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Steve Vai, one of the most acclaimed guitarists in the world, wanted to do something special to commemorate the 25th anniversary of his seminal solo album, "Passion and Warfare."
He wound up doing so much that the 25th-anniversary edition of the album didn't actually come out until the 26th anniversary.
The new version wound up paired with a companion album called "Modern Primitive," comprising 30-year-old tracks that Vai wrote but never recorded, or recorded but never released.
The 56-year-old three-time Grammy winner thinks the wait was worth it.
"All that stuff … was just sitting on the shelf. And I knew one day I had to finish it, because there was an energy in that music that I really liked. So when we decided to do the 25th-anniversary release of 'Passion and Warfare,' I just thought it'd be nice to add something to the package that was a whole new record," Vai said in a phone interview. "And it's a dense record, it's an intense record, really — as a matter of fact, it's my favorite Vai record, so to speak. It still has a quirkiness to it, but it's very musical."
Now, the New York native will bring his full arsenal of quirky musicality to Salt Lake City, with the "Passion and Warfare 25th Anniversary Tour" making a stop at The Complex on Saturday.
Vai said going back and revisiting all the material that made up "Modern Primitive/Passion and Warfare" was both nostalgic and instructive.
While he picked up on certain technical details — "I can't believe how forensic I was about little things" given that "the technology back then was very different" — the bigger takeaway came from re-examining the mindset he was in.
"You know, if you go back to a time when you were creative in your youth, it's a little snapshot of who you were at that time. And it was so refreshing to visit that person that did 'Modern Primitive' and 'Passion and Warfare,' because it was before all the big rock star stuff," Vai said. "There was just a sense of freedom — it didn't mater what you did, it didn't matter what I wanted to write or record, because I didn't expect anybody to hear it anyway, you know? Of course I was hopeful, but that wasn't the reason I was gonna do it or not. I did it because I just had a creative urge."
That's a mentality, he said, that's served him well throughout his career.
Like anyone else, Vai noted, he's had doubts about the choices he's made in terms of his career path and his music, but his determination to follow his instincts has inevitably left him pleased with the results.
"It's very easy for musicians to feel like they have to conform or do a particular thing in order to be accepted," he said. "… But the truth is, everybody has the ability to be uniquely creative, and some people don't have the choice — they just do it. When I look back at my career, I had all those concerns, there were little demons lurking in there — 'What if nobody likes this?' or whatever. But a good idea, an exciting idea always dwarfed the insecurities. … I just get an idea for something, and the idea says, 'I don't care what your insecurities are, I don't care who you think is gonna like this or not — you're doing this.' And that's it."
That willingness to embrace new ideas is not merely limited to his albums, but has also seeped into his live performances.
Because Vai is a man whose career has never escaped associations with other famous axemen — a 12-year-old Vai had fellow future virtuoso Joe Satriani for a teacher; he replaced legendary Swedish shredder Yngwie Malmsteen in the group Alcatrazz; and he was hand-picked for David Lee Roth's solo band following the frontman's split with some player name of Edward Van Halen — he felt it made a certain amount of sense that his "Passion and Warfare" shows should employ some renowned guitarists of his own choosing.
"One of the things we do that's different for me is, I have a screen, and throughout the whole show there's video going on, and there's guests — friends of mine — that join me on the screen that I play with," he said. "So you get to see Brian May and Satriani and John Petrucci and Frank Zappa and Tommy Emmanuel. It's really quite fun!"
And, most will probably agree, something special and worth the wait.
Twitter: @esotericwalden —
Passion and Warfare 25th Anniversary Tour
When • Saturday; doors at 7 p.m.
Where • The Complex: 536 W. 100 South, Salt Lake City
Tickets • $25 advance, $30 day of (plus fees); Showclix, Smith's Tix, Graywhale locations, Complex box office