are represented on this 32-track anthology.
The Australian version features a different track list than its North American counterpart.
This 2003 two-disc set offers up a generous sampling of Steve Vai tracks, focusing most sharply on the revered hard-rock guitarist's mid-to-late-1990s material. Highlights of the collection include "The Animal," a stomping metal number, and the emotive "For the Love of God," as well as the dynamic "Fire Garden Suite." While diehard Vai fans will likely own most songs on this compilation, ANTHOLOGY serves as a commendable, if slightly daunting, introduction to the amiable and inventive six-string hero.
Steve Vai played with a wide variety of acts during the '80s -- Frank Zappa, David Lee Roth, John Lydon's PIL, and Whitesnake, among others -- as he became one of rock's most sought-after hired guns. In addition, Vai launched his own solo career, which come the '90s would be his sole career focus. The 2003 double-disc set Infinite Steve Vai: An Anthology is comprised almost entirely of Vai's solo work (save for a Whitesnake song, "Kitten's Got Claws," and one by the obscure outfit Alcatrazz, "Lighter Shade of Green"). While most "guitar shredders" got a bad rap come the '90s, Vai was always an exception to the rule -- there's no secret that Vai was one of the most technically accomplished guitarists in all of rock, but he always knew to put songwriting before soloing (something that most of the other guitarists of the era failed to do), and inject his wacky sense of humor into his playing. If you're unfamiliar with Vai's work, go straight to the tracks from his first two solo releases, 1984's Flex-Able and 1990's Passion and Warfare, especially such ditties as "The Attitude Song," "For the Love of God," "The Animal," and the very Zappa-ish "Salamanders in the Sun." One complaint about Infinite Steve Vai is that the latter-day tracks far outweigh his superior earlier material -- tracks such as "Bad Horsie" and "Frank" are worthy, but there are several tracks that unquestionably should have been included ("Call It Sleep," "Erotic Nightmares," "Sisters," and Vai's sole solo MTV hit, "The Audience Is Listening"), while another criticism is that no Roth, Zappa, or PIL tracks are featured. Still, Infinite Steve Vai: An Anthology by and large serves as both a solid career overview and introduction to this one-of-a-kind guitarist. ~ Greg Prato