Joe Satriani

No doubt about it. Joe is one of the all-time best and technical guitar players. But having said that, I would never even try to rate any guitarist as the very best - there is no such thing. On top of that, Joe is a GREAT PERSON. He is not full of himself - he is very humble, he is very insightful, he gives a damn about people and his surroundings. Last night my son and I had the honor and privilege of meeting Joe before his performance at the Fox Theater in Oakland. It was a home-coming for him after being on the road a long time. A few of us bought "Meet & Greet" tickets which allowed us to talk to Joe in a Q&A and then get signatures and photos with him. It was an AMAZING experience - one I'll never forget. He's a very soft-spoken person, and as I said very humble. It was a real honor spending time with him, even though we paid for it. The performance was FANTASTIC. He played old stuff, new stuff, Chickenfoot stuff. We enjoyed over 2 non-stop hours of Joe's electrifying play. It's... Read more

Can’t see why this guy is ahead of the 4 people behind him on the list. He is ok but look at those names…

Joe Satriani is great. Almost unlistenable, but great.

All you haters of Joe Satriani, you obviously don't play the guitar and have no fucking clue the mastery at which he plays. Listen to Summer Song, Crystal Planet, Crushing Day not only are the melodies better than any other band of the last 30 years he's just fucken crazy at guitar. I've played for twelve years and can say that if I can play his music than I'm pretty good. All I can say is pick up a fucken guitar and try and play at his level YOU CANT!! Oh yeah and what the hell is this people saying Vai is better YEAH RIGHT he might've been the student but his music really sucks. "For the love of God " already his music sucks, get that through your heads. Better than Van Halen, Petrucci, Hendrix, and yes Alexi Laiho as much as I think he's amazing too. I can't believe how many people actually say Satriani is a speed demon They must have him confused with douchbag Malmsteen.

not many ppl know how to surf with aliens

I am a guitarist and I would be in heaven if I could play as skillfully as Joe but in spite of all his skill I find his music trite and boring. My favorite best guitarist is John Petrucci. I think his skill level acutally surpasses Joe plus musically I find his work very emotionally compelling as well. I can happily listen to John over and over again while I have to force myself to listen to Joe.

Satriani is probably THE best virtuoso guitarist ever. "Statch Boogie" is one of the best jams ever. "Surfing With the Alien" is a very good piece of work. And now he's in Chickenfoot with Sammy Hagar, Chad Smith, and Michael Anthony! Satriani is one of the best, if not, THE best guitarist(s) ever. Case closed.

Oh the Satch man. If you've ever heared any of his music then Youlll definately have an opinion one way or the other. I think he's one of the best to date.

One Best modern technical guitarists (Y)

It's funny because people that think of Joe as "speed demon without substance" are ignorant beyond hope and probably haven't heard more than 5 songs from this master and therefore should not even be allowed to comment. Epic fail guys, because JS is widely regarded as one of the most melodic players in the world. He does demonstrate unique and very exceptional technique, phrasing, and speed but that only amounts to fraction of what this man is as a whole. He is a musical genius and a true artist. Literally half his work is melodic and mellow you can fall asleep to. Problem is that his public image is distorted by snobbery toward virtuosity...

A technical master. Lighting fast speed, but not many people will listen to music without words.

Who needs words when you can play like this.

over rated.  like vai, he's mostly flash and very little substance.  if you like mindless speed demon guitar, i guess he's what you're looking for.

my # 1 when i heard him make animal sounds....smoothest flow i've ever heard...

The only one on this list that I have listened to at any length, thanks to a former room mate who was hooked on Surfing with the Alien for a few months.  While there is no denying his virtuosity, its nothing that I would listen to voluntarily.  It sounds like nothing more than a display of technique and is, I think, the kind of stuff that caused kids to stray away from rock and roll in the last decade.  I'll note that the rock that has returned to the airwaves and pop charts in the last few years has a noticable abscence of guitar solos.

Great technician. I defy you to listen to his songs.

great player but I wouldn't pay to see him

great talent, but a little goes a long way for me.

Master!

Amazing guitarist with innovative theories

Talented, but I never listen.

awesome saw him in concert blew my mind

good taught kirk from metallica

Great guitarist, and oh does he know how to use both hands!  One of the very few who can play melodies with both hands.  Technically awesome.  However has a tendancy to have too much flare and show and not enough melody and song.

Not only one of the most underrated, one of the most diverse talents ever to pick up a guitar. Smooth licks, emotionally powerful, technically masterful. While hes easily as fast as anyone on this list, sometimes a few notes can be just as powerful and impressive as any speed lick. Satriani has mastered this art (witness "always with me, always with you). His non-inclusion in the top ten is a travesty that robs this list of any legitimacy.

