http://www.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.1307&rws=%2Fsteve-vai%2Fmusic-videos.rssSteve Vai has some serious credits to his name. Before he made a name as a solo artist, he spent time backing a variety of heavyweights -- from Frank Zappa to Johnny Lydon of Public Image Limited (yes, Johnny Lydon/Rotten of the Sex Pistols called Vai for support) to David Lee Roth to Whitesnake. Not surprisingly, it was with the latter two pop-oriented projects that he came into the national spotlight -- in addition to his scorching, devil-fueled performance across from Ralph Macchio in the mostly lame film <I>Crossroads</I>. But the real guitar wizardry began in full with his debut record <I>Flex-Able</I> and the more developed <I>Passion and Warfare</I> -- both high concept albums featuring dizzying seven-string slinging and an epic variety of tunes, from wicked Metal riffing and a slew of guitar textures to the occasional overblown musical mush. Vai may fall on his face with his experiments at times, but it's nice to see a guitar god think about breaking boundaries and concentrating on composition for a change. - Jessy TerryInstrumental Guitar Rocken720Mon, 23 Nov 2009 16:49:40 -0800 http://static.realone.com/rotw/images/logo_rhapsody_113x22.gif http://www.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.1307&rws=%2Fsteve-vai%2Fmusic-videos.rss Steve Vai has some serious credits to his name. Before he made a name as a solo artist, he spent time backing a variety of heavyweights -- from Frank Zappa to Johnny Lydon of Public Image Limited (yes, Johnny Lydon/Rotten of the Sex Pistols called Vai for support) to David Lee Roth to Whitesnake. Not surprisingly, it was with the latter two pop-oriented projects that he came into the national spotlight -- in addition to his scorching, devil-fueled performance across from Ralph Macchio in the mostly lame film <I>Crossroads</I>. But the real guitar wizardry began in full with his debut record <I>Flex-Able</I> and the more developed <I>Passion and Warfare</I> -- both high concept albums featuring dizzying seven-string slinging and an epic variety of tunes, from wicked Metal riffing and a slew of guitar textures to the occasional overblown musical mush. Vai may fall on his face with his experiments at times, but it's nice to see a guitar god think about breaking boundaries and concentrating on composition for a change. - Jessy Terry