I am proud to say that I bought the first Passsion and Warfare CD in the Netherlands...and I am sorry to say that Stevie didn't reward that with one of his guitars. Well Stevie here is a second chance...now we have YouTube and can you PM me for the adress delivery.
@napierdalacz102 Vai used an Eventide Harmonizer alot back then... can't tell you what the *exact* effect is, but it's multiple delays and pitch shifts on the delays.
The pitch sequence (i.e. the melody minus its notes' values) of the first half of the main theme is identical to the chorus melody from The Beatles' With a Little Help from my Friends.
Steves an awesome player...Im just not a fan of long guitar solos...I would rather hear vocals.
Could never get into Satriani instrumentals either.
Not saying these guys are not great players...just saying the songwriting isnt great.
Same thing goes for Malmsteen as well...could not get into his music either because the songs are not great...the lead guitar is excellent but the songs on their own are not much.
@abetterplaceband Probably around 1990, which is the year that Passion & Warfare-the album that Letterman was holding in the beginning) was released. Also, long enough ago that this performance was originally recorded on a VHS tape.
@lordcliffton cool thankx man, haha good old vhs back when we had auto tracking and 3 hours of previews, at least vhs didn't have that gay add about stealing movies like the ''you wouldnt steal a car'' one, but in saying that i vaguely remember some oldschool video piracy thing..
@koletski21 He's outstandingly boring. He's dull and pulls it off with technical brilliance. Vai is a great guitarist yet awfully uninteresting to listen to.
@koletski21 Lot's of people can be exciting. There are many great performers in the world and it depends on what you're after. It also depends of the piece, the moment and so on. No one can be all things to everybody always. I must admit I prefer to listen to thematic scored film music.
@gmakepiece I agree, what u say about Hendrix and Van Halen, They were both innovators and pioneers of their decades. They also new how to be part of a band. They were probably the two most influential guitarist of all time. Regardless of how one wants to compare them to those who followed behind them.
@gmakepieceVAI...Boring?? Uninteresting to listen to?? You haven't heard enough of his stuff then, I guess. Forget your career as a music critic..When I heard him play at Carle Place High School 30 years ago, I knew he would be big, some day..Only Zappa got him first !!
@wilmaman Yes, Steve Vai is a brilliantly advanced boring guitarist. I have seen Vai, had Flexible & the epicly tedious Lump & Warhair. How many endless rapid fire solos can one listen to? He wasn't boring with Zappa BECAUSE ZAPPA HAD SONGS! Vai could not write a song if given twenty years to prepare, which he has had. Viv Woman and other noodlings are fun to guitar fans but er, the great American Songbook is not about the fucking instruments but the TUNES, players and SINGERS in ENSEMBLE.
@gmakepiece You know he has already written orchestral/ensemble pieces as well as played in them and has done compositions you most likely will never come close to. Yea there are no singers or lyrics most of the time, but I actually like his music. Opinions are like assholes as they say so obviously I am not out to change your mind, but to say he couldn't write a song? He already has..
@zzerovisibility Er, not particularly. In fact I've gone from pop music being so much of everything to it being virtually irrelevent to most anything of importance beyond sometimes amusing. I now prefer writing, speech, books, literature and so on. As for music, I prefer thematic film scores if good or the occassional fun tune. Otherwise I don't care about popular performers and their circular onanistic cavortings either of the past or present much at all. Ce sera sera...Music is often a bore.
@gmakepiece Wow... are you a musician.. do you play an instrument. If you did you would probably be amazing.. why? because you would cut threw all the crap and write incredible stuff!
@zzerovisibility Hey, I get it. If one is not a dentist, you can never have a critical understanding of dental work. Er, no. This is why so much of what surrounds music is so very boring. Musicians are treated as something special, like little gods. They ain't. Miles Davis tells a story of riding in a car with John Coltrane. Miles in the front, Coltrane in the back. "When I noticed John picking his nose, I thought hey, he ain't no god". What is "incredible stuff" is often provisional.
@zzerovisibility And another thing...I've listened to a lot of Vai & he can be absolutely wonderful and a thrill, but one CANNOT feign excitement at what is far too often a technical exercise, emotionally flat and a narratively meaningless bore. Vai is VERY good at these incredible exercises that to quote the Bard are "all sound & fury, signifying nothing..." Perhaps beyond his playing prowess, Vai has nothing of interest to say, like Malmsteen et al. Technique's alone is mostly a male obsession
@gmakepiece just because you write a long comment on youtube dosent make you an right, i dont get it, if you dont line music what the fuck are you still doing here?
@koletski21 i like songs where he uses shredding moderately. like "for the love of god" has some really fast licks but its not just constant shredding
Why couldn't he simply play one decent composition, instead of just masturbating around with 3-4 different ideas?
