This came out in 2005 — or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
“The first part of a multilayered menagerie of vignettes based on the amplified mental exaggerations of a truth-seeking madman who sees the world … Oh, never mind.”
Those are guitar god Steve Vai’s words — not mine — describing his 10th album Real Illusions: Reflections. Apparently, even he doesn’t have the patience to unravel this grandiose prog-metal epic’s complex sci-fi fable of love, faith and spirituality. So you might as well not bother either. Instead, just put on the ’phones, douse the lights, sit back and savour Vai’s ever-stunning fretboard acrobatics, whimsical songcraft and boundless genre-splicing creativity. Trying to keep up with all that is challenge enough, never mind the backstory.
