Hi everyone. I'm sorry for putting this in a post that's separate from my other comments, but this a completely different topic. I hope everyone understands. I finally got around to typing up my thoughts about Strange Beautiful Music. The entire thing would make one HUGE post. And since I'd rather not see whether or not there is a post length restriction here on Talk To Joe (LOL), I thought I would break up the review into pieces and post one each day. That way there will be more time for people to read everything. Maybe we can get some good SBM discussions going. So here is the first little bit about my experience buying the record as well as what I think about the packaging. I'll go through the album song by song, posting my thoughts about one song each night at around midnight Pacific Time. I'll also include the track times of the parts that I think are really cool. It'd be nice if other people here could do the same thing, in response to my posts. So I'll start with Oriental Melody later tonight...and I guess I'll finish up in about two weeks. But right now, here's some basic stuff...

It took me forever to find Strange Beautiful Music. I looked at a local music store, as well as Target...then I called Circuit City and Best Buy. None of these places had it... I called Tower Records next...they had it so that's where I bought it. Even though it took forever to find it, it was DEFINITELY worth the hours of visiting other stores. It kinda sucks though...next time I think I'm just going to buy it online. That way I won't have to deal with driving all over town to find a copy.

Case / Artwork / Etc. - I think it's really cool. I love the color scheme. Sometimes I think it would've been better if the inside was full of bright colors (blue, green, yellow, red, etc.) to make up for the black / white / gray outside. Although with it the way it is now, everything is the same in the packaging and you have to listen to the music to find (hear) the different colors. It's kinda neat if you think of it that way.

PhryDom: I'm waiting for other crazy questions!

Hi Joe! My 15 year old son and I saw you at the warner theater in DC last year with G3, First off.... I sat him in row one directly in front of you.. I was 7 back.. Your incredible. My son was completely jazzed! Thanks for a great show. We didn't bring a camera that night (too bad) but would love to a pic autographed of you made out to JJ and Mike if possible. that would be so cool.

I sang in a Microsoft gig at the Tabernacle 2 weeks before you gigged there... I was in the spot light with my son when I told him that you were playing there and then we saw you the next month in DC..

You'll have to give out the secret of how you stay young.

Take care and have fun!

Mud Grunt - I actually got lucky... The CD had a $18.99 sticker price, but it was on sale for $13.99. That's about what it sold on amazon.com, without shipping...right? Still...I'd rather pay a little extra and know that I wouldn't have to worry about anything. So I'll go with amazon.com next time.

PSUKCAT13 - SBM is at the top of my list of favorite Satriani albums. And know what? I honestly think it'll stay there...yes, it's THAT good. :-)

Lowend - List yourself as attending your show on the tour page and you might win backstage passes.

wiser1 - I've had to buy tickets without presales before. I know exactly what it's like. It stinks sometimes, but hey, at least you'll be able to go to the show. As far as accusing me of kissing butt and brown-nosing to get backstage passes, that's just ridiculous. I have the same odds as anyone else that uses the backstage pass contest. And go read some of my other posts...I've pointed out quite a few things that should be changed on the site. There is a difference between telling someone to "prepare to be flamed" and using constructive criticism to point out flaws. Constructive criticism is not brown-nosing by any means.

It is Stu not Boo - Heh. Sounds a lot like my experience looking for a copy of SBM yesterday. I went to Tower first, but saw the $19 price tag. Screw that, I'm happy to give Joe the extra money, but I knew it would just go towards the Jaguar payment for some Tower exec. Figured I could do much better at Best Buy. 2 Best Buys and a ton of hassles later, not another SBM in sight! Tried a few random Wal-Marts and Targets (figured they would come up empty) and finally went back to Tower about 2 hours later. The guy rang it up and it was actually on sale for $12! I was happy about the price, but jeez they could have saved me a lot of trouble by actually advertising it! (strange concept)

Anyway, I've been playing it nonstop since then and loving it more and more. Finally getting a chance to check out the online listening party now and hear Joe's comments on the songs. The album as a whole didn't grab me or blow me away like some of the past releases have. After the first listen I would have put it in my least 3 favorite Joe albums - meaning awesome but not up to par for Joe. But it's one of those that grows on you, and I'm really getting into it now. Noticing a lot of great little details that you can't get in the first couple of listens - I have a feeling this may become one of my favorites in the coming weeks! It's quickly moving up the rankings...

Sorry for making a lot of posts tonight, but here's the first part of my SBM review...

Oriental Melody - This song is very different for Joe. After listening to it once I thought it was just ok... But I like it more and more each time I hear it. My favorite part is from 1:14-1:38.

Kinda a crummy "review", but hey. ;-) Some of the ones for the other songs are better. Does anyone else have any comments or favorite moments in this song?

Belly Dancer will follow tomorrow night.