Flex-Able

This is the debut album, released in January 1984. Vai took it to distribution himself through his own label, Akashic Records, which later became Light Without Heat Records. Eleven tracks. It was made at Stucco Blue, a shed in the back garden of Vai's house at the time, converted into a studio. The influence of Frank Zappa, whose band Vai played in from 1980 to 1983, runs through it, and it leans far less on massive guitar arrangements and shred showpieces than his work from the 1990s onward. During this period Vai formed two bands, The Classified and 777, and wrote and recorded a great deal of music that was never meant for release; the album was compiled out of that material. What brought it to public notice was The Attitude Song, published in Guitar Player magazine shortly before the album came out. Its main riff is in 7/16 over a rhythm section in 4/4, and each following section shows off a technique - two-handed tapping, whammy bar acrobatics, sweep picking, alternate picking, multi-part harmonies, odd phrasing - used in angular and exaggerated ways that were unique to the song at the time. The player on this page is the 2022 36th Anniversary remaster, Light Without Heat LWH1012-2, whose running order is the original eleven tracks.