393. Joe Satriani / Flying in a Blue Dream. 1989. 4/5

Joe Satriani already had a huge and impressive body of work behind him by the time he reached the end of the 1980’s decade, and a reputation that made people look up and take notice when his name was mentioned. He had studied music with jazz guitarist Billy Bauer and pianist Lennie Tristano, both of whom had greatly influenced his own playing. He then began teaching guitar while also looking to kickstart his own musical career. But it was the quality of the guitarists that had studied under him that brought him to a more international focus. Amazing guitarists such as Steve Vai, Kirk Hammett, David Bryson, Alex Skolnick, Rick Hunolt and Larry LaLonde all had their start under Satriani's tutelage.
Satriani had released his own debut album “Not of This Earth” in 1986, with the aim of making a guitar album that could be enjoyed by everyone, not just guitar aficionados. This was followed less than a year later by “Surfing with the Alien”, an album that produced three highly rated singles in the title track, “Satch Boogie” and the almost lilting guitar ballad “Always with Me, Always with You”, which achieved the kind of all-encompassing success he had been searching for.
What then could the fan expect from a third album from Joe Satriani? After two successful albums, would more of the same be a detriment to what he was hoping to achieve with his music? And if not that, then what? What Satriani came up with was something that was somewhat unexpected. He decided to produce an album that not only continued with his tradition of instrumental guitar tracks laden with riffs and riffs, but would have songs with vocals. And not only that, HIS vocals!
In a 2014 interview with MusicRadar, Satriani described the writing and recording process for “Flying in a Blue Dream” as a very stressful time and that "It was just so difficult and insane, but there was also this enormous amount of creativity. I was so excited that I had fans! [Laughs]. With 18 tracks in total, his third studio album mixes long instrumental pieces with shorter ones, and then songs that become very much their own beast. Whether or not he was nervous about how it would be received by critics and fans alike, as it turned out, he had nothing to worry about.

Around the world, fans seem to be divided over the greatness of this album compared to the previous album, "Surfing with the Alien". There is a considered opinion that some of the material on this album is lightweight fluff, drawn almost directly from the point that many of the songs that have vocals here water down what fans were coming to this album for - Joe Satriani's guitar. And the fact that Satriani decided to have songs with vocals on this album still tends to drive a wedge between fans of his other work and this album in particular. But, is it a fact that the songs with vocals are lightweight? Of course that is open to an individual's opinion, but an overview of each of them perhaps offers some credence to each sides argument.
The opening two tracks are simply marvellous. The title track is an immediate classic, with beautifully nuanced guitar brilliance played over the simply structured rhythm of the track. Atmospherically it is a perfect opening track, not aggressive in its output but drawing the listener in from the outset. It is still just perfect. "The Mystical Potato Head Groove Thing" follows and sees a more complicated and interesting path taken by both the drums and bass guitar to make a bigger impact on the song. And 'groove' is the word here, Satch's guitar grooves along perfectly through the middle of the song. Satch utilises several different drummers on this album, and they all bring something different to the songs which adds some interesting flavours to the songs. "Can't Slow Down" is the first vocals song of the album, the first chance to hear Joe sing, and he doesn't disappoint. He doesn't try to do anything outwardly extravagant with his vocals and they are perfectly serviceable. The obvious benefit of this however is that we get an awesome solo here in the middle, something that becomes a bonus in a track with vocals, because it isn't all instrumental, so we get that real condensed sharp solo burst, and Joe plays it to perfection. The short jab of "Headless" follows, which is a remake of "The Headless Horseman" from the “Not of This Earth” album (1986), replete with added distorted vocals and harmonica, before "Strange" is the next song with Joe's vocals, and mirrors the title of the track, jaunty with staccato guitar shots throughout.
"I Believe" is a song that Satch wrote when his father was in the process of passing away, and his heartfelt lyrics here showcase why there is a need at times to put words to music to express an emotion through story. Listening to the lyrics of this song you can hear what Satch is feeling about what is happening around him, and his guitar then sews that all together. "One Big Rush" channels his previous album for song similarity, again mirroring the song title for what it puts as pictures in your mind, of surfing that wave or speeding down a hill on your skateboard or charging through the streets in the car. Satch has an amazing ability to do that in his music. And he does it again on one of the album's best track, "Big Bad Moon". His music here fills out the story of the song, creating the soundtrack to the lyrics with his blues based hard rocking guitar and suitably excellent drums and bass. But when he unleashes in his solo pieces here, it is pure Satriani, and this all combines to make it one of the best experiences on the album.
The short banjo strumming of "The Feeling" is followed by the amusing "The Phone Call", with on the phone in a conversation with his partner and discussing the cause and ramifications of the end of their relationship. Guitar, banjo, harmonica... Everything is tossed in here and makes for a lighthearted and fun song.
Into the final third of the album, and there are several beautifully played instrumental tracks such as "Day at the Beach (New Rays from an Ancient Sun)", "The Forgotten, Parts 1 and 2" and the closing track "Into the Light", and heavier full guitar tracks such as "Back to Shalla-Bal" and "The Bells of Lal Parts 1 and 2" mixed in with another vocal song "Ride" that again continues to highlight the fact that Satch can produce songs with lyrics that still have his heavily credentialled guitar skills and not lose anything in comparison to his best material. "Ride" again provides another unique vocal performance for Satch, arguably his strongest on the album, with another great solo piece to keep the traditionalists happy. It's a beauty.
Overall, this is an album that melds the genius that Satriani showcased on his guitar on his first two albums, with further songwriting that took him to the next plane, probably something no one expected him to do. And yet, he succeeded. Brilliantly.

I'm pretty sure everyone in Kiama had a copy of Satch's "Surfing With the Alien" album when it came out. It was attractive to headbangers and musicians and pop fans alike. The symmetry of amazing guitar over great rhythm was a winner for all. I know that we used to play it a lot in the days after high school had finished and never got sick of it. So when it came to this album being released, we were all on board from the outset. I bought this on vinyl within days of its release, and it got heavy rotation. And while there were people out there that I knew who felt as though Satch had sold out simply because he chose to sing on several songs on the album, I never felt that way. Indeed, as already mentioned, I felt that those songs were perfect because we actually go full blown solo slots from Joe on those songs, rather than an extended instrumental piece, and I really believe that enhances this album rather than detracts from it. And the good part was that, in the band I was in at that time with friends from my school days, having spent several months trying to convince our lead guitarist that we had to play songs like "Ice 9" and "Crushing Day" from his previous album, we DID learn and play a song from this album, though much to my disappointment only ever at jams and not live on stage. "Big Bad Moon" was that song, and it was just brilliant to play, though the tapes I have of us playing it would suggest we were very very bad at it. And several months later, on 28th February 1990, we saw Joe live in Sydney, with Stu Hamm on bass and Jonathan Mover on drums, and they were bloody amazing.
So for the past month, I have had this album out again, mostly alongside the album I reviewed yesterday, Deep Purple's "Perfect Strangers". And it has been just amazing to listen to again. I don't have a lot of Satriani's albums after this one, not because they aren't great but mainly because I am satisfied with listening to his first three albums when I am in the mood. And "Flying in a Blue Dream" to me is still an incredible album. From the title track and "The Mystical Potato Head Groove Thing" and "Can't Slow Down", to "I Believe" and "One Big Rush" and "Big Bad Moon", through to "The Phone Call" and "Back to Shalla-Bal" and "Ride", this is a sensational album still, losing nothing over how it sounded 35 years ago on its release. For me there is not a bad track here, and I'm still happy to play it at any time. If you haven't heard it, my suggestion is that you do so now, and enjoy the platitudes that it still ascends.