Flex-able Available with a couple of different covers, Flex-able is such a very different kind of album. There is unlikely to be any guitar hero of any era that has put out an album like this ... It was never actually originally intended to be released. This was Steve getting used to his new home studio and playing around, experimenting, and trying his hand at writing. There are several versions of this album available. The original tracklisting Side one "Little Green Men" – 5:39 "Viv Woman" – 3:09 "Lovers Are Crazy" – 5:39 "Salamanders in the Sun" – 2:26 "The Boy/Girl Song" – 4:02 Side two "The Attitude Song" – 3:23 "Call It Sleep" – 5:09 "Junkie" – 7:23 "Bill's Private Parts" – 0:16 "Next Stop Earth" – 0:34 "There's Something Dead in Here" – 3:46 The extended version - with Leftovers (which was also available as a mini album) "Little Green Men" – 5:39 "Viv Woman" – 3:09 "Lovers Are Crazy" – 5:39 "Salamanders in the Sun" – 2:26 "The Boy/Girl Song" – 4:02 "The Attitude Song" – 3:23 "Call It Sleep" – 5:09 "Junkie" – 7:23 "Bill's Private Parts" – 0:16 "Next Stop Earth" – 0:34 "There's Something Dead in Here" – 3:46 Bonus From Flex-Able Leftovers EP "So Happy" (Steve Vai, Laurel Fishman) – 2:44 "Bledsoe Bluvd" – 4:22 "Burnin' Down the Mountain" – 4:22 "Chronic Insomnia" – 2:05 We also had a bunch of folks kicking back in the studio with Steve, and enjoying making some sounds Steve Vai – synthesizer, bass, guitar, percussion, piano, electric guitar, keyboards, sitar, vocals, bells, producer, engineer, drum machine, drum programming, design, mixing Additional Musicians Scott Collard – synthesizer, keyboards, Fender Rhodes Larry Crane – lyre, xylophone, bells, vibraphone Greg Degler – clarinet, flute, saxophone Joe Despagni – sound effects Laurel Fishman – vocals Peggy Foster – bass Chris Frazier – drums Stuart Hamm – bass, sound effects, vocals, vocals (background) Bob Harris – trumpet, vocals (as Irney Rantin) Suzannah Harris (as Ursula Rayven) – vocals Billy James – percussion, drums Paul Lemcke – keyboards Pia Maiocco – vocals Tommy Mars – violin, keyboards, vocals Lill Vai – sound effects Chad Wackerman – drums Pete Zeldman – percussion, drums Production William Becton – composer Aaron Brown – design, illustrations John Matousek – mastering Mark Pinske – assistant Neil Zlozower – photography
Little Green Men We start off with some static that gets a rhythmic groove, and then we move into, what I think at least is a cool little song, that is obviously nothing but a bit of fun. I believe we have Steve with an altered pitch vocal. I actually find the rhythmic structure of this track quite irresistible. After a few verses we get a little Zappa like break down that moves into a little speech, that actually is quite deep in its tongue in cheek delivery, and also borrows a little bit of Zappa styling. Anyway, I find it hard to think of a guitar hero/shredder/noodler etc, whatever your preferred terminology is, releasing a track anything like this. Perhaps it is my familiarity with the track, but I love this.
Flex-Able is his most Zappa-influenced album, yet it does already feature plenty of Steve's own voice. His spiritual side of things is beginning to show too.
Irresistible is right. Ever since I first heard it I've found it both silly and intriguing. It's curious how something so odd-sounding at first can be so catchy! It doesn't matter how many years I spend without hearing it, every now and then the chorus of this song comes into my mind for no reason and I catch myself singing it. Liw liw.
Junkie is another favorite. The glockenspiel riff is very Zappa-esque, and I just like the whole composition and vibe of the tune even if it is pretty dark. Bledsoe Bluvd is another attractive instrumental that bears the stamp of the mother superior. Of all the musicians that worked for FZ, Vai and Keneally really absorbed the Zappa compositional aesthetic and weave it seamlessly into their material. George Duke did this too on his MPS albums in the 70s.
I was actually going to run through Junkie this morning, but I thought I would roll one of the none guitar tracks, for those unfamiliar with the kind of stuff on here. I actually found Junkie quite effecting when I first heard it. The back to back of Call It Sleep and Junkie after some of the more light hearted stuff was pretty intense back when I was a young fella.
Sorry for jumping ahead in my enthusiasm but yes, Little Green Men is a fun opener with some silly but clever lyrics. And a hemiola type rhythmic pattern which Zappa was famous for but with different odd/even beats.
There's no jumping ahead here. I just want this to be a relaxed thing. I probably don't have time to do a proper song a day album thread, so this is a bit of a casual thing. I just love the guy, and felt a want to do something.
One aspect that is on display throughout this record is Vai's now trademark whammy bar technique. He actually plays melodic lines with the bar in tunes like The Attitude Song.
Yea, it probably seems pretty standard in 2020, but back in 84, it was pretty different, perhaps even somewhat revolutionary. I don't know the full history of the Floyd Rose Tremolo Bars, but I seem to remember reading that the scooped out body of the guitar, giving the ability to pull up significantly, as well as the usual down, was something Vai developed on one of his strats, and then we eventually moved to the JEM ..... I used to have a JEM, it was one of the most beautiful playing guitars I ever had .... I snapped the neck when I brought it down on a drum riser accidentally at a gig. I was a bit pissy about that, because I couldn't afford to replace it.
