Customer Reviews

G3 Live: Rockin in the World

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

For those of you who like a bit of rock 'n' roll guitar played at 100 mph with loads of whammy bar, stretched licks, and five hundred notes played a second, when a mere mortal would struggle to get fifty into the same time frame, the sort of guitar playing that is only possible by some of the world's greatest gurners, then this is the album for you.

Back in the year 2000 Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, and Eric Johnson went out on the road in the United States of America doing what can only be described as guitar workshops in rock 'n' roll. Each artist had his own band with him and would do an hour's set, followed every night by the G3 Jam, where all three guitarists would get up on the same stage, giving full reign to a three way guitar battle. Magnificent stuff.

Then in 2003 they did it again. This time we still get Satriani and Vai, but the very talented but uncharismatic Eric Johnson had been replaced by the equally talented, but way over the top exuberance of Sweden's favorite rock 'n' roll sons, Yngwie Malsteen. The results are explosive to say the least.

The first CD of this double CD package is broken up into three parts, where we get a twenty minute section from each artist. First up is Joe Satriani. Quite right that is, too. After all he is the senior guitarist. Satriani sets a remarkably high standard of twiddle for the others to follow. Sticking to basically greatest hits formula, he attacks the frets with the enthusiasm of a teenager. The man is the master of his chosen instrument, even giving us a taste of his acoustic playing on 'Midnight', which gives great balance to his segment of the CD.

Completely undaunted by this first set, Steve Vai takes to the stage with a lineup that most people only dream of. Apart from his playing powers, Vai's confidence levels must be at an all time high to bring this lot on tour with him. (However, I suppose being a Frank Zappa protégé must help.) Sharing the stage with Vai are Jeremy Colson on drums; Dave Weiner on rhythm guitar (now do not forget that this guy plays lead guitar in his own band); and then on bass guitar is none other than the five time winner of Guitar Magazine's `Bass Guitarist of the Year', Billy Sheehan, ex of 'Mr. Big', etc. Sheehan played with Steve Vai for a couple of albums and toured with David Lee Roth when he put together a super group after his departure from Van Halen.

Then on second lead guitar and keyboards Steve Vai has gone for the talents of Tony MacAlpine. Tony MacAlpine would be worthy of a place in the G3 lineup on his own ability. Just take a listen to any of his solo albums for proof, 'Edge of Insanity' (1986) being probably the pick of the bunch. Hearing these three superstars jousting musically at the front of the stage is a real treat to the ears. Let's hope that some record company suit has the intelligence to release the full segment of the show from this lineup on a separate CD.

Whereas both Satriani and Malmsteen, split their sections into five parts, Vai sticks to three, giving his band plenty of space to breathe life into their music.

There is only one way for Yngwie Malmsteen to go after that, and that is pull all the stops and let it all hang out, which he does with spectacular effect, dispensing with a large band. He comes on with a stripped down trio, Patrick Johannson on drums and Jocke Svalberg on keyboards. However, their role is purely to support this guitar genius. He opens with the aptly named 'Blitzkrieg' before leading us through his complete repertoire, partly classically influenced, but with a lot of Blackmore and Hendrix mixed in. His version of 'Red House' gives the governor a run for his money. If Malmsteen's set leaves you breathless as it should, wait till you open CD two.

On disc two you get thirty minutes of all three guitarists on stage, all trying to outshine each other. It's anybody's guess which star sparkles the brightest. But if you have your air guitar handy, grab it. You'll need it to join this lot on stage in your mind. Again Hendrix is given a huge nod of respect as they start out with two of his classic songs before they all rip into the final number, Neil Young's 'Rockin in the Free World'. This leads to a final battle to see who can get the last notes in. They may be trying to outplay each other, but you can still feel the friendship and respect for each other shining through the grooves of your disc.

The original idea for G3 was supposed to have included Dweezil Zappa with Steve Vai and Joe Satriani, but prior commitments made this impossible for Zappa, so Eric Johnson stepped in. May I suggest that Dweezil Zappa makes time (listen to his album 'Automatic' (2000) for an idea of what Frank Zappa's son can do with a guitar in his hand.) so that the next time these three decide to go out on the road together, they invite Dweezil along and give us G4.The mind positively boggles.

If you like this CD, there is also a DVD of a different concert from this tour with different set lists, so you can fill your ears and your eyes if you so desire. Three brilliant young men caught at the top of their game. Enjoy.

Twiddled by Mott the Dog
Whammed by Ella Crew

What's good about it?

