Customer Reviews

Surfing With the Alien

5 star:		(69)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

I challenge anyone to release a more accessible instrumental rock album than Joe Satriani's "Surfing With the Alien." I don't play guitar myself, but that is hardly an impediment to enjoying his music...and that's probably the best thing about Joe -- you don't need to be a musician yourself to love his songs.

Surfing With the Alien was Joe's first successful record, and after listening to it just once you'll understand why. Joe eschews needless self-indulgence like most 'guitar heroes' and just plays rocking songs with interesting melodies. My favorite songs are "Crushing Day" -- an exhilarating song with mind-bending solos and some good hooks -- and "Echo" -- a great track that flows naturally and beautifully. Every other song here is excellent, from the epic and orchestral-sounding "Hill of the Skull" to the pretty ballad "Always With Me; Always With You."

I highly recommend this album to guitar players and rock fans alike.

This album showcases a brilliant musician at the height of his powers and is probably his best album; at the very least, it's my favourite work of his as it manages to show the versatility and technical proficiency of Joe in 10 fabulous tracks.

From the speedy pyrotechnics of the first track "Surfing With the Alien" replete with everything from wah-pedal to wild tremolo bar vibrato to two-handed tapping to the mellow, sentimental "Always With Me, Always With You" which is also replete with vibrato and two-handed tapping but in a more subdued and always accessible manner.

Taking a page from another guitar great, Jeff Beck, Joe has his own answer to "Jeff's Boogie", the original standard for flash guitar playing, with "Satch Boogie", raising the bar even higher for what makes a brilliant guitar boogie-woogie showcase. Where Eddie Van Halen does acoustic guitar tapping on "Spanish Fly" from "Van Halen II", Joe does his version on "Midnight" to great effect.

What I like about Joe as well is his great humility and generosity. He doesn't keep what he knows to himself like a trade secret but he openly shares his knowledge and is a great guitar teacher. He's had Steve Vai and Kirk Hammett among his long list of admirers and students and he continues to inspire guitar enthusiasts and guitarists like myself after all these years.

This version of the album has been very well remastered and the sound quality is hence very good. Very highly recommended if you like rock guitar instrumental music and essential listening if you are an aspiring rock guitarist.

A night-and-day improvement of his debut album and probably the best instrumental rock album of its era, "Surfing With the Alien" is the Joe Satriani album that people are most likely to have, and with good reason-- the title track came as close to being a hit single as any instrumental piece has in ages and the album is just stunning.

Satriani, backed by a core of percussionists (Bongo Bob Smith, Jeff Campitelli and john Cuniberti) put together an album of fantastic performances-- his melodies are catchy and exciting, the arrangements are fully realized and detailed, and his playing is fierce and astonishing. But more to the point, it avoids falling into the trap of sounding dated. The material covers a lot of ground, from the explosive and exciting (the classic title track, the chugging "Crushing Day" and the funky "Satch Boogie") to moody and evocative ("Echo") to sentimental and lyrical ("Always With Me, Always With You", featuring perhaps the best playing Satriani has ever done. Along the way, Satriani also throws in an overtly prog piece (the symphonic "Hill of the Skull", which ends in less than two minutes, long before it gets annoying) and a cleantone performance that will have anyone who's ever picked up a guitar staring blankly ahead ("Midnight").

Invariably, this is a fine place to begin exploring Satriani's music, and certainly it may be his best album. Highly recommended.

Joe Satriani is the ultimate guitar hero. He has amazing chops, incredible melodic vision, and also fast, unbelievable shred skills. This album shows in a very inspiring way what an amazing musician he is. If you are a guitar player or have a good ear for talented and thoughtfull music, then you should pick this one up in a heartbeat.

Rivaled only by Steve Vai's Passion and Warfare (to which it is often compared) as the best solo guitar album ever, this cd is absolutely essential to all fan's of shredding, and great guitar playing period. Satch Boogie is one of the best solos I've ever heard. Also, the title track, Always With Me..., Echo, Lords of Kharma, and other tracks on here are totally killer. If you want to get into Joe's music, then this is undoubtedly the best place to start.

This is the album that established Joe Satriani as one of the modern-day guitar gods, and deservedly so! This is a masterpiece of writing and skill. "Surfing With the Alien" starts it off and establishes Joe's early tone that was copied by so many. This one also starts a series of songs related to the Marvel superhero Silver Surfer (this album cover; "Back to Shalla-Bal" on the album "Flying in a Blue Dream" and "The Power Cosmic 2000, parts 1&2 on "Engines of Creation") "Satch Boogie" is an extremely rockin' tune that is his trademark. Still jaw-dropping after all this time. "Always With You, Always With Me" is one of the most beautiful songs ever written and is one of the songs that got him noticed by mainstream audiences (it is often played during figure skating routines, along with another song by Joe, "All Alone") "Circles" is a song that was probably a source of inspiration for many alternative and punk bands simply for the fact that it starts out nice and soft, then goes nuclear, then back to nice and soft. Plus, "Crushing Day" is one of the most all-around perfect songs I've ever heard. As a whole, this is a must-definitely-own for any fan of the guitar. Well deserving of the perfect score.

This album changed my perspective on music, it opened new doors to my guitar playing and made me a more creative song writer, every track on this album is worth listening to if you are heavily into instrumental rock, this is Satch's breakthrough album, tracks like "Surfing with the Alien", "Ice 9", "Satch Boogie", and "Crushing Day" give you an uplifting attitude and inspire you to start playing guitar. I recommend this album greatly, because it says so much and its just nice to listen to, its an album that you can play over and over again.

After taking just one listen to SURFING WITH THE ALIEN, I can clearly state that Joe Satriani is one of the most creative, melodic, and precise guitar players out there today. Satch goes through so many styles on this all-instrumental album that it makes its paltry 37-minute running time all the more short. This is really the making of a master. Before SURFING, instrumental albums were known as being pretentious and unlistenable. Not so here. Satriani can shred and go off on a tangent with the best of them, but he chooses never to overplay. Instead, it's all about the tone, the feel, the arrangement, and the melody rather than just going in the studio and recording whacked-out jams.

Speaking of melody, these 10 songs are loaded with them. Every song is extremely catchy, given the fact that they're ALL instrumentals. That is the testament of Satch's talent and he still delivers his melodic punch to this day. Where do I begin? This is some really great music. The opening title track, "Crushing Day," and "Lords of Karma" are groovy, heavy rockers with killer riffs, rapid-fire solos, and great melodies. "Always with Me, Always with You" is a lovely, powerful ballad that proves you don't need lyrics to convey emotion. Satch's solo on that song kind of sounds like stars twinkling in the night sky. A wonderful feeling.

"Satch Boogie" is the fastest song on the album which sounds like ZZ Top's "La Grange" on steroids; "Midnight" is a short little piece filled all-tapping techniques and a nice, danceable rhythm; and "Echo" is a slow bluesy number to close the album out and it's a nice alternative to all the madness that has gone on. The best of the bunch is "Circles." This song is only 3:28, but Satch keeps throwing surprises throughout it. It starts off as a moody Latin-inspired acoustic piece, until the 1:00 mark where the bass drum kicks in and Satch unleashes a bloodthirsty, ferocious solo from out of left field. This speed continues, until another time change occurs around the 2:14 mark where the main acoustic theme is repeated and the song closes out with some rhythmic touches. You won't believe it till you hear it.

This is a really, strong consistent album that was totally unlike anything else in metal around that time. SURFING WITH THE ALIEN became Satch's breakout album and launched him to a long and fruitful career. And think about it: when Satch was a guitar teacher, he gave lessons to Metallica's Kirk Hammett. It's ironic that Satch is still making great music and Hammett is wallowing in the dismal corridors of what used to be Metallica. Just think about it.

As Jimi would say - it's all freedom, and that's how I felt in 1987 when I first borrowed this from a friend. I have gone on to collect all of Joe's CDs, and explored Eric Johnson and Steve Vai as well, among many others, but I STILL love to pop this in when I'm cruising on a road trip and just let the jams roll by with the miles. This is one of the more raucous of his releases, if you want something a little more laid-back, but still very good, try his self-titled release.

This awe-inspiring 10 track journey is everything one has come to expect from Mr. Satriani---raucous, crunchy rockers, smooth, expressive soloing and an overall mood that is simply indescribable. Once again, Satch manages to compose an entire album without speaking a single word, yet one must wonder as to whether or not Joe's axe posesses a set of vocal chords.

The title track is a frenetic romp chock full of whammy bar dives and tapping. The Vonnegut-inspired Ice 9 is another fiery piece, with its chunky rhythm guitars in the background. Track 3, Crushing Day, is a powerful, crisp number---ideal highway driving music.

There is, of course, much more guitar goodness on this album, namely; the beautiful Always With Me, Always With You and Circles, an utterly mind-boggling piece that starts out slow and plunges into a maniacal primal scream of a solo.

So do your civic duty and buy this album. If you play guitar, you should already own it. Even if you DON'T play guitar, you should already own it. It is a fine example of Satriani's sheer talent. Think of Jimmy Page, Eddie Van Halen, Jimi Hendrix and Yngwie Malmsteen all rolled up into one delicious burrito of raw shredding talent, and you'll have an idea of what you're in for with Surfing With The Alien.