Steve Vai - DLR

newi123

Always loved Eat `em & Smile - not listened to it for a long time. 

Today in the gym I put on Skyscraper - I`m guessing this is when Vai got his first H3000? :-) Much more compositional, less straight ahead rock. Some stunning tunes on here. And I`d forgotten just how Mr Vai was the king of the fill on these records. Some of the best licks just spring out of nowhere in the fills.

Anyway. I nd to practice more!!!!!!!!

digitalkettle

My brain melted in 1986 due to Eat 'em & Smile and the finale of the Crossroads movie

...Jack Butler's gonna like you!

mudslide73

I spent a lot more time with Skyscraper than EEAS at the time. There are some truly incredible guitar moments on it - Hot Dog and a Shake has enough to fill three regular albums. I very much love Perfect Timing, Knucklebones and Hina also. 

FelineGuitars

I loved Eat Em and Smile better than Skyscraper 

Thought his guitar tone got a lot more diluted and too loaded with FX on skyscraper compared to the relatively direct sound on Eat Em (which obviously had more than a little tip of the hat to classic VH tone)

SquireJapan

Interesting this - EEAS is one of my all-time favourite albums, but Skyscraper I never really got. Off to pop that on now!

bloodandtears

best era of Vai imho....

jasonbone75

Skyscraper was/is brilliant

newi123

FelineGuitars said:

I loved Eat Em and Smile better than Skyscraper 

Thought his guitar tone got a lot more diluted and too loaded with FX on skyscraper compared to the relatively direct sound on Eat Em (which obviously had more than a little tip of the hat to classic VH tone)

That's was always the case for me too - I guess because growing up - much to 15 yr old me's constant disappointed - I didn't have a fridge sized rack.......

In an age of ambient guitars and 'which delay' first world problems,  I now appreciate and maybe even prefer Skyscraper!

There's a fab Pete Thorn episode looking at the Eat Em & Smile modded marshall - assuming we've all seen that!

viz

I just love love love those two albums. If they released them as a double album it would be on my desert islands discs choice

CountryDave

Two great albums. I saw DLR with Vai at Birmingham NEC around this time.

Danny1969

I loved both albums. We used to do Yankee Rose, Going crazy and Just like paradise in the eighties. It's the only Vai playing I like really. 
Ladies night in Buffalo is my pick for best song  

duotone

mudslide73 said:

I spent a lot more time with Skyscraper than EEAS at the time. There are some truly incredible guitar moments on it - Hot Dog and a Shake has enough to fill three regular albums. I very much love Perfect Timing, Knucklebones and Hina also. 

Danny1969 said:

I loved both albums. We used to do Yankee Rose, Going crazy and Just like paradise in the eighties. It's the only Vai playing I like really. 
Ladies night in Buffalo is my pick for best song  

Haven’t heard either of these albums, so have added these songs to my Spotify playlist. Cheers!

bloodandtears

duotone said:

mudslide73 said:

I spent a lot more time with Skyscraper than EEAS at the time. There are some truly incredible guitar moments on it - Hot Dog and a Shake has enough to fill three regular albums. I very much love Perfect Timing, Knucklebones and Hina also. 

Danny1969 said:

I loved both albums. We used to do Yankee Rose, Going crazy and Just like paradise in the eighties. It's the only Vai playing I like really. 
Ladies night in Buffalo is my pick for best song  

Haven’t heard either of these albums, so have added these songs to my Spotify playlist. Cheers!

you're in for a right treat!!!

axisus

Eat Em and Smile BLEW MY MIND when it came out. They were the perfect band. The music was amazing, those video's were amazing, the interplay with Steve and Billy was off the scale. Gregg was a superb drummer. Dave was Dave at his best. Utterly brilliant.

Skyscraper ..... disappointed me. It felt like Billy had been mixed out. What happened to the exciting bass of EEaS? There was only one song that was memorable for me - Hot dog & a shake. I do need to play the album again, it's been .... decades.

I was a MASSIVE Vai fan back then, but I've never tried to play his stuff. Waaaay beyond my level.

stratman3142

Eat Em and Smile is one of my favourite albums.

And the solo to Ladies Night In Buffalo is one of my favourite solos.

digitalkettle

stratman3142 said:

Eat Em and Smile is one of my favourite albums.

And the solo to Ladies Night In Buffalo is one of my favourite solos.

Big Trouble just edges it for me (although I could just about play LNiB at one time)

CaseOfAce

Danny1969 said:

I loved both albums. We used to do Yankee Rose, Going crazy and Just like paradise in the eighties. It's the only Vai playing I like really. 
Ladies night in Buffalo is my pick for best song  

I like Vai when he's reigned in and has a vocalist to play off against with catchy tunes.

He was fantastic on Eat 'Em and Smile and on the Whitesnake album where you can hear his signature tone and style.

I respect his artistic impulse to create on the solo albums but the only track I really liked on Passion and Warfare was I Would Love To.
Steve Vai - I Would Love To

stratman3142

digitalkettle said:

stratman3142 said:

Eat Em and Smile is one of my favourite albums.

And the solo to Ladies Night In Buffalo is one of my favourite solos.

Big Trouble just edges it for me (although I could just about play LNiB at one time)

Duh, I meant Big Trouble   I'm getting my wires crossed. Although Ladies Night... is a good solo as well.

hollywoodrox

newi123 said:

Always loved Eat `em & Smile - not listened to it for a long time. 

Today in the gym I put on Skyscraper - I`m guessing this is when Vai got his first H3000? :-) Much more compositional, less straight ahead rock. Some stunning tunes on here. And I`d forgotten just how Mr Vai was the king of the fill on these records. Some of the best licks just spring out of nowhere in the fills.

Anyway. I nd to practice more!!!!!!!!

Skyscraper is My favourite album 

newi123

stratman3142 said:

digitalkettle said:

stratman3142 said:

Eat Em and Smile is one of my favourite albums.

And the solo to Ladies Night In Buffalo is one of my favourite solos.

Big Trouble just edges it for me (although I could just about play LNiB at one time)

Duh, I meant Big Trouble   I'm getting my wires crossed. Although Ladies Night... is a good solo as well.

Big Trouble is a master piece - as a teenager I spent hours learning hat tapped fill where her runs scales across from the high E to the D string................

The solo is a perfect example of him playing odd groupings of tapped notes - it`s the whole EVH falling down the stairs thing taken to next level. Then that speed picked sequenced run - still can`t do that properly! :-(

newi123

So this popped up on YT today!

(how did we manage before YT?????)