"Vai/Gash" from the Steve Vai archives is a pleasant surprise that showcases the famous guitarist's rarely seen side. The goal of this 30-minute effort, which was recorded in 1991 between "Passion and Warfare" and "Sex and Religion," was to provide Vai and his pals some appropriate music to listen to while riding their motorcycles. Johnny "Gash" Sombrotto handling the vocals and he tragically died in a motorcycle accident in 1998, and "Vai/Gash" honours a dead friend in the best way possible for a musician.
The album has classic Hard Rock vibes, something in between David Lee Roth and Whitesnake (Steve played in both bands). Listen to songs like "Busted" or "She saved my life tonight" if you want to hear something that can be in Roth's catalogue or "Danger zone" for something more Whitesnake - ish. The track are very straightforward, fast tempos and with a simple structure, and very easy listening. Good is the last track, different from the others (in the 80s/90s you must have at least a ballad!), "Flowers of fire", with good melodies and very good vocals.
Gash's performance is very good and and Steve Vai, in this album, doesn't care much about showing the world how magnificent are his skills on guitar but he is more focused on the songs and the space for his amazing solos is limited. VAI/GASH is not a masterpiece but an enjoyable album if you miss old-times hard rock. Give it a try.
Rating 65/100
Top tracks: Busted, She Saved My Life Tonight, Flowers Of Fire.
Tracklist
01. In The Wind02. Busted
03. Let's Jam
04. Woman Fever
05. She Saved My Life Tonight
06. Danger Zone
07. New Sensation
08. Flowers Of Fire
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