ALBUM REVIEW: Vai/Gash – Steve Vai
Guitar legend STEVE VAI has done it all by this point. A true legend of guitar music, there’s nothing reining him in, as he shows on new album Vai/Gash. Together with his since-departed biker friend Johnny “Gash” Sombrotto, he recorded these eight tracks back in the early 90s so that they’d have “real biker music” to blare from their Harley Davidsons. Having sat on the collection for the best part of three decades, he’s finally putting them out to the world as the ultimate tribute.
Opening song In The Wind was the first to be recorded and follows suit now as the lead single for this album. Instantly, its 70s influences and exhilarating arrangement have the desired effect: you can feel the bike rumbling beneath you, the wind in your hair, the sun beating down on wide open roads; this is unabashed, Route 1 bike-riding music. When Gash‘s vocals kick in, the picture is complete. Even without being part of STEVE VAI‘s mob of Harley-riding friends, there’s something inviting and opening about this record that makes you feel part of the gang.
The likes of Busted and Let’s Jam follow suit, keeping the pedal to the metal, keeping the freedom and frivolity bouncing all over Vai/Gash. It’s utterly infectious and it feels impossible to be in anything other than a good mood when you stick this on.
On the other end of the spectrum, you have the far quainter Flowers Of Fire which closes the album. Sitting far closer to a ballad, we get to see a different side to Gash as a frontman, one that allows him to flex his musicality and melodious talents far more than anything else on this collection. On the surface, it’s easy to imagine this being belted out in an arena, however ham-fisted the track is on a lyrical front.
Because at the end of the day, while this album has its fun moments and its touching sentiment and history, it has its issues. Lyrically, there’s not much to write home about save for the odd metaphor, but in the age of increasing AI adoption, this does occasionally feel like the result of prompting a bot to write a 70s hard rock album. Token, tired phrases litter the work and start to take you out of the vibe if you pay too much attention.
Vai/Gash also bears the unfortunate business of sitting somewhere between an unfinished studio album and a compilation in need of content, though ultimately this makes the tragic circumstances of this record plain to see, despite how feel-good the album is on the whole. And lastly, even across just eight tracks, things can start to feel repetitive. Of course, the pair set out to record a very specific type of music, but Vai/Gash falls into a cyclical trap that’s hard to ignore.
But where this album shines, aside from STEVE VAI‘s expected ridiculous talents, is really in the strength of Gash’s largely untapped talents. An absolute powerhouse performance that puts him somewhere in the mix with the likes of AC/DC‘s Brian Johnson and WOLFSBANE‘s Blaze Bayley, his delivery is the sound of someone just doing what they love. Tragically, a bike crash in 1998 took his life, and thus Vai/Gash displays a long lost treasure in Gash‘s vocal performance that leaves us wondering ‘what if?’
Rating: 7/10
Vai/Gash is out January 27 via Favored Nations/Mascot Label Group.
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