Steve Vai - Where The Wild Things Are (2009)

Watching Iron Maiden's "Flight 666" recently has put me into the mood for checking out music videos by some of my old favourite guitarists/bands. Cue Steve Vai's 2009 dvd/live album "Where The Wild Things Are".

It's a typically impressive effort that brings back some memories from the two live shows I was lucky enough to catch in Perth (1996 and 2005 IIRC). A lot of the material is, understandably, from his more recent albums and thus not really familiar to me (I kind of zoned out after "Fire Garden"). He has once again surrounded himself with a band of high calibre musicians, and he gives each one of them ample opportunity to show off their talents during the show.

Highlights are many, but for me probably the single most enjoyable track was the searing rendition of "The Audience Is Listening". It's the track that, if you had to pick just one, best sums up what Vai is all about and what's he capable of.

Gripes?

Well, I find some (okay, most) of his dialog to be a bit on the cheesy side -- it's like he's trying too hard to sound like a normal rock'n'roll kind of guy (I still remember his cringeable anecdote about Britney Spears from the 2006 show). While I'm at it, the same problem also afflicts his lyrics -- e.g. the song "firewall". On such occasions he'd be better off sticking to the percussive scat singing that he does quite well.

Another minor peeve was his hair style -- it seemed to be at that "awkward" length and he was constantly wiping it out of his face in a vaguely effeminate way.

But overall, it's a good watch and sure to please fans of top shelf guitar shred.