Customer Reviews

Archives, Vol. 4

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Good
The album starts off with "Sweet Lady Luck"; a lost B-side from Vai's days in Whitesnake. The song is loaded with all the over-the-top production values from that era, as well as Coverdale's signature delivery and some fiery licks from our fret master. "The Rumble" is an eight minute instrumental that Vai contributed to a West Side Story compilation. Vai really puts his stamp on a combination of songs from this classic musical. Two tracks come courtesy of the John Lydon fronted Public Image Limited project from 1986. "Ease" is more of a trippy nod to classic 70s prog-rock, while "Home" comes off more like a combination of a new wave/hard rock mishmash. Good stuff just the same.

"Drifting" is a great ballad that was part of a symphonic Jimi Hendrix tribute. The soulful vocals come courtesy of Living Colour's Corey Glover. "Bold as Love" comes from the same album, only this time Vai is teamed up with Bad Company's Paul Rodgers. Vai's twangy tones fit well with Rodger's strong pipes. Not only did Alice Cooper tap Steve Vai to contribute to "Feed My Frankenstein", but so did Joe Satriani. Killer riffs all around. If you read the liner notes, you'll see this song is stacked with a who's who of hard rock.

The Bad
There are a few songs that disrupt the flow of the album due to their diversity; "Western Vacation" is heavy in dialogue and "Queen of the Night" is more operatic. And where are the David Lee Roth songs?

The Verdict
This compilation is certainly unique. How many other artists do you know that have been able to release something like this? With Various Artists, Steve Vai shows his diversity when it comes to his outside projects, but no matter what style, artist, or presentation the project may be, there's no question that Steve Vai is the one laying down the guitar parts.

This has some of the best music I have heard. It is not your typical commercialized stuff. It is soulful and outstanding music.

archives 3.5 / 4 possibly features Vai's most extreme, pyrotechnical play...what with ultra-speed picking, tapestries of tapping scalar work, floyd rose abuse and soulful vocals thrown in the mix too. Not to be missed