Flying in a Blue Dream

But also, Satch does a bit of singing now. Some may not like the idea of that and I wasn't sure if i'd like it at first, but I found some of the vocal tracks to be just as enjoyable, from the punky 'Can't slow down' to the ballad of 'I believe' they are all great, but one of my favourites is the mid-tempo rocker 'Ride'. He also sings in 'Phone call', 'Big bad moon' and 'Strange'. Satch's voice isn't as bad as everyone says, his voice is suited to the songs (maybe with the exception of 'I believe'). You can still sing the songs, no matter who sings them.

So, if you want to listen to Joe Satriani, i'd try 'Surfing with the alien' first, but this is also a good album to try as well and my favourite of Satriani. It just has a wide variety of songs and it's a great 70-minute listen.

Satriani is a sensational guitarist and this fact is oh so apparent in the brilliant "Flying In A Blue Dream" LP.

This album encompasses a fair old variety of musical styles from full on rock blast (see "Back To Shalla Bal"), bluesy, soothing tunes (e.g the title track), groovy, super fast staccato's (Mystical Potato Head Groove Thing) and many more. This variety ensures a varied listening experience and an album that will be played for years before you tire of its genius.

Joe himself gets involved with the vocals a great deal on this album, probably more so than on any of his other works. Arguably, this is a down side. He isn't a great singer in my opinion and he admits himself he is shy at the mic and not really cut out for singing. He lacks powerful vocal chords, however this doesn't detract from any of the music and a lot of the songs with Joes vocals are very good indeed, among the better selections on the album.

In fact, my only downside for this album would be the horrific track entitled "The Phone Call". Frankly, I'd rather suffer a brain haemmorhage than listen to this track.

This doesn't lower the overall mark I give this album of five stars though. I urge you all to buy this album if you haven't already. At £5.97 you really can't go wrong and it is a perfect introduction to Joe's work.

Ignore the fact that Joe is relatively unknown in this world dominated by manufactured bands and novelty records. This is real music, music with a passion. You must own this album before you can call yourself a real fan of music.