I was a huge fan in my earlier virtuoso guitar player phase, one of the most talented of the guitar hero bunch, after his dissapointing Vai project (Bozzio, Townsend, Stevens supergroup) he lost me and never got interested in his releases again, seems to be kind of frozen in time musically The DLR supergroup and Eat'em and Smile is a masterpiece that sadly will always be under the shadow of Van Halen, great project
The JEM guitar and its development (from wiki) Vai designed the Ibanez JEM guitar, a unique instrument that incorporated a series of groundbreaking designs that have since become staples in feature throughout the guitar industry, in 1985. In speaking of the development of the guitar, Vai says, "Stratocasters had whammy bars—which were fantastic—but they were very limited, were always going out of tune, and had single-coil pickups. Les Pauls had humbuckers—which gave you that real scream in the bridge position—but no whammy bar, and I didn't like the way they sat. Neither guitar had twenty-four frets. So I went to a guitar shop in Hollywood, where I had these elements implemented into a guitar (what would have been considered a Superstrat at the time). The guitar was designed with a sharper body shape, a large cutaway around the neck, twenty-four frets, a fully floating tremolo system, a specially wired five-way pickup selector switch, and an output jack angled on the side of the body (so that when you step on the cable, it doesn't pull out of your guitar). I knew of course that these features would eventually be taken and used in other guitars, so I did something completely preposterous: I said, 'Put a handle in it!' That way, during videos and photoshoots I could swing the guitar around."[7] Vai had several custom prototypes of these guitars built (which were used on the Eat 'Em and Smile tour) by Joe "Jem" Despagni, a custom guitar luthier and friend of Vai's. Due to Vai's highly coveted position in Roth's band, many guitar companies were eager to propose endorsement opportunities. In response to these offers, Vai sent out the specifications of the JEM guitar, detailing that the company that returned the best guitar would be given the endorsement. Dissatisfied with the guitars returned and unwilling to compromise, Vai held out on a guitar endorsement until Ibanez approached him, sending him an instrument superior to that of the other companies and willing to follow his instructions. After the pre-production prototypes were perfected, the first production Ibanez JEM 777 guitars were unveiled at the NAMM Show in 1987. Since its original 1987 release, the JEM has become one of the longest-running and most successful signature series guitars in history, with its sister guitar, the Ibanez RG, being the second highest-selling guitar (behind the Fender Stratocaster) on the market. Another design by Vai was the Ibanez Universe, the first production seven-string guitar, which was released in 1989. The Universe incorporated many of the aspects that made the JEM a unique instrument (24 frets, full floating tremolo, special pickup configuration, angled output jack, and deeper body cutaway), with an added low 'B' string, allowing for new low-range sonic possibilities. Used by Vai on much of Passion and Warfare and all of Whitesnake's Slip of the Tongue, the Universe was a large stepping stone for the burgeoning Nu-metal genre (with bands such as Korn having adopted the instrument and incorporating it into their signature sound). --------------------------------------------------------------------------- The JEM guitar is a wonderful guitar. It is probably the most versatile guitar I ever had, and it plays like a dream. As a guitarist you tend to love lots of different guitars for different reasons, and over the years I have had twenty or thirty guitars, but the JEM was just wonderful and probably my favourite guitar I ever owned.
Call It Sleep Sleeve Notes - Written in High School and dedicated to the beautiful memory of Lory Goode and Mary Savage, and those who mourn loved ones who met with unfortunate demise. If we don't see them anymore in this world, we will meet them in the next one. You can't fool fate, so don't be late. Right Jimi? To me this is a beautifully emotive piece of music and playing. There are several tracks on this album where Steve is just letting it all hang out, but in such a way as to convey absolute emotional expression. The fact of the matter is, when you practice in a way as disciplined and intense as Vai did, you are going to play technically well, it is a motor function thing. When you manage to translate that technical ability through an emotional filter, and explode your musical heart into something like this. The result is, to me at least, both entirely moving, and technically quite amazing. I hear this as an outpouring. We start with this beautiful mellow guitar, and then we burst into this anguished expression of all the emotions that come across us over the period of time we are mourning a loved ones loss. Then we return to a somewhat reflective state of mind having come to terms with the grief. That is how I hear this and one of the reasons I find it hard to fathom the idea that there isn't emotion in the playing. To me this is raw emotion .... and yes having worked with Zappa for a few years, you can hear a certain amount of influence, but I don't think it overwhelms Steve's own identity in this track.
I met him after a ZPZ gig some years ago. Steve was seated on the tour bus with a member of security positioned at the doorway. The security guy was anxious to move me on. At the same time Steve was beckoning me to get on the bus. Steve won and we ended up having a nice chat. He signed my copies of Flex-able and Flex-able Leftovers on vinyl.
Perhaps, but all I had to go by was a snippet of Amadeus ... which is a movie I love by the way. I can only assume that the point was that yes the music is great, but it has too many notes ... to really roughly paraphrase the noble on the movie. So by my nature i went the exact opposite.