It's tough to evaluate a live CD that comprises of three guys that are known for performing instrumentals. Let's face it; you know that their performances will be flawless and loaded with plenty of improvised guitar soloing. Joe Satriani starts things off with the hard and heavy track "The Extremist." You can recognize instantly that it's Satch. He keeps the pace going with "Crystal Planet," which comes from the album of the same name (an underrated album that contains some of his best work). Joe displays plenty of emotion through his guitar on the ballad "Always with Me, Always with You." "Midnight" shows off some awesome finger picking and "Mystical Potato Head Groove Thing" is just as trippy as the title suggests.

You recognize Steve Vai's signature guitar tone when he takes the stage with "You're Here." He doesn't do it often, but Steve sings on this one. Vai resurrects a rare track from that Keanu Reeves classic `Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey' for his second song "Reaping." Formerly known as "The Reaper," this is one of Steve's heavier songs, and in my opinion, one of his best. Steve's fans will be pleased with the extra long, guitar-wailing conclusion. The final song for Vai is one of his trademark ballads, the nine-minute tearjerker "Whispering a Prayer" (Steve, shouldn't this have been track seven?). Yngwie's set focuses on his current fascination with classical music. Its evident Yngwie hasn't lost any of his speed on "Blitzkrieg." The classical tracks (whose titles are too long to type) display more of his guitar mechanics. Yngwie kicks ass on the Hendrix classic "Red House."

On disc two the guitar masters come together for the G3 Jam session. It's more or less a forum for the guys to try and out play each other. The results are astounding as the listener is treated to some excellent shredding. I guess Hendrix was a big influence on these three because they jam on "Voodoo Child" and "Little Wing." It's tough sometimes to hear which one is Vai and which one is Satriani, but there's no mistaking Yngwie. Each player tries to top the other with Malmsteen standing out. The disc concludes with a fiery version of Neil Young's "Rockin' in the Free World." I wonder if they realize that this is a sad song.

Anything bad?

Yngwie has always been great when he shreds on rockin' tunes, but when it comes to his classical stuff...yawn! Is it me or does Yngwie play the same solo in different keys lately?

Bottom Line

I must say, I never thought these guys would share the same stage. This is just a sampling of what these three virtuosos are capable of. All are great guitarist with their own unique sound. Two CDs cannot contain their live energy and musicianship.

I got the DVD first and was blown away on the quality of the sound and concert footage. Yngwie blew me away. His acoustic guitare solo is bar none the best Ive seen.I really liked the jam together. Steve Vai and his band with Tony Mc Alpine on keyboard and guitar, Billy Sheehan on bass etc are fantastic. Dont listen to the bad reviews. If you like great guitar shredding, you will love it !!!!!

Back when I saw my 1st G3 show with Satch, Vai and Eric Johnson, while I loved the performances, my main thought was, "If only they could get Yngwie on this tour..." So imagine my joy when I found out that the Viking Chief was added as the 3rd guitarist for the most recent G3 US tour! Of course, as the saying goes, "Be careful what you wish for."

While the show, in its entirety, was fantastic (I saw the 2nd night show in Manhattan with guest performers John Petrucci and Neal Schon), this double CD DOES NOT reproduce a complete show. The first disc is about 64 minutes while the 2nd disc with the "G3 Jam" is not even 30 minutes long! They easily could've packed 40 more minutes of music onto this. A 2CD set with one of the discs being under 30 minutes is ridiculous.

Furthermore, the album, as well as the DVD, jumbles the order of onstage appearance. More on that in a bit.

First up is Joe Satriani. 21m 27s. Same quality performance on other live releases of his, although he seems a little subdued. Best track here is The Mystical Potato Head Groove Thing, which is also amazing to see live because of the off-kilter drumming required. I'd recommend his Live In San Francisco album above this, as that is two full discs while here you only get 5 songs.

Next up is Steve Vai. 20m 6s. Again, Vai always puts on a good performance and here is no different. And, again, he seems a little laid back. His performance of Whispering A Prayer is the best of the three (yep, 3) songs here - and was just nominated for a Grammy! If you're looking for live Vai, pick-up Alive In An Ultra-World, or better yet, Live at the Astoria London with Tony MacAlpine on back-up guitar and keyboards!

Then comes Yngwie J. Malmsteen. 21m 52s. Ripping right into blazing runs on Blitzkrieg, he's a house of fire through most of his set save for maybe the first minute or two of the Trilogy Suite. His picking was not as clean as it should've been, I hate his use of delay effects, and I can live without his Joe-Cocker-with-strep-throat singing voice (on Red House), but man, what presence! His performance here has a much more animated and vigorous sound than Satch and Vai; even the audience seems more responsive (and when I saw the show he got the same enthusiastic response from the sold out NYC crowd). Here's where I have a nit to pick with whoever compiled the disc. In reality, the show was opened by Yngwie, then Vai, and Satriani came on third. Problem was, after Yngwie's lively start to the show, Vai and Satch's more relaxed sets made for a little unevenness in the three performances. Apparently, someone decided that Yngwie's energy was better suited to the end of disc one, where its force leads right into the meat of the double disc set, the G3 Jam.

