Music | 01 January 1993

Joe Satriani, Steve Vai

When Joe Satriani's Surfing With The Alien hit the street in 1987, people took the record to heart. The unknown artist on the then underground Relativity label struck the right chord with music fans around the world with his powerful signature style. A baffled and astonished record industry could only step back and watch in amazement as Surfing With The Alien went on to defy traditional instrumental rock limitations to become a multi-million selling GRAMMY(r)-nominated critical tour de force. Joe was touted as the soft-spoken maverick, a rock and roll guitar-slinger who proved there was an audience for music that didn't fit into tidy categories and opened the door for the slew of rock instrumentalists who have since followed his path.