This is an excellent book written in a completely different context than the usual biography and givea you a fantastic insight into the difficulties and triumphs Joe Satriani faces as a musician to get where he is today, this is an awesome book for anyone wanting to find out more about how Joe got each album made and produced with some great stories that makes this book a very interesting and compelling read. Some readers may not get what this book is all about if they think along the biography lines and the tip is to read the book not expectung a biography and you will get what this book is all about and you will enjoy the book immensely. Read more

A wonderful memoir I had the chance to read in the car on a road trip to California, where some of the events in the book take place! As a big Joe Satriani fan, and as an equally large guitar nerd, this book was super insightful as to his writing process in an intimate way: it was as if Joe was talking to a new friend about all of his experiences in life. A vastly inspiration, wonderful book for any and every aspiring musician. Read more

This is an excellent account of Joe Satriani's career, told mostly in the form of recollections of the history of the creation of his studio albums. There also is an interesting prologue where he discusses his early career, covering his formative years with the guitar and the story of his first group, the Squares. Joe tells of his early efforts to make the music he heard in his head and you gain an appreciation for his motivations and desires. This is particularly interesting since you get to know him through his trials and tribulations trying to establish himself as an artist. The bulk of the book however covers the history of his recording career. Each album is a fascinating story, starting from the concept through the execution. There are some good ideas and bad ideas, some fits and starts, some successes and failures. The book doesn't shy away from providing some technical details and this will be be especially interesting to the musician reader. But the technical details are light enough that a non-musician reader won't be intimidated. There are numerous fascinating accounts of the meaning behind various songs. This is instrumental abstract art here, so the music doesn't necessarily tell a story, but the meanings provide insight to Joe's motivations and inspirations. "Eventually I get to a point where I just do whatever I have to do to get the music to sound truthful to me." Throughout, quotes from collaborators are interspersed with Joe's narrative, serving to provide additional perspectives on the recalled events. For the most part, these are valuable contributions to the story, although in the latter stages of the book they tend to devolve into too much mutual adulation. What's not here is anything substantial about Joe's life outside of his musical career. This is not a biography. There is also very little about his life as a touring musician. The emphasis is on the studio albums, and I think that was a good decision. It allows for a focused and detailed account of his history as a recording musician. If this was a full biography, that fascinating story would have necessarily been truncated. By the time you reach end of this book, it's hard to imagine anyone not being inspired by Joe's story to be a better version of themselves. Read more

This book is not an usual biography, as I initially expected, but is much more. It guides the reader from the starting point of Joe's musical career, from the early beginnings with the first cheap guitars and home-made amplifiers, passing through the years of the experiments with his first album, recorded and mixed with handcrafted techniques, until the creation of a home studio for digital productions. In this book, every studio album, and almost every song he wrote, is described, along with the creative path that leads to his implementation. The Joe's point of view is enriched with the interviews made by the author, with a lot of fun and interesting contributions of Joe's musicians (Jeff Campitelli, Matt Bissonette, Stu Hamm and many more) or producers (John Cuniberti, Andy Johns, Mike Fraser, ...). It has been a very exciting reading to me since I am not only a fan of Joe's music but also a guitarist, I found a loto of secrets and backstories of some songs here revealed... Read more

O foco aqui é a música. A narrativa refere-se à formação de Joe como músico, a forma como cada música, disco foi criado e gravado, bem como as nuances de composição e questões técnicas. Excelente mergulho na mente criativa de um gênio da guitarra. Inspirador. Recomendadíssimo! Read more