Scrapped Jane's Addiction - on to Satriani

That acid-trip, post-day-of-surf lethargy of the bottom half of the disc was anesthetizing me.

On to one of my favorite guitar instrumental records: Satriani’s Surfing with the Alien

This is one of the most perfect records ever made. It opens with the best song to snowboard to (oddly), “Surfing with the Alien”. Oftentimes when cutting a nice arc across a powder face I sing the closing uhh… pattern? Tune?

Armed with only a drum machine and those gorgeous Ibanez guitars this album shows a clear and metallic beauty. A must for anyone who does any solo athletic activities.

What a lot of whammy!

Interestingly enough two of the most amazing guitar gurus of the age were Italian (Vai and Satriani). Is it in the blood? I think of genetic guitar guru-itude as a Spanish thing.

So here’s to you people of the boot!

I really like the track “Hill of the Skull” – it’s a very nice funeral procession sound. The harmonizer on the track makes in very evocative of the last few minutes of Christ. It is smooth and regal, but very sad and cruel. Then the guitar runs into chaos and then just fades out - it’s like the trick at the end of The Last Temptation of Christ where after Jesus says “It is finished” you see the film trailer run through the light of the projector – cool trick Marty.

Music