Friday, August 10, 2007

Where it all began...


I meant to mention this earlier in the week, but as I wanted the previous post to get decent face time, I let it slide for a few days.
This past Tuesday marked the 20th anniversary of the release of Joe Satriani's debut, Surfing With The Alien.
Joe is an electric guitar virtuoso, known not only for his inpeccable riffs, licks, and hooks, but for the soul which he infuses his works with. He is where it all begain, in my book. He mentored Steve Vai ( who's incredible to the point of possibly surpassing Joe in technique, but lacks any trace of emotion ), and taught Kirk Hammett ( of Metallica fame ) most of what he knows.

Most of Satch's music is instrumental, and ranges from blistering solos and pure octane to mellow, bluesy tunes.

The debut CD Surfing With The Alien has been rereleased with digital remastering and a whole slew of goodies. And it's worth getting; it has a picture of the Silver Surfer on the album cover!

Here are some faves of mine:

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

very nice! thankx for reminding us but you should know that he did not teach kirk until later in kirks career it was after the second or 3rd disk! i'm not sure but thats what i think!!!

Anonymous said...

MY BAD!!!!! he was his teacher BEFORE he joined METALLICA! sorry

Shmuel said...

Moe - How many times do I have to say it?
Do. Not. Mess.



:)

Anonymous said...

WOW sorry i'll try not to........

fashionista cat in a zero gravity shoe-store said...

Sweety, I'm sorry for the inconvenience I've caused you.

Anonymous said...

Uh, what?

Shmuel said...

Fashionista - Not quite sure I know what you're referring to. If it's the extra face time of the previous post, it's no big deal. I welcome the discussion.
Although I have to admit, I'm disappointed that the folks didn't dig that a changed "comments" to "meditations". I thought it was good, because I value it greatly when people post thought provoking stuff, making their input more than just plain old comments. There was something more, almost like a meditation...I digress; I changed it back.

fashionista cat in a zero gravity shoe-store said...

Jewmaican, I completely understand what you mean. I've seen quite a few post comments on various blogs that resembled one or the other of the following:
a) "Hey XYZ! Long time! Pick up the phone or call me back! I've only tried to call you three times today!" [Hmmmm, if you are this close, why don't you simply textmessage or email each other?]
b) "Nice :)" [I know it is, otherwise the author wouldn't have posted it.]
c) "You're too funny." [Wait and see what it'll get like when the author is actually intending to be funny.]
d) "I wholeheartedly , beg to differ with your subliming XYZ being XYZ because, XYZ to me is not much diverse of XYZ." [Ouch, dear Mr or Ms Malaprop, if complicated syntax is too difficult for you, keep your sentences simple. It's ok to use easy language as long as one gets understood. There are punctuation rules in the English language, too. Certain verbs collocate with certain prepositions. Most importantly, make sure to have understood the post / comment you are referring to. You don't disagree with someone if you share the same opinion on an issue and / or add a few additional aspects for consideration.]
e) You #?@! [I was tempted to think that one must be an adult to blog. Quite a few people seem to enjoy showing off their bad upbringing and lack of class. Class is not a facial cream; lots of money won't make you classy but the intrinsic knowledge of how to conduct yourself around others.]
Suffice it to say, while some of those comments might be friendly and polite, they do not trigger any discussion, and I, for my part, often find that to be a tad disappointing.

doodlehead said...

would u rate satriani as the best?

Shmuel said...

Dood- In my book, in his field? No question whatsoever.

Anonymous said...

in his field i cant argue with that but who is your best guitarist all time all styles? i think i'll have to say that it's david gilmour (floyd) not that he's half as fast as the likes of joe or stevie ray or jimi...... but NO ONE has half the heart and soul that he has! he can take apart your heart with any of his solos! what do you think?

Anonymous said...

Genial post and this mail helped me alot in my college assignement. Thank you for your information.