Poly Vai

This dropped yesterday, I believe - Polyphia got Vai into their latest single, Ego Death. It's currently the talk of guitardom, that is, how two different generations of guitar wizardries got into a single act, putting out a statement of relevance. How I feel about it (you have no obligations to agree):

• Same brand ambassadors flocking together. These individuals getting together was most probably made possible by their brand endorsements more than anything else. 
• Relevance. I see this as a Polyphia thing because majority of the music is theirs to begin with. Vai is in this on an invitational basis. I see Vai being out of place here, pertaining to the type of music that is being dished out. He is Vai & he is doing his Vai thing in this song which he is entitled to but hearing everything in context, I can't help but notice a disconnect. Vai's beeps, blurts & blips are out of place & more relevant / suitable in his Bad Horsie song for instance. The painful reflection here is that Vai's type of guitar playing approach is too different to be assimilated into Polyphia's obsessive-compulsive technicalities; it's bordering on being distasteful. Given a  choice, Greg Howe might be a more relevant candidate coming from Vai's generation of shred-tastic players if seniority is the qualifying criteria. 
• Those guitars. Yes, there is a subliminal anticipation of Ibanez doing a dedicated nylon string guitar which would appeal to contemporary players as opposed to classical musicians exclusively. Word is going round that it's gonna be a 2023 thing.  If there's a commercial hesitation then Ibanez need to learn from Godin - the Multiac was / is a run away success. Also, that Xiphos is making a flirtatious full-fledge return to prominence. It's a clever marketing strategy, isn't it? Ibanez telling the world their brand name covers a wide serving of guitars; nylon string, super strats, 7-string, pointy guitars & heck, there's even a bass in there. 

Enough rant. Here's how it sounds like:

Pic: YT