This is the sort of thing that makes "ordinary people" dislike virtuoso guitarists - too much emphasis on random bursts of technique and ridiculous speed that to the untrained ear sounds cacophonous
This comment has received too many negative votesshow
Like a beginner trying to impress in a music shop. Vai is a joke - a bloated distortion saturated addict with no heart, no feel and no groove. Charlatan music at its worst
@rulerwithcounsel and your contribution to music is what? Oh forgive me. you must be one of the many "no it all" youtube critics with fuck all to offer society. Steve vai may not be to everyones liking but at least he's being listened to and viewed by millions while your sat in your room alone with your computer
@jonahmoffatt Never said I know it all, and yes I play in a band that gigs. I just think Vai is a distortion satured, over bloated egotistical cock.shock guitarist with no soul or groove. His bag of tricks dont impress me none.
I truly hope that's not the standard that applies when judging artistry. That gives instant credibility to anyone who has ever sold any records and I don't think the whims of public opinion should be the defining measure. It's okay to like or dislike any artist but you should be able to say exactly why, and by the same token, not be offended because someone dislikes someone you like.
Probably the first and the only one Ballerina 12/24 live
gasfervis 9 hours ago
Last November I recall he needed a spanking.
sqmuth 1 day ago
it was meant to be dance!!!
Corkskrew999 3 days ago
I am proud to say that I bought the first Passsion and Warfare CD in the Netherlands...and I am sorry to say that Stevie didn't reward that with one of his guitars. Well Stevie here is a second chance...now we have YouTube and can you PM me for the adress delivery.
Za7a7aZ 1 week ago
whats the effect hes using at the start ?
napierdalacz102 1 week ago
@napierdalacz102 Vai used an Eventide Harmonizer alot back then... can't tell you what the *exact* effect is, but it's multiple delays and pitch shifts on the delays.
GaryHolguin 1 week ago
at 0:50 I thought the icecream man was here
ETaucher 1 week ago 2
what song is this
OFRichardDawkins666 1 week ago
how
VerifiablyNoticible 1 week ago
fuckin shoes on letterman lol
44SuperShredder 1 week ago
Back when Letterman had hair.....
metalfreak4677 1 week ago
Still the jacobs
SuperTemplar10 2 weeks ago
boring
spicecrop 2 weeks ago
@spicecrop i agree
69cohonas 2 weeks ago
1:23 how to act like a boss
MrDizzySarmiento 2 weeks ago
God Republicans suck, but Steve Vai is great!
Neurontis 2 weeks ago
I'm not sure there's anyone cooler looking than Vai looked back then.
JapJackson 2 weeks ago
tommy can you hear me
mom im driving home naw .mile marker 24
eddievanhalenstoung 3 weeks ago
I wish zappa sang this...then it would make more sense...don't get me wrong...I love the vai-meister....one of the all time best
synesthesia67 3 weeks ago
lol. I miss VHS tapes.
bleedingfly 3 weeks ago
Which song is this?
Black12Phoenix 4 weeks ago
@Black12Phoenix It's 'Liberty' from the album Passion and Warfare. Also, you can find a silly orchestral rendition here: watch?v=lvDUQYIJBYM
@Jason011987 It's like the verse melody from the Beatles song, not the chorus! Fuckin' idiot...
Jason011987 4 weeks ago
@Black12Phoenix the first song was ballerina the solo after that was from ihs live g3 before for the love of god then liberty
XxdartvaderxX 2 weeks ago
FOOT IN MOUTH
Black12Phoenix 4 weeks ago
The pitch sequence (i.e. the melody minus its notes' values) of the first half of the main theme is identical to the chorus melody from The Beatles' With a Little Help from my Friends.
Compare: 1:57 with watch?v=kiDmHKvGe4s
Jason011987 1 month ago
Steves an awesome player...Im just not a fan of long guitar solos...I would rather hear vocals.
Could never get into Satriani instrumentals either.
Not saying these guys are not great players...just saying the songwriting isnt great.
Same thing goes for Malmsteen as well...could not get into his music either because the songs are not great...the lead guitar is excellent but the songs on their own are not much.
I prefer Eddie Van Halen over any of these guys.
TravelersTale 1 month ago
I would rather hear a song with vocals...Guitar wanking doesnt do it for me...the song sucks.
Im a Vai fan when he plays with singers...instrumental solo stuff bores me...Sorry Steve.
TravelersTale 1 month ago
@TravelersTale Soo wrong on a million & 1 levels!
Did you listen past 1:45?? Have U even heard anything else Steve's done? Do you play guitar? Do you like music with guitar in it?
