Surfing with the Alien

Joe Satriani, 1987. Solo by Joe Satriani.

The title track of shred's must-own album: legato, tapping and a sci-fi wah.

The melody and solos on this title track are almost one continuous lead performance. Satriani ran into a Chandler Tube Driver, a wah he nearly left at home, and a 100-watt Marshall, and engineer John Cuniberti added an Eventide Harmonizer whose faulty pitch settings wandered unpredictably before the unit died for good. That accident gives the track its strange, alien sheen. The long outro mixes legato runs, whammy-bar dives and wah sweeps over the chords, and Satriani said it set the template for the rest of the album. Listen for the shimmering, slightly unstable harmonized voices around the lead; they are the sound of a broken machine that can never be recreated.

Surfing with the Alien by Joe Satriani is ranked #37 in our consensus of 79 guitar-solo lists. The solo is played by Joe Satriani and the song was released in 1987. It appears on 14 lists, placing as high as #10 (R3M).

The story of Surfing with the Alien

"Surfing with the Alien" is the title track of Joe Satriani's second album, a record made on a budget of roughly $13,000 for the small label Relativity. Satriani has said the title arrived before the music, and he began imagining what it would sound like if extraterrestrials came to Earth not to conquer it but simply to have fun. That playful premise shaped a tune built around a catchy, vocal-like melody rather than an endless flurry of notes.

The album was originally going to be called Lords of Karma, but designer Jim Kozlowski suggested the new title and arranged the Silver Surfer artwork, a comic character Satriani barely knew at the time. Before recording, Satriani and co-producer John Cuniberti trimmed a second section from the piece at the last minute, deciding to keep the focus on its lighthearted, upbeat side.

The tracking session at Hyde Street Studios in San Francisco was a race against the clock. With the room booked for others and only minutes left, Satriani cut the main melody and the closing solo in essentially one pass, and the team kept the take even though the guitar was slightly out of tune, because they could not recreate the sound afterwards.

Released on 15 October 1987, the song and album became Satriani's breakthrough. The record spent 75 weeks on the Billboard 200, became his only platinum studio album, and two weeks into his tour Mick Jagger invited him out on the road. The title track later reached gamers as downloadable content for Guitar Hero III and Rock Band, and the famous Silver Surfer cover had to be replaced on reissues after the Marvel license lapsed in 2018.

The solo

Satriani plays all the guitar on the track, and the melody and solos are practically one continuous lead performance. According to his own accounts, he ran his guitar into an early Chandler Tube Driver, a wah-wah pedal he almost left at home that morning, and a 100-watt Marshall head and 4x12 cabinet. Cuniberti then routed the signal through an Eventide H949 Harmonizer to add stereo pitch-shifted voices. The unit was faulty and its pitch settings wandered unpredictably, so the engineers printed the effect straight to tape; about 20 minutes later the Eventide died for good, making the sound impossible to repeat. The long outro solo mixes legato runs, whammy-bar dives and wah-sweeps over the chords, and Satriani says that outro set the template for the rest of the album. Sources differ on the guitar: Guitar Player cites a Kramer, MusicRadar his black Strat-style 'Boogie' guitar.

Legacy

The track turned Satriani from a respected teacher into a guitar hero. Guitar World readers voted it the 30th greatest guitar solo ever, and the magazine later named it among the best wah-wah solos. AllMusic described the album as the benchmark for mid-to-late-1980s rock guitar, and Rolling Stone credited it with putting Satriani on the map. The song reached a new generation as downloadable content in Guitar Hero III and Rock Band, and it remains a staple of his concerts.

Top 10 facts about Surfing with the Alien

The melody and closing solo were captured in a single pass because studio time was almost up, even though the guitar was slightly out of tune.
Louder
The Eventide H949 Harmonizer used on the track was malfunctioning, and it died about 20 minutes after the take, so the effect could never be reproduced.
Guitar Player
Satriani nearly left his wah-wah pedal at home; he grabbed it at the last minute and decided to try it at the session.
Louder
Satriani and John Cuniberti cut a second section of the song just before recording to keep the focus on its fun side.
MusicRadar
The album was made for about $13,000 and relied heavily on drum machines programmed by Bongo Bob Smith.
Wikipedia: Surfing with the Alien
Guitar World readers voted the track the 30th greatest guitar solo of all time.
Wikipedia
The album was going to be called Lords of Karma before designer Jim Kozlowski suggested the new title.
Surfer Today
Satriani did not know the Silver Surfer character well; his label arranged the comic artwork for the cover.
Songfacts
The Marvel license for the Silver Surfer cover expired in 2018, so later reissues switched to new artwork.
Wikipedia: Surfing with the Alien
The song appeared in the Guitar Virtuoso Track Pack for Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock and as Rock Band downloadable content.
Wikipedia

Live versions

Time Machine (California Theatre, San Diego) (1988) Recorded 11 June 1988 on the original album tour and issued on the 1993 Time Machine set.
Montreux Jazz Festival (1988) Included with the 20th-anniversary reissue of the album in 2007.
Satriani Live! (Anaheim) (2006) A stretched-out 7:48 version recorded on 2 May 2006.
Live in Paris: I Just Wanna Rock (2008) Recorded in Paris on 27 May 2008 and released in 2010.

In our lists

Deep Cuts — #9
The 25 Greatest Guitar Instrumentals — #6
The 25 Greatest Shred Guitar Solos — #4
The 1980s — #10
Tapping — #4
Wah & Talk Box Solos — #4
Instrumentals — #5

Sources

Who played the guitar solo on Surfing with the Alien?

Joe Satriani played the solo on Joe Satriani's Surfing with the Alien (1987).

What guitar was used on the Surfing with the Alien solo?

An ibanez through a Marshall amp, with wah, according to widely reported accounts.

Where does Surfing with the Alien rank among the greatest guitar solos?

#37 in the GreatestSolos consensus of 79 published lists; it appears on 14 of them.

What guitar did Joe Satriani use on Surfing with the Alien?

Accounts differ: Guitar Player cites a Kramer while MusicRadar quotes Satriani describing his black 'Boogie' Strat-style guitar, played through a Tube Driver, wah and Marshall.

What effect makes the Surfing with the Alien sound?

A wah-wah pedal combined with a malfunctioning Eventide H949 Harmonizer whose unstable pitch shifting was printed straight to tape.

Who is the Silver Surfer on the album cover?

He is a Marvel comics hero; the artwork came from a 1982 Silver Surfer comic and was licensed by Satriani's label.

Was Surfing with the Alien nominated for a Grammy?

The album was nominated for Best Rock Instrumental Performance at the 1989 Grammy Awards.

How long did it take to record Surfing with the Alien?

The main melody and outro solo were cut in roughly one pass at the end of a session, in well under an hour.