Along with his one-time teacher Joe Satriani, six-string wizard Steve Vai set the standard for rock guitar virtuosity in the '80s. Having toured and recorded with Frank Zappa, followed by stints with Alcatrazz, David Lee Roth, and Whitesnake, Vai released his major label full-length debut, Passion And Warfare, an album which finds Vai truly coming into his own as a distinguished composer and is arguably the richest and best hard rock guitar-viruoso album of its time.

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"Liberty" serves as an intro to the album with big, sweeping guitar line that is repeated throughout. "I Would Love To", "Erotic Nightmares" and "Greasy Kid's Stuff" are straight-out rockers that exhibit his agility on the fret board. "Answers" and "The Riddle" flow logically into each other, and are progressive mid-tempo numbers. These two showcase what's great about Vai, he throws in seemingly every kind of distortion and effect that was available to him at the time, runs his guitar through it, and sees what comes out, but never does it sound forced or grating to the ears; it flows perfectly in the songs. "The Audience is Listening" is perhaps the most well known song. He made a video for it (the only Vai video I've seen), and has the trademark Vai humor with the dialogue of a cranky old elementary school teacher calling a young Vai crazy. Oh yeah, the music is great, too.

The two standout tracks for me, though, are two ballads, "For the Love of God" and "Blue Powder". Wow. It's hard for me to put into words how great these two songs are. Even if the other 12 tracks were horrible, these two would more than make up for it. Everything is perfect, the tempo, the guitar tone, the main melody, the solos, just perfect. If ever anyone accuses Vai of being a "shredder" - someone who plays fast just for the sake of playing fast with no emotion - just point him/her to these two songs.

I've always seen Vai as someone who has always embraced new effects as ways to express the emotions in his head. He is a musical genius (check out his theory teachings on his web site), and is able to communicate his emotions with his guitar. This is (so far) the pinnacle of his communication.

13 of 16 found the following review helpful:

I do like itFeb 17, 2001
By ty7777 "I don't give out m'name"
There is alot of that 80's thrash rock. I can't like that too much. But I have to give a 4 for the playing ability and the awesome bass work. Also there are good points that make this a loveable album. Ballerina was fun and The audience is listening was funny. The little vocal sound bytes- also fun. Sisters was the sentimental piece. The poetry on the inlay cards was interesting- you could tell that lyrics would lead this guys guitar in the right way if he had used them. For the Love of God was clearly the substance in the middle of the hardrocking thrash and the funny goodnatured stuff. Blue Powder is also a quality piece and very mood swinging. If you like that 80's style thrashing no melody stuff- there's alot of that. And if you buy the album because you'd like to here the funny stuff there's that. There's a little political stuff in some of the words hanging around this instrumental album and in the case of For the Love of God- I might even have bought it just for that looking back on it. It ranks among the best guitar instrumentals and Playing I've heard. I'm reminded of SRV'S version of Little Wing and Everyone from Hendrix to Tim Reynolds of guitar working. That one track I guess is worth the whole album. Listen to it twice if you decide to buy the album, and if you don't like it- you don't get it. I hope this was helpful to you. Vai really is great when he focuses and restrains his urge to move into a needless beating rythm guitar part that strays from the purpose of making the songs individual.

5 of 5 found the following review helpful:

AMAZING AND INTROSPECTIVE GUITAR PLAYING.Dec 18, 1998

Well, this is my favorite instrumental rock recording and I recommend it to everybody. Steve Vai is one of the most representative and creative rock guitar players of all times. He's not only a guitar player, he's a musician. His technique is almost perfect, his musicianship and uncommon melodic sense are superb but, the most important of it all: Vai is also a very spiritual man and his music is a clear mirror of it. "Passion And Warfare" is the most representative piece of his fine and original style. Songs as "The Riddle","Answers","Blue Powder" and "For The Love of God" are a good example of the Vai's mastery. If you use to listen to Joe Satriani,Eddie Van Halen or Jimmy Hendrix, you will enjoy this album; if you're a rock guitarist, "Passion And Warfare" will bring a lot of inspiration for you!.Enjoy it!

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