Necks & Religion

Between a pair of shoulder surgeries, Steve Vai delivers Inviolate. An album of artistic purity, armed with a gretsch and the Triple-necked Hydra.

- By Mark Mcstea. Photographs by Larry DiMarzio

INVIOLATE, STEVE VAI'S new album, delivers everything fans have come to expect from the guitar wizard in terms of sonic innovation and ever-expanding creative horizons. But it also throws in a few curve balls with the use of clean Gretsch and Strat tones, and the introduction of the Hydra, a beast of a guitar with three necks and enough onboard gizmos to land it on the moon. Vai's philosophy about making music is simple in theory but considerably more difficult in practice. I always say to myself that, for at least one point in every track, I have to do something that I haven't done before, he reveals. And it has to sound like music.

The guitarist underwent shoulder surgery to repair an injury around early 2021, which allowed him to record the new album. Subsequent to his tour, at the time of our talk, he discovered that a second surgery was necessary, which will delay his worldwide Inviolate to until September. Always positive in his outlook, the guitarist was unfazed by the temporary setback and looking forward to the eventual road trip.

I see you resisted the temptation to go for the pun on your name with the album title.

I thought about it. [laughs] I wrote that word down so many ways, thinking, How do I want to spell it? I just thought that it would be bastardizing it, and it wouldn't mean anything anymore, sol avoided the temptation.

Teeth of the Hydra, the opening track, was cut with your new three-necked Hydra. Was it all played in real time?