Both the Marino and Cuniberti masters are superior to the original Grundman version and fans of this record really should have one of them. The leap in quality from the original pressing to these subsequent releases is a quantum improvement. Careful listeners will find Cuniberti's master is an upgrade over Marino's but only by a step rather than a leap.
When all the studio sorcery and after-the-fact tinkering has been done, 10 songs and 38 minutes of the most amazing guitar-based instrumental music remain. For all that has been written about his extraordinary gifts as a player, his concept of melody has gone underappreciated. What separates Satriani from virtually every other guitarist is that he is a capable composer, that his songs are more than a collection of licks and solos.
He would progress as a player, composer and compose great pieces of music over the next 20 years, but he has yet to craft a collection of songs that feel this interconnected.
The DVD
This is the real treat for diehard fans who have already purchased one or two copies of the album. The bonus DVD is comprised of three parts: a spoof interview with Spinal Tap's Nigel Tufnel, music videos for "Always With Me, Always With You," and a previously unreleased live set from the Montreux Jazz Festival. The Tufnel interview is amusing, but most viewers won't watch it more than once. The videos are not vital visual experiences but belong on a package like this that strives to be the ultimate expression of what the album was about.
The Montreux performance captures a set he, drummer Jonathan Mover, and bassist Stu Hamm played at the famed festival on July 15, 1988. The hour-long set is not a blazing performance, but the story behind it – retold hilariously in the liner notes – probably explains why there are occasional lacks in precision by the band.
The set mixes a few songs from Not of This Earth as well as Surfing. Both Hamm and Mover are given brief solos. I never get tired of hearing Stu Hamm play Beethoven on the bass, nor do I tire of marveling at the two-hand technique that produces it even if it is a little disheartening to see he's been playing more or less the same bass solo for all these years.
Article comments
1 - Chris Beaumont
need to get my hands on this.
2 - Mark Saleski
me too! i might even walk into one of those gawd-awful fye places tomorrow.
it's all your fault hathaway!!!
3 - Glen Boyd
Not a huge fan here (he was always a little too flashy for me -- I was always more of a Jeff Beck guy when it comes to this type of stuff). But this sounds like the one to get. No FYE for me though (throwing up the sign of the cross there).
-Glen
4 - Mark Saleski
i keep tellin' josh that he needs to hear both Wired and the more recent Guitar Shop
5 - Josh
Mark, order it from Amazon. Stay away from the box stores! My life is at least 20% better since I stopped shopping at freakin' Best Buy.
Glen, this is the version of the album to get and for my money it's still Joe's best album. There are many, many great songs to be found on his other records but this is truly an album, and a special one at that.
For the record, I'm not anti-Beck. Satriani is flashy and plays a lot of notes but does so in a melodic manner and in the context of an actual song.
6 - Mark Saleski
i've never actually set foot in an fye...but there happens to be one up the street from where i work.
of course, i usually go to my local independent cd shop.
7 - Tom Johnson
Very excited to get my hands on this one. Hopefully UPS will actually get my address right* this week and it'll be on my doorstep when I get home.
I was going to do my usual weekly writeup in the Breakdown about this one (and only this release) but I'm running late and your review is so thorough and good I don't know that there's much need. You were too fast and too awesome, Josh.
*The post office recently changed our zip code and UPS doesn't like it. One would think they'd update their zip code list regularly and frequently but apparently not.
8 - John C Comedy
Thanks for the review Josh! I'm definitely ordering it. He turned out a great guitarist in Kirk Hammett as well :)