Song of the Night (#8) Steve Vai - Blue Powder

I gave up on listening to virtuoso guitarists because... well, after awhile, their songs tend to sound the same. Their works tend to be either spacey blues-jams or pedal-to-the-metal shred-fests, and it is ironic that the remarkable techniques they employ only make their sounds more predictable!

If I had to pick one out of the bunch that I enjoy more than the rest, I'd have to settle with Steve Vai, known for his stints with Frank Zappa, David Lee Roth as well as his unquestionably flamboyant playing style. 

As a song, Blue Powder perfectly exhibits Vai's musical trademarks. Yeah, there's the requisite technical-perfection, but more important is the incredibly expressive sonic palette Vai wrings from his instrument (it doesn't hurt that he's backed up by some absolutely ace musicians). It's clear that Vai pulls out every trick in the guitarist's bible in service of this song, and the results are amazing to behold. In spite of lacking lyrics of any kind, the song manages to evoke an aura of introspection, weariness and spirituality. It is the profound emotion in Vai's music which makes me favour him above every other instrumental guitarist.