Steve Vai: Next Steps

Steve Vai's most underrated quality is his nimble melodicism; even when rocking hard, his playing remains dazzlingly lyrical. On the proggy “Answers,” his fret-work resembles a rollercoaster snaking through gravity-defying tunnels, while the subdued “Dyin' Day” calls to mind pirouetting ballerinas. The evocative “Upanishads” finds him mimicking sitars and windchimes to put you in a celestial trance.