No throwaway, Modern Primitive features some of the most exciting music he has created since, well, Passion and Warfare. It’s what Vai calls “the missing link between the two records.” In addition to four previously unreleased tracks from the Passion and Warfare sessions, he has included the first ever release of Modern Primitive, a collection of songs based on song sketches and works-in-progress composed and recorded by Vai between the time of Flex-Able in 1984 and Passion and Warfare in 1990. But leave it to Steve to throw an interesting left curve. When Vai announced he was commemorating the 25th anniversary of the album with a special newly remastered double CD edition of the album, it seemed only right to honor the occasion. It’s also one of the damnedest things we’ve ever heard.”
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This recording is not about playing diminished scales at full throttle, or tapping with four fingers-it’s nothing less than the guitar as an orchestra.
Upon the record’s release, Guitar World wrote: “Each track on Passion and Warfare features ravishing neo-psychedelic stereo panoramas reminiscent of Jimi Hendrix and even Sgt. Using his fame and his dazzling chops, he set out to make nothing less than the ultimate guitar album. Overnight the cult hero became one of the world’s most visible and celebrated lead guitarists, and his meteoric rise continued after he appeared in the 1986 blockbuster film Crossroads, where he played a pivotal role as the devil’s guitarist.īy 1990, Vai was a household name, and he wasn’t about to let the moment slip through his nimble fingers. After recording one fairly unremarkable album with the band, he left to join David Lee Roth’s high profile post–Van Halen band. In 1984, he replaced Yngwie Malmsteen in the hard rock unit Alcatrazz.
The only downside was, it seemed like Vai was headed for nothing more than cult status, when suddenly he shifted gears. It was an impression further solidified by his band, The Classified, a progressive, Zappa-esque unit that appealed to a small group of hipsters in Los Angeles who had little use for the growing Eighties hair metal scene. The independent album sold surprisingly well, and Vai gained a reputation as the thinking man’s guitar hero. There, he produced, engineered and recorded his first solo album Flex-Able, a compendium of warped instrumentals that were fabulously absurd and technically jaw-dropping.
After leaving Frank’s band in 1983, Vai bought a house in Los Angeles where he built a modest recording studio in his backyard. It was clear that big things were in store for the kid who could play anything Zappa could dish out, but it would take a few years. To be so young and receive validation by someone as discerning and brilliant as Frank Zappa was no small thing, and people began to take notice as his street cred soared. While the gig did not make the 20-year-old a pop star-Zappa’s music was too bizarre and underground for that-Vai was immediately put on the short list of “musicians to watch” in the guitar community. Zappa, a guitarist and composer of complex, satirical music, had a reputation as a fearsome bandleader that demanded nothing less than perfection from musicians. To really understand the genesis of the album, you have to travel back to 1980, when Vai was invited to join Frank Zappa’s band. Passion and Warfare was nothing less than the guitarist’s bid for immortality, and if it had the added benefit of leaving contemporaries like Edward Van Halen and Yngwie Malmsteen in the dust, so be it.
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