10 Amazing Rock Songs With No Lyrics
4. Surfing With The Alien - Joe Satriani
It would have been criminal to leave Joe Satriani off a list about rock instrumentals, as that's sort of his whole thing.
A former guitar teacher to the likes of Steve Vai, Alex Skolnik, and the aforementioned Kirk Hammett, Satriani eventually struck out on his own with a debut album in 1986. One year later, he turned out Surfing With the Alien, perhaps his most famous work.
Satriani had just $13,000 to play with, a miniscule amount for a studio album, but he made every penny count and showed the world why his tutelage had produced so many top players.
The title track is one of Satriani's most beloved, and with good reason. As well as paying homage to the Silver Surfer, the song is heaps of fun from start to finish, as the master guitarist shows his instrument the time of its life. There's tapping, there's shredding, there's effect pedals out the wazoo, this whole song is a celebration of everything mad and ridiculous about the electric guitar, and it's impossible not to listen to it without a huge smile on your face.