Just thought I'd drop in my 10 cents...

I was conned into buying Fareri's first cd "Suspension" by a very dubious set of reviews that said he was the most amazing shredder ever... for the first time ever, I actually threw a cd in the bin after forcing myself to listen to it for about 30 mins. The guy has amazing technique and anyone who says otherwise is just trying to sound macho. Sure, he can play insanely fast but there IS zero emotion in his music, that's because he has no style. If you listen to any of his tracks the music just sounds like a collection of notes fed through midi at 300 bpm. No vibrato, horrible lifeless tone, no slides bends and he sounds even worse when playing at a slower pace. BUT, he could well be the fastest picker out there for what he does.
That said, he is trying something new and he has to be respected for the technique and idea behind his approach (still sounds like **** to my ears). I read an interview with him and he says that he never plays the same piece of music the same twice, that everything he does is improv. This actually makes sense because if you just throw together a load of scales and sweeps without a mellodic direction or theme then you get Fransesco Fareri. Some people love his stuff and he no doubt gets satisfaction from his work so there must be something there. In my mind he is one of the most over rated players of all time along with his buddy Vatali Kuprij (just like Fareri but on a keyboard).
As far an Michael Angelo goes, his one true masterpiece was No Boundaries, the whole under over technique sounds terrible and looks stupid. He's got a new cd coming out soon, looking forward to it as its supposed to be mostly neo-classical. Check out Theodore Ziras for similar technique and speed with far superior composition. Or how about George Bellas for crazy legatto.... or Vinnie Moore for impossible arpeggios?? Vai in my opinion has had his day. His music has gone the way of his fashion sense, arty farty and pretentious (still with a bizarre sense of genius). I reckon his last great work was Alien Love Secrets, things went downhill after that...