Technical Breakdown of Ego Death by Polyphia & Steve Vai - Pro Guitarist Reaction

Hey everyone I've just done a new video reacting to ABC by Polyphia. I take a deeper dive into the chord progression and melody to uncover how it's essentially constructed like an old jazz standard. https://youtu.be/HghqamOpNtQ

My favorite thing about Polyphia, and that they do on this album more than ever, is create guitar melodies that are just as memorable as if they had a singer. They genuinely make their guitars SING on their tracks, and especially this one. No one does that like them, and it’s one thing that sets them apart from all other instrumental bands. True generational talent!

I'm a full grown man, and every time I hear Vai's part I almost tear up. He's almost magical.

Hands down, Polyphia’s bringing the golden days of instrumental guitar music back now in my opinion.

Just what performances like these need. There’s so many plain reactions, but being able to learn a bit about what they’re doing is important.

I was born 1965 and I have listened to all the big ones but this is, by far, the best thing I have heard in my entire life. I'm like you Jack, I just can't stop listening to this song. It is absolutely amazing. I'm so happy that Steve got together with these young extremely talented guys. This is a masterclass in taking a really simple cord progression that we have heard in a 100 hit songs and making it totally unique. OMG!

Your reaction is the best, you can tell how much this track means to you as a guitarist. I have not touched a guitar in 10+ years, but there is just something special about this song and just Polyphia as a whole that makes me feel something special when hearing this song and the rest of their music.

I love how they all play their own style, then as a band blended, you see the "Ego Death" in real time. Love the artistry.

Steve's part is really the part that stuck to my head after hearing for like 100 times. What a legend.

What an excellent reaction. I don’t even play guitar, or any instrument super consistently for that matter, but I love your explanation about what you like about Vai’s solo. I am obsessed with it as well, I keep replaying it. His emotes, body language, facial expressions, his ability to make the guitar wail with wammy and technique, entirely epic and clearly masterful.

I'm just discovering Polyphia, but I've been a fan of Steve all my life almost, he's always been the GOAT in my eyes. He built on everything that came before, Page, Beck, Hendrix, EVH, and just took it to the next level. He's spent the last 20 years doing orchestral work and teaching and trying to pass the baton as it were to new greats like Orianthi, but he may have finally found his true successors in Polyphia! This is truly amazing! Look at the unique bending style he uses when he first comes on, it's something new he taught himself to do in the last few years, it's featured on a song of his called Candle Power and it's almost discordant but it's fantastic! He said on a stream it was the hardest thing he ever made himself learn. And this is the guy that plays the Hydra! (see Teeth of the Hydra if you haven't already) Ego Death is something you'll learn the meaning of if you ever watch Steve talk about his spirituality. In summary he firmly believes in meditation and overcoming and killing your egoic mind and being present in the moment with your thoughts and actions. Quiet the inner voice that wants to think about a thousand things and just BE. Ego death is also the death of fear, since fear is completely a product of the ego. But yeah, "snake-hips" Vai, "the human whammy-bar" is in full effect here and it's great! They probably are miming for the camera a bit, film shoots have so many takes they Don't use, they were probably on that roof for hours and who is gonna lug those amps up there? 😅 But he learned about showmanship from playing with Frank Zappa, David Lee Roth, and Whitesnake, so he could teach the new stars so much about stage presence AND about being Present!

Your analysis of their tracks has been above anyone elses so far. You detect every nuance. Very well done. You takes are spot on and very insightful. Keep them coming! <3

I read another comment about the chair that struck me. Both Tim and Scott were in the building, but when it came to Steve, they moved to the roof. He's literally a level above them, and instead of him moving down to their level, they felt the need to rise to his and meet him where he was at. Tim touched on the idea briefly when he mentioned that Steve's contribution inspired the second half of the song, and that he believed it was one of their best of all time.

This is by far the best reaction I've seen to this track (yes I've watched probably 10). It's so great to have an actual explanation of what's happening musically to a layman. I really enjoy all this technical music and it's nice to have a name of a technique to name the parts I really enjoy if that makes any sense! ---- also as a P.S. : Tim Henson (the guy playing the 8 string) has his own YT channel and has some behind the scenes type stuff for how he writes songs etc. I bet you would really enjoy some of those.

This video is amazing. If Steve's play is coming from his soul, his love for music, so is your explanation. The way you articulate your point of view of the song and your opinions about it is so complex but so easy to understand at the same time... I could almost predict what you were going to say before you even said it because it was coming from the heart and passion for the music. Really outstanding video . Thank you.

The most important thing I took away from this video is that you're an awesome teacher. Loved the story about your gifted student and you recognizing his talent and even learning from him. Absolutely amazing

Your analysis is so thorough, to the point that it brought me even deeper into the song, even though I've been listening to it non-stop for the past 5 days. Thank you very much for sharing your knowledge and perspective with us.

I love that the young guns show love and respect for the OG.

Just wanted to add that the guitar Steve used on this track is fitted with Sustainiac pickups that cause his notes to just flow together and add to the overall one and harmonics.

Clay’s bass tone, rhythm, and mirroring is such quality.