People that sing.. cant even compare to what Steve sings on guitar!
You cant tell me you prefer Steve with David lee Roth or Whitesnake over Steve alone? .. I call Bullshite on that!
Allthough, to each his own, as shitty as his own may be lol
No offence taken or given
MrLascheit 1 month ago
@TravelersTale steve vai - i´ll be around
;)
veroSonica 4 weeks ago
3 dislikes.... didn't steve like something about this performance??
12asyrja 1 month ago
wow.. letterman had hair, this must be a prehistorical video
Gitarp 1 month ago
what year was this???
abetterplaceband 1 month ago
@abetterplaceband Probably around 1990, which is the year that Passion & Warfare-the album that Letterman was holding in the beginning) was released. Also, long enough ago that this performance was originally recorded on a VHS tape.
lordcliffton 1 month ago
@lordcliffton cool thankx man, haha good old vhs back when we had auto tracking and 3 hours of previews, at least vhs didn't have that gay add about stealing movies like the ''you wouldnt steal a car'' one, but in saying that i vaguely remember some oldschool video piracy thing..
PlayersEdgeMusic 1 month ago
@abetterplaceband must be about 1990 (when passion and warfare came out)
RtasVadumeeKostas 1 month ago 2
I miss Mick Ronson.
bobgure 1 month ago
blue steel lol 2:00
upyourad 1 month ago
@upyourad as in Zoolander Blue Steel? Hilarious...
uneedtherapy42 1 month ago
A good guitar player but the worst poser ...
dockaiser 1 month ago
When i was young I really looked up to Vai. Now listening back he was good but really noisy. So called shredding is musical chaos and confusion.
koletski21 1 month ago 2
@koletski21 He's outstandingly boring. He's dull and pulls it off with technical brilliance. Vai is a great guitarist yet awfully uninteresting to listen to.
gmakepiece 1 month ago
@gmakepiece I guess he can be boring. Maybe it's his songs. Satriani was not boring. Who in your opinion is really exciting?
koletski21 1 month ago
@koletski21 Lot's of people can be exciting. There are many great performers in the world and it depends on what you're after. It also depends of the piece, the moment and so on. No one can be all things to everybody always. I must admit I prefer to listen to thematic scored film music.
gmakepiece 1 month ago
@koletski21 Well, to me Hendrix and Eddie Van Halen have been the most exciting 'complete package' and unique guitarists so far...and so natural.
gmakepiece 1 month ago
@gmakepiece I agree, what u say about Hendrix and Van Halen, They were both innovators and pioneers of their decades. They also new how to be part of a band. They were probably the two most influential guitarist of all time. Regardless of how one wants to compare them to those who followed behind them.
koletski21 1 month ago
@gmakepieceVAI...Boring?? Uninteresting to listen to?? You haven't heard enough of his stuff then, I guess. Forget your career as a music critic..When I heard him play at Carle Place High School 30 years ago, I knew he would be big, some day..Only Zappa got him first !!
wilmaman 1 month ago
@wilmaman Yes, Steve Vai is a brilliantly advanced boring guitarist. I have seen Vai, had Flexible & the epicly tedious Lump & Warhair. How many endless rapid fire solos can one listen to? He wasn't boring with Zappa BECAUSE ZAPPA HAD SONGS! Vai could not write a song if given twenty years to prepare, which he has had. Viv Woman and other noodlings are fun to guitar fans but er, the great American Songbook is not about the fucking instruments but the TUNES, players and SINGERS in ENSEMBLE.
gmakepiece 1 month ago
@gmakepiece You know he has already written orchestral/ensemble pieces as well as played in them and has done compositions you most likely will never come close to. Yea there are no singers or lyrics most of the time, but I actually like his music. Opinions are like assholes as they say so obviously I am not out to change your mind, but to say he couldn't write a song? He already has..
devax1986 1 month ago
@gmakepiece you must be a Big Slash fan...
zzerovisibility 1 month ago
@zzerovisibility Er, not particularly. In fact I've gone from pop music being so much of everything to it being virtually irrelevent to most anything of importance beyond sometimes amusing. I now prefer writing, speech, books, literature and so on. As for music, I prefer thematic film scores if good or the occassional fun tune. Otherwise I don't care about popular performers and their circular onanistic cavortings either of the past or present much at all. Ce sera sera...Music is often a bore.
gmakepiece 1 month ago
@gmakepiece Wow... are you a musician.. do you play an instrument. If you did you would probably be amazing.. why? because you would cut threw all the crap and write incredible stuff!
