Legacy Recordings, the catalog division of Sony Music Entertainment, has just released Steve Vai's opus Modern Primitive / Passion and Warfare 25th Anniversary Edition, a celebratory 2CD collection of classic tracks and previously unreleased music, this past June 24th, 2016.

And YES, it's as damn great as it sounds, trust me! Indeed, I have now listened to it three times on the bounce, each disc, one after the other, and man can Vai grind an ax! Well, to be honest, he more makes love to his hardware, but either way you fans of Vai know exactly what I'm talking about!

Er, what's that - you don't even know who Steve Vai is?! My God, people. OK, well, here's a quick crash course: Steven Siro "Steve" Vai is an American guitarist, composer, singer, songwriter, and producer, born and raised on Long Island, New York. Vai was voted the 10th "Greatest Guitarist" by Guitar World magazine, and has sold over 15 million records in his long, and illustrious career thus far.

A three-time Grammy Award winner and fifteen-time nominee, Vai started his music career in 1978 at the age of 18 as a transcriptionist for Frank Zappa, and joined his band from 1980 to 1983. He embarked on a solo career in 1983 and has released eight solo albums to date. He has recorded and toured with Alcatrazz (one of my all-time favorite rock 'n' roll bands), David Lee Roth, Whitesnake (my all-time favorite metal band), as well as having recorded with artists such as Mary J. Blige, Spinal Tap, and Ozzy Osbourne. Additionally, Vai has toured with live-only acts G3, Zappa Plays Zappa, the Experience Hendrix tour, as well as headlining international tours.

And so here on Modern Primitive / Passion & Warfare (25th Anniversary Edition) we celebrate, and update the second studio album by Vai in some fine form. Released in September 1990 through Relativity and Epic Records it has since been certified Gold by the RIAA. Indeed, and fascinatingly enough, it was written based on a series of dream sequences that Vai had when he was younger, and Vai himself has since summed it up as "Jimi Hendrix meets Jesus Christ at a party that Ben Hur threw for Mel Blanc".

Okey dokey then! Moving right along, and I can also reveal that it was all recorded in The Mothership studio at his home in the Hollywood Hills, a 1,600-square-foot (150 m2) building in which his guitar parts for Whitesnake's 1989 album Slip of the Tongue were also recorded. As such, Whitesnake frontman David Coverdale has small spoken parts on Passion and Warfare; but you fans already knew that, didn't you.

Modern Primitive:
1. Bop!
2. Dark Matter
3. Mighty Messengers
4. The Lost Chord
5. Upanishads
6. Fast Note People
7. And We Are One
8. Never Forever
9. Lights Are On
10. No Pockets
11. Pink and Blows Over: Part 1
12. Pink and Blows Over: Part 2 (Mars Attack)
13. Pink and Blows Over: Part 3 (Jazzbo Paddle-foot)

Passion and Warfare: 25th Anniversary Edition:
1. Liberty
2. Erotic Nightmares
3. The Animal
4. Answers
5. The Riddle
6. Ballerina 12/24
7. For Love Of God
8. The Audience ls Listening
9. I Would Love To
10. Blue Powder
11. Greasy Kid's Stuff
12. Alien Water Kiss
13. Sisters
14. Love Secrets
15. Lovely Elixir (Bonus)
16. And We Are One (Solo #2) (Bonus)
17. As Above (Bonus)
18. So Below (Bonus)

Newly remastered from the original analog tapes, the Passion and Warfare 25th Anniversary Edition disc includes, as bonus tracks, four previously unreleased recordings from the Passion and Warfare sessions. This 2CD Modern Primitive / Passion and Warfare (25th Anniversary Edition) also comes housed in a 4-panel soft-pack with a 20-page Modern Primitive booklet and a 24-panel Passion and Warfare poster fold. Lovely.

Modern Primitive / Passion and Warfare (25th Anniversary Edition) is now out as a 2CD physical collection while each disc will be available as a separate title on all digital platforms.

www.LegacyRecordings.com