This is the very first album that Joe offered us, and released in 1986, so taking a big leap back almost two decades what do we get?
01 - Not Of This Earth A chime like sound opens up the song striking chords to then be joined by a somewhat rather fat, and lumpy 80's styled syth drum. The main line of the guitar is slowly paced, with some fast legato fills between the main phrases showing the potential of some of the material to come. This song is very melodic in the phrases between the little "crazy sections".
02 - The Snake Based on a rock funk style the bass line really does carry this song by providing a solid ground, however all the clean rhythm guitar parts are a delight to listen to and provide a very intricate and interesting background to listen to, its almost more worth listening to these than the main tune. The song is bouncy and relatively fast paced with some interesting arrangements between sections.
03 - Rubina I think that replacing the lumpy drums on this track have helped it no end, but as far as the tune goes, this song is such a lovely ballad. Written for his wife (who I think is seen in the BIG BAD MOON
music video of Satriani's) this track really has a longing emotion to it, and leaves you feeling a mixed collective between being happy and relaxed yet a little sad. The melody progresses wonderfully and this is a very well composed song.
04 - Memories The introduction is my favourite part of the song, before it breaks into the main part. The main part compared to the introduction is weak, and lacking in my view what the bold introduction was suggesting. Again the drums don't do this track any justice and I think it's a trend on the whole album. Musically it's a pretty good song if you over look the drums.
05 - Brother John A lovely melodic introduction stems onto the rest of the song, following much the same pattern for the next two minutes. The song is one lone guitar and could probably be compared to his "tears in the rain" song with just more activity. A good song overall displaying his less rocky side.
06 - The Enigmatic Well the introduction is interesting, laser sounds and rather discordant progressions really make me want to skip the track…But staying around this song goes more into the Steve Vai realm of experimentation with guitar sounds, and is a clear movement away from Joe's often well composed melodies. Not one of my favourites.
07 - Driving At Night You get the illusions of the road, and driving at high speed, you can just feel the imagery, which is really good. There are a lot of well-composed textures working in this song providing the atmosphere. The main tune although nothing audibly spectacular, is carried well with the underlying instruments, which subtly provide the building of tension. If this was to be re-recorded or played live I think it would be ten times better. A song with a lot of potential that I feel might just have been let down due to the limited recording technology of the time.
08 - Hordes Of Locusts An awesome track that sounds rather heavy and really evil! The melody is just evil, with some rather haunting passages filled with very good guitar "sounds" that aren't just the melody we normally associate to a guitar, there is even a sitar at one point! The relentless dum dum dum of the rhythm guitar although cool gets a little too repetitive, but its bearable. Overall a cool track that sounded amazing when I heard a live version of it.
09 - New Day Again an opening with a rather bright and sparkling clean guitar sound that ventures on leading into the main body of the song, to which we are delighted with some really nice melodic tunes that aren't destroyed but compliment with the main melody. The guitar work here is very tight, which adds to the overall enjoyment of the song. Again those god awful lumpy drums though…
10 - The Headless Horseman Opening with a whistle call, and a very racy guitar line at a fast tempo it has echoes of surf music in it, as the music dances around depicting some sort of race. You hear gunshots repeatedly through the track as well as some strange vocal hollowing. The point of this? I am not entirely sure. But the same theme proceeds throughout the song (which is only 2minutes) with variation and adaptation although the rhythms of these patterns remain unchanged for the most part. A strange choice to place as the last track but none the less showing a different style of Joe's skills.
In hindsight for a first album it's a mixed reaction for me, but then again I have heard a lot more of his music from over the years as he has progressed, and its really come quite far, the quality for the part has dramatically increased with recording technology advances. But for now the only really bad part is those nasty lumpy drums that can detract from some of the nice riffs in the song. There are definitely some strong songs on this album, such as tracks 2,3,7 and 8. These, I think are the most memorable. On whether I would recommend buying this album I am not sure, but some of its worth a listen if you are a fan of this music, if not then I would stick to the greatest hits albums, or the Live in San Francisco album.
Pictures of Not Of This Earth - Joe Satriani
Joe
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Jul 19th, 2005
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