Steve Vai – Where The Other Wild Things Are

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Steve Vai released a CD of his Minneapolis concert last year around the same time as the DVD of the same name, Where The Wild Things Are, but is now releasing this second disc from the same show, completing the set in a round-about way. Vai’s original idea was to only release on CD the tracks from the show which have never been released in a live format before, either because they’re brand new, or because they weren’t played on the previous occasions he’s recorded shows. These tracks make up the first album. Now he has decided that his current band add a lot of different elements to the songs, and these versions are sufficiently different from the previously available ones that they are also worth releasing. For the most part, he’s right. The current band includes violins, extra guitar and extra keyboards and familiar tracks like The Murder, For The Love of God and Answers gain a lot of new sounds and slightly different arrangements as a result. Vai’s own perfectionist production has resulted in Bryan Beller’s bass being a little too prominent at times, but on the whole, as evident on the DVD, the clarity of the sound is superb. In a sense, the first album should be the better one because of its contents, but in reality many of the tracks here are some of Vai’s best, making this the more enjoyable disc. Vai fans will know what they’re getting because they will probably already have the DVD, but fans new to Steve’s work are best getting this album over the first one if they want to check out his live work and gain a familiarity with his songs in the process.

Written by Andy Lye
More: Instrumental, Live Albums, Quick.Play Reviews, Steve Vai