Is Steve Vai prog?
Printed From: Progarchives.com
Category: Progressive Music Lounges
Forum Name: Prog Polls
Forum Description: Create polls on topics related to progressive music
URL: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9724
Printed Date: July 31 2025 at 20:42
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Topic: Is Steve Vai prog?
Posted By: Wolf Spider
Subject: Is Steve Vai prog?
Date Posted: August 07 2005 at 11:35
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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? ------------- http://www.lastfm.pl/user/tomash33 - Last.fm |
Replies:
Posted By: MikeEnRegalia
Date Posted: August 07 2005 at 11:49
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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.
------------- https://awesomeprog.com/release-polls/pa" rel="nofollow - Release Polls Listened to: 
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Posted By: Ty1020
Date Posted: August 07 2005 at 12:14
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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?  |
Posted By: Ricochet
Date Posted: August 07 2005 at 12:15
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Yes,he is...
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Posted By: TheProgtologist
Date Posted: August 07 2005 at 12:26
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. -------------  |
MikeEnRegalia wrote:Posted By: Retrovertigo
Date Posted: August 07 2005 at 12:39
| Vai is coming soon! |
Posted By: Snow Dog
Date Posted: August 07 2005 at 12:41
I reckon he belongs! ------------- http://www.last.fm/user/Snow_Dog" rel="nofollow"> 
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Posted By: MikeEnRegalia
Date Posted: August 07 2005 at 12:47
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I hope he releases his performance with the Metropole Orkest - very impressive stuff. Track 7 of his current album is from those sessions. ------------- https://awesomeprog.com/release-polls/pa" rel="nofollow - Release Polls Listened to:
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Posted By: Retrovertigo
Date 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. |
Posted By: Wolf Spider
Date Posted: August 07 2005 at 13:35
Thanks for adding him!    ------------- http://www.lastfm.pl/user/tomash33 - Last.fm |
Posted By: Retrovertigo
Date 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. |
Posted By: arcer
Date Posted: August 07 2005 at 13:40
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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. |
Posted By: Tony R
Date Posted: August 07 2005 at 13:42
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This is not a game or a pissing contest. Now I'm annoyed. |
Posted By: MikeEnRegalia
Date Posted: August 07 2005 at 13:47
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Your comparison with Iron Maiden shows that you don't even know his progressive albums ... ------------- https://awesomeprog.com/release-polls/pa" rel="nofollow - Release Polls Listened to:
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Posted By: Wolf Spider
Date Posted: August 07 2005 at 13:51
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! ------------- http://www.lastfm.pl/user/tomash33 - Last.fm |
Posted By: Snow Dog
Date Posted: August 07 2005 at 13:55
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Satriani is as prog as Vai, and Malmsteens first album is kinda proggy! ------------- http://www.last.fm/user/Snow_Dog" rel="nofollow">
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Posted By: Retrovertigo
Date 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. |
Posted By: Cygnus X-2
Date Posted: August 07 2005 at 13:59
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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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Posted By: arcer
Date Posted: August 07 2005 at 14:01
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. |
Posted By: stonebeard
Date Posted: August 07 2005 at 14:05
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no. ------------- http://soundcloud.com/drewagler" rel="nofollow - My soundcloud. Please give feedback if you want! |
Posted By: Wolf Spider
Date Posted: August 07 2005 at 14:07
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so I gues that according to you 75% of bans on ProgArch should be deleted for being not prog
------------- http://www.lastfm.pl/user/tomash33 - Last.fm |
Posted By: arcer
Date Posted: August 07 2005 at 14:09
Is that addressed to me? If so, no I don't think 75% should be removed, just the ones who are not prog  |
Posted By: Cluster One
Date Posted: August 07 2005 at 16:10
Don't think Steve Vai should be in the PROG Archives...
