A handful of gems, though everything's listenable.
This two-disc set is a great collection of songs wherein it seems that not even one of the songs are worth immediately skipping. Almost all of the tracks somehow seem to retain some decent level of appeal, even with the wide range of moods Joe explores. Of course, there are a number of gems that wear out less quickly than others, such as "Flying In A Blue Dream", "Friends", and "Always With Me, Always With You".
It's incredible that Joe can create such lengthy songs and still retain some level of interest with mostly just his guitar, but he does it. Don't expect to hear any one mood throughout either disc. This collection has great variety in it's inclusion of the romantic, weird, and intense. Thankfully, this anthology barely seems to wear out over time, especially if one is careful not to always let disc 1 play before disc 2. I find it doubtful that one could experience diminishing returns with this disc-set to the point where it won't appeal at least as background music, especially since Joe puts musicality before shredding.

Joe's the Man
Outstanding riffs as always, and some very memorable hum-a-long tunes that stick in your head after just one listen. Big fan of Satch, and this is a nice addition.

Ear Candy from a Guitarist's Guitarist
I want to thank the folks who have posted reviews on this album because they were the ones who led me to buy it, renew my interest in Joe Satriani and made the last few days that I have spent listening to it a lot of fun.

That said, I believe that Satriani is not for everyone. I say this because I think that you not only have to play guitar but made some attempt to compose music on the guitar in order to fully appreciate why Satriani is so talented. I think this is the reason why his music remains inaccessible to a lot of people. They just don't get what the big deal is.

I first listened to Satriani when I started playing guitar in my early 20s. I knew that he was good but did not really understand why other than he could play really fast and sometimes catchy music. I did not love the music but I liked him well enough for those reasons. At some point, after I had worn my copy of the Extremist out, I stopped listening to him.

Now, in my late 30s, I have stopped playing guitar as much but, when I listen to the music, I appreciate him for entirely different reasons.

I admire how he comes up with so many different original melodies time and time again. I admire how he tries to surprise the listener with the notes he chooses in those melodies -- thereby staying away from musical cliches. I admire how he tries to generate different kinds of sound out of his guitar in different ways and how he can run through a number of different techniques in a single passage without any effort. I admire his courage for being so quirky and unique not only in the type of music he creates but also his song titles and the brand he has created for himself.

It is so easy to take your guitar and play riffs in the same type of way over and over and never grow. It is so difficult to compose so many original, four/five/six minute instrumental songs on the guitar that keeps the listener not only interested but so irreversibly hooked that he cannot help but come back for more.

And, indeed, I came back for more ("Is There Love In Space?" and "Super Colossal") and ended up liking those albums even better. Hats off to Joe Satriani. Great stuff.

Great Anthology By A True Musician's Musician
THE ELECTRIC JOE SATRIANI is a great anthology by guitarist Joe Satriani, who started out by teaching guitar to such greats as Steve Vai and Kirk Hammett. However, once he began recording, he outshined both, drawing from influences as diverse as Eddie Van Halen, Joe Walsh, Dick Dale, Robin Trower, Al DiMeola, and Steve Morse, as well as Clapton, Beck, Hendrix, and Page. Although Satriani is very gifted musically, he never forgets to have an incredible amount of deep emotion in his playing, which is rare for highly technical guitarists. There's talk that he's putting together a group with vocalist Sammy Hagar, and I look forward to hearing it. In the meantime, you have these tasty nuggets to savor.

Not to be missed
There isn't a song on this Anthology that isn't good. If you are new to Satriani, then this album is a great place to start. I love this album and listen to it all of the time. I plan on buying any new disc Joe releases.