THE INFINITE STEVE VAI - AN ANTOLOGY

It always seems a little redundant writing reviews for compilations, but what the heck. They serve a purpose, after all. A good compilation should serve as a broad overview of an artist's output, with all their most popular hits, while also acting as a bit of teaser, enticing you to explore their back catalogue a little deeper. And this anthology does each of these quite well.

With two full discs of music, there's plenty of material for newfound Vai fans to sink their teeth into here. The tracks included were compiled from the bulk of Vai's career, with songs included from each of his studio albums from 1984 to 2003. That isn't all, of course, with a few live cuts ("Giant Balls of Gold", "Whispering A Prayer") thrown in for good measure, as well as the hair metal rocker "Kittens Got Claws" by Whitesnake, and "Lighter Shade of Green", a solo instrumental Vai recorded during his stint with Alcatrazz.

As far as Vai's solo career, I'm generally satisfied with the inclusions. All of his most famous material, like "For The Love of God", is included. There's also quite an exhaustive representation of the many different sides to his career. There are hard rock shredder tracks, succulent prog material like "Liberty", "The Riddle" and "Fire Garden Suite", a handful of ballads, and even the vaguely Zappa-like "Salamanders In The Sun". There are some questionable exclusions, of course, such as the shred-tastic, humorously autobiographical "The Audience Is Listening", as well as other less famous but still notable tracks, such as "Juice", "Hand On Heart", or "Erotic Nightmares".

For potential buyers, it's worth noting that in 2011 Sony BMG re- released this two-disc set, with the same track listing, as "The Essential Steve Vai". In all, this is a solid release as far as compilations go. I'd recommend this as a good introduction to Vai's music. And even then, it's not just "Vai 101"; this anthology includes some bonus-y material that established fans may not have been able to get their hands from the studio releases.