------------- Marmalade...I like marmalade. |
Posted By: Valarius
Date Posted: August 07 2005 at 17:03
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I say no. I'm a big fan of Vai, and can't quite find an exact reason why he shouldn't be on here, but I've never really considered him prog. Ya'mean? |
Posted By: MikeEnRegalia
Date Posted: August 07 2005 at 17:06
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You should all be more flexable. ------------- https://awesomeprog.com/release-polls/pa" rel="nofollow - Release Polls Listened to:
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Posted By: Certif1ed
Date Posted: August 07 2005 at 17:20
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w00t!!! Like, 30 out of a possible 2,000 have voted so far - so it's conclusive... |
Posted By: MikeEnRegalia
Date Posted: August 07 2005 at 17:29
He said that at a point when about 10 people had voted - 6 for Vai, 2 against and 2 indecisive, if I remember it correctly. Edit: Even if all the members voted, the poll wouldn't be conclusive - I bet that only 5% of all members actually know Lucky Charms or Flex-Able. ------------- https://awesomeprog.com/release-polls/pa" rel="nofollow - Release Polls Listened to:
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Posted By: Certif1ed
Date Posted: August 07 2005 at 17:43
I know Flex-Able and Passion And Warfare very well. Neither is prog - but they're both awesome albums. |
Posted By: Maike
Date Posted: August 07 2005 at 18:59
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for me he's in. Sex and Religion has a lot of prog moments (Devin
Townsend shines, man) Keep on rockin
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Posted By: Arsillus
Date Posted: August 07 2005 at 20:50
| Yes! Vai is a genius. |
Posted By: Man With Hat
Date Posted: August 07 2005 at 21:14
No  ------------- Dig me...But don't...Bury me I'm running still, I shall until, one day, I hope that I'll arrive Warning: Listening to jazz excessively can cause a laxative effect. |
Posted By: Damen
Date Posted: August 07 2005 at 22:51
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Good guitarist but does not belong here. ------------- "It's amazing that we've been able to put up with each other for 35 years. Most marriages don't last that long these days." -Chris Squire |
Posted By: Certif1ed
Date Posted: August 08 2005 at 03:48
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As Wolfie said... about 75% |
Posted By: MikeEnRegalia
Date Posted: September 17 2005 at 08:18
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Here's an interesting link which Damen posted somewhere else: http://epicrecords.com/g3/quicktime/ - http://epicrecords.com/g3/quicktime/ The website offers three videos (Satriani, Vai and Malmsteen) from the G3 DVD. They show the differences between the artists quite well ... IMO Vai's performance (or at least 80% of it) reminds me more of Robert Fripp than any of the usual shred guitarists ... ------------- https://awesomeprog.com/release-polls/pa" rel="nofollow - Release Polls Listened to:
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Posted By: Prodigal
Date Posted: September 18 2005 at 16:23
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I don't think so. |
Posted By: Philrod
Date Posted: September 18 2005 at 17:54
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now what a guitarist! definitely belongs here! ------------- http://www.last.fm/user/Philrod/?chartstyle=Geldropdown-small"> 
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Posted By: bluesynight
Date Posted: May 02 2008 at 14:12
i have only 3 of his album L&P, the ultra zone, and real illusions. so maybe i missed something, so can you pls tell me where you see the jazz?and of course shred + jazz = fusion (al di meola, greg howe, tony macalpine). ------------- The Irish gave the bagpipes to the Scotts as a joke, but the Scotts haven't seen the joke yet. (Oliver Herford) |
Posted By: MikeEnRegalia
Date Posted: May 02 2008 at 14:20
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^ in my post I said clearly that he's not very jazz. And technically fusion = rock + jazz + shred. Anyways, back then I proposed Jazz-Fusion as a category because it was the best choice, with artists like Derek Sherinian and Niacin in it. ------------- https://awesomeprog.com/release-polls/pa" rel="nofollow - Release Polls Listened to:
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Posted By: bluesynight
Date Posted: May 02 2008 at 15:11
how many guitar shredders you know that have zero rock/metal elements in their music?
i can see the logic in that, but the sentence " he's not very jazz.", is not that clear. anyway, back to more interesting and recent topics... ------------- The Irish gave the bagpipes to the Scotts as a joke, but the Scotts haven't seen the joke yet. (Oliver Herford) |
Posted By: MikeEnRegalia
Date Posted: May 02 2008 at 15:14
Does that question have anything to do with my post or the thread in general?