Not as talented as Vai?? Viz playing technique there's nothing to separate them. But as for the quality of tunes, Satriani cr*ps all over Vai from a great height. The great thing that separates Satriani from bigger names such as Clapton, Slash etc is that he can sustain high quality playing throughout one 5 minute tune to the next and not just the odd 1 minute solo here and there. I've also listened to a lot of other 'shredders' like Malmsteem, Tony McAlpine, Gary Hoey and loads of other similar widdly types. Sure they can play but boy are they boring! Just one Paganini inspired riff after another. To his credit Satriani's avoided all that pretentious and self-indulgent neo-classical metal tosh and doesnt let speed etc get in the way of the tune.I've knocked one star off my original rating. Although there's no doubting his technical mastery he's come up with some pretty mediocre albums with Prof Satchifunkilus as bad as the red album and Engines of Creation, which IMO undermine his cre... Read more

"I would venture to say that the average age must be in the low 20's. JImi Hendrix showed more creativity in 1 song than Satriani has in his entire career. He is just another fretburner. THis poll should be renamed "Favorite" " Wow sour grapes dude, I'm 41 by the way. Another example of someone who can't accept someone better come along and takes it to the next level. Listen to the music for a change and maybe you'll understand what it's all about. Joe is the current master bar none at he moment. Sooner or later someone else will come along. It doesn't take away from anyone else it's more of a compliment. We all learn from the masters before us and some make it better...so get over it.

Awesome guitarist!!  Technicaly stunning!! It never gets old listening to any of his songs due to the complexity and crazyness of them.

Technical brilliance. Feel, soul, precision.  He is amazing pure and simple.

Driftwood is right, Joe is no Hendrix.  He actually has range and can play the same thing twice if you asked him. Don't get me wrong, I love Jimi, but Joe has music for every mood.  If you don't think "Strange Beautiful Music" has a listenablility factor of about 10.infinity, you probalby don't have a soul anyway.

He's no Hendrix

deffinately my favourite guitarist of all time, vai is amazin aswell

One of the best in the world. Joe is fantastic.

Technically, he's probably the best. But I just don't find his stuff that great to listen to. Listenability has to be a factor besides just technical skill.

OMG you folks have rated this technocrat over Jimi Hendrix?!?! That's the equivalent of rating Tiny Tim over Mozart. Whoops that is probably over most of your heads. I would venture to say that the average age must be in the low 20's. JImi Hendrix showed more creativity in 1 song than Satriani has in his entire career. He is just another fretburner. THis poll should be renamed "Favorite" guitar players.

What separates Satriani from other great guitarists is that he's also a great composer. And great composers such as Satriani or Knopfler are gifted with melody.  That's a real musician's specialty. The guitar is an instrument for the music. It's not about playing guitar as such. Even when he's playing fast it's still music unlike some of these other shredders that sound like they're practicing scales. Satch has it all. Great feel, great tone and an uncanny ability to tell a story on guitar. He's a living legend.

Not many can compare

great guitarist

ill take feel over soloing anyday.

Awesome guitarist of so many styles

Joe Satriani is by far the greatest guitarist of all time. He is all about music - as a language unto itself, without the need for words. He would be rated higher if we weren't such a "pop" culture that demands catchy predictable scores drowned in vocal rhyme. Anyone who has seen Satch live knows there is no equal. I've never seen anyone whose songs are so complex actually play them better, faster, more intense, without pause for 3 hours on end. You think Eddie Van Halen is #1?? Ha! Have him solo non-stop at twice his normal "live" speed for 3 hours with only a 15 minute break, and then compare them. (Let alone the whole music composition, score and emotion categories)

What's to say...amazing solos. Any album will do!

Joe is a terrific guitarist and is very, very talented. He gave Steve Vai and Kirk Hammett guitar lessons and sometimes they still seek his help. My favorite songs from him are "Satch Boogie", "Always With Me, Always With You", "The Crush of Love" and "Hordes of Locusts".  If you like Satriani try and find Greg Khin: "Live-King Biscuit Flower Hour", because Joe is his guitarist and plays great, without sounding like any of his own stuff and don't forget that he was also Mick Jagger's guitar player when he would tour.

Waht a great guitarist!

The sovereign lord of the overhyped, faintly ridiculous category of the Self-Sufficient Guitar God. I'll admit that I actually have a couple of his albums and listen to them occasionally, though never with other people. How many fans would actually listen to this at a party? There's something a little puritanical or scholastic about this style of music. Anyway, Satriani is definitely smarter than most, and he actually invents and maintains some interesting melodies. Unlike many of the others in his fiefdom, there's not a hint of the thrash-trash here either. He just needs to lose those sunglasses.

I remember him from Flying In A Blue Dream, and The Forgotton PartII. Distinctive style and a great sound.

Great guitarist who has influenced and commanded respect from a generation of players. I'm not a huge fan of the solo guitarist genre, He does bring more to the table than the likes of Vai, Malmsteen and others who followed. To me they all started sounding the same after awhile.

tacoun