Electric Joe Satriani: An Anthology

Joe Satriani | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 18, 2003)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B0000TGA6Y
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #63,676 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars You can't please everybody..., April 5, 2005

By 

djdjdjdjdjdj9 "djdjdjdjdjdj9" (Wisconsin) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Electric Joe Satriani: An Anthology (Audio CD)

...thus the sad tale that goes with any sort of anthology or "greatest hits" album. If you're looking to get into Joe for the first time, start here. The samples pulled from each of his studio albums is quite good and adequately represent each studio work. The older tracks are indeed remastered here. Joe is my favorite instrumentalist by far, and yet I have a couple of things to say about "Anthology" that are probably not too kind:

1) You're getting basically anything worth having from "Flying in a Blue Dream" (except for maybe "Bells of Lol"), so don't worry about buying it later. It's actually kind of a cheesy album.

2) I was a bit upset that "Circles" from the Surfing with the Alien album didn't make the cut. Joe always plays this one live, and it's one of the high-points of Surfing with the Alien. The other cuts represented from this album are all excellent.

3) The only cut from "Time Machine" is the title track, and yet it's a double-disc set (lots of live & weird studio experimental material). I would have liked to see "All Alone" on the anthology--which I think is Joe's best cut on Time Machine. "The Mighty Turtle Head" is also a great track that didn't make the cut.

4) Joe's 1995 self-titled release only got 2 cuts on Anthology -- "Cool #9" (one of Joe's favorite live openers) and "Down, Down, Down." I don't understand the presence of the latter on this compilation, when songs like "Home," "(You're) My World," and "If" get more radio air time and more attention in guitar magazines and the like. "Down, Down, Down" actually stands out on the 1995 release like a sore thumb; the rest of the album represents a rock-blues fusion thing. This is a very underrepresented album on Anthology.

5) Some great tracks were missing from "Extremist" like "Rubina's Blue Sky Happiness" and "Tears in the Rain." If you were to buy Extremist in addition to Anthology you won't feel robbed because of the overlap (same with Crystal Planet). Granted, few people ever say that "New Blues" is one of their favorite Joe tracks (it's one of my favorites), so you won't expect it in Anthology, but it is worth having, as is the whole album itself.

6) Engines of Creation got just the amount of attention it deserves (it's a weird step for Joe). "Until We Say Goodbye" is probably the only track worth having on the whole album, and it is represented here.

7) "Rubina" and "Not of this Earth" are the only two tracks that amount to anything from Joe's long-ago released "Not of this Earth" album. Good choice here (although I question why they're placed on the CD last).

8) Crystal Planet is almost over-represented, and I'm a bit sad that "House Full of Bullets" and "Up in the Sky" were not here over and against "Ceremony" and "Love Thing." "Raspberry Jam Delta-V" (a phrase used by fighter pilots to describe the effect of intense G-force on the body) and the title track are the high-points of the album, but you'd do yourself well to pick this one up on the side, even though it's somewhat overrepresented here. Again, you won't feel robbed by doing so, as I Crystal Planet, in my opinion, represents Joe's most mature work to date.

All in all, if you're an old Joe fan who wishes to convert cassette tapes to CD, start here. As I said before, you're getting what you need from Flying in a Blue Dream as well as Surfing with the Alien (except for "Circles"), and if one purchases Extremist and Crystal Planet in addition to Anthology you'll basically have everything you need to get up to speed.

32 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Electric Joe Satriani ; "An Anthology", July 11, 2004

By 

Masked Jackal (Ft. Lauderdale, FL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Electric Joe Satriani: An Anthology (Audio CD)

I've never been a Satriani fan, but one day I was taking a nap, and out of nowhere something woke me up, and was telling me to go buy a J. Satriani CD...I bought this.

I enjoy various types of music from Aerosmith to Iron Maiden to Rush, and I've always loved great guitarist like Malmsteen and Ray Vaugn, but I just never felt that Satriani would be anything I would enjoy....

I'll tell you, the minute I popped this in, I was blown away. What was that strange thing that woke me up that afternoon telling me to buy this CD???...I still find it creepy.

Anyway, I've only gotten through 15 songs of this 30 track CD {basically because I can't stop listening CD #1 long enough to hear CD #2}, and I'm convinced that J. Satriani is the best guitarist on the planet bar none....

This is simply amazing. My jaw hit the floor. I'm so happy I bought this, and I can't wait to hear everything he has to offer on CD and DVD....

BLOWN AWAY...

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Buy This CD, February 10, 2006

By 

Dave G (Metro Detroit Area) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Electric Joe Satriani: An Anthology (Audio CD)

I first tried getting into joe satriani a few years back, cause my guitar teacher told me to check him out. So I downloaded surfing with the alien and I thought "cool solos and stuff but i probobly wont listen to it again". A few weeks later my teacher suggested I borrow the cd. So I took it home, and now 2 years later I own almost every cd and i continue to listen non stop. There are tons of shredders out there like yngwie, or micheal angelo, or the tons of meatl players now days. But what seperates satriani the most, is the way he evokes emotion in his playing. For every thousand notes micheal angelo plays you can feel the same power in just one of satch's notes. The way he phrases, his use of dynamics, note coice are all evenly matched with excellent compostions. You could say he is the modonna of guitar virtiousos, the way he continues to reinvent his music, and there is no better way to be introduced to all of these styles then this cd. Some of his songs can not even be catagorized into a genre of music itself. If you dont like music, if you do like music, if you've never heard music, if you consider yourself musical at all buy this cd. I have introduced this cd to my mom, and now everyone at her work wants a copy. All of my friends at school love it, my sisters, everyone. His guitar playing is so vocal you dont need to have words coming out of his mouth to hear what he's saying. You will be hard pressed to find better music than this.