You revived that thread. BTW: I meant that Vai's discography doesn't contain many tracks which belong to the genre of Jazz. ------------- https://awesomeprog.com/release-polls/pa" rel="nofollow - Release Polls Listened to:
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Posted By: bluesynight
Date Posted: May 02 2008 at 15:51
no, its just that you cant play shred guitar without having some rock/metal elements. so you dont have to say.. rock+ jazz+sh...
 i stepped on a nail, and i cant get out of my house for a week. so i glad to discuss old pointless topics, that just going in pointless loops, i have allot of time on my hands. ------------- The Irish gave the bagpipes to the Scotts as a joke, but the Scotts haven't seen the joke yet. (Oliver Herford) |
Posted By: stonebeard
Date Posted: May 02 2008 at 16:29
I stand by this old freakin post. Vai sometimes has complex rhythms, adventurous sounds 'n' all, but I believe if we take things in historical context and not entirely in a "sounds like" vacuum, Vai does not belog here at all. ------------- http://soundcloud.com/drewagler" rel="nofollow - My soundcloud. Please give feedback if you want! |
Posted By: MikeEnRegalia
Date Posted: May 02 2008 at 16:41
Ok, I see. I use the word "shred" more generally ... for me it describes music which is based on virtuosic playing of one instrument in a "rocking" context ... might be rock, metal or jazz-fusion.
So what's keeping you from rating & tagging some Vai albums at Ratingfreak.com? Currently there are only Hughes and me ... ------------- https://awesomeprog.com/release-polls/pa" rel="nofollow - Release Polls Listened to:
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Posted By: bluesynight
Date Posted: May 02 2008 at 17:31
hey its not a bad idea, i feel like i'm getting brainwashed  , but its not a bad idea. ------------- The Irish gave the bagpipes to the Scotts as a joke, but the Scotts haven't seen the joke yet. (Oliver Herford) |
Posted By: Pnoom!
Date Posted: May 02 2008 at 17:35
| Absolutely not. There is a difference between complex music and prog music, and it's really not that hard to see. |
Posted By: bluesynight
Date Posted: May 02 2008 at 17:48
depends on what you mean by "historical context", as in his early solo work, or his work with zappa? ------------- The Irish gave the bagpipes to the Scotts as a joke, but the Scotts haven't seen the joke yet. (Oliver Herford) |
Posted By: stonebeard
Date Posted: May 02 2008 at 17:51
His work with Zappa doesn't count. That would be like adding Phil Collins' solo albums because he was in Genesis. ------------- http://soundcloud.com/drewagler" rel="nofollow - My soundcloud. Please give feedback if you want! |
Posted By: MikeEnRegalia
Date Posted: May 02 2008 at 17:58
Vai never made mainstream music - not on his solo albums. Even songs like Tender Surrender (for which he got a Grammy) weren't mainstream/pop. ------------- https://awesomeprog.com/release-polls/pa" rel="nofollow - Release Polls Listened to:
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Posted By: bluesynight
Date Posted: May 02 2008 at 17:59
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actually there are some rules about it on this site,i cant remember, something about "completing the big picture". its the main reason for why petrucci's solo work is here. and if you check vai's page, you see that its says... Why this artist must be listed in www.progarchives.com : Progressive guitar composer and Zappa alumni. ------------- The Irish gave the bagpipes to the Scotts as a joke, but the Scotts haven't seen the joke yet. (Oliver Herford) |
Posted By: stonebeard
Date Posted: May 02 2008 at 18:00
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Pop doesn't factor into it, it's about evaluating an artist by his solo work, not by what he did in other bands.
------------- http://soundcloud.com/drewagler" rel="nofollow - My soundcloud. Please give feedback if you want! |