The gods of Rock 'n' Roll and the universe after having extensive galactic sexual intercourse with the six string goddess named Venunez (derived from Venus plus Ibanez) gave birth to their two extraordinary children: Joe Satriani and Steve Vai. And then the prophecy was fulfilled! Steve Vai then differentiated himself from master Joe, and paved his own way into the six string Universe. So, Steve Vai now offers us his first new studio work since 1999's The Ultra Zone, titled Real Illusions: Part 1 - Reflections. This work is the first chapter in a trilogy of concept albums.
From the very sensitive and sentimental Lotus Feet to the more hard rocking and classical Vai type of songs such as Building The Church, there is a wide variety of emotions, perfectly described through the language of music by guitar magician Steve Vai. The whole atmosphere of this record mostly resembles Fire Garden or Alien Love Secrets, preferably than  "Passion And Warfare . It is really hard for the average listener to decipher and devour Steve Vai's meaning and intentions. If you are not acquainted with six string innovators (yes dear sir and madam, NOT guitar masturbators!) you will find this work of Steve Vai kind of hard to comprehend. Of course we will be anxiously waiting to ear witness the other 2 parts of Steve's trilogy, to have a total view of his scope and musical vision!
The opening track, Building The Church, starts with some frenzied fret-tapping and comes to a plateau with the usual Vai rhythmic song writing. Steve also never seems to lose his great sense of humor by offering us funny songs such as Yai Yai. Notice that in the song Lotus Feet, Vai collaborates with Holland's Metropole Orkest. Eastern melodies, extremely experimental attitude, wild imagination, ethereal melodies all combined in a fine musical proposition form Steve Vai's true spiritual testament. There is a balanced mix of instrumental and vocal tracks here which all obey Steve's artistic and emotional expression.
However someone might accuse the might Vai of repeating himself in some tracks (which I personally disagree) or that his stuff in certain points is way too experimental and hard to comprehend.
To sum it up, dudes, another fine album from a state of the art guitarist, person and innovator in general! See you in Athens soon, Stevie !
- Album Highlights: Building The Church, Dying For Your Love,:K'm-Pee-Du-Wee and I'm Your Secrets.