The band:
Steve Vai - Guitar,
Billy Sheehan - Bass,
Tony MacAlpine - Guitar & Keyboards,
Jeremy Colson - Drums,
Dave Weiner - Guitar
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Steve Vai came up with a "rock fable" described as follows:
"Real Illusions: Reflections is the first part of a multilayered menagerie of vignettes based on the amplified
mental exaggerations of a truth-seeking madman who sees the world...
Oh, never mind." Sound advice there. Each tune has a description of the "story line" and
further track-by-track description is available on Vai's website, but the reality is that the concept
doesn't get in the way of the music on this largely instrumental offering.
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Jeff &
Steve Vai band drummer Jeremy Colson. For his first studio album in five
years, "Building the Church" is everything you'd expect right out of the
gate: crunching heavy riffs and wild elastic soloing, but Vai's always
been more interested in solid melodies and great attention to sonic detail
and tone than he is in empty showboating. As a result, his playing is
restrained and lyrical just as often is it is flashy, with the composition
itself taking precedence over the soloing. He's got a great ear for
arrangements, and can build a track with a thousand guitar parts or turn
around and sound just as full with a single guitar, bass, and drums (as on
the beautiful "K'm-Pee-Du-Wee"). He's also got a couple surprises: like
getting funky with scatted mouth percussion and horn charts on "Firewall"
or the amusing and experimental "Yai Yai," with its ticking clock rhythm
and crazy talkbox work. "Freak Show Excess" (title says it all) is a wild
guitar fest with cool electric sitar, and then there's "Lotus Feet," a
live track taken from concerts Vai did with the Metropole Orkester (one of
Europe's finest orchestras) in Holland in 2004. As a vocalist, he's gotten
way more confident, and while it's doubtful his singing will ever be the
primary attraction, he does a fine job here. The playing and production is
fantastic, but it seems that with the different styles and feels (along
with excellent pacing) Vai really tried to craft a solid album as opposed
to a series of dazzling tracks and succeeded nicely.
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