Steve Vai, the celebrated virtuoso guitarist known for his technical mastery, has revealed that his pick for the greatest album of all time is not a metal or shred showcase but Tom Waits' 1992 record Bone Machine. The choice reflects a lesser-known side of Vai's musical outlook, shaped early on by his formative years transcribing and performing for Frank Zappa, whose genre-blending approach to rock, jazz and the avant-garde broadened Vai's sense of what a guitarist and songwriter could be. Rather than favouring flashy technique, Vai's admiration for Waits underscores his deep appreciation of raw, honest songwriting and experimentation.

Vai worked with Zappa's band from 1980 to 1983 before launching a solo career that fused hard rock, metal and prog, while also collaborating with artists as varied as Public Image Ltd, Jacob Collier, Mary J. Blige and Mike Stern. He named Bone Machine as his favourite album in a 2022 interview with Classic Rock, praising its atmosphere and stark emotional honesty, and also mentioned a Zappa record as a secondary pick. Vai described the Waits album as something he "can't even explain", calling it "as raw and honest" a record as he has encountered.