By: Robert Silverstein
he second individual release distilled from Vai's massive 10 CD Secret Jewel Box Set, the 2003 release of Mystery Tracks Archives Vol. 3, is actually a collection of bonus tracks featured on various Japan-only releases of his albums, contributions to other artists' works and assorted unreleased demo tracks. According to Vai, "It's sort of like a golden scrap pile. Devour with a silver spoon." The best songs here really rock and the whole album keeps up quite a musical pace. Tracks like the driving, melodic Hank Marvin / Jeff Beck inspired "San-San-Nana Byoushi" (from 1995) and the glorious symphonic rock sound of "Feathers" and "Misfits" (both from 2002) are just a few of the standouts here. Vai's mostly instrumental electric guitar concepts just seem to improve, album to album. Mystery Tracks Archives Vol. 3 is fabulous throughout and while the cover art is cool, the only drawback is the tiny black text on the inside, which is way too minuscule reading for us aging boomers.
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Vol. 17, No. 2: Feb.-Mar. 2012
