The Story Of Light

I have to admit that it took me a while to jump in and put in an order for "The Story Of Light" simply because whilst I admire and appreciate this exceptional musician, some of his recent output has been a little hit and miss and coming nowhere near the eclectic delights of his early studio albums. But, this is a return to form and with a bang! Not for many a year have I put an album into my player by Mr Vai that has had my jaw drop through the floor and the hackles rise on the back of my neck but this offering is near to bloody perfection as it gets...especially when played LOUD! It is all here, blues/rock/jazz even down to a choir - which on "John The Revelator" a notable traditional style blues number and "Book Of The Seven Seals" a rather wicked gospel outing, these songs fairly explode out of your speakers!But it doesn't stop there! Oh no! We have acoustic delights and electric guitar played with the soaring heights of an angel and low down and dirty, smacking you rather hard in the solar plexus region with "Creamsickle Sunset", "Gravity Storm", "The Moon And I" and "No More Amsterdam" among the highlights. Certainly, within the 12 tracks here, not a single duffer that you feel the need to skip and it's been too long since I've been able to say that about an SV album!If you, like me, have held back on purchasing this album because of the inconsistency of recent Vai offerings, just jump in and immerse yourself in the wonderful musical world of this stunning musician - The Story Of Light will leave you with a great big satisfied grin upon your face!

Along with the first installment of the Real Illusion trilogy, I have found the Story of Light more of a grower than previous Vai offerings and it has very positively been more and more rewarding with each & every listen.As per usual, this is pure virtuosity of not only a master technician but, in my opinion, one of the most truly inspirational composers, band leaders and musical visionaries of our time. Harmonic complexities aplenty, much of the Story probably isn't for the casual listener but the wonderful 'band' performances (it's not all about the leader) and general feel, variety & depth of the tracks make for a very accessible album once given the chance to be absorbed.As a negative though, I would've preferred EVERYTHING to have been a brand new composition solely from Steve. "The Moon and I" having previously been released, "John the Revelator" being a cover and "Mullach A'tSi" being a traditional Irish melody. Slightly disappointing as it curiously appears on the coveted 7th slot! Even more disappointing is the 'hot' mastering in places which, in particular, destroys "Mullach A'tSi" towards the end with digital clipping/distortion. A shame which has marred too many albums in recent years.I maybe wouldn't say this is up there with previous Vai classics (for the very reasons I stated above) but, being a release that I have thoroughly enjoyed more than many others in recent times, I think this is a very worthy 5 star album!

From David Lee Roth to Whitesnake and from Passion And Warfare to Real Illusions : Reflections, I have always been a true and loyal fan of Vai. I grabbed this CD at once. Because anything Steve does, I love it. How he makes the guitar scream and cry. The melody from the heart of Jem. The whammy bar. The tone. Gonna see him on the tour for the third time this December.Real Illusions : Reflections is the first album of the trilogy series that Steve started seven years ago which is fantastic indeed loaded with Building The Church, Glorious, K'm Pee Du We, Freak Show Express and Lotus Feet. The Story Of Light is sequel to that. Long wait. I expected it to be better. But more or less it's the same.The first track 'The Story Of Light' is a good album opener which I feel like it picks up from Under It All, the end track from Real Illusions : Reflections. 'Velorum' and 'Gravity Storm' are two Bad Horsies in the album. Both being my most favourite head banging stuffs. 'Racing The World' gives Fever Dream and rocks me on the road. 'Creamsicle Sunset' is a cool soothing like a lullaby that almost put me to sleep. I've never had enough of seventh songs and he delivers one here too - 'Mullach A'tSi' which tells me so much of Whispering A Prayer. Beautiful ! 'Weeping China Doll' is another slow and heavy and I like it. Oh ! How I wish David Lee Roth would join and sing on 'Sunshine Electric Raindrops'. It would be great. My favourite VaiTunes #2 'The Moon And I' is also included in the album. 'No More Amsterdam' is Steve's duet singing with Aimee Mann (never heard before). Not bad for sentimental stuff. Sorry to say that 'John The Revelator' and 'Book Of The Seven Seals' (remix of an old song) maybe good but are my least favourite. Better off as VaiTunes? Don't know. Beverly McClellan (never heard before), the winner of the voice contest so they say, does the vocal job on these two. Good to still have Dave Weiner on rhythm guitars and Jeremy Colson on drums. Philip Bynoe (remember G3 : Live In Concert?) is back on bass. Yeah!This copy that I pre-ordered from Amazon is so-called Digibook which comes in book kind of thing. 32 pages of photos, liner notes with song by song breakdowns and bonus DVD with exclusive Steve Vai interview. Feels great to hold it in hand and go along page by page with the music. Very beautiful.I have played this album many times now. It's grown on me. As I said, I love anything Steve Vai does. So my review here will be bias for this album. Listen to it and know for yourself if it's good or bad. I am stuck between 4 and 5 stars. Maybe my expectations were too high. The final in the trilogy series, Steve knows what and when and how, will be better I hope. It will be the best of all. It will give us another For The Love Of God, Sisters, Juice, Die To Live, Tender Surrender, Whispering A Prayer and more. Just can't get enough of Vai.Steve rocks!Rock 'N' Roll \,,/,

