STEVE VAI — Flex-Able Leftovers (review)

STEVE VAI — Flex-Able Leftovers album cover

EP · 1984 · Hard Rock

3.5/5 · 2018-07-21
siLLy puPPy

STEVE VAI’s debut album “Flex-able” was the result of his time between several years as “stunt guitarist” for Frank Zappa and his future as a rock / metal guitar god once he joined David Lee Roth and Whitesnake which helped launch his career as one of rock’s greatest solo shredders of all time. The material presented on his debut album which appeared in 1984 was the result of two years of recording (82-84) of which only eleven tracks appeared but STEVE’s output was quite prolific. What started out as a project to record goofy nonsensical tracks only intended to be heard by his friends resulted in a debut album with the excess of eight more tracks appearing on the FLEX-ABLE LEFTOVERS EP that was released the same year.

This EP may be a source of confusion since it was released twice in 1984 by two record labels and then again in 1998 as a full length album with an additional six tracks recorded during the same period with all three releases sporting completely different cover art. Yikes! The first release of FLEX-ABLE LEFTOVERS appeared as a vinyl 10” with only 1000 editions appearing on the Urantia label which featured fairy tale cover art that had a yellow impressionist background with a hand tugging on a heart in water. The second pressing of also 1000 editions was released on VAI’s newly created Akashic Records and featured a similar cover as the original “Flex-Able” album cover with a jet black background with a pinkish purple logo and in the EP’s case a similarly colored VAI playing guitar. Both of these EPs had the exact same track order which was changed up for the 1998 re-release.

IN SIDE (aka Side One)

One "You Didn't Break It" Two "Bledsoe Bluvd" Three "The Beast of Love" Four "Burnin' Down the Mountain”

OUT SIDE (aka Side Two)

One "So Happy" Two "Details at 10" Three "Little Pieces of Seaweed" Four "Chronic Insomnia”

The EP was expanded to a full-length on Sony Records released in 1998 with a completely different track order which included six unreleased tracks that were recorded during the same period of 1982-84. This one was released on CD only and included one major change of recording live drums to replace the original drum machine on “You Didn’t Break It.” All the tracks received a complete re-editing and mixing. To make it even more confusing four of the tracks appeared as bonus tracks on the CD release of the “Flex-Able” album that appeared in 1988. These four tracks include: “So Happy,” “Bledsoe Blvd,” “Burnin’ Down The Mountain” and “Chronic Insomnia.” Whew! The 1998 track list is:

One “F.u.c.k Yourself" (Listed as #?@! Yourself) (Bonus Ed. 1998) Two "So Happy" Three "Bledsoe Bluvd" Four "Natural Born Boy" (Bonus Ed. 1998) Five "Details at 10" Six “Massacre" (Bonus Ed. 1998) Seven "Burnin' Down the Mountain" Eight "Little Pieces of Seaweed" Nine "San Sebastian” (Bonus Ed. 1998) Ten "The Beast of Love" Eleven "You Didn't Break it” (Bonus Ed. 1998) Twelve "The X-Equilibrium Dance" (Bonus Ed. 1998) Thirteen "Chronic Insomnia”

These tracks contained many but not all of the same session musicians as “Flex-Able” with Mike Keneally and Stu Hamm joining in from the Zappa crowds. The instrumentation once again ranged from the standard guitar, bass, keyboards and drums to the more exotic which included coral sitar, violin, piccolo xylophone, bell lyre and vibraphone. Also in the mix were various vocal effects from many guests as well. While “Flex-Able” was a stand alone eclectic moment in the rock universe, FLEX-ABLE LEFTOVERS has even more bizarre concoction which include some of the most foul mouthed profanities that STEVE VAI has ever uttered in his predominantly PG-rated career therefore this is the one album that received the Parental Advisory label most due to the 1998 add on “F.u.c.k Yourself,” a shockingly hilarious critique on society and the world in general, guaranteed to either offend you beyond belief or have you rolling on the floor laughing so hard that tears are rolling out of your eyes!

FAVORITE TRACKS include: The opener “F.u.c.k Yourself” and the second track “So Happy.” A very bizarre WTF spoken word oddity that shows VAI’s uncanny ability to replicate spoken words in perfect pitch and tempo on guitar. “Massacre.” A bitchin’ guitar workout fretted over a techno beat that performs some of VAI’s best guitar antics of this era. “Little Pieces Of Seaweed.” OMG. This is just too much! This is INSANE!!! Yes, it’s got Zappa written all over it but it is filthy, raunchy, brash and experimental as hell. VAI unleashes all the production techniques including backmasking, torturous fret abuse and freaky compositional liberties. Aspects of VAI’s entire career can be heard in this one. The ultimate summary in one track. “The X-Equilibirum Dance” is a funky chunky bunch of proggy weirdness! The funk bass finds a guitar slinking in and out of sync with it and while the guitar goes to la-la land, so do the drums and bass join in offering a weird in-and-out-of focus strangeness. “Chronic Insomnia” is pure experimental guitar that would sound more at home in a no wave band like DNA. It’s actually quite frightening as a bunch of guitar sounds emulate an exorcist or something. It’s two minutes of pure mind f.u.c.k.e.r.y.

OK TRACKS include: “Details At 10.” Despite a quite cool track. This is too much straight outa the Frank Zappa playbook. Perhaps a rejected track from the “You Are What You Is” album. Nice but it’s not outstanding either. “Burnin’ Down The Mountain” is a slow acoustic guitar track with shakers that offers a pleasant melodic development but never really gains steam. “You Didn’t Break It” offers a Van Halen type of guitar riff. It was written by Bob and Suzannah Harris and features Bob on vocals. It’s not bad and VAI’s guitar adds some sizzle to an otherwise meh sort of rock song.

THROWAWAY TRACKS include: “Natural Born Boy.” One of those boring rock instrumentals that has no memorable melody and displays a generic lead over rhythmic guitar. “San Sebastian” is another one of those boring melodic tracks that chimes along and never really goes anywhere. “Beast Of Love.” One of those ballad type tracks with VAI’s awful vocal style. I can handle his voice when the track is interesting but this one is rather bland.

Overall, a great bonus for true fans. There is some excellent material on here that i could not possibly live without however this one falls short of the essential tag. As expected the term LEFTOVERS implies material that didn’t make the original cut for a reason. In many cases, it was because the material was obviously too weird and that’s the material i love the best, but some as stated are rather meh while some are just ok. However, the cream of the crop on here means this is well worth checking out if you love the most weird Zappa influences of VAI’s early work as well as his impeccable production and guitar playing skills.