Steve Vai – Inviolate (180g Vinyl LP)

Inviolate is a nine-song opus that pushes the boundaries of instrumental guitar music.  The body of work presents his most focused, streamlined and perhaps invigorating music in years. “It’s very ‘Vai,’ whatever that means,” he says, and then laughs. “Someone else might be better than me at explaining what that is. But it’s just very honest music. Because a lot of my records, they’re long and there’s a lot of concepts and playing around with stories. This one has none of that. This is nine pretty dense all-instrumental compositions that I wanted to capture and record so I could get out there and play them live for people.”

Side A1. Teeth of the Hydra2. Zeus in Chains3. Little Pretty4. Candlepower5. Apollo in Color
Side B1. Avalancha2. Greenish Blues3. Knappsack4. Sandman Cloud Mist