New York, NY (Top40 Charts / Legacy Recordings) Legacy Recordings, the catalog division of Sony
Music Entertainment, will release Steve Vai's
Modern Primitive /
Passion and Warfare 25th Anniversary Edition, a celebratory 2CD collection of classic tracks and previously unreleased music, on Friday, June 24. It is available now for pre-orders: https://smarturl.it/Vai_MPPAW_Amazon
Steve Vai and Legacy Recordings are commemorating the 25th anniversary of
Passion and Warfare with a special 2CD edition of the album which includes the first-ever release of Vai's
Modern Primitive songs and recordings. Based on song sketches and works-in-progress penned and recorded by Vai following the release of Flex-Able, his debut album, in January 1984, the music on
Modern Primitive has been completed by Vai for release as a full album disc and the 2nd CD is the bonus remastering of the
Passion and Warfare 25th Anniversary Edition.
"The music on Flex-Able is so vastly different from
Passion and Warfare, one could wonder if the same guy actually made both records," Steve writes in his liner notes for the collection. "Modern Primitive is the missing link between these two records. It's sort of Cro-Magnon Vai."
Newly remastered from the original analog tapes, the
Passion and Warfare 25th Anniversary Edition disc includes, as bonus tracks, four previously unreleased recordings from the
Passion and Warfare sessions.
Modern Primitive /
Passion and Warfare 25th Anniversary Edition is being released as a 2CD physical collection while each disc will be available as a sepárate title on all digital platforms.
The 2CD
Modern Primitive /
Passion and Warfare 25th Anniversary Edition will be housed in a 4-panel soft-pack with a 20-page
Modern Primitive booklet and a 24-panel
Passion and Warfare poster fold.
In addition to the first-time release of his "lost"
Modern Primitive music, composer/producer and electric guitar virtuoso Steve Vai will celebrate the 25th anniversary of his landmark album,
Passion and Warfare, with a world tour starting on May 28th featuring—for the first time ever in concert—full performances of his groundbreaking instrumental rock masterpiece in its entirety. "Performing this record from top to bottom (with some very special surprises in the works) is something I've always dreamed of doing," Vai said. "There are songs here I've never performed before, and I'm delighted that 25 years after its release, I feel as though my guitar chops are as much up to the task as ever before."
Often cited as one of the greatest and most influential instrumental rock guitar albums ever recorded, Vai's
Passion and Warfare was originally released through Relativity/Epic Records in
September 1990 and has been certified Gold by the RIAA. Inspired by a series of dreams Vai had experienced as a young man,
Passion and Warfare has been described by the artist as "Jimi Hendrix meets Jesus Christ at a party that Ben Hur threw for Mel Blanc." Recorded at The Mothership, Vai's home studio in the Hollywood Hills,
Passion and Warfare includes the classic track, "For the Love of God," cited as one of the best solos of all time in a Guitar World magazine reader's poll.
Modern Primitive
Bop!
Dark Matter
Mighty Messengers
The Lost Chord
Upanishads
Fast Note People
And We Are One
Never Forever
Lights Are On
No Pockets
Pink and Blows Over: Part 1
Pink and Blows Over: Part 2 (Mars Attack)
Pink and Blows Over: Part 3 (Jazzbo Paddle-foot)
Passion and Warfare 25th Anniversary Edition
Liberty
Erotic Nightmares
The Animal
Answers
The Riddle
Ballerina 12/24
For Love Of God
The Audience ls Listening
I Would Love To
Blue Powder
Greasy Kid's Stuff
Alien Water Kiss
Sisters
Love Secrets
Lovely Elixir (Bonus)
And We Are One (Solo #2) (Bonus)
As Above (Bonus)
So Below (Bonus)
About Steve Vai
Steve Vai, age 12, picked up the guitar in 1973 and started taking lessons from
Joe Satriani (another future guitar hero) shortly after. He soaked up influences ranging from
Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page to
Jimi Hendrix and Brian May and by the end of the 1970s, was transcribing guitar parts for Frank Zappa. He became a full member of Zappa's band in 1980.
Rapidly becoming one of the most in-demand, versatile, eloquent and soulful sidemen in the business, Vai recorded with Alcatrazz, Whitesnake,
David Lee Roth and Public Image Ltd.
He launched his solo career with the release of Flex-Able, a homemade indie album, in 1984. Since 1990, he has recorded and released eight studio albums, eight live albums, two EPs, 12 soundtracks, 20 compilation albums, seven videos and more. Vai has won three Grammy Awards and earned 15 Grammy Award nominations. He has appeared as a guest artist on more than 40 albums, playing with artists like Alice Cooper, Ozzy Osbourne, Gregg Bissonnett and Joe Jackson, among others.
Sony
Music Entertainment and Legacy Recordings signed Steve Vai to an historic multi-album agreement in February 2015.
