Instrumental guitar albums played by guitar virtuosos are not to everyones taste. Indeed only guitar players tend to show an interest, but Joe Satriani has stradled the line between cult and mainstream more than most of his contempories. Self taught and teacher to other notable names in the field Satriani has released 15 albums highlighting his brand of distorted riffs and catchy leads. This anthology brings his best work under one package, encompassing his full twenty year career up to that point. His abiltiy to deliver a song where the guitar sounds like a lead vocal by use of beautifully composed melodic licks is the secret to his succsess.
Still his best works, his 1987 album "Surfing with the Alien" gets decent representation here. "Always with Me, Always with You" is an exceptional love song with a wonderful palm muted intro and haunting melody is the trump card, but is backed up by exquisite fret work on more rocking songs such as the 80s theme tune sound-a-like "Crushing Day", "Surfing with the Alien", "Friends", and "Mr Potato Head Groove Thing" the latter pushing finger dexterity to its limits. The whole two disc package sticks quite ardently to a hard rock style, the eclectic nature of the album though comes from the ways Satriani uses and pushes that genre to its limits with perfect compositions that tread bluesey ground (Big Bad Moon) one minute then Heavy Metal (Crystal Planet) the next. While Ballads such as "Love Thing" or "Until We Say Goodbye" are both emotive and touching. Satriani even gets in some vocal action with the already mentioned "Big Bad Moon" and also "I Believe" and although not the best singer these songs work on the basis that they are his creative endeavors and would be given less honesty by a hired gun.
The few track I have mentioned barely scratch the surface of what is a superb summary of a masters work. If you are somewhat unfamiliar with guitar then it will be a hard listen, it will feel like some future music with a million notes a second; but given time these songs can be seen for what they are, and that is immensly good melodic, effective pieces. If you are into guitar then this quite simply is a must.
It is also worth mentioning that the CD booklet has a little story behind each song to add a bit more to the expierience.
TRACK LIST DISC 1 "Surfing with the Alien" - 4:25 "Satch Boogie" - 3:14 "Always with Me, Always with You" - 3:23 "Crushing Day" - 5:15 "Flying in a Blue Dream" - 5:24 "The Mystical Potato Head Groove Thing" - 5:11 "I Believe" - 5:52 "Big Bad Moon" - 5:16 "Friends" - 3:30 "The Extremist" - 3:44 "Summer Song" - 4:59 "Why" - 4:46 "Time Machine" - 5:08 "Cool #9" - 6:01 "Down, Down, Down" - 6:10
DISC 2 "The Crush of Love" - 4:21 "Ceremony" - 4:53 "Crystal Planet" - 4:36 "Raspberry Jam Delta-V" - 5:22 "Love Thing" - 3:51 "Borg Sex" - 5:28 "Until We Say Goodbye" - 4:33 "Devil's Slide" - 5:11 "Clouds Race Across the Sky" - 6:14 "Starry Night" - 3:55 "Mind Storm" - 4:12 "Slick" - 3:43 "The Eight Steps" - 5:46 "Not of This Earth" - 3:59 "Rubina" - 5:51
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Disc 1 Surfing With The Alien Satch Boogie Always With Me Always With You Crushing Day ... more
Flying In A Blue Dream The Mystical Potato Head Groove Thing I Believe Big Bad Moon Friends The Extremist Summer Song Why Time Machine Cool #9 Down Down Down ...
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Advantages: A great range of sound and swithing through different genres of music Disadvantages: the only possible down fall is theres not enough tracks on the album.
Advantages: A great range of sound and swithing through different genres of music Disadvantages: the only possible down fall is theres not enough tracks on the album.
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