Not of This Earth (Joe Satriani album)

Not of This Earth
Studio album by Joe Satriani
Released	1986 (1986)
Recorded	Early 1985 at Hyde Street Studios in San Francisco, California
Genre	Instrumental rock
Length	38:42
Label	Relativity
Producer	Joe Satriani, John Cuniberti
Joe Satriani chronology
The Joe Satriani EP (1984) Not of This Earth (1986) Surfing with the Alien (1987)
Alternative cover
1988 reissue

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Not of This Earth is the first studio album by guitarist Joe Satriani, released in 1986 through Relativity Records.

Background

Electronic drums, rather than acoustic drums, are used throughout the album. The title track utilizes a unique compositional technique described by Satriani as pitch axis theory, which consists of shifting modes underneath a pedal tone (in this case, E). "The Enigmatic" uses the enigmatic scale. "Rubina" is one of two tracks named after his wife, the other being "Rubina's Blue Sky Happiness" on The Extremist (1992). "The Headless Horseman" is performed entirely using a two-handed tapping technique, and was revisited in the form of "Headless" on Flying in a Blue Dream (1989).

The original cover art used for the first pressing of the album was lost early on, having since been replaced with an alternative cover; the latter has been used for all CD releases. Also of note is the guitar, an Ibanez 540P, with which Satriani is pictured on the cover: it was never actually used by him, and was instead "a promo shot that got too much press". Not of This Earth has been reissued several times, originally released on CD for the first time in 1988 and reissued nine years later through Epic Records along with his entire discography; the Relativity Records edition is now out of print. The most recent release of the album is included with Satriani's 2008 box set, Joe Satriani Original Album Classics.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Joe Satriani. 

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Not of This Earth"	4:04
2.	"The Snake"	4:43
3.	"Rubina"	5:56
4.	"Memories"	4:06
5.	"Brother John"	2:10
6.	"The Enigmatic"	3:26
7.	"Driving at Night"	3:33
8.	"Hordes of Locusts"	4:59
9.	"New Day"	3:52
10.	"The Headless Horseman"	1:53
Total length:		38:42

Personnel

• Joe Satriani – guitar, keyboard, percussion, bass, production
• John Cuniberti – vocals, percussion, engineering, production
• Jeff Campitelli – drums, percussion, DX, whistle
• Bernie Grundman – mastering