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Joe Satriani - Not of This Earth
Not of This Earth is the debut studio album by hard rock/heavy metal guitarist Joe Satriani. Over the years, Joe Satriani has become one of the most well-known guitarists in rock. Most known for his famous song 'Surfing With the Alien', which came around just a year after the debut, Satriani already has a strong developed sound on this release.
The album has sort of a space-y atmosphere to it, which is most heard in the opening title track, probably created by the machine-like sound of the drums and the way the keyboards are played. There's quite the amount of variation here as well, with some space-y funk rock in the song "The Snake". During the middle of the song, there is some awesome thrash shredding that works well being placed in the middle of the largely funk tune. There are some slower, more chill songs as well, such as "Rubina" and "New Day". These are among the best of his laidback tracks.
The main highlights on the album are definitely the aforementioned "The Snake", "The Enigmatic", "Hordes of Locusts", and "The Headless Horseman". 'The Enigmatic' is an uptempo rocker, with some awesome driving bass-lines. Not only is Satriani an amazing guitarist as shown with the soloing and shredding on the album, but he plays a mean bass as well. My favorite song on the album, and one of my favorite Satriani songs is certainly the metal masterpiece 'Hordes of Locusts'. What can I say, I'm a sucker for anything with the Phrygian scale. The drums and guitar have a nice thumping beat while the guitar sings, and The occasional middle-eastern instrument fits perfectly as well. Soon some great funky bass comes in for a little bit, too short a stay, but great nonetheless. Finally, the final track 'The Headless Horseman', is a crazy two-minute long jumpy song with some really impressive guitar work. The guitar has no distortion, but Satriani sure shreds.
Overall, Satriani definitely shows his skills on this album. It has a unique place in his discography with its total spacey atmosphere. I highly recommend this album to anyone who really likes instrumentals, master guitarists, or simply wants something a bit different. Hope you found this review helpful.
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