- Sep 12, 2001
- 8,312
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An interesting topic...
While Vai is 150% over satriani in technique, i personally haven't heard anything like Satriani's style of playing before... Vai can sometimes come off as an offcut from a Glam-Rock band like Poison, you know? Awesome guitarwork, major chops, but it just doesn't quite make it stylistically, or aesthetically within his writings... Vai seems to write a solo, and then write a backing to it, and that's all it is, a backing, with little substance, aside from giving the solo a bit of depth, so it isn't just a flurry of notes...
Satriani may not have the technique of vai, especially not when it comes to sweeping, but he knows how to right, and really, i enjoy Satriani's style of playing, where his legato runs are actually used as licks, as opposed to just a run up to another lick, like vai seems to do...
While vai seems the better guitarist in terms of chops, he is very generic in his writing... a slow, melodic leadup, a shred up to the 14th' fret, then some sweeping, or an arpeggiated lick to accentuate the chordal changes (and lack thereof
), then maybe a shred/legato run down to another lick or some more sweeping etc.... it really does nothing for me... I honestly haven't heard too much of Vai's newer material, so this may have changed seomwhat, but really, i have never had the motivation to listen to him, he just doesn't seem to have that stylistic and "odd" characteristic that Satriani has...
Take Surfing with the alien for instance, it is actually a PEICE OF MUSIC, as opposed to just some bald dude (with hair at that point ) masturbating to a metronome... it begins with a REALLY COOL melody, which could class as a verse, it then changes into a chorus etc... then when the play sound-effect is triggered, he does a solo, with the descending tapping motif, and big changes in timbre and mood, with the introduction of another scale, and different chords etc... Vai could never acheive that, basically, he solos throughout the whole song, with no thought of progression or change...
...Yeah?
or
...Nah?
While Vai is 150% over satriani in technique, i personally haven't heard anything like Satriani's style of playing before... Vai can sometimes come off as an offcut from a Glam-Rock band like Poison, you know? Awesome guitarwork, major chops, but it just doesn't quite make it stylistically, or aesthetically within his writings... Vai seems to write a solo, and then write a backing to it, and that's all it is, a backing, with little substance, aside from giving the solo a bit of depth, so it isn't just a flurry of notes...
Satriani may not have the technique of vai, especially not when it comes to sweeping, but he knows how to right, and really, i enjoy Satriani's style of playing, where his legato runs are actually used as licks, as opposed to just a run up to another lick, like vai seems to do...
While vai seems the better guitarist in terms of chops, he is very generic in his writing... a slow, melodic leadup, a shred up to the 14th' fret, then some sweeping, or an arpeggiated lick to accentuate the chordal changes (and lack thereof
), then maybe a shred/legato run down to another lick or some more sweeping etc.... it really does nothing for me... I honestly haven't heard too much of Vai's newer material, so this may have changed seomwhat, but really, i have never had the motivation to listen to him, he just doesn't seem to have that stylistic and "odd" characteristic that Satriani has...Take Surfing with the alien for instance, it is actually a PEICE OF MUSIC, as opposed to just some bald dude (with hair at that point
) masturbating to a metronome... it begins with a REALLY COOL melody, which could class as a verse, it then changes into a chorus etc... then when the play sound-effect is triggered, he does a solo, with the descending tapping motif, and big changes in timbre and mood, with the introduction of another scale, and different chords etc... Vai could never acheive that, basically, he solos throughout the whole song, with no thought of progression or change......Yeah?
or
...Nah?
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@ Neal...