Steve Vai - Building The Church

This is a live performance by guitarist Steve Vai performing one of his original instrumental guitar pieces. It was released in 2009 on both CD, DVD and Blu-ray. This number is really good, and it's not just a guitarist showing off. I've always loved Steve Vai because he is an original. He really tries to be innovative and push the envelope as far as what is possible on guitar. On top of that he's also a great composer who does some really good guitar instrumentals. He plays fast, but has a lot of feeling in his playing as well. He's really good, and you gotta respect that!

Enjoy ; )

Steve Vai - For the Love of God

This is a guitar instrumental piece by guitar legend Steve Vai. The song was originally recorded and released in 1990 on Steve Vai's album "Passion and Warfare".
It's a long instrumental featuring a wide variety of different guitar techniques, one more impressive than the other. He uses the whammy-bar on the song a lot, he uses pinch harmonics, natural harmonics, two finger tapping and it all adds up to something amazing and out of this world.
Vai himself has stated that when he's making music he likes to try and enter different states of consciousness. So there is a, hmm... religious or spiritual overtone at work here, and you can hear that emotion channelled through Vai's playing.
That is what I love about Vai's playing, it's ultra-technical and out of this world difficult. But through his hands it's still played with emotion. There are very few players who can be speed demons and still emote, and for that Vai, I personally salute you.
A high point of this performance, in my opinion, is when he towards the end of his performance makes the guitar sound like dolphin screams. I mean who else could do that but him? This is an all over awesome performance.

Enjoy ; )