Product Description

A massive, dense, ambitious musical project from one of thebest guitar players currently breathing. It opens with a gunshot, sirens and general mayhem. What follows are 74 minutes of concept metal fusion madness. The disc is divided into two sections: "Phase 1" is mostly instrumental, and mostly the kind of frenetic, classically-structured, guitar-centric stuff Vai has spent his career defining and redefining. "Phase 2" adds words.
All of it is really just a showcase forVai's prodigious talent, and his desire keep the basic sound of the heavy-metal guitar intact while branching out into more ambitious directions. "The Crying Machine" is typical: Vai defines a simple melodic line, then explores that line, and the fretboard, with a vengeance. At times pure wail, at times staccato chirp, but always in the middle of everything, Vai's guitar is more a Presence than a mere musical instrument. It ain't rock and roll, it ain't jazz, it ain't pure fusion...it's simply Steve Vai!

Track Listing

1. There's A Fire In The House
2. Crying Machine
3. Dyin' Day
4. Whookam
5. Blowfish
6. Mysterious Murder Of Christian Tiera's Lover
7. Hand On Heart
8. Bangkok
9. Fire Garden Suite
10. Deepness
11. Little Alligator
12. All About Eve
13. Aching Hunger
14. Brother
15. Damn You
16. When I Was A Little Boy
17. Genocide
18. Warm Regards

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #31309 in Music
• Released on: 1999-04-12
• Number of discs: 1

Customer Reviews

essential to own, even if it only for "The Crying Machine".
Fire Garden was Steve Vai's proper follow up to his classic "Passion and "Warfare" and probably not quite as good overall. It does however represent significant growth for him as a musician and composer. And it's got "Crying Machine" on it (more on that later), which makes it indisposable.
The album kicks off with a series of crashes and a siren going off warning appropriately enough that "There's a fire in the house" (track 1), and that there's some smouldering lead work to come.

Almost too early on though, we're delivered "Crying machine", the album's (and Vai's) finest moment. The staccato E augmented 9th chord hammers the start of the track home, and we're straight into one of Vai's strongest melody hooks, bouyed along perfectly with a Cry baby wah-wah effect (presumably the source of the tracks title) and heaps of sustain, and under-pinned by a fabulous slap bass riff courtesy of Stuart Hamm.

This track is HUGE. It's got at least 3 distinctive sections to it: The main theme, the heavy augmented 9th chord based part and the soft broken down section. All are delicious, but Steve does save the best till last, with a series of question/response breaks over the main theme that takes us to a fade out. Steve is simply on fire and all over the neck. Again, fire the editor, Steve's still screwing fantastic stuff out by the time the track's gone silent; we want more, more, more!

The album continues with more classic Vai and all the unpredictable (but expected) twists: There's the beautifully sweet altered tunings of "Dying Day", the religious overtones of "Whookam", and the complex and demanding title track, but the 2nd guitar highlight has to be "Hand on Heart". This is a close second to the phenomenal "For the love of God" ballad stlye track that we've come to know is always number 7 on a Steve Vai album. Superb playing charged with pure emotion.

Part 2 of the album is by contrast is a disappointing and rather fragmented affair, featuring "proper songs". I'd single out "All About Eve", "Brother" and "Warm regards" as highlights, and the training he had on his voice shows. But if you think of this as bunce on top of the 1st CD, then that takes nothing away from the awesome achievment that "Fire Garden" is. Would be essential to own, even if it only had one track on it: "The Crying Machine".

A perfect album for any Vai fan, or anyone getting into him
If you're new to Steve Vai, you probably won't know that he is perhaps the greatest guitarist in the world. The speed at which he plays is mind-boggling, mesmerising and completely insane at the best of times. This CD contains some absolutely amazing songs at a pretty good price! The first half of the album (Phase One) is all instrumental, and the second half (Phase Two) is all singing apart from the last track 'Warm Regards' (which is a fantastic track to finish off the album).

Of Phase One, 'Mysterious Murder Of Christian Tiera's Lover' and 'Fire Garden Suite' are perhaps the best tracks, and Phase Two's greatest 'Brother' and 'Damn You'. 'When I Was A Little Boy' is insane - you really do need to hear it to believe it...

A perfect album for any Vai fan, or anyone getting into him, or even just a fan of guitars! If you can appreciate good music, then buy this album.

Passionate & Accessable
Vai's most accessable album to date. With - apart from one exception - one half singing, one half instrumental. Favourites include the the wonderful 'Crying Machine' (makes you wonder why he insists on going SO leftfield when he can come up with something as stupendous as this(!)); 'Mysterious Murder . . .'; & the wonderful title track(s); Of the singing side 'Brother' is brillliant, along with 'Damn You', 'Aching Hunger' & 'When I Was . . .' (which is so daft that I sat with my mouth open listening to it the first time I heard it!). The closer, 'Warm Regards' just rounds things off nicely. Actually the whole thing doesn't have a bad track on it - even the 'interludes'. IT's Vai's feelgood album.

Just when Satch was going all weird & electronic Vai decided to come up with this(!) It's a funny ol' world, indeed . . .

If you have avoided Steve Vai because you think he's too weird - and he is weird(!) - then take a chance and have a go at this one.