Guitar legend Steve Vai will release his next solo record 'The Story of Light ' on August 14, featuring 10 melodic instrumentals and two songs featuring female vocalists. The project is the second part of a operatic trilogy, which will include lyrics and narration.

 'The Story of Light' "follows the journey of a man driven mad by grief, intertwining tragedy, revelation, enlightenment, and redemption." Part one of the trilogy was the 2005 album 'Real Illusions: Reflections,' and part three will come at a later date. All our released on Favored Nations Entertainment, the label Vai founded in 1999.

Aimee Mann (Til Tuesday) sing on a song called 'No More Amsterdam,' and season one 'The Voice' finalist Beverly McClellan will sing 'John the Revelator,' a track inspired by Blind Wilie Johnson, who also makes a postmortem appearance.

'The Story of Light' is available for preorder at Vai's website. It's his 16th album, and the first since the 2009 live record 'Where the Wild Things Are.'  Vai will begin a tour of North America on August  15 in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

Check out 'Gravity Storm' from the new record: