After the groundbreaking Surfing With The Alien released in 1987, Joe Satriani had a lot to follow up to. Between this release, he released a mini album with four songs with three live tracks and one new song, "The Crush Of Love" and it showed that Satch wasn't finished just yet, but many wondered if he could come out with another album that would live up to the excellence os Surfing With The Alien. Well, when this album was released in 1989, Satch proved to the world that he was here to stay, and that he was not a one album wonder.

This release picks up where Surfing left off and takes off into many different terrains. Satch made quite a bit off of his Surfing album and tour, so he could afford to make a much better recording than Surfing, which was pretty low budget, although not taking anything from that amazing album. This album, produced by Satch and John Cuniberti, the producing team since the Not Of This Earth debut in 1986 has a very slick 80's production, but sheds most of the "cheesy" 80's elements that were evident in his two prior releases. This album, like Surfing showcases Satch's great shredding abilities, while not losing focus of melody. This album is full of fast leads, tapping, whammy bar madness, and soulful playing. And like the two previous albums, Joe plays everything except for the drums, and a few bass parts courtesy of Stuart Hamm.

One thing I did not care for was the use of electric drums on some of these songs, but the songs are so good and the guitar is so captivating, that you forget about the drums. This is also the first release with vocals, courtesy of Joe. He was not born to sing, but it works with the stuff that he does. Most of his lyrics are fun, ZZ Top-like lyrics, instead of deep, except for "I Believe" so don't be expect to hear any Dylanesque profound songs. One other thing that I would have liked is an instrumental love ballad like "Always With You, Always With Me" from Surfing or "Rubina" from Not Of This Earth. But nevertheless, this album is one of my very favorite by Joe.

FLYING IN A BLUE DREAM
This first song feels very dreamy, and features some very etheral, sonic playing by Satch. He does some quite impressive fast runs in this song and uses a dramatic melody throughout the song. This was the song that got me hooked on Joe Satriani and is one of my absolute favorite Satch songs ever. It was actually the version on G3 Live in Concert (1997) that got me hooked, which I think is even better than the version on this album, but nonetheless, is a very great song.

THE MYSTICAL POTATO HEAD GROOVE THING
This song is one of my favorites on here. It starts of with a bluesy riff, but goes into some classical territory. Satch was always the best at fusing classical and blues. This song is filled with lots of impressive tapping and harmonics. This is a definite standout track.

CAN'T SLOW DOWN
This is the first of the vocal numbers on this album. This song is just downright rockin'. I think this one should have been a hit. It's a fun song and great to play while driving, assuming the driver won't speed too much and crash! Even though this is not an all instrumental track, it is one of my favorites on this album. The solo in here is just wild and crazy with energetic fast runs and crazy vibrato.

HEADLESS
This song is a short little tapping song like "Midnight" from Surfing, but instead of classical, it is bluegrass. It also features Joe wailing on his distorted harmonica. I'm a guitar player and I don't play harmonica, so I don't know much about it, but he sounds great on it. Fun little song.

STRANGE
As the title suggests, the song is strange. Everything from the groove to vocal harmonies to the wierd, but humorous lyrics are rather strange, but is still is a pretty neat song. It has a mid tempo, funky groove with the funky chords and bass riffs. There is a great solo in here and some sweet bass slapping in the bridge section by Stuart Hamm.

I BELIEVE
We finally reach a ballad here. This is another vocal tune with some great licks thrown in between vocal lines. The lyrics aren't bad either. He wrote this song to his wife Rubina and it is actually a quite deep and uplifting song, while simplistic and emotional. The vocals are pretty decent too. I don't like the solo in this song since it is mostly tapping with lots of delay which makes everything clash. Joe is the master of tasteful, soulful solos, so he could have done a much better one. Still, this song is a pretty good song.

ONE BIG RUSH
This song got Joe even more popularity since it was used in Cameron Crowe's hit movie, Say Anything. This song sounds like the prelude to his later song, "Summer Song." This isn't one of my favorite songs on here, but still is noteworthy.

BIG BAD MOON
Yes! Another one of my favorite songs and it happens to be another vocal tune. If Joe had the perfect singer, these vocal tunes would be perfect, because he is good at writing music for vocal songs. Anyways, this is a fun George Thorogood/ZZ Top-like hard rockin blues song. It kind of sounds like a combination between ZZ Top's "La Grange" and George Thorogood's "I Drink Alone." I could definitely see Billy Gibbons or George Thorogood singing this song. This song also has one of my favorite guitar solos by Satch. He plays some mean slide at first and then plays some wild energetic blues licks. He also does a good harmonica solo. This was the only vocal song of his that ever got any airplay on the radio.

THE FEELING
On this short song, Joe does more bluegrass stuff on a banjo this time. Pretty cool, but not a ver necessary listen.

THE PHONE CALL
Here, Joe does another bluegrass song, this time with vocals too. I guess he really likes bluegrass since he includes a lot of it on this album. This song is driven by banjos and the distorted guitars don't come in until the solo, which is a simple, but cool blues solo. He also does a pretty cool slide solo, but I don't like it near as much as the one on Big Bad Moon. I also wish he didn't sing through a phone like he did.

DAY AT THE BEACH (NEW RAYS FROM AN ANCIENT SUN)
This is another tapping song, which is very soothing and relaxing and reminds me of lying on the beach relaxing. I usually skip over it, but it is cool and I listen to it sometimes.

BACK TO SHALLA-BAL
This song is similar to "One Big Rush." It's a fast rocker with some crazy solos. I think I like this one better though. Joe does some cool licks on this one, especially during the middle part of the song.

RIDE
Here is the last of Satch's vocal songs. This is a mid-tempo, but rockin' song soaked in the blues. This is also Joe's best vocal performance on this album. He distorts his vocals here and reaches higher notes than on any of the other songs. He did a pretty good job. I also really like the solo on it. Very bluesy.

THE FORGOTTEN PT. I
This one is the last of Joe's tapping songs. This one is the darkest sounding tapping song, similar to "Midnight" from Surfing. It serves as a prelude to the next song, which is one of my very favorites.

THE FORGOTTEN PT. II
This one is one of my very favorite Satch songs along with "Flying In A Blue Dream." This is a very underrated song. I don't know why this one is so overlooked; it is so captivating! This a a dark, haunting, brooding song in a minor key. It has one of my favorite melodies by Joe along with a very dramatic chord progression. This isn't some of the flashiest stuff he does on this album, but it is so emotional and mournful. This song is one of Joe Satriani's finest moments. I'd buy the album just for this song, even if this were the only good song on here.

THE BELLS OF LAL PT. I
This is basically a song with lots of delay and Joe doing some runs. Not really anything to it.

THE BELLS OF LAL PT. II
This would be a great song if the chord progression would actually change once in a while. It is a cool chord progression with some funky bass riffing by Stuart Hamm and some good soloing by Joe, but the song never really goes anywhere. If he would redo this song and include more sections and stuff in it, it would be great.

INTO THE LIGHT
This song is a great closing song for this album. It is a slow song driven by an organ and has a majestic solo. You can picture stepping into heaven or something like that from listening to this song. It has that grand, majestic feel. I just wish it was longer than 2 1/2 minutes, but it still is a great song.

This is a truly great album. There is some great chord progressions and of course guitar solos. While some may not like his vocal material, it still works with what he does and his solos are different when there are vocals in them, which shows us more facets of his playing. It would be complete if it had an instrumental love ballad, but still this is one of Joe Satriani's finest masterpieces. After this album, he would go on to record The Extremist, another great album.

Recommended: Yes

Great Music to Play While: Driving