I would like to start a thread devoted to how much Steve Vai sucks.

If we get enough feedback maybe we can start a database that documents his suckiness in all its glory.

What a bunch of un-funky noodling!
Guess his parents spent a LOT of money on guitar lessons, too bad they couldn't get him any SOUL!
Oh yeah, great technique! I'd rather listen to the sound of bones breaking!

Steve Vai has no soul. I much prefere the likes of Garry Moore or Stevie Ray Vaugn for my dose of Blues served with feel

thanx

Did somebody say Gary Moore?? He is freakin' AWESOME!!

"It was so long,so long ago but I STILL GOT THE BLUES for you...."

micorison requesting radio silence...
[This message was edited Fri May 3 14:43:45 PDT 2002 by micorison]

micorison requesting radio silence...
[This message was edited Fri May 3 14:43:56 PDT 2002 by micorison]

LOL @ Micorison!

agreed!! Steve Vai & Eddie Van Halen BOTH are "dated" HACKS!! 80's hair metal.. NEVER growing to anything or anywhere..just playing like a "time period"

eddie.. with his dumb power drill gimmick??

Thank God for Prince

Johnny Marr is a great underrated guitarist & great composer too ("walking down madison" late Kirsty Mc Coll)

Stevie Ray Vaughn is...man i wish he was still alive

thecloud9mission said:

Vai doesn't play blues...he's what i would call "technically proficient," although lacking a bit of soul.

locoarts said:

power drill gimmick that he used once...which really doesn't make it much of a gimmick, huh?

*sigh*

DavidEye said:

he is brilliant, i absolutely love parisienne walkways, and still got the blues, ive got his ballads and blues album. The way he plays, particularly on these two songs, it's so moving.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA
2the9s, I know you started this thread only to get my attention...heheheheh
Speaking of Vai, he will perform tonight at Grammys...
He influenced Prince a lot recently, he is damn good
Peace, man
Gustavo

parisienne walkways, this song brings back all my memories of paris, i love it. it makes me remember a very special time.

"Steve Vai & Eddie Van Halen BOTH are "dated" HACKS!! 80's hair metal.. NEVER growing to anything or anywhere..just playing like a "time period" "
- Strange...isnt Prince´s guitar playing dated too? His licks are mostly simple pentatonics inspired DIRECTLY from Hendrix and Santana and the rythm guitars are inspired by James Brown´s guitar player. Prince´s bass playing is borrowed directly from Larry Graham, Parliament, Bootsi. And it´s 70s, not 80s (even older!). The only times Prince´s playing went a little more ´fresh´ was when he took some inspiration from Vai and Van Halen, specially on TRC, ´Live 4 love´ and ´Rock and roll is alive´.
Eddie Van Halen is ´dated´, I agree, but I respect him as one of the most innovative/influential players of 20 th century, and it´s not easy. Nobody can be innovative forever (even Prince).
For the people that said Vai has no soul, you never listened to a whole album. You just saw a guy with long hair on the cover of a Guitar Player mag and thought: ´Oh, another metal guy with lots of technique´. ´For the love of God´ has lots of soul.
Gary Moore and Stevie Ray Vaughan are/were great too.
I am a lot into Randy Rhoads right now. The guy was amazing, very melodical. If he didnt die, he would be doing marvellous things, I am sure...
Peace
Gustavo

Ah Gustavo...thank you. Those who think Vai "sucks" are probably clueless and close-minded. His playing is brilliant--in fact--I think he is the best guitar player alive today.

Try listening to Tender Surrender and then say he has no "soul". Go way back in his catalog and try "Call It Sleep" while you're at it. The guy oozes talent. His songwriting is fantastic and he takes chances other artists wouldn't even dream about.

Nice try, but no dice. Vai will go down in history as one of the greatest of all time.

Vai did a duet with Nelly Furtado on GRAMMMYS. The playing was excellent and imbued her little pop ditty with more soul that I'd have guessed it ever had.

You're right...in fact, I thought Vai sounded quite Hendrix-like last night. He loves Jimi...when Joe Satriani used to give him lessons they played his music all the time.

yeah, steve vai sucks. i couldn't agree more. those heavy rock wrecks of the 80s suck so hard. too much technique and way too little soul. remember van halen on michael jacksons 'beat it' - okay, the song sucked already, but his guitar solo really fucked it up... and steve vai - a simple advice: relax, take it easy.

micorison requesting radio silence...
[This message was edited Fri May 3 14:43:36 PDT 2002 by micorison]

GutaboRivas what is up? he first time I hrd of Steve Vai was here at the org under the LArry Graham thread. Thanks for turning me onto him I've bought 3 of his CD's so far and he is as my buddy says..."a witch on the guitar."

