''The Extremist'' is the fourth studio album by guitarist

Joe Satriani Joseph Satriani (born July 15, 1956)Prato, Greg"Joe Satriani – Music Biography, Credits and Discography". ''AllMusic''. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved May 28, 2014. is an American rock music, rock guitarist, composer, and songwriter. Early in hi ...

, released on July 21, 1992, through

Relativity Records Relativity Records was an American record label founded by Barry Kobrin at the site of his vinyl record shop, Important Record Distributors (IRD) in metropolitan New York City. The IRD distribution name was later known as RED Distribution and ag ...

. The album is one of Satriani's most popular releases and his highest-charting to date, reaching No. 22 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' 200"The Extremist - Joe Satriani , Awards"
''

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

''.

All Media Network RhythmOne , a subsidiary of Nexxen, is an American digital advertising technology company that owns and operates the web properties AllMusic, AllMovie, and SideReel. Blinkx was founded in 2004, went public on the AIM market of the London St ...

. Retrieved 2014-03-20. and remaining on that chart for 28 weeks, "Joe Satriani - Chart history" ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

''. Retrieved 2014-03-20. as well as reaching the top 50 in six other countries."Joe Satriani - The Extremist (album)"
''finnishcharts.com''. Hung Medien. Retrieved 2014-03-20. Three singles reached ''Billboards

Mainstream Rock Mainstream rock (also known as heritage rock) is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada. Format background Mainstream rock stations represent a cross between classic rock, active rock and alternativ ...

chart: " Summer Song" at No. 5, "

Friends ''Friends'' is an American television sitcom created by David Crane (producer), David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting List of Friends episodes, ten seasons. With an ensemble cast ...

" at No. 12 and "

Cryin' "Cryin'" is a song by American hard rock band Aerosmith. The power ballad was written by Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, and Taylor Rhodes, and released by Geffen Records on June 29, 1993, as the third single (second in the United States) from their ...

" at No. 24. ''The Extremist'' was

certified Gold Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

on December 22, 1992. and received a nomination for

Best Rock Instrumental Performance The Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance was an honor presented to recording artists for quality instrumental rock performances at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958, and ended after the 2011 award, and orig ...

at the

1993 Grammy Awards The 35th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 24, 1993 and recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year. The nominations were announced on January 7, 1993. The evening's host was the American stand-up comedian Garry Shand ...

,"35th Grammy Awards - 1993"
Rock On The Net. Retrieved 2014-03-20. Satriani's fourth such nomination.

Overview

"Rubina's Blue Sky Happiness" is dedicated to Satriani's wife Rubina, and is the second song named after her, following "Rubina" from '' Not of This Earth'' (1986). "Summer Song" has endured as one of Satriani's best-known songs and is a mainstay at his concerts; it was used by

Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...

in a commercial for the

Walkman is a brand of Personal stereo, portable audio players manufactured by Sony since 1979. It was originally introduced as a portable Compact Cassette, cassette player and later expanded to include a range of portable audio products. Since 2011, ...

"Joe Satriani's Chronology"
satriani.com. Retrieved 2014-03-20. and was later included on the soundtrack to two of Sony's console video games: ''

Formula 1 Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

'' (1996) for the

PlayStation is a video gaming brand owned and produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), a division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. Its flagship products consists of a series of home video game consoles produced under the brand; it also consists ...

and ''

Gran Turismo 4 ''Gran Turismo 4'' is a 2004 sim racing video game developed by Polyphony Digital and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 2. It is the fourth main installment and the sixth overall in the ''Gran Turismo'' series. It was ...

'' (2004) for the

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October, in Europe on 24 Novembe ...

. Two

B-sides The A-side and B-side are the two sides of vinyl records and cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a single usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or ...

from ''The Extremists recording sessions, "Crazy" and "Banana Mango II", together with the outtakes "Thinking of You", "Speed of Light" and "Baroque", were later released on Satriani's 1993 double album ''

Time Machine A time machine is a fictional or hypothetical device that allows time travel. Concept A time machine is a device that makes time travel possible. The ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' distinguishes between two different types of time ma ...

''.

Reissues

''The Extremist'' has been reissued several times. The first was in 1997 through

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), cong ...

and again on June 16, 2008, as part of the '' Original Album Classics'' box set. The most recent reissue was part of '' The Complete Studio Recordings'', released on April 22, 2014, through

Legacy Recordings Legacy Recordings is an American record label that is a division of Sony Music. Formed in 1990 after Sony's acquisition of CBS Records, Legacy originally handled the archives of Sony Music-owned labels Columbia Records and Epic Records. In 2 ...

