Avoid tracks "John The Revelator" and "Book Of The Seven Seals" at all costs. The rest of the songs are standard and enjoyable Vai (depending on how much you actually like him), ranging from the Hawaiian inspired song Creamsicle Sunset, the ballad-like Weeping China Doll, to the waves of arpeggiated chords in the title track.
I have mixed feelings about Steve Vai. Some of his material is the most technically amazing stuff I've ever
heard; I consider him to be the greatest guitarist on the electric guitar of all time. That being said, much of
his material (like his critically acclaimed Passion and Warfare) left me unsatisfied. Despite the high level of
technical proficiency, in the past he has had a tendency to compose some straight-forward and (in my
opinion) boring music. That's not to say all of his material before this album falls into this category; each
album I've listened to by him has some great and some incredible tracks, but he has not been consistent.
Anyways, I put on Vai's most recent album and it blew me away. It's a continuation of his previous album
Real Illusions: Reflections (and it's the sequel to it as part of a planned trilogy) but musically it perfects what
was only sometimes reached on that album. The focus is not on shredding guitars but on moving music.
The Story of Light is a beautiful, layered, textural, and eclectic collection of tracks that show Steve at his best
compositionally. It's also (perhaps not coincidentally) his most progressive album that I've heard. I highly
recommend The Story of Light, and it may just be the most skilled guitarist of all time's best album to date.
This is a great album to take a nice drive to, on a cloudy day. The guitar tone is amazing, and the whole album has this certain feel to it that is hard to explain... but I love it!!