Here's what we were all waiting for, and, besides the aforementioned brevity, this is the one you'll be putting in your player over and over. None of them are strong singers, but we don't listen to them for their voices, right? As they trade off run after run, you can tell that Yngwie is the fastest of the three, but Satch and Vai have a bit more creativity in mixing things up and have more tricks in their repertoire. PLEASE Yngwie, you're my favorite guitarist, just get some more variety in there while you're unleashing the fury, OK? However, to those who are familiar with all three players, Satch and Vai playing with more diversity is no real surprise. Thanks to a nice engineering job, all three guitars are clear and distinct - be sure to sit in the middle if your system is set up that way. My favorite of the three jam songs is Neil Young's Rockin' in the Free World, but if you're more of a Hendrix fan the other two songs don't disappoint.

3 and a half stars for the individual performances, 2 for the chintzy length, and 5 for the jam gives 3 and and a half stars overall (rounded up to 4, stupid Amazon - get a fractional-star availability in the rating system, will ya'?)

Joe's set:
Joe wastes NO time and starts off full tilt. Rockin it out with a thick crunchy metallic tone on the Extremist, then he switches it into overdrive and takes it up a notch and just rips right through Crystal Planet's fast paced guitar histrionics. These 2 selections get the foot tapping that's for sure. Then he takes the set 180 degrees in the other direction, slows it right down for his classic ballad 'Always with Me, Always with You'. There is a lot of fire in Joe's performance, just drilling the notes and putting 100% into it, he ends the tune with a little free-time cadenza sort of thing chalk full of legato lines, natural harmonics and beautiful feedback manipulations. After the ballad he takes the set down to a more personal level, a clean-toned solo performance of Midnight, which, to me, is like a little Etude of sorts, Joe expressing himself fully utilizing the 2 handed tapping technique, playing classical influenced arpeggios. Then he takes his set out with the always fun and majorly rockin Mystical Potato Head Groove Thing, this tune is always awesome to listen to. Overall, strong set from Joe.

Steve's set:
The highlight of the album is Vai's set, imo. The new tune is totally awesome. Beautiful lush chords. And Vai's voice is really coming together, I love the vocal melody and performance here, everything's perfect. I'm dying for the new Vai album after hearing this. He goes from the ethereal celestial vibe of the first track to the amazing and severely killing Reaping. This is the ultimate version; it's all extended. Vai just tears it to shreds and his badass solo that starts at 2:53 is so awesome that I started laughing; with all it's excesses and Vai-isms. He ends his set on a tender note with the amazing Whispering A Prayer, the greatest guitar ballad he's ever written, it always WORKS because it's such a sick composition and Vai's performance is divine. The only complaint I have is that Sheehan's bass tone is kind of weird at times.

Yngwie's set:
Starts the neoclassical shredding immediately. The short Blitzkrieg rips. Next up is Trilogy, which is interesting, not my cup of tea though. I'm sorry. I don't really get it. I'm actually a little disappointed in Yngwie's set; there could have been much better tunes here. Like, Black Star, the Yngwie song selections on the DVD seem better. Well, anyway, he goes from the neoclassical shred metal of the first 2 tracks to Hendrix blues and scorches through Red House, which is pretty faithful to the blues feel and it has a keyboard solo too. After this he performs a solo Fugue piece from his Concerto, replete with an orchestral backing. Pffft...the Finale, the last track in his set ends on a "bomb" note. It's a Hendrix inspired electric freak-out, I guess you could say. I didn't really like Yngwie's song selections. He should have done more of the rock-like tunes similar to Black Star, Far Beyond the Sun or Bach `N Roll...or even wrote new instrumental material. The weakest set out of the 3 G's.

G3 Jam:
Cool jam. A little excessive and "noisy" at times but they shred it out for the audience. Yngwie needs to learn a little restraint at times.

Overall, it's a great live CD, replete with screaming fans and an urgent live feel. It's hard to compare with the first G3 cd, but I prefer Eric Johnson to Yngwie that's for sure. I hate to say this, but Yngwie's set is inconsistent to me or something, he plays his ass off regardless though and in the end it is what it is, I guess. I like the raw energy of the jam songs on this new album a lot better though. Actually the energy level for this new album is A LOT higher than the first G3 disc. You can definitely hear the "passion" and the "fire" throughout.