; this is a box set compilation containing

remaster A remaster is a change in the sound or image quality of previously created forms of media, whether Mastering (audio), audiophonic, Cinematography, cinematic, or Videography, videographic. The resulting product is said to be remastered. The term ...

ed editions of every Satriani studio album from 1986 to 2013.Bosso, Joe (2014-04-08)
"Joe Satriani talks The Complete Studio Recordings album by album , Surfing With The Alien (1987)"
. ''

MusicRadar Future plc is a British publishing company. It was started in 1985 by Chris Anderson. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. History 1985–2012 The company was founded by Chris Anderson a ...

''.

Future Publishing Future plc is a British publishing company. It was started in 1985 by Chris Anderson. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. History 1985–2012 The company was founded by Chris Anderson a ...

. Retrieved 2015-03-18.

Critical reception

Phil Carter at

gave ''The Extremist'' four stars out of five, saying that the album lives up to its name. "Summer Song", "Friends", "Motorcycle Driver", and the title track were noted as highlights.

Track listing

Personnel

*Joe Satriani – guitar,

Dobro Dobro () is an American brand of resonator guitars owned by Gibson and manufactured by its subsidiary Epiphone. The term "dobro" is also used as a generic term for any wood-bodied, single-cone resonator guitar. The Dobro was originally a gui ...

, keyboard, synthesizer, banjo, mandolin, bass (tracks 8, 10), harmonica,

arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestr ...

, mixing, producer *Phil Ashley – keyboard (track 6), synthesized

strings String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

, synthesized trumpet (track 10),

squeezebox The term squeezebox (also squeeze box, squeeze-box) is a colloquial expression referring to any musical instrument of the general class of hand-held bellows-driven free reed aerophones such as the accordion Accordions (from 19th-centur ...

Gregg Bissonette Gregg Bissonette (born June 9, 1959) is an American jazz and rock drummer and vocalist. He is the brother of bassist Matt Bissonette, with whom he frequently collaborates. Bissonette is known for playing and recording many different styles of m ...

– drums (tracks 1–6, 8, 9) *Bongo Bob Smith – drums (track 8), percussion (track 8) * Simon Phillips – drums (tracks 5, 10), tambourine *

Paulinho da Costa Paulinho da Costa (, born Paulo Roberto da Costa on May 31, 1948) is a Brazilian percussionist. Beginning his career as a samba musician in Brazil, he moved to the United States in the early 1970s and worked with Brazilian bandleader Sérgio Me ...

– percussion (tracks 2–4, 6, 8, 9) *

Jeff Campitelli Jeff Campitelli (born 29 December 1960) is an American drummer best known for his collaborations with Joe Satriani Joseph Satriani (born July 15, 1956)Prato, Greg"Joe Satriani – Music Biography, Credits and Discography". ''AllMusic''. R ...

– cymbals (track 10) *

Andy Johns Jeremy Andrew Johns (20 May 1950 – 7 April 2013) was a British sound engineer and record producer who worked on several well-known rock albums, including the Rolling Stones' '' Exile on Main St.'' (1972), Television's '' Marquee Moon'' (1977), ...

– organ (tracks 2, 9), arrangement (track 1),

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

(tracks 1–9), mixing, production (tracks 1–9) *

Brett Tuggle Brett Tuggle (September 23, 1951 – June 19, 2022) was an American musician who is best known for his keyboard playing with Fleetwood Mac and the David Lee Roth band. Career Early years As a child, he studied classical piano and learned guitar ...

– organ (track 4) * Matt Bissonette – bass (tracks 1–6, 9) *

Doug Wimbish Douglas Arthur Wimbish (born September 22, 1956) is an American bassist, primarily known for being a member of rock band Living Colour and funk/dub/hip hop collective Tackhead, and as a session musician with artists such as Sugarhill Gang, G ...

– bass (track 5), spoken vocals Technical *John Cuniberti – engineering (tracks 5, 6, 8, 10), production (tracks 5, 6, 8, 10) *Bart Stevens – engineering assistance *Dan Bosworth – engineering assistance * Michael Semanick – engineering assistance *David Plank – engineering assistance *Michael Reiter – engineering assistance *Julie Last – engineering assistance *

Bernie Grundman Bernie Grundman (born 16 December 1943, Minneapolis) is an American audio engineer. He is most known for his mastering work and his studio, Bernie Grundman Mastering, which he opened in 1984 in Hollywood. The studio, which includes engineers Chr ...

– mastering *

Matt Mahurin Matthew S. Mahurin (born January 31, 1959) is an American illustrator, photographer and film director. Mahurin's illustrations appear in ''Time'', ''Newsweek'', '' Mother Jones'', ''Rolling Stone'', ''Esquire'', ''Forbes'', and ''The New York Tim ...

– cover photography

Charts

Certifications

Awards

References

External links

The Extremist
at satriani.com

at Guitar Nine Records {{DEFAULTSORT:Extremist, The Joe Satriani albums 1992 albums Relativity Records albums Albums produced by Andy Johns Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance