Flying In A Blue Dream- joe satriani

Satch is pretty awesome. I've once heard him described as the guitarist's guitarist, and although I'm not a guitarist, I'm not oblivious to the intense level of technicality he brings to what he does. This was more of a mellow album, though it has a lot of intense instrumentals. I most enjoy this album when I'm just relaxing or am on one of those natural highs. Basically any state where I can just sit back and let the music roll over me.

Are You Dead Yet? ~ Children of Bodom

This is a great album, the songs are intense!! Children of Bodom have the talent of creating hard core songs without loosing a varied melody. The instrumentals are technically awesome and have a sufficient range giving each song it's own flavour and unlike a lot of other artists I don't confuse one song with another. On this album I'd have to say that my preferred track is Are You Dead Yet? I've loved this song for quite some time and no matter how many time I listen to it it never gets old or repetitive. Next I guess would be Living Dead Beat... but honestly all the tracks are pretty good.

Surfing With The Alien ~ Joe Satriani

I really enjoy this album, it's amazing. The guitar's nuts. The songs are technically intense, and sometimes when this happens the quality of the song suffers so that the guitarist can show off their mad skills, not so much the case with this album. All of the songs have amazing range and melody and can be listened to by the average person as just really great songs, not only by guitar students marvelling at what this guy can do, which is pretty intense in it's own right, but I'm hardly the person to talk up this guy's skill. This is more of an up beat album, not madly energetic, but calmly up beat, if that makes sense. I'd have to say that my favourite songs would be surfing with the alien and lords of karma, but quite honestly all of the songs are amazingly well done

Passion and Warfare ~ Steve Vai

Steve Vai knows how to use a guitar and can do some pretty fancy things with one... but listening to the album I couldn't help but think to myself 'if only he could channel that awesomeness into a great song'. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy this album and think it's great stuff, but it's more a showcase of what he can do on a guitar and not so much an attempt at amazing song writing. You could say that the album lacks soul. So while I will enjoy it when I listen to it, I have to be in the mood for it because it's not a song I'm listening to, it's technique.

Something that kind of bugged me a bit in this album was the talking aspects of the songs. Like, the most prominent example, in the song 'the audience is listening', the supposed premise is that an elementary school aged Vai is going to play a composition for his class and his teacher is glowing with praise, but as he starts to play she says it's too loud and wild and bad mouths it... throughout the whole song. Trying a bit too hard to capture that something else. Rebel yell a bit less.

I think the deal with this guy is that he was a student of Joe Satriani, or they had some sort of relationship like that... and I'm sorry to say but he has a ways to go in comparison.