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Alive in an Ultra World

Steve Vai - Alive in an Ultra World Audio CD

A fair review of the Steve Vai "Alive in an Ultra World" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Steve Vai reviews here, or go back to the Steve Vai tabs.

Band: Steve Vai
Title: Alive in an Ultra World
Rating:

Release Date: 2001-06-19
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Giant Balls Of Gold 2: Burning Rain 3: The Black Forest 4: Alive In An Ultra World 5: Devil's Food 6: Blood And Glory 7: Whispering A Prayer 8: Iberian Jewel 9: The Power Of Bombos 10: Incantation 11: Light Of The Moon 12: Babushka 13: Being With You (In Paris) 14: Principessa 15: Brandos Costumes (Gentle Ways)

One of the essential guitar albums
However, when a person writes reviews, they're giving their opinions, even if they're admitting that it's just their opinions (hey, that's honesty in reviews if you don't like it when people admit that these are just their opinions). Most people will probably disagree with me about this.

Steve Vai had played guitar with Frank Zappa, John Lydon's Public Image Ltd. , David Lee Roth, Whitesnake, Vai, and a lot of other stuff, including solo albums that he had produced. This album, however, was his first official live release as a solo artist, not counting anything from G3. Most people consider Passion and Warfare his best, but I have to disagree and say that Alive in an Ultra World is my personal favorite, but a lot of it is probably due to the fact that he had a much better group of musicians.

One of the things that I love about Steve Vai is that he brings an organic feel to the guitar that, even with a ton of sound processors and effects pedals (almost like genetic engineering), it's something that makes his playing so incredible. Jimi Hendrix also was good at that.

One of Steve Vai's favorite things to do is to play music with a lot of other excellent musicians, and at his shows, he loves to show off how good his musicians are, which shows that he's not as egotistical as some people would think. When I saw him live, he actually gave his musicians the spotlight, while he stayed backstage, changing his clothes. On this album, his musicians get the spotlight a few times, specifically "Devil's Food," which I'll talk about in this review later on.

It's really impossible to say which tracks are the highlighting points because just about all of the tracks really are. However, "Whispering A Prayer" is probably his most well-known tune on the album. This album has the most variety of all of his albums, and it really shows his love for world music, which is something that he's had a strong love for. This album still has a lot of that Steve Vai style.

The opening track, "Giant Balls of Gold" was written for Poland. I can say that it definitely expresses Steve Vai, but Polish music is not the first type of world music that I know much about, so I can't say that it's true to the country.

The track following it is "Burning Rain," which was done for Japan. He explains what it has to do with Japanese music. It used scales commonly used in Japanese music, but for me it didn't have much of a Japanese feel. However, that doesn't matter at all. Making that comment is something that I feel I should do, but it's Steve Vai's tribute to Japan, not mine. It does have a Japanese feel in some ways, but it's actually very subtle.

"The Black Forest," written for Germany, is another incredible tune, and I love the changes that Steve Vai does with his guitar sounds. This is more with the control. He probably used some sort of effects pedal, or several pedals at the beginning. It has a great melody.

The title track, which is credited as being written for Slovenia, which was where it was performed, and I'm guessing also written, was probably more about the tour itself. It actually is one of two of the vocal tracks, but the lyrics aren't about the tour, but it's about rising above the past. The song includes political lyrics about how there have been wars fought over religion, which is something that seems to come close to happening again pretty soon.

The one thing about this album that I don't like is that there are overdubs, perfecting things, but to make up for it, the track where Steve Vai broke his guitar string wasn't edited at all up to the point where it includes the time he spent waiting for his guitar to be restrung and retuned. Who else would put something like that on. That tune was "Devil's Food," where he had his musicians do different things while waiting. I guess that's why there wasn't any editing and tweaking on that track, but from my understanding, it wasn't even intended to be put on the album. It was originally recorded to be played on the radio.

"Devil's Food" definitely got the audience going wild, which helps for "Blood and Glory," which has an influence from Brian May of Queen, and it has a British feel. I can't exactly say what it is, other than Brian May's guitar playing, but I didn't notice that influence for a little while. It really is more influenced by England than Brian May's playing, which might have had some influence on it.

"Whispering a Prayer," written for Ireland, I feel uses some of the scales and modes of Irish music, but I feel it's more a Steve Vai tune than anything, but it really is a great tribute to Ireland.

The first disc of the album ends with "Iberian Jewel," written for Spain, which has a flamenco influence, and Steve Vai uses two guitars on it. I think it definitely is not the optimistic Steve Vai that everyone loves, but it's great, and a lot of the tracks on the second disc, where each countries influence is more noticeable, have similarities to it.

The second disc opens with "The Power of Bombos" which was written for Greece. It does have a Greek feel, and a lot of excitement. Steve Vai also has some narration over it, but I haven't listened to what it is. I think it's in English, but it might not be.

For "Incantation," in the liner notes, Steve Vai talked about the enthusiasm of the audience, which definitely came out on the recording. He also explains why they were so enthusiastic, and it had nothing to do with him. Buy the album and read the liner notes to find out why they were enthusiastic, it's also a great album, as my review is making very clear.

