A Viewpoint

  More than being a great songwriter and virtuoso Super Guitarist, it’s Satriani’s ability to tell a story or convey an emotion through notes, chords, legato runs or any other musical passages that makes him such a great artist and composer on the Electric Guitar. And all the 5 songs listed here are testaments to this fact. 5. Lost in a Memory: The most emotionally powerful deep cut in Satriani’s discography, Lost in a Memory is a fever dream inducing track that can pull you in a labyrinth of strong emotions. There’s a great amount of emotional storytelling going on in this track, and the organic sounding notes, the dreamy chords, the cathartic riffs, the wavy synths and the plaintive solo—all of them contribute towards drowning you into the song. Even the brief chord section at the end feels magical. This is one of those rare tracks that you just bask into, as even after the song ends, the feeling stays on in you.     4. Flying in a Blue Dream: Mystica...

  It’s been over 15 years since I first heard a Joe Satriani track, and until that point, I had never imagined that the Electric Guitar would be able to translate complex human emotions so vividly--how lush chords and technically intricate guitar solos could express delicate feelings while at the same time, sound musically immaculate. As one of the pioneers of the modern instrumental Guitar genre, Satriani has crafted some of the most musically rich, imaginative and diverse pieces of music to ever grace the Electric Guitar. What sets him apart from most other great Guitar Heroes out there, is that his playing, even when it gets unbelievably technical, is always in service of the songs. There’s almost always a ‘musical storytelling’ aspect to his compositions and a central theme that every element of the ‘songs’—from the riffs to the solos, serve as essential contributors instead of being self indulgent. It’s this element of ‘restraint’ that makes Satriani a virtuoso musician ...