Great CD to listen to while hanging around the house. I was a little disappointed that the songs satriani plays in the dvd set was not exactly the same as found on this disc. Turns out the dvd and the cd were recorded at two different locations. I would have liked the live version of Starry Night on this cd. However, Satriani's Mystical Potato Head Groove Thing is amazing live. I bought the dvd as well as this disc since alternate set lists were played in the dvd (Yngwie's dvd set is much better in my opinion). It's a whole new level to see it in addition to hearing it. And of course the G3 jam is crazy as always. Although the songs are the same for the G3 jam, the guitar playing and solos in the songs are different than on the dvd since the three improvised their riffs on stage. I like the dvd version but the cd is still worth the money.

There was only two ways that G3 could have been better than the original lineup with Eric Johnson. Since Jason Becker is currently confined to a wheelchair, that leaves one solid option, and Steve/Joe selected the best option - Yngwie Malmsteen. Yngwie draws a lot of criticism because most guitarist are jealous of his ability to pioneer neoclassical music on guitar (which he certainly did, and many others like Marty Friedman and Tony MacAlpine and even shredders like Paul Gilbert owe Yngwie a tribute for that). If you like listening to speed guitar with the infusion of elements of blues, classical, and basic rock where appropriate, I recommend grabbing this album and ALSO grabbing anything by Yngwie Malmsteen. Then I recommend graduating to Racer X or Cacaphony. One thing is clear, anyone who denounces Yngwie's playing as mere showiness or hackneyed obviously knows very little about the guitar as an instrument. Too bad.

Le set de Joe Satriani
Joe offre une solide performance énergique, son set list est bien choisi....... excellent set

Le set de Steve Vai.
Le set de steve est aussi exellent, la piece Reaping est vraiment très bonne, Steve use de tout son talent.... très bon set.

Le set d'Yngwie Malmsteen
A mon avis c'est le moins bon des 3, pourtant je suis un fan d'Yngwie, son set list n'est pas bon, il aurait tellement dû choisir d'autres pieces tel Black Star!!
Red house met un peu de couleur dans son set....
Yngwie a trop voulu en mettre en y intégrant des solos interminables.

Le G3 jam
Le jam des 3 virtuoses est excellent, un très bon mélange de guitaristes, les 3 pièces du Jam sont bien adaptées et très bien jouées, quoi que un peu longue mais bon... le G3 jam est ce que je préfère sur le cd.

L'ensemble du cd est très bon et est doté d'un excellent son pour un album live........un album pour les fans de virtuoses de guitares!

I went to the glenside PA show and thought the DVD was better (probably because they were being filmed and wanted to make a good showing). I liked Joe's set the best, his riffs and melodies just seem a notch above Vai, and far superior to Yngwie. Vai is still quite good though. Yngwie could be so much better if he could just take it out of warp drive once in a while to tease the audience (for what is coming). I liken his playing to a flat out drum solo without peaks and valleys - it gets boring quick.

The dvd also has some nice close-ups of the fret work. I felt it was worth the price.

I agree with the reviewer from NY. Do NOT be put off by the initial comments from the Toronto "guitar fan"....there is absolutely nothing shred-like on this CD or the DVD from Yngwie. What you do get is jaw-dropping blazing solos from a guitar player that simply surpasses anyone in the genre from a technical standpoint. It is perfectly obvious that he completely overshadows Vai and Satriani in terms of pure energy and technical prowess. I did NOT notice any negative body language from Vai and Satriani, in fact it appeared that they were dumbfounded at the antics of Yngwie.

The comment regarding "ego-masturbating" is a moot point when considering the fact that G3 is all about self indulgence. G3 wouldn't be such a success if it wasn't marketed in this way.

Yngwie is simply a huge cut above all the rest, his more recent music, instrumentals in particular, are not easy to listen to and it's therefore not geared to the masses and the punters....this isn't Bon Jovi !!!

I thoroughly enjoyed the performances by Vai and Satriani, but compared to Yngwie's set, they are absolutely lacking in raw energy. As my 16 year old son commented after watching the DVD a few times : "Vai and Satriani, although they try, simply don't have the same guitar maturity of Yngwie....".

Why is it that a true genius is always labelled as egocentric ? Don't be put off by the initial review here....this is an ACE CD/DVD and it's a brilliant idea to introduce a guitarist of a completely different style and of course caliber to the G3 trio.

And before I forget, the "Dream Theater live at the Budokan" is THE most stunning live DVD on the market at this time. Petrucci is about as far from shredding as we all are are from seeing world peace.....GET THIS DVD.