THE STORY OF LIGHT

I have mixed feelings about Steve Vai. Some of his material is the most technically amazing stuff I've ever heard; I consider him to be the greatest guitarist on the electric guitar of all time. That being said, much of his material (like his critically acclaimed Passion and Warfare) left me unsatisfied. Despite the high level of technical proficiency, in the past he has had a tendency to compose some straight-forward and (in my opinion) boring music. That's not to say all of his material before this album falls into this category; each album I've listened to by him has some great and some incredible tracks, but he has not been consistent.

Anyways, I put on The Story of Light and it blew me away. It's a continuation of Vai's previous album Real Illusions: Reflections (and it's the sequel to it as part of a planned trilogy) but musically it perfects what was only sometimes reached on that album. The focus is not on shredding guitars but on moving music. The Story of Light is a beautiful, layered, textural, and eclectic collection of tracks that show Steve at his best compositionally. It's also (perhaps not coincidentally) his most progressive album that I've heard. I highly recommend The Story of Light, and it may just be the most skilled guitarist of all time's best album to date.

Rating: 9/10