Satriani was the definitve guitar hero of the 80s, and continues to be at the forefront of the instrumental guitar genre in the 90s. Satch recieved some mainstream attention when his 1987 release, Surfing with the Alien, broke into the Billboard Charts, and when Sony used his "Summer Song" from the album, The Extremist in one of it's TV commercials and actually credited Joe MTV-style. If you listen carefully, you'll be likely to hear Joe wailing in the background of numerous radio commercials.

Satriani is also well known as a guitar teacher - his students include Steve Vai, Metallica's Kirk Hammett, former Testament guitarist Alex Skolnick, and Primus' Larry LaLonde. The new CD is slated for a Jan 2000 release and maybe a single out in Dec '99.

More: http://www.guitarsite.com/bands2.htm#satriani?nl58

See his guitar gallery: http://www.satriani.com/satch_frames/gallery_src.html