Steve Vai Review of "The Ultra Zone" @ iTunes By: Terry Wickham he tall, eclectic axeman from Carle Place, New York (sorry Joe you're not that tall) is back in full force. "The Ultra Zone" is Vai's best work to date. His guitar playing is full of fire and the result is this enthusiastic album. Vai creatively employs all sorts of Asian voices throughout the album giving it an eastern feel. The overall mood is up beat and spiritual. In songs such as "The Blood & Tears", "Windows To The Soul" and the title track, Vai makes his guitar cook, with his fingers lighting the fire. There are a couple of tracks Vai has fun using munchkin-like high voices and other cool sounds like "Lucky Charms". In "OOOO" Vai matches acoustic and electric guitars and keyboards note for note to dazzling effect. "Frank" is a loving tribute to Frank Zappa, who in Vai's words, "My mentor, inspiration, and greatest composer who graced God's beautiful blue Earth." "Jibboom" is a supercharged not to Stevie Ray Vaughan. On "Voodoo Acid" Vai gets behind the mic again, getting a little help from the little high pitched voices. "Fever Dream" Vai lays down this really cool clean distortion rhythm that brightly twangs throughout the song, while he takes the song to many dimensions with his bizarre guitar playing. This is a disc everyone will want to have. © Terry Wickham / Guitar 2001 Magazine The Blood & Tears The Ultra Zone Oooo Frank