The only additional accoutrement was a relatively small (for the venue) projection screen suspended above the drum riser and not, as one might have expected, a stage full of additional musicians, pyro or choirs. Oddly crammed way back and into the centre was simply amps, gear and mics for the 4-piece band consisting of long time Vai musicians Dave Wiener (guitar, occasionaly keys), Phil Bynoe (bass) and Jeremy Colson (drums). It was, therefore, with some surprise that I settled into the red velvet seats of the London Palladium to see one of the smallest stage setups I've seen.
Passion and Warfare asks more than most rock albums, with its innovative use of effects and massively multi-layered studio trickery. Often, when an artist announces a complete album playthrough, you have to wonder how they will pull it off. For all the vitriol that's been directed at the so-called shredders and at rock in general, I would urge anyone to give this piece a true listen to hear how themes can be developed through a track and how emotion can be captured through playing - the final flurry of notes before the final refrain still gives me goosebumps every single time, conjuring up images of a drowning person using their last strength to make for the surface before sinking back under and succumbing to whatever spiritual end awaits them. In 'The Audience Is Listening', Vai answers his old master Frank Zappa's question 'Does Humour Belong in Music' with a resounding 'yes' with a track that somehow manages to overcome it's inherently cheesy concept to still sound serious - the protagonist mentally giving a big 'fuck you' to the doubters You can reach your dreams, folks.Ĭentrepiece to the album is one of the finest performance recordings there is - 'For The Love of God'.
Non-standard arrangements feature aplenty and the guitar work and effects are truly experimental and groundbreaking (a word bandied about far too regularly in the intervening years). From bombastic, anthemic opener 'Liberty' to the almost atonic and disjointed yet somehow perfectly coherent soundtrack-to-a-film-that-never-was album closer 'Love Secrets' the album itself is ridiculously diverse, with stripped back balladry ('Sisters') to metal ('Erotic Nightmares') with shades of funk, classical, jazz, musicals and avant garde thrown in.