The Elton John album that had an “incredible impact” on Steve Vai
As the 1980s started, the guitar world was about to look entirely different. Even though the previous decade had its fair share of guitar giants, the birth of Van Halen led to millions of artists upping their game behind the fretboard, employing different tapping techniques that left most guitarists with their jaw on the floor. Although Steve Vai could justifiably call himself one of the flashiest players in the business, he never sacrificed his playing for the song’s sake.
When first coming up as a sideman for Frank Zappa, Vai had already been known as a technician on guitar. While his work with Zappa did teach him the fundamentals of working within a band context, it was only a matter of time before he branched out into a solo career.
Taking cues from Joe Satriani and Jeff Beck, Vai let his guitar talk throughout his solo career, penning songs that carried beautiful melodies like ‘For The Love of God’. Although Vai may have a massive knowledge of what he’s doing technically behind the fretboard, he did credit one of the kings of pop songwriting for helping him through rough times.
When discussing his influences, the guitarist singled out the song ‘Burn Down the Mission’ by Elton John as one of the pivotal moments in his career. Bringing the album Tumbleweed Connection to a close, John pores out a pop odyssey over six minutes, interpreting Bernie Taupin’s poetry to create a cinematic track to close out the record.
Discussing the impact that the record had on him, Vai remembered John’s music giving him a companion during his youth, telling Louder, “This album had an incredible impact on me. When I was very young, I had this very traumatic experience where myself and two other boys were playing on the railroad tracks, and one of the kids threw some metal pieces on the rail, trying to get them to ignite, and one did, burning him severely”.
Rather than let his trauma affect him, Vai knew he had a friend with John’s music, explaining, “I was in a real state of anxiety and shock at the time, but then I discovered Tumbleweed Connection and immersed myself in it. It got me through one of the most challenging psychological periods in my life”.
While the lines between Elton John and Steve Vai may seem miles apart on the surface, the amount of emotion they put into their melodies is remarkably similar. Since John works solely on the music, each piece could work as well as a solo piano concerto rather than a pop song, just like Vai’s wild soloing in a guitar capacity that helps songs stand up with or without vocals.
Then again, Vai wasn’t looking to play pop-flavoured music for the rest of his life. Taking cues from Frank Zappa, Vai used his career to expand the limits of what a guitar can do, forming his foundation around making a guitar say things that no one had even thought of before. While Elton John may have been a cornerstone of all good pop music, Vai’s role on the guitar is the closest the instrument has come to speaking.
