Record Label: Epic
Genre: Rock
Band Link:
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Celebrating the 20th anniversary of the guitar maestro’s breakout hit, “Surfing With The Alien” comes this reissue of the album, remastered, repacked and includes a bonus DVD of a previously unreleased concert from Montreux Jazz Festival in 1988. What better way than enjoying this record both with the original album and a live set including all the tracks from Surfing With The Alien live! Satriani is one of my favorite artists of all time and while The Extremist is closest to my heart, Surfing With The Alien is right up there. It hasn’t been the norm for most rock musicians to put out a record that
didn’t include vocal tracks, until this record. This album just punches you in the face right from the start with the title track, and proceeds throughout the record. I was always fond of “Always With Me, Always With You.” There is just something about that track that is very sweet, and romantic about it. I guess you can say it’s a ballad. “Circles” is another track that I always loved. It is very calming and cool until that middle section that just wakes you the hell up, which I don’t really care for in the song, but works for Satch. With most tracks from Joe’s records, his guitar doesn’t need vocals because his guitar does the singing for him. It’s very melodic that way and I always was amazed that a guitar record could stand on its own like that. It certainly has worked for him because he has fans that just adore him and come out every tour to check out his performances. I admit I only saw him once but Joe is right near the top of my list as far as favorite artists.

The concert from Montreux in 1988 is a great choice for bonus DVD Material. While Joe is on his game for performing, it’s pretty funny to see his outfit and hair style from back in the day. I’m glad he finally decided to start buzzing it after his Self Titled record in 1995. He just looks cooler. The concert is great though. It’s awesome how Joe can perform live and the tracks sound pretty close to the studio versions, with of course a few alterations and extended cuts to the songs. I’m kinda bummed I missed out on the 20th Anniversary show in NYC just a few weeks ago. That would have been a real treat. Ah, next time. Until then, I have an amazing library of Joe Satriani’s work to enjoy. For me, it all started with “Alien,” but got a helluva lot better with each album.

Bottom Line: Outstanding record that propelled Joe to the top of the list as one of the Guitar Gods.
Notable Tracks: Surfing With The Alien, Always With Me, Always With You, Circles, Lords of Karma
Overall Rating: