Search - Joe Satriani :: Surfing with the Alien

Guitar Rocking for Guitar Rockers !!

J. Reynolds | Houston, TX United States | 05/28/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is simply stupendous guitar rock music. I decided to buy it when it was first released, after hearing about 20 seconds of "Ice 9." I turned the car around and headed for the record store, fearful the radio people would not tell me the name of the artist or the song, and I would not know what I was seeking. Fortunately, the DJ imparted that info after the song ended, and I was able to buy the record within half an hour of hearing the first great snippet.I called a friend to tell him about it, and he was arrogantly dismissive. "Oh yeah," the guy said, "Jeff Beck has already done a lot of the same sort of stuff. Satriani is only popular now because he's new, and he has an exotic name." And so on, and so forth.Well, folks, THAT was a bunch of nonsense. My friend was just jealous, he was a failed rock guitarist. Satriani rocked out on "Surfing With The Alien," which only prompted me to buy his next one, "Flying In A Blue Dream," the very day it was released.Buy them both TODAY, and rock out !"

SATRIANI IS AMAZING!!!! A milestone for guitar albums!!!

Ted Melville | Illinois, U.S.A. | 06/29/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Upon it's release in 1987, 'Surfing with the Alien' became a breaktrhrough hit for the then relatively unknown guitarist. I'm here to back up that statement.THIS ALBUM IS INCREDIBLE!!!! I've never seen an album with such interesting diversity. EVERY song is incredible, and filled with Satriani trademarks: melodic, fast, unpredictable, moving, and entertaining. The title track kicks off the masterpiece with soaring energy and a reoccuring melody. What I love best about Satriani is his ability to make instrumentals sound like they have vocals. The melodies are unparalleled!! Then it starts the solo: high tapping piece that almost sounds like a machine. Fuzzy distortion adds to the spacey atmosphere. It's inconcievably amazing.Next is 'Ice 9'. Another cruncher in sound, and a straight forward vocal like melody. I love the trading off style of the solo, the revving sounds he makes with the whammy bar. 'Crushing Day' follows, with a heavy rhythm major change, and eerie type melody. The solo intro is classic Satriani. 'Always with me, Always with you' stands as one of the top tracks, my favorite, probably because it's the only song of his on this album that I can play. I has great chorus and melody, and though it is the slowest and simplest song on the album, it doesn't fail to impress you and still have the key Satriani elements. 'Satch Boogie' opens with a hi hat, and explodes with a fast and furious chorus. The tapping interlude stands out. 'The Hill of the Skull' is probably the least enjoyable track, but the style of guitar fits the title, and I give it that credit. 'Circles' is another favorite. Starting with calm, clean strumming, it suddenly launches into a full scale crucnhy solo, the album's best in my opinion. It has other neat sounds that don't appear in any of the other songs, like a glass shattering kind of thing.'Lords of Karma' sounds like an oriental theme. Backed by heavy rhythm and an equally impressive melody, the layering shows Satriani's knack for over dubbing. 'Midnight' has a strange effect of down played guitar, and some very impressive tapping pieces. Last is 'Echo', a song that starts to grow on you. A slower, simpler song in contrast to some of the albums other rockers, it still doesn't cease to impress. Every song on here shines through with uncomparable talent. Satriani is a guitar hero that proves his point in his best work to date: 'Surfing with the Alien'."

Excellent guitar instrumental album

waver12007 | United States | 02/11/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This cd is the greatest cd of all of his cd's. My favorites are Midnight,Hill of the Skull because of it's victory sound. Surfing with the Alein#1 is great after the second stream of spaceships has passed by. I like Ice 9 a lot, and I like Crushing Day. This album has very good special affects. It's one of the greatest albums I have ever. I love it."