Entries in the Sony Legacy Playlist series may be packaged as budget compilations, but they really do represent the best-known and most representative tracks by a given artist in the company stable. Guitar hero in extremis Joe Satriani's volume is no exception to the standard. There are 14 tracks included, ranging from the beginning of his tenure with Sony’s Epic imprint in 1997 (though he had nearly a decade-long career as an independent artist before he signed with them and had most of those early albums reissued by the label) through 2008. The best cuts here also tend to be those he is best known for, such as “Surfing with the Alien,” “Flying in a Blue Dream,” “Time Machine,” and “Revelation,” to name a few. This is a solid -- if rudimentary -- introduction to Satriani’s work, and would serve the newcomer well.