Who's better: Joe Satriani or Steve Vai?

Oh I listen, but I listen to other artists as well...and comparing the legacy of Jeff Beck to either Satriani or Vai is like comparing Woody Allen to Bozo The Clown.

 

In terms of technicality, Vai wins.

In terms of musicality, Satch wins.

I like them both but find Vai a bit too cheesy and cringeworthy at times, particularly when watching him live. Satch Is more tasteful; he always has a memorable melody that has an emotive quality. I also prefer his tone.

 

I agree, but Vai is great in a band setting. He was killer in Alcatrazz and David Lee Roth.

 

Satch is Michael Jackson
Vai is Prince

 

I think Satch is the better player however Eat 'Em And Smile is by far my favorite work from either of them.

 

I agree with most posters. I can listen to a Satriani CD but not a Vai CD. To much technique going on rather than melody. Look at Yngwie!!

 

I agree, although I didn't think he fit well with Whitesnake. I think he fit so well with Roth because the music was intentionally cheesy and humorous, therefore the Zappaisms he had developed were right at home.

 

Yngwie smokes in Alcatrazz and Rising Force, though. A level most guitars players will never reach.

 

Also, I believe almost all of the Whitesnake music was written well before he arrived, and he only made a few changes. I don't know that he was ever considered a 'long-term' solution, since Vandenberg was waiting in the wings, but it became a moot point anyway.

 

Yngwie frustrates me. With all that ability, I'm sure he could play anything, but he chooses to just regurgitate the same crap we all got bored with back in the 80s. He has so much more to offer than just speed.

 

I'm talking more about the solos and little quirky added bits. They were all written by Vai and didn't really work for me.

 

For me its

Ship Arriving Too Late + Flex-able + Disturbing The Peace + Eat Em & Smile + Skyscraper + Passion & Warfare

vs

Surfing With The Alien + Flying through a Blue Dream.

After that they both lose me. And the only use for Vai in Whitesnake was his Passion & Warfare solo spot at Donington in 1991. Quite possibly the most ill fitting clash of styles in music history otherwise.

So Vai. Still routinely listen to Flex-Able, TP & Skyscraper even now, 3 decades after the fact. So much more to this period of Vai than mere shredding and technical chops.

 

Being a King Crimson fan I didn't know what to think when I first saw this....



I never found guitar "athleticism" to be very inspiring, but if I had to choose between Vai and Satch, or Malmsteen for that matter...I think I find Paul Gilbert's playing more interesting than any of them. It's not really the tone...maybe it's the uncanny precision and control he has over the instrument, maybe it's because PG is as much a comedian as he is a guitarist...but for whatever reason it's kinda fun.

All I know is I can't play like any of the above mentioned, no matter how many hours I sweat over my guitar.

 

I agree. I think he's probably the most naturally talented of all them. I mean the rising force album, how old is he on that? 20, 21 and not only is his technique incredible but he already has his own distinct style. Having said that, I couldn't listen to an album all the way through.

 

And Vai was 19 when Zappa hired him.

 

He couldn't do what Malmsteen was doing.

 

Couldn't? I think that is a bit of an assumption. By Satriani's and Zappa's accounts, Vai could play anything put in front of him, and sight-read it no less. Just because he didn't parrot classical composers didn't mean he couldn't.

Yngwie played fast, but I never felt a thing that he played (using past tense because I only ever heard two albums).

 

I know when Vai joined Alcatrazz after Malsmteen he said he had to approach solos differently because at the time he could not compete with Yngwie's speed.

 

I do love Yngwie but lost interest after Eclipse. Saw him on that tour. Later albums don't have the good melodies. There's one or two good ones.