When I sat down and listened to this CD, I became aware that reviewing Steve Vai's material can be more of an ordeal than you might think. Upon consulting with Kevin about Steve's CD's, we came to an agreement that if Mr. Vai were to hire us to put together a compilation of a few songs from every one of his CD's, we could come up with a CD that was a shredfest; a veritable bible of shredability. Every CD that Mr. Vai releases has a few cuts that would make it onto a "greatest shreds" CD, and The Ultra Zone is no exception.

When listening to The Ultra Zone, I get the feeling that Steve was more relaxed on this project than he has been in years. His playing is once again inventive and fluid. He has also realized that scorching scales does not make a person an axe master, but that subtle passages and melodic rhythms round out the whole picture. This CD is a mature effort on Steve's part, and I'm enjoying listening to it quite a bit, but not for the shred alone. The songwriting is excellent, but once again, it is NOT a shredfest.

One song I must make mention of is a tribute to Frank Zappa appropriately titled "Frank." There is a lot of feeling in this piece; it really comes through in the music. It's full of the classic sound that Steve developed while touring with Zappa. The leads with a 5th and a 3rd thrown in to accompany his solos are what gave Steve his sound. It's nice to hear him going back to those roots. Another track, "Jibboom," reminds me of the Gary Hoey "surfer" kind of sound. Just a fun song that cranks up the shred a few notches.

I would have enjoyed the CD a bit more if there were a few less keys in the mix. But then again, I think we can all suffer from some keyboard prejudice when listening to a recording by a proven guitar virtuoso.

So overall, there are a few select songs that are shred material, but most of the CD, while enjoyable, is just not the shred that we expect from the axe-master. Steve is growing up and maturing, and with that his recordings are becoming more of a work of art, rather than experimentation.

Reviewed by Thingfish

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