Steve Vai - Passion and Warfare Review

Steve Vai Passion and Warfare

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Tracklist:
1. Liberty
2. Erotic Nightmares
3. The Animal
4. Answers
5. The Riddle
6. Ballerina
7. For The love Of God
8. The Audience Is Listening
9. I Would Love Toc
10. Blue Powder
11. Greasy Kid\'s Stuff
12. Alien Water Kiss
13. Sisters
14. Love Secrets

Ranking: #4 for 1990

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4.3
superb

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SHthrash (4.5)
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On 7 Lists

4.0
excellent

Andrew Hartwig STAFF (155 Reviews)

2005-01-14 | 29 comments | 4,834 views

Passion and Warfare was Steve Vai's second solo album. Immediatly upon it's realease, Steve Vai was certified as one of the current best guitarists around. The album went Gold, not bad for an album with next to no lyrics. P&W has been called one of the most important guitar albums by many critics.
The album is based on dreams that Steve had when he was a teenager. It is a little inaccessible to those niether into heavy metal, or the guitar, but if you are into either, then this album is a great buy.

Liberty- This song is very american and patrotic sounding, a nice opener, but not really a great song in itself. The drums in it are nice though. The guitar lines are nice as well. 2.5/5

Erotic Nightmares- One of the best tracks on the album. Immediatly, from 20 seconds into the song, Vai starts shredding. Stu on bass does some nice slapping and popping as well. There are also some wierd effects in the song that add to it ver well. Very nice. 5/5

The Animal- A bit heavier than the last track. By itself, this song is great, but after the previous song, it can get a bit boring. Towards the middle, Vai does some good stuff with a wah pedal. 4/5

Answers- Slightly funkier than the last two tracks, especially at the start. Vai again has some wierd effects. Again, the bass is great, and the drumming is a tad nicer than the last track. 4.5/5

The Riddle- This track is another one that is one of the best on the album. Also the longest, clocking in at 6:22. There is some great stuff happening here. At 5:07, some vocals come in, saying the Plege Of Allegiance. It's overall a great song. 5/5

Balllerina- There are some great things in this song. Steve's guitar sounds more like a harp or a keyboard. The song is just Steve's guitar and an Eventide H3000 Harmonizer. This is one of my favourite songs on the album, because it is different. 5/5

For The Love Of God- I read somewhere that Steve tries to always make his 7th track on his albums more "spiritual". This certainly seems to be the case with this song, the tempo has slowed down, and Steve has laid aside his insane shredding for some more melodic playing. This is also a long one at 6:02. 4/5

The Audience Is Listening- Another of the best songs on the album, Steve's sense of humour becomes apparent here, just listen to the lyrics. The song itself is great, especially when he whips out his wah pedal. The female vocals in this song are very effective. 5/5

I Would Love To- Again, not a bad song in itself, but it just sounds a lot like the eariler tracks. There is really nothing more to be said about this track that hasn't been said already. 3.5/5

Blue Powder- This song is a ballad, I prefer it to For The Love Of God, there is some good melodies in here. The only thing I don't like about it is the end where Steve starts to make all these wierd noises. It would be ok except that it drags a tiny bit. 4.5/5

Greasy Kid's Stuff- Again, this song just sounds a lot like the earlier tracks. All I can say is that the keyboards in here are great, which Steve plays himslef. Overall, a decent song. 3.5/5

Alien Water Kiss- The song starts with some strange rushing noises, and you think that they are going to stop, but they don't. The whole song is just wierd noises, and I like it because it is different. Not as good as Ballerina though. 4/5

Sisters- A nice break from all of the shredding that can give you a headache or make you bored if you're anything like me. Steve's guitar has a real twangy sound here. A very nice track, which can be very soothing. There is no distortion here, and the chords are fingerpicked. 5/5

Love Secrets- This song is a good one. The shredding in here is good, and it doesn't sound like the earlier tracks. Probably the most insane stuff is one here. I assusme the Steve played all the insturments of this song, because the only credit given in the album art was "Steve Vai- Whatever". A great song, and a good choice to finish the album. 5/5

This album is great, and I give it a 4/5 because of it's greatness. The only thing that stood in it's way of a 5 was that some songs get fairly monotonous and you feel as if you have heard it all before. Other than that, great stuff.

Final Rating: 4/5

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