As we've announced, Steve Vai has been hard at work on a special 25th-anniversary edition of his landmark 1990 album, Passion and Warfare.
Well, Vai and Legacy Recordings have announced a release date—June 24. In addtion, they've provided Guitar World with an exclusive stream of "Lovely Elixir," one of the deluxe album's many bonus tracks. You can check it out below.
Besides the expanded version of Passion and Warfare, the new release includes Modern Primitive, an entire album of previously unreleased material based on song sketches and works-in-progress that were penned and recorded by Vai following the release of Flex-Able, his 1984 debut.
"The music on Flex-Able is so vastly different from Passion and Warfare, one could wonder if the same guy actually made both records," Vai wrote in the liner notes for the collection. "Modern Primitive is the missing link between these two records. It's sort of Cro-Magnon Vai." In addition to the first-time release of his "lost" Modern Primitive music, Vai will celebrate the 25th anniversary of Passion and Warfare with a world tour starting May 28. It will feature—for the first time ever—full performances of the album. You can check out the dates here.
"Performing this record from top to bottom (with some very special surprises in the works) is something I've always dreamed of doing," Vai said. "There are songs here I've never performed before, and I'm delighted that 25 years after its release, I feel as though my guitar chops are as much up to the task as ever before."Often cited as one of the greatest and most influential instrumental rock guitar albums ever recorded, Passion and Warfare was originally released through Relativity/Epic Records in September 1990. Inspired by a series of dreams Vai had experienced as a young man, Passion and Warfare has been described by the artist as "Jimi Hendrix meets Jesus Christ at a party that Ben Hur threw for Mel Blanc." Recorded at The Mothership, Vai's home studio in the Hollywood Hills, Passion and Warfare includes the classic track, "For the Love of God," cited as one of the best solos of all time in a GuitarWorld.com poll.
The Passion and Warfare 25th Anniversary Edition disc includes, as bonus tracks, four previously unreleased recordings from the Passion and Warfare sessions, including "Lovely Elixir." Modern Primitive/Passion and Warfare 25th Anniversary Edition is being released as a 2CD physical collection, and each disc will be available as a sepárate title on all digital platforms. The 2CD version will be housed in a four-panel soft-pack with a 20-page Modern Primitive booklet and a 24-panel Passion and Warfare poster fold. You can see the complete track list below.
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Modern Primitive/Passion and Warfare 25th Anniversary Edition Track Listing
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)
Damian is Editor-in-Chief of Guitar World magazine. In past lives, he was GW’s managing editor and online managing editor. He's written liner notes for major-label releases, including Stevie Ray Vaughan's 'The Complete Epic Recordings Collection' (Sony Legacy) and has interviewed everyone from Yngwie Malmsteen to Kevin Bacon (with a few memorable Eric Clapton chats thrown into the mix). Damian, a former member of Brooklyn's The Gas House Gorillas, was the sole guitarist in Mister Neutron, a trio that toured the U.S. and released three albums. He now plays in two NYC-area bands.
