Living Colour is an American rock band from New York City, formed in 1984. The band currently consists of guitarist Vernon Reid, lead vocalist Corey Glover, drummer Will Calhoun and bassist Doug Wimbish. Stylistically, their music is a creative fusion influenced by heavy metal, funk, jazz, hip hop, punk, and alternative rock. The band's lyrics range from the personal to the political, including social commentary on racism in the United States.
Steven Siro Vai is an American guitarist, songwriter, and producer. A three-time Grammy Award winner and fifteen-time nominee, Vai started his music career in 1978 at the age of eighteen as a transcriptionist for Frank Zappa, and played in Zappa's 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, David Lee Roth, and Whitesnake, as well as recording with artists such as Public Image Ltd, Mary J. Blige, Spinal Tap, Alice Cooper, Motörhead, and Polyphia. Additionally, Vai has toured with live-only acts G3, Zappa Plays Zappa, and the Experience Hendrix Tour, as well as headlining international tours.
Them or Us is an album by American musician Frank Zappa, released in October 1984 by Barking Pumpkin Records.
Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch is an album by American musician Frank Zappa, released in May 1982 and digitally remastered in 1991. It features five tracks composed by Zappa, and one song, "Valley Girl", co-written with his daughter, Moon Zappa, then a teen, who provided the spoken monologue mocking Valley girls, including phrases like "Gag me with a spoon!".
Passion and Warfare is the second studio album by guitarist Steve Vai, released on May 22, 1990, through Relativity and Epic Records. It has been certified Gold by the RIAA.
Real Illusions: Reflections is the seventh studio album by guitarist Steve Vai, released on February 22, 2005, through Epic Records. The album reached No. 147 on the U.S. Billboard 200, as well as No. 88 on the Dutch albums chart and No. 110 on the French albums chart.
Flex-Able is the debut studio album by American virtuoso guitarist Steve Vai. This was his first as a solo artist, and was created in Stucco Blue, a shed converted into a studio in Vai's old back garden. It is very different from many of his other albums, and is largely influenced by Frank Zappa, whom Vai was a member of his backing band from 1980 to 1983. Flex-Able does not rely as much on massive guitar arrangements and shred moments as the rest of his output from the 1990s onwards, with the exception of Leftovers which is a compilation of bonus tracks and remasters from his sessions at 'Stucco Blue'.
Alien Love Secrets is an EP by guitarist Steve Vai, released on March 21, 1995, through Relativity Records. The EP reached No. 125 on the U.S. Billboard 200 and remained on that chart for two weeks, as well as reaching No. 72 on the Dutch albums chart.
Skyscraper is the second full-length studio album by David Lee Roth, released during his solo career after his departure from Van Halen. It was released on January 25, 1988, on Warner Bros. Records, shortly after the commercially and critically successful Eat 'Em and Smile Tour of 1986–1987.
You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 3 is a double disc live album by Frank Zappa, spanning from December 10, 1971, to December 23, 1984. It was released in 1989.
The Man from Utopia is an album by American musician Frank Zappa, released in March 1983 by Barking Pumpkin Records. The album is named after a 1950s song, written by Donald and Doris Woods, which Zappa covers as part of "The Man from Utopia Meets Mary Lou".
Re-Flex were an English new wave band formed in London in 1981. They are most often recognized for their hit, "The Politics of Dancing", the title track from their debut studio album released in 1983, as well as the singles "Hurt", "Hitline", "Couldn't Stand a Day", "Praying to the Beat", "Sensitive", and "Flex It". The band stopped actively working together in 1985, but occasionally collaborated on individual members' solo projects in the years following.
The Tangent is a progressive rock group formed in 2002, led by keyboardist and singer Andy Tillison.
Buffalo is a live album by Frank Zappa, posthumously released in April 2007 as a two-CD set, consisting of the complete concert given on October 25, 1980 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium in Buffalo, New York with a band that has previously been heard on Tinsel Town Rebellion (1981) and Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar (1981). It is the second installment on the Vaulternative Records label that is dedicated to the posthumous release of complete Zappa concerts, the first release being FZ:OZ, the concert on January 20, 1976 at the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney.
Vegas 96 is a triple live album from the American jam band Phish, recorded live at the Aladdin Theatre in Las Vegas, Nevada, on December 6, 1996. In addition to the 3-CD set, a limited edition box version also includes a DVD with archival footage from the show and an extensive 40-page bound-book featuring photos and notes.
You Are What You Is is a 1981 double album by American musician Frank Zappa. His 34th album, it consists of three musical suites which encompass pop, doo-wop, jazz, hard rock, reggae, soul, blues, new wave and country. The album's lyrics satirize a number of topics, including hippies, socialites, fashion, narcotics use, cultural appropriation, religion, televangelists and the military draft.
The Flex-Able Leftovers album, released on 10 November 1998, on Sony Records, contains five bonus tracks and is quite different from the original Flex-Able Leftovers EP. Unlike Steve Vai's other albums, which are mostly instrumental, almost all copies of Flex-Able Leftovers feature a Parental Advisory label, as a result of the song "Fuck Yourself" containing multiple profanities and sexual references. Other differences from the original version include the recording of live drums on "You Didn't Break It!" and the complete re-editing and mixing of the songs.
The Story of Light "Real Illusions: ...of a..." is the eighth studio album by guitarist Steve Vai, released on August 14, 2012 through Favored Nations Entertainment. It is Vai's first full-length studio album since 2005's Real Illusions: Reflections. On May 23, 2012 The Story of Light was made available for pre-order through Vai's official website with an instant download of "Gravity Storm". The track "John the Revelator" contains a sample of Blind Willie Johnson's song of the same name. "The Moon and I" was initially released as a VaiTunes digital only single in 2010. However, due to the personal nature of the song, Vai decided to remix it and include it on the album. The album debuted on Billboard 200 at No. 78.
Polyphia is a primarily instrumental progressive rock band based in Plano, Texas, formed in 2010. The group consists of guitarists Tim Henson and Scott LePage, bassist Clay Gober, and drummer Clay Aeschliman.
Modern Primitive is the ninth studio album by American guitarist Steve Vai, released on Epic Records on June 24, 2016. According to his website, the material on the album was "based on song sketches and works-in-progress penned and recorded by Vai following the release of Flex-Able, his debut album, in January 1984." He sees this material as a link between the stylistically different Flex-Able and Passion and Warfare (1990). The name of the album refers to his "modern" finishing of some of his oldest, most "primitive" works.