I was happy to see him last nite.

plus I found out we share the same birthday!

peace2YA!

"Vai did a duet with Nelly Furtado on GRAMMMYS. The playing was excellent and imbued her little pop ditty with more soul that I'd have guessed it ever had."
- Wow, I never expected this comment from Mr Pfunkjazz.
I am glad you enjoyed it
Peace
Gustavo

"Prince´s bass playing is borrowed directly from Larry Graham, Parliament, Bootsi."

Bootsi? Why thank you Gustavo... I think! haha (kidding) We all know I inspire all the greats!! (kidding again) I invented a time capsule & I went back to give them all lessons! (really kidding) Yesterday I put all of them in my time capsule, we went to the year 2040 & had a monster "guitar duel" & I won! (That's true! haha :+)

Seriously now, I really like Steve Vai! I'm sure a lot has to do with the fact that he played with Zappa & I admire his technique. One thing that does bother me is that a fair amount of the songs that writes sound similiar. Of course, that's why he's known more for playing than composing! :+)TAKE CARE EVERYBODY!

P.S. Nice to see you around Gustavo!! :+)

GustavoRibas said:

Good playing is good playing. :LOL: You're making me think Vai gives you kickbacks for recruiting fans (not that I'm converted).
[This message was edited Wed Mar 6 9:15:30 PST 2002 by PFunkjazz]

Ok lets get tsome things about Vai and you non-vailovers straight:

1) Just because a player has great technique doesn't mean he sucks. If you say so based on that only, you are just jealous because YOU suck. What good is 'soul' if you play like you have broken fingers? Sure there are players who have all technique but arent creative, Malmsteen could be one...not to say he's never written a good song, a few earlier ones are great, but most of it is filler.

2) Soul, the term itself, refers to a type of music called 'the blues' for the most part. Some of you forget this. Is vai a blues player? No. Can he play blues with soul? Sure can. Can even YNGWIE play blues with soul...actually he is incredibly soulful with the blues. Can Yngwie write good songs otherwise? Nope. Listen to the song "Blue" by Malmsteen, he has such soul that he makes a blues song without a single I-IV-V progression. Vai's playing is on a level of it's own...so SOUL has nothing to do with it. If we were talking about SRV then yes soul applies. When critiquing the music of Vai and Satriani, take a more classical approach...Would you say that Mozart, Vivaldi, Bach and Beethoven lack soul? YES because they arent fucking blues composers. Does their music lack BEAUTY? HELL NO! Like these fellows, Vai's music can be extremely beautiful and extremely unique.

3) The blues never was a technical genre to begin with. Pentatonic scales don't make way for technique. The trick is trying to make a unique statement with only a 5 note scale,

4) Playing fast and "Wanking" (A term that when used I find TINGUED with JEALOUSY) has been a part of music since J.S. Bach's time and even before in some cases. Playing bach's fuges or Paganini's caprices requires a lot of technique on harpsichord and violin....and the music is BEAUTIFUL not Soulful. When Mozart was sad about a chick he didn't go write a blues song he created some of the most beautiful classical music to ever grace the earth. Just because Blues and Rockabilly guys were the first to play electric guitar doesn't make that genre exclusive to the guitar or the basis to rate a guitar player.

5) If we were living in a different musical period and someone saw a piece that SRV wrote they would be like "Hmmm 3 chords and only 5 notes...ok can I wipe my ass with this?" So just because other players like Vai do different things doesn't mean they are to be rated as part of the pop/blues culture of today.

6) Listen to these songs if you doubt it:
VAI - Tender Surrender, Blue Powder, For the love of God, Erotic Nightmares, The Animal, and his entire New Live disc Alive in an Ultra World.

For all those who love Steve Vai or Joe Satriani, give a ear, no both ears to "Larry Mitchell" out of N.Y.

micorison requesting radio silence...
[This message was edited Fri May 3 14:44:13 PDT 2002 by micorison]

Prince is a queer. A queer. Damn him to hell! Oh, and furthermmore, he is a queer because he now believe Christ died on a stake rather than a cross.

Idiot.

Oh, and Vai rules. Wait...who is he?