"Light of the Moon," is definitely Australian influenced, but there was a lot of studio overdubs. I think most of it was recorded in the studio, or it could have been half and half. It's the other one with vocals, and the lyrics are the story two people in love that lived in two separate cities. It's a great song and very influenced by a song popular in Australia, but that doesn't really matter because although the melody is almost the same, it doesn't matter if you've heard it. Steve Vai mentions that popular Australian song in his liner notes, so buy the album and read the liner notes to find out what song (seriously).

"Babushka" was written for Romania, and it definitely has a Romanian feel, as well as a false start and a mention of having to play it again after having played it earlier at the show, which Steve Vai left in, that most people wouldn't put in.

In the liner notes, Steve Vai mentioned how Paris was always the one place where he would get excited when looking at the dates there on his schedule. The tune he did for France is called "Being With You (In Paris)" which has a very romantic feel, an accordion, and narration in French, it's probably very romantic, but not knowing French, it still sounds beautiful.

Paris was a very special place, but then there's Italy, which is his primary heritage, genetically speaking. Italy is obviously a place that Steve Vai is emotionally connected to, so it makes sense for Italy to follow the one place that is most exciting for Steve Vai. "Principessa" also brings out his love for the country.

The final country on the album is Portugal, known for their "Brandos Costumes (Gentle Ways)," which is the title of that track, what the song truly expresses, and also what the audience expresses because he recorded that one at a soundcheck, which for me was probably intentional.

You're still reading this review? By now, I would have thought that you would have just clicked add to cart. Actually, if you read on, there's some more stuff that you should know.

If you're disappointed by this album, you can still sell it back, and although you probably won't get all of your money back, you'll get more money back then you deserve. If you're really as nervous as I was about if the album is worthwhile or not, you can do what I did and buy it used for half the price of what it usually costs, but trust me, if you like Steve Vai, you'll love this album. However, I can't recommend it as the first Steve Vai album to buy, that's Alien Love Secrets. However again, this is a much better album.

mesmerizing
i love steve vai. and i think this is one of his best CDs. . i personally am biased towards live recordings anyway. . .

you don't have to be a rack fan to enjoy this. . it is just pure music from a musician who loves playing his instrument. . so easy to get lost in it. .

you won't regret buying this.

Steve takes us on another ride
But the last song, "Brandos Costumes" (Gentle Ways) is so beautiful, and it contains some of his best playing anywhere!!! His acoustic guitar playing is full of the best of everything we love about this man's music. Here's the deal: CD#1 Very good, CD#2 not so good. I think Steve's eclecticism sometimes baffles many of his fans. Sometimes you have to sift through his records for the gems that are there. You may not like everything, but when he delivers, oh he delivers!!!!
.

Vai the funmaker, bandleader, showmaster and cosmopolitan

Blood & Glory and Babushka are fun and great spins on their genres (English pomp and Romanian folk). Whispering A Prayer is a wonderful piece.
With Alive in an Ultra World, Steve Vai has offered us fine tributes to various genres that have enriched his music.
When that's said, we have to consider that this is a live album (or more correctly, an anthology of live recordings, tailored a bit in the studio), and much of the music arose on the spur-of-the-moment. It is not as thoroughbred as his recent studio albums, and therefore doesn't have quite the exhilarating precision and punch that they have.
But we get to know other sides of Steve Vai: Vai the funmaker (a true pupil of Frank Zappa), Vai the bandleader, who brings out the best in his bandmates, Vai the showmaster, who can bring his audience into a rave, and Vai the cosmopolitan, with his deepfelt respect for all cultures and religions.
So Ultra World certainly deserves five stars.
I'm just wondering: Why isn't this guy as acclaimed as, say, Bach? I don't think that Steve himself cares much about it, but there are a lot of people missing out on some great music. I guess, we just have to accept that there are very few people who take music seriously. Most people just want some tinkling in the background - to help them forget that they're alive and mortal (in an ultra world).
I would like to add that I found the Amazon review by Jerry McCulley (this one and others) very fine. Here's a rock reviewer who knows his stuff.

Vai writes beautiful songs
As John Petrucci and Jordan Rudess put in the liner notes of their recent duo album, I thank God for Steve Vai's very existence. I love Steve Vai. I can't stop listening to this album. All the songs are incredible - writing, musicianship, delivery, passion.

The highlight on the album is the seventh song, Whispering a Prayer. As far as I can tell, the song has been nominated for three grammys in successive years (the latest being Steve's performance on the most recent G3 live album). It is a disgrace to Grammy voters that this song has not won yet. This year, Brian Wilson's "Mrs. O'Leary's Cow" instrumental from "Smile" beat out "Whispering a Prayer. " I love "Smile" but, c'mon that song was barely a song.

The moment that sums up the greatness of "Whispering a Prayer" best is the reaction of the Buenos Aires crowd at the conclusion of the song. This is the first time they've heard the song. Steve begins the track saying he's playing a new song for them. Whenever you go to a concert and hear that a new song is coming, what is your reaction? That's right - I hope it doesn't suck. Well, here, after Steve absolutely NAILS it (that pinch harmonic in the middle kills me every time), the crowd spontaneously bursts into the universal South American soccer chant - ole . . . ole ole ole . . . ole ole . . . ole ole - and holds it until Steve breaks in with "I think that was a good take. " Understatement of the decade, Steve.

You can see a complete list of all Steve Vai discography, or go back to the Steve Vai tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.