zzerovisibility 1 month ago
@zzerovisibility Hey, I get it. If one is not a dentist, you can never have a critical understanding of dental work. Er, no. This is why so much of what surrounds music is so very boring. Musicians are treated as something special, like little gods. They ain't. Miles Davis tells a story of riding in a car with John Coltrane. Miles in the front, Coltrane in the back. "When I noticed John picking his nose, I thought hey, he ain't no god". What is "incredible stuff" is often provisional.
gmakepiece 1 month ago
@zzerovisibility And another thing...I've listened to a lot of Vai & he can be absolutely wonderful and a thrill, but one CANNOT feign excitement at what is far too often a technical exercise, emotionally flat and a narratively meaningless bore. Vai is VERY good at these incredible exercises that to quote the Bard are "all sound & fury, signifying nothing..." Perhaps beyond his playing prowess, Vai has nothing of interest to say, like Malmsteen et al. Technique's alone is mostly a male obsession
gmakepiece 1 month ago
@gmakepiece just because you write a long comment on youtube dosent make you an right, i dont get it, if you dont line music what the fuck are you still doing here?
silentran 1 month ago
@silentran I can't find my house keys. Have you seen them?
gmakepiece 1 month ago
@koletski21 i like songs where he uses shredding moderately. like "for the love of god" has some really fast licks but its not just constant shredding
ERKRAKANARB 1 week ago
Ballerina 12/24 is just genius!
EquinoxParadox91 1 month ago
you know why he chews gum and shreds??? BECAUSE HE CAN AFFORD TO!
muddack 2 months ago
gum was a bad idea!!
gtrboy1 2 months ago
1:06 he controles the wah with his mind!!
nikitofin 2 months ago 2
magic
melliecharm 2 months ago
the intro is amazing
ThunderHamilton 2 months ago
Funny to read all the "youtube troll jealousy" comments on here.... awesome stevie :D
RobBurtonGuitar 2 months ago
Why couldn't he simply play one decent composition, instead of just masturbating around with 3-4 different ideas?
This is the sort of thing that makes "ordinary people" dislike virtuoso guitarists - too much emphasis on random bursts of technique and ridiculous speed that to the untrained ear sounds cacophonous
JunkCCCP 2 months ago
fuck that is a cool intro
TheSpoonwood 2 months ago 7
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Like a beginner trying to impress in a music shop. Vai is a joke - a bloated distortion saturated addict with no heart, no feel and no groove. Charlatan music at its worst
rulerwithcounsel 2 months ago
@rulerwithcounsel just be quiet and enjoy the music.
rickyjshiznit 2 months ago
@rulerwithcounsel and your contribution to music is what? Oh forgive me. you must be one of the many "no it all" youtube critics with fuck all to offer society. Steve vai may not be to everyones liking but at least he's being listened to and viewed by millions while your sat in your room alone with your computer
jonahmoffatt 2 months ago
@jonahmoffatt Never said I know it all, and yes I play in a band that gigs. I just think Vai is a distortion satured, over bloated egotistical cock.shock guitarist with no soul or groove. His bag of tricks dont impress me none.
rulerwithcounsel 2 months ago
@jonahmoffatt,
I truly hope that's not the standard that applies when judging artistry. That gives instant credibility to anyone who has ever sold any records and I don't think the whims of public opinion should be the defining measure. It's okay to like or dislike any artist but you should be able to say exactly why, and by the same token, not be offended because someone dislikes someone you like.
belliose 2 months ago
i think they should start selling them guitars again they look really cool
james555ck 2 months ago
fucking hell nice guitar steve and this is from a time when shredding was legal
shredmaster100 2 months ago 2
LEttermans Clothes, hahahaha
Sansoirr 3 months ago
When will they finally muzzle Paul Schaffer? His interjections are AWFUL!
squanto2 3 months ago
Zappa's "little Italian virtuoso."
herrdruhl 3 months ago 29
I love that series of guitars steve plays then.
howluckyhrcosmo 3 months ago
if god doesnt need massive marshall stacks and pedal boards than neither do i ! =D
rolipolirocks 3 months ago
At 0:07...what is that face
DeVoe123 4 months ago 33
@DeVoe123 it's David's humor LOL
comeonewtf 3 months ago
@DeVoe123 the face of the devil!
inmaliceswake 1 month ago
Comment removed
DeVoe123 4 months ago
Vc vai lá? Eu não, pq? Pq o Steve Vai... ah, então eu vou! Blz... nos vemos lá. Sou criativo, num sou? kkkkk
Dedeivascao 4 months ago
do i detect a hint of frank marinos world anthem in this?
roman14032 4 months ago 2
@roman14032
More than a hint...me thinks!!
Madtrapper100 3 months ago
Letterman looks like that guy of mad magazine, Alfred E. Neuman.
nothinghappens1 4 months ago
One of my guitar Gods.
ReneeNme 5 months ago