Sound Theories Vol. I & II

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Steve Vai - Sound Theories Vol. I & II Review by William Ruhlmann Despite his reputation as a rock guitar virtuoso, Steve Vai has been writing orchestral scores since the age of 14 (that would be circa 1974) by his estimation and " hefty heaps" of them ever since, "but with few performance." So he notes in his annotations to the ambitious double-CD live set Sound Theorie, Vol. 1-2. Vai's compositional bent finally was given an outlet by Co de Kloet of Dutch Public Radio & Television, which commissioned him to write an hour's worth of music to be performed by the Metropole Orkest. Going through his amassed material, Vai came up with two hours' worth, which he and the orchestra performed in a series of concerts in May 2004 and July 2005. Then, he took the recordings home and began working on them, resulting, two years later, in this album, the first two volumes of what he hopes to be a continuing serie. The pieces date back to 1978 ("Answers"), with many from the 1980s ("Salamanders in the Sun," "Attitude Song," "For the Love of God," and "Liberty" from the first disc and the entire second disc). Several of these earlier work, notably "Salamanders in the Sun" and "Frangelica, Pt. 2," reveal the influence of Vai's former employer Frank Zappa. Zappa was never fortunate enough in his lifetime to work with a sympathetic symphony orchestra like the Metropole, however. (He did work well with some smaller ensembles toward the end of his life.) Like Zappa, Vai is interested in pushing the limits of composition and playing ability, and he has gone even further by manipulating the live recordings with what he acknowledges are thousands of edits and note substitution. The first disc, subtitled The Aching Hunger, is a guitar-plus-orchestra album with his usual playing pyrotechnic. But he leaves the entire second disc (Shadows & Sparks) to the Metropole, which makes this music sound like the highly dramatic soundtrack for an adventure film that hasn't been made yet. Sound Theorie, Vol. 1-2 seems to be the beginning of a post-guitar-hero career for Vai, and it makes a good start in that direction. Credits: Jascha Albracht - Cello Erica Korthals Altes - Violin Martin Baai - Percussion Jan Bastiani - Trombone Jeff Beck - Inspiration Bryan Beller - Bass Paul Bliven - Engineer Ruud Breuls - Trumpet Elisabeth Cats - Violin Neil Citron - Engineer Mike Cortese - Management Pamela Dancy - Production Coordination Friederike Darius - Clarinet, Flute Martin de Kam - Trombone Co de Kloet - Liner Note, Executive Producer Doesjka DeLeu - Violin Hugh Den Ouden - Balance Engineer Arlia de Ruiter - Violin, Concert Master, Soloist Joeri DeVente - French Horn Tjerk DeVos - Bass Jaap DeVries - Bassoon Larry DiMarzio - Photography Linda Dumessie - Violin Wim Grin - Cello Henk Heijink - Trumpet Jan Hollander - Trumpet Mieke Honingh - Viola Bonnie Janofsky - Orchestration Norman Jansen - Viola Leo Janssen - Clarinet, Saxophone, Soloist Werner Janssen - Clarinet, Saxophone Arthur Jarvinen - Copyist Murk Jiskoot - Percussion Julia Jowett - Viola Dennis Koenders - Violin Wim Kok - violin David Kole - Arranger, Orchestration Patrick Koopman - Guitar Technician Penka Kouneva - Copyist Erik Kromhout - Violin Jen Kuhn - Tapes Vera Laporeva - Violin Arend Liefkes - Bass David Frank Long - Copyist Willem Luijt - Clarinet, Oboe Frank Mathijssen - Engineer Michael Mesker - Art Direction, Design The Metropole Orchestra - Performer Sangwook "Sunny" Nam - Mastering Alan Neveu - Copyist David Ocker - Copyist Jan Oosthof - Trumpet Chris Opperman Piano, Arranger, Moog Synthesizer, Orchestration, Copyist David Peijnenborgh - Violin Ross Pelton - Cover Photo Williard Riley - Copyist Marijn Rombout - Violin Tony Sartino - Clothing Design Doug Sax - Mastering Mike Schäperclaus - Percussion Marc Scholten - Clarinet, Saxophone Joke Schonewille - Harp Craig Schriber - Copyist Juan Martinez Schrijver - Clarinet, Clarinet (Contrabass), Saxophone, Soloist Iris Schut - Viola Enrico Selvegio - Copyist John A. Sepetys - Management Ruta E. Sepetys - Management Joost Smeets - Tuba Annie Tangberg - Cello Jos Teeken - Cello Seya Teeuwen - Violin Peter Tiehuis - Guitar, Guitar (Electric), Soloist Tom Trapp - Arranger, Orchestration, Copyist Steve Vai - Arranger, Producer, Performer, Orchestration, Editing, Mixing Marianne Van Den Heuvel - Violin Paul Van Der Feen - Clarinet, Saxophone Carlo VanDerPut - Keyboards Hans Van Der Zanden - French Horn Herman Van Haaren - Violin Arno Van Nieuwenhuize - Percussion Aimee Versloot - Viola Simone Vierstra - Violin .

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