Joe Satriani
Surfing with the Alien

There are works that have become a part of music's heritage because they have made history, sometimes radically changing the very concept underlying the word. For these albums, in my personal opinion, writing a review would be superfluous if not harmful unless one wishes to say something different from the usual clichés.

However, there are some works which, even though they have not become musical landmarks, have left a profound mark on one of the many branches of this art. Specifically, Joe Satriani, with his most important work, showed the way to the future for the electric guitar in 1987.

Joe 'Satch' Satriani was born in '56 in a city near New York (Westbury), and was struck by Jimi Hendrix's talent, which led him to decide to play the guitar. In the seventies, he started his career as a teacher (Steve Vai, Kirk Hammett, and Larry Lalonde of Primus among his most illustrious students), but until the mid-eighties, he did not secure a record deal. It was one of his students who had already entered the music business ('the little Italian virtuoso') who helped him in this endeavor. In 1986, "Not Of This Earth" came out, but it was with this subsequent album that he established himself as one of the leading artists of the rock-metal scene (I could actually add Jazz, Funk Blues, ...) guitar scene of the eighties.

It is the rockish beginning of the "Title Track" that opens the album. Satriani works on a very complicated riff to play to maximize the atmosphere before the start of the main theme. In the nearly three-minute solo, he literally brings out everything he knows and can from his instrument: tapping, tapping with the pick, jazz and blues scales, but above all, legatos that give an immense fluidity to the part. "Ice 9" and "Crushing Day" practically become a continuation, in which Satch focuses heavily on the use of the tremolo bar and its possible uses.

And after about ten minutes of solos shot at devastating speed and power, the fourth track, "Always With Me Always With You", dedicated to his wife, opens with a staccato arpeggio on which a fast yet reflective melody is laid, clear yet personal especially thanks to exceptional use of vibratos. The track also features an absolutely ingenious tapping phrase, where he plays three notes in a binary tempo (the result is a continuous shift of accents). "Satch Boogie" is a tribute piece to blues and boogie and is played in shuffle time that gives the characteristic swing feel. In "Hill Of The Skull", Joe experiments with a kind of electric orchestra with multiple overdubs. Few slow notes that give a sense of grandeur. It's a pity this particular musical solution was never adopted again because it could have been developed in other ways in my opinion.

With the subsequent "Circles", we return to rock tracks, while in the oriental-themed "Lords Of Karma", Satriani uses chromaticism also for the melody.

In "Midnight", he revisits the development of tapping not from VH but from his predecessor Hackett. In fact, with a clean tone, he plays the guitar in a percussionist style, drumming on the neck with the fingers of both hands. Rhythm and dynamics are highlighted by the rubato tempo. The album ends with the long "Echo" which fades out as if it were ending at the bottom of the sea.