Nice album

This album is marvelous. A masterpiece! Steve seems to have push his limits again with some new techniques and sounds and with all the refreshing arrangements he did. Steve becomes more and more a composer/arranger than before! The soundscape of these new music jewels are really refreshing and inspiring! The album reminds me of his Magnum Opus : Passion and Warfare, while being a totally new chapter in itself (a step further!)! The songs that I like the most are : "The Story of Light", "Velorum", "John The Revelator"(traditional Gospel cover), "Creamsicle Sunset", "Gravity Storm", "Mullach a'tSi", "Weeping China Doll" and "No More Amsterdam". This album is definitely a must-have! If you are an inconditional fan : Buy it! If you are new to Steve Vai's work : Buy it! If you don't know Steve Vai, but you like rock music, eclectic music, Zappa-esque music and electric guitar : Buy it! As simple as that! ;op

Se sentite di qualcuno in grado di drire come sarà il prossimo album di Steve Vai stategli vicino probabilmente ne sa più di Nostradamus.Ogni Album sempre una sorpresa, una capacità di produrre brani sempre diversi con unn uso degli effetied una tecnica che non ha uguali nella storia del rock e man mano che passa il tempo si sentono via via sempre di più delle influenze di Frank Zappa.Del resto lui ha fatto parte di quella strordinaria band inizialmente proprio come arragiatore e se Zappa lo aveva voluto così direi che è superfluo aggiungere altro.

Comme à son habitude , ce qui différencie Steve Vaï de tout les autres "guitaristes stratosphériques" , c'est son son et cet album ne déroge pas la règle.Album très riche , très plein, (parfois peut être un peu trop ?)par la richesse harmonique et le nombre d'instrument mais les morceaux sont tous très différents et chacun devrait y trouver son plaisir.Steve a toujours fait des albums où le meilleur et le pire pouvait se cotoyer,avec parfois des morceaux plus ou moins accessible.Pour cet album l'homogénéîté est de mise et dans le haut du tableau s'il vous plait !Quelques morceaux sortent du lot comme Gravity storm et ses notes en zones rouge, Weeping china doll et son introduction avec une guitare seule qui vous prouvera encore une fois de plus l'ampleur du son de steve avec frisson à l'appui garantis !Les morceaux ne sont pas convenus, comme à son habitude Steve nous sort des rythmique Basse-Batterie où l'on vient coller des solos démonstratifs souvent usants à la longue...ici on est dans le choix des mélodies et on innove sans cesse avec la priorité au feeling et à la note qui peut tout changer...toujours avec la propreté de son son et la qualité du mixage.Comme sur scène où cet artiste surclasse bon nombre de guitare-héros par sa prestation classieuse et joueuse, son album est ici imppécable, classe et joueur.Cet album est classe et les chants sont de très bonne facture avec toujours autant d'inventivité.Régalez vous pour cet album finalement très accessible notamment pour ceux qui ne connaitrait pas cet artiste aux doigts d'or.

ZAPPA時代からほぼ全ての音源を聴いてきました。これほどまでに生々しいVAIのギターの音色は、かつて聴いた事がない気がします。特に５曲目と７曲目は、目の前でアンプが鳴っているかの様…本当に繊細なタッチで弾いている様子が聴けて、ゾクゾクします。曲も素晴らしく、間違いなくVAIの最高傑作だと思います。輸入盤は確かにパッケージングの問題があります。ジャケットに貼られた紙のスリーブに直にCDが入っているので、擦り傷や糊が付いてしまっている場合があります。輸入盤にはよくある仕様なのですが、気になる方は日本盤を買われた方が良いでしょう。