But when done with skill and flair, such guitar pyrotechnics can still have a deep emotional impact as Vai demonstrates here. The tap-ons and harmonics have become something of a lost art as the alternative rock revolution saw guitarists moving more toward punk and classic rock stylings, leaving the theatrics behind. “The Riddle” on the other hand moves into a more ambient mid-tempo realm, yet with Vai still pulling sonic tricks from up his sleeve. “Answers” shows Vai in a playful and uplifting mood, throwing down melodic leads over an upbeat major key jam while jamming with a video of friend and mentor Joe Satriani. The album does exactly that, with Vai exploring bold sonic territory in a compelling manner. The album cover features a quintet of fairies flying around Vai, suggesting a shamanic ability to traverse alternate dimensions. “The Animal” receives a similar treatment as Vai delivers a sizzling array of melty leads and spectacular chops over a funky progression.īut unlike many of the heavy metal guitar albums of the era, Passion and Warfare impressed with its adventurous diversity as Vai explored a variety of sonic landscapes. He demonstrates this early on during “Erotic Nightmares”, one of the album’s more incendiary tracks as Vai burns up the fretboard over a hot groove. The album is indeed packed with overdubs and extensive sonic layering, but Vai’s the type of virtuoso who is surely up to the task. After a few tunes to warm up, Vai speaks of how one of the reasons he never toured behind the album is because he had concerns about his ability to reproduce it. Vai comes onstage in a mystical fashion, wearing a hooded robe like a character from Middle Earth or Hogwart’s School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It was superb casting due to how Vai has long been known as a guitarist who can do anything possible on the fretboard (an inherent attribute that comes with replacing Eddie Van Halen as David Lee Roth’s sidekick in the mid-’80s.) As the lights dim, the stage screen shows a clip from the semi-classic 1986 Walter Hill film Crossroads, in which Vai played the devil’s guitarist whom protagonist Ralph Macchio had to combat in a cutting duel in the film’s climax. The Fillmore is therefore packed with guitar freaks in anticipation of Vai’s performance of the entire album. He never toured behind it, though, which makes this year’s tour to honor the 25th anniversary of the album one of the most long-awaited events in guitar history. Vai would rarely play to arena-size audiences again, but the album cemented his status as one of the most talented virtuoso guitarists to ever pick up a six-string. But the otherworldly guitar mastery and sonic diversity on display made the album an instant classic for guitar fanatics. It was still something of a career risk, though, since Vai was coming off big-time arena rock tours with David Lee Roth and Whitesnake. When Steve Vai released his dazzling Passion and Warfare LP in 1990, instrumental guitar albums were a regular part of the hard rock landscape.
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