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Wolf Spider
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Joined: August 04 2005
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Topic: Is Steve Vai prog? Posted: August 07 2005 at 11:35 |
A
guitarist extraordinare you know him, you love him, you know him from
his solo/G3/Zappa albums. And the question is - is he a prog artist or
not? Do you want him on Prog Arch?
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MikeEnRegalia
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Posted: August 07 2005 at 11:49 |
I think that he belongs here, in the category Jazz-Fusion, although he's not very Jazz - I would describe his music as Shred-Fusion, with many progressive influences. The problem is that most people only know the more popular Vai tracks - For the Love of God, his work with DLR and Whitesnake. Some people don't even know that he played in Zappa's band.
His best album is Passion and Warfare, and it contains some amazingly complex songs. Sisters, Blue Powder, Erotic Nightmares, The Riddle, Answers, Ballerina - fantastic.
The albums Flexable/Flexable Leftovers are very progressive. Of course some people might say that they're just experimental, but that is a matter of taste and which elements of prog are most important to you.
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Ty1020
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Joined: April 24 2005
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Posted: August 07 2005 at 12:14 |
I voted "yes"... he definitely belongs on here.
And whoever voted "Who the f**k is Steve Vai?"... have you been living under a rock or something?
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Ricochet
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Posted: August 07 2005 at 12:15 |
Yes,he is...
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TheProgtologist
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Posted: August 07 2005 at 12:26 |
MikeEnRegalia wrote:
I think that he belongs here, in the category Jazz-Fusion, although he's not very Jazz - I would describe his music as Shred-Fusion, with many progressive influences. The problem is that most people only know the more popular Vai tracks - For the Love of God, his work with DLR and Whitesnake. Some people don't even know that he played in Zappa's band.
His best album is Passion and Warfare, and it contains some amazingly complex songs. Sisters, Blue Powder, Erotic Nightmares, The Riddle, Answers, Ballerina - fantastic.
The albums Flexable/Flexable Leftovers are very progressive. Of course some people might say that they're just experimental, but that is a matter of taste and which elements of prog are most important to you.
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I remember buying P&W a few days after it's release(on cassette!!!),and being blown away by it.Arguably his best solo cd EVER
And I also consider his solo work pretty proggy.
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Retrovertigo
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Joined: June 17 2005
Location: United States
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Posted: August 07 2005 at 12:39 |
Vai is coming soon!
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Snow Dog
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Posted: August 07 2005 at 12:41 |
I reckon he belongs!
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MikeEnRegalia
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Posted: August 07 2005 at 12:47 |
I hope he releases his performance with the Metropole Orkest - very impressive stuff. Track 7 of his current album is from those sessions.
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Retrovertigo
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Posted: August 07 2005 at 13:29 |
Oh looks like we have a good amount of people that say he's prog! Eat that Tony R.
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Wolf Spider
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Joined: August 04 2005
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Posted: August 07 2005 at 13:35 |
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Retrovertigo
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Posted: August 07 2005 at 13:37 |
Yeah and for some reason it's causing an uproar with some people. I don't get it.
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arcer
Prog Reviewer
Joined: September 01 2004
Location: United Kingdom
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Posted: August 07 2005 at 13:40 |
There's no way he should be added - you might as well start putting in
the multitude of guitarists who played with Iron Maiden or Steve
Stevens or any other mindless axe-wielding fool with a degree from the
GIT. He's not prog, not even good.
And no I don't agree with Queen's addition, so it's not a valid argument to say 'if Queen are in then...'
Big fat no to Vai.
Edited by arcer
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Tony R
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Posted: August 07 2005 at 13:42 |
Retrovertigo wrote:
Oh looks like we have a good amount of people that say he's prog! Eat that Tony R. |
This is not a game or a pissing contest.
Now I'm annoyed.
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MikeEnRegalia
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Posted: August 07 2005 at 13:47 |
arcer wrote:
There's no way he should be added - you might as well start putting in the multitude of guitarists who played with Iron Maiden or Steve Stevens or any other mindless axe-wielding fool with a degree from the GIT. He's not prog, not even good.
And no I don't agree with Queen's addition, so it's not a valid argument to say 'if Queen are in then...'
Big fat no to Vai.
