Steve Vai - Sound Theories Vol. I & II
Review by William Ruhlmann
Despite his reputation as a rock guitar virtuoso, Steve Vai has been writing orchestral scores since the age of 14 (that would be circa 1974) by his estimation and " hefty heaps" of them ever since, "but with few performances." So he notes in his annotations to the ambitious double-CD live set Sound Theories, Vols. 1-2. Vai's compositional bent finally was given an outlet by Co de Kloet of Dutch Public Radio & Television, which commissioned him to write an hour's worth of music to be performed by the Metropole Orkest. Going through his amassed materials, Vai came up with two hours' worth, which he and the orchestra performed in a series of concerts in May 2004 and July 2005. Then, he took the recordings home and began working on them, resulting, two years later, in this album, the first two volumes of what he hopes to be a continuing series. The pieces date back to 1978 ("Answers"), with many from the 1980s ("Salamanders in the Sun," "Attitude Song," "For the Love of God," and "Liberty" from the first disc and the entire second disc). Several of these earlier works, notably "Salamanders in the Sun" and "Frangelica, Pt. 2," reveal the influence of Vai's former employer Frank Zappa. Zappa was never fortunate enough in his lifetime to work with a sympathetic symphony orchestra like the Metropole, however. (He did work well with some smaller ensembles toward the end of his life.) Like Zappa, Vai is interested in pushing the limits of composition and playing ability, and he has gone even further by manipulating the live recordings with what he acknowledges are thousands of edits and note substitutions. The first disc, subtitled The Aching Hunger, is a guitar-plus-orchestra album with his usual playing pyrotechnics. But he leaves the entire second disc (Shadows & Sparks) to the Metropole, which makes this music sound like the highly dramatic soundtrack for an adventure film that hasn't been made yet. Sound Theories, Vols. 1-2 seems to be the beginning of a post-guitar-hero career for Vai, and it makes a good start in that direction.
Credits:
Jascha Albracht - Cello
Erica Korthals Altes - Violin
Martin Baai - Percussion
Jan Bastiani - Trombone
Jeff Beck - Inspiration
Bryan Beller - Bass
Paul Bliven - Engineer
Ruud Breuls - Trumpet
Elisabeth Cats - Violin
Neil Citron - Engineer
Mike Cortese - Management
Pamela Dancy - Production Coordination
Friederike Darius - Clarinet, Flute
Martin de Kam - Trombone
Co de Kloet - Liner Notes, Executive Producer
Doesjka DeLeu - Violin
Hugh Den Ouden - Balance Engineer
Arlia de Ruiter - Violin, Concert Master, Soloist
Joeri DeVente - French Horn
Tjerk DeVos - Bass
Jaap DeVries - Bassoon
Larry DiMarzio - Photography
Linda Dumessie - Violin
Wim Grin - Cello
Henk Heijink - Trumpet
Jan Hollander - Trumpet
Mieke Honingh - Viola
Bonnie Janofsky - Orchestration
Norman Jansen - Viola
Leo Janssen - Clarinet, Saxophone, Soloist
Werner Janssen - Clarinet, Saxophone
Arthur Jarvinen - Copyist
Murk Jiskoot - Percussion
Julia Jowett - Viola
Dennis Koenders - Violin
Wim Kok - violin
David Kole - Arranger, Orchestration
Patrick Koopman - Guitar Technician
Penka Kouneva - Copyist
Erik Kromhout - Violin
Jen Kuhn - Tapes
Vera Laporeva - Violin
Arend Liefkes - Bass
David Frank Long - Copyist
Willem Luijt - Clarinet, Oboe
Frank Mathijssen - Engineer
Michael Mesker - Art Direction, Design
The Metropole Orchestra - Performer
Sangwook "Sunny" Nam - Mastering
Alan Neveu - Copyist
David Ocker - Copyist
Jan Oosthof - Trumpet
Chris Opperman Piano, Arranger, Moog Synthesizer, Orchestration, Copyist
David Peijnenborgh - Violin
Ross Pelton - Cover Photo
Williard Riley - Copyist
Marijn Rombout - Violin
Tony Sartino - Clothing Design
Doug Sax - Mastering
Mike Schäperclaus - Percussion
Marc Scholten - Clarinet, Saxophone
Joke Schonewille - Harp
Craig Schriber - Copyist
Juan Martinez Schrijver - Clarinet, Clarinet (Contrabass), Saxophone, Soloist
Iris Schut - Viola
Enrico Selvegio - Copyist
John A. Sepetys - Management
Ruta E. Sepetys - Management
Joost Smeets - Tuba
Annie Tangberg - Cello
Jos Teeken - Cello
Seya Teeuwen - Violin
Peter Tiehuis - Guitar, Guitar (Electric), Soloist
Tom Trapp - Arranger, Orchestration, Copyist
Steve Vai - Arranger, Producer, Performer, Orchestration, Editing, Mixing
Marianne Van Den Heuvel - Violin
Paul Van Der Feen - Clarinet, Saxophone
Carlo VanDerPut - Keyboards
Hans Van Der Zanden - French Horn
Herman Van Haaren - Violin
Arno Van Nieuwenhuize - Percussion
Aimee Versloot - Viola
Simone Vierstra - Violin
Hans Vroomans - Piano, Arranger, Soloist
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