G3 - Live in Denver
If musical notes were gold nuggets, then King Midas would look like a pauper next to Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, and Yngwie Malmsteen. Performing both individually and together in this 112-minute concert, the three hard rock guitarists prove their virtuosity beyond a doubt; despite the obvious antecedents, including Jimi Hendrix (they play both "Little Wing" and "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" during the "G3 Jam" session that comes at the end) and Eddie Van Halen, all three play with the kind of swiftness, precision, and overall technical proficiency that very few others can match. Yet the non-stop, high-volume speed riffing (Malmsteen is the most egregious when it comes to playing notes for notes' sake, but all three are culpable) eventually proves to be a whole lot of sound and fury, signifying almost nothing. There's little to speak of in terms of songs or melodies (and no vocals, other than during the jam section), and, notwithstanding Malmsteen's pseudo-classical bent, not much to distinguish the three, either. The chops are awesome, dude--but in the end, even die-hards could be forgiven for thinking, "Thanks, fellas, that was really, really impressive. But do you think you could play some music now?"--Sam Graham