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Your comparison with Iron Maiden shows that you don't even know his progressive albums ...
Edited by MikeEnRegalia
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Wolf Spider
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Joined: August 04 2005
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Posted: August 07 2005 at 13:51 |
arcer wrote:
There's no way he should be added - you might as well start putting in
the multitude of guitarists who played with Iron Maiden or Steve
Stevens or any other mindless axe-wielding fool with a degree from the
GIT. He's not prog, not even good.
And no I don't agree with Queen's addition, so it's not a valid argument to say 'if Queen are in then...'
Big fat no to Vai.
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Vai is prog, but Satriani, Malmsteen and the rest aren`t. Listen to a couple of his CD`s and you`ll see for yourself!
Edited by Wolf Spider
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Snow Dog
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Posted: August 07 2005 at 13:55 |
Wolf Spider wrote:
arcer wrote:
There's no way he should be added - you might as well start putting in the multitude of guitarists who played with Iron Maiden or Steve Stevens or any other mindless axe-wielding fool with a degree from the GIT. He's not prog, not even good.
And no I don't agree with Queen's addition, so it's not a valid argument to say 'if Queen are in then...'
Big fat no to Vai.
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Vai is prog, but Satriani, Malmsteen and the rest aren`t. Listen to a couple of his CD`s and you`ll see for yourself! |
Satriani is as prog as Vai, and Malmsteens first album is kinda proggy!
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Retrovertigo
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Joined: June 17 2005
Location: United States
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Points: 537
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Posted: August 07 2005 at 13:55 |
It's easy, these guys don't think he should be added because they don't
expect anyone as recognized to just get added to the Archives,
regardless if they've heard a good amount of their stuff anyways.
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Cygnus X-2
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Posted: August 07 2005 at 13:59 |
Retrovertigo wrote:
It's easy, these guys don't think he should be added because they don't expect anyone as recognized to just get added to the Archives, regardless if they've heard a good amount of their stuff anyways. |
Wow... that's a pretty broad generalization. I believe that Vai is as progressive as Jeff Beck, and what happened with that?
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arcer
Prog Reviewer
Joined: September 01 2004
Location: United Kingdom
Status: Offline
Points: 1239
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Posted: August 07 2005 at 14:01 |
MikeEnRegalia wrote:
arcer wrote:
There's no way he should be
added - you might as well start putting in the multitude of guitarists
who played with Iron Maiden or Steve Stevens or any other mindless
axe-wielding fool with a degree from the GIT. He's not prog, not even
good.
And no I don't agree with Queen's addition, so it's not a valid argument to say 'if Queen are in then...'
Big fat no to Vai.
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Your comparison with Iron Maiden shows that you don't even know his progressive albums ... |
Fair point. The comparison was made out of exaggerated shock value -
but there is a valid comparison somewhere to the vast plethora of
tedious metal guitar players whose sole purpose in life is to play very
fast over facile backing tracks in order to simply demonstrate their
technical gifts. It has always been (to my ears at least) the modus
operandi of guitarists like Vai and his ilk and bears little relation
to progressive music from Genesis to Radiohead and back again. That
music was all about finding something to say in a way that is
descriptive, atmospheric, challenging and different - virtuosity is an
irrelevance in that music. It the music that triumphs, not the player.
Nothing I have ever heard of Vai or his colleagues ever gave me that impression.
I do havbe to qualify this by saying that I have no love for metal,
progressive metal, progressive black/death/silly/pointless metal of any
stripe. In fact, I think progressive metal is the bastard child of the
genre, a blind alley followed by dullards who pursued a single strand
of progressive rock to ridiculous lengths. Progressive to me inlcudes
artists like Mum, Underworld, David Sylvian, Talk Talk, Porcupine Tree,
Radiohead, Godspeed You Black Emperor etc.
Perhaps, in that light, me saying Vai is rubbish is unhderstandable but
I do think I'm divorced enough from partisanship to be able to make a
value judgement on someone's ability to make music that progresses,
advances a genre.
Vai, in my opinion, does not. Therefore he does not merit inclusion.
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stonebeard
Forum Senior Member
Joined: May 27 2005
Location: NE Indiana
Status: Offline
Points: 28057
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Posted: August 07 2005 at 14:05 |
no.
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