Joe Satriani Albums (18)
'Professor Satchafunkilus and the Musterion of Rock'
Release Date 4/1/2008
Tracks 20
Label Epic/Red
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
While a lot of guitar heroes sling their axes for the sole purpose of proving that they are the fastest shredder in the showroom, picking their Mixolydian scales to the nth degree, on the ridiculously named Professor Satchafunkilus and the Musterion of Rock Satriani shines in his ability to hold back and write tasteful verse/chorus songs with memorable hooks. Like the majority of his songs in his ever growing catalog, most of these are technically impressive numbers that never go overboard with the showboating and rely on a sense of feeling rather than virtuoso technique. When you're considered a guitar god, restraint is a virtue. Of course he can zip along on the fretboard with the best of the best, but the trait that has always separated Satriani from the other guitarists gracing the cover of Guitar World for more than 20 years is his ability to blend technique with guitar lines that are melodic enough for a vocalist to sing. Thankfully, he never takes the microphone on this recording, but on the first half of the gentle and bluesy "Come on Baby," it's easy to imagine substituting his custom Ibanez with a human voice that coos the words "Come on baby, come on babe" on the choruses. Similarly, the "Diddle-Y-A-Doo-Dat" sounds like the title might suggest, starting out with some Yes-style prog licks and flipping into a John Scofield-flavored jazz-funk jam with bends and pull-offs that are best described as "diddleys" and "doo-dats." Neither cut quite astounds, but both demonstrate his versatility on the instrument and his ability to adapt to the climates of various genres. Likewise, the flamenco-flavored "Andalusia" starts off as a warm "Spanish Fly" acoustic number, exploding into a furious distorted solo backed by longtime drummer Jeff Campitelli and former David Lee Roth bassist Matt Bissonette. Along with his backing band, Satch's son ZZ Satriani gets a taste of his pop's spotlight, just like Wolfgang and Dweezil, and provides a few sax flutters on the semi-funky "Professor Satchafunklius." With the exception of these tracks, the remainder of the album is purely rockin', and doesn't vary much from his prior 12 releases. The anthemic "Overdriver" could be an outtake from Flying in a Blue Dream and will surely find a place in his G3 set list, "Musterion" sounds like a Not of this Earth moment, and the two-handed handiwork and blistering riffage on "Asik Vaysel" will definitely have air guitarists salivating. With the good comes the bad, and at the album's most embarrassing moment, "I Just Wanna Rock" advertises cornball clichés with a proudly clanked cowbell, a talkbox Frampton-izing, and a boisterous crowd chant-along. This is a new low for Joe -- practically an open letter admitting that he's OK with the idea of becoming passé. At a time when his former pupil Steve Vai is experimenting with radical orchestral arrangements, it would be nice to see the professor branch even further away from his trademark style, ditch the '80s production, and try something more unconventional, but for the most part he's doing what he does best here, and fans will be content with that. ~ Jason Lymangrover, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Drawn from a concert recorded May 3, 2006, at the Grove in Anaheim, CA, Joe Satriani's Satriani Live! comes as both a double-CD and a simultaneously (and separately) released DVD. The audio version presents more than two hours of typical Satriani guitar work. He was promoting his latest album, Super Colossal, but that didn't prevent him from casting back across his career for selections from such previous sets as Joe Satriani (1995), The Extremist (1992), Flying in a Blue Dream (1989), and particularly Surfing with the Alien (1987), making this a de facto best-of. The crowd was wildly enthusiastic, and Satriani wasted little time doing anything other than playing, pausing only occasionally to talk about his guitar and his guitar picks. The first disc maintains a steady pace, but the guitarist varied the mood in the second half of the show, turning to what pass for ballads in his repertoire ("The Meaning of Love," "Made of Tears," "Circles," "Always with Me, Always with You") before revving up for a powerful finish. Casual fans can pick this up as a good sampler of the entire Satriani catalog, while more intense fans will enjoy noting differences between the live versions and the studio recordings with which they're already familiar. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
The most frightening thing about "Super Colossal" is that it starts off sounding horrifically similar to the chorus of Billy Squier's "The Stroke." Thankfully, this is remedied immediately, and Satch returns to familiar territory. The sound of the title track is big and booming, but the tone and delivery are instantly recognizable. Satriani doesn't pull any new tricks out of his bag, but lets his fingers do the talking throughout most of the record. And, of course, it wouldn't be a Satriani record without a few midtempo numbers thrown in for good measure, and "It's So Good" certainly delivers a swaggering punch that is reminiscent of not only Flying in a Blue Dream but moments of protégé Steve Vai's epic album Passion and Warfare. There are moments of delicate frailty and instrumentals with a romantic and optimistic feeling, tempering the high-energy blues-driven guitar shredders and leaving Super Colossal with a nice sense of balance -- except for the album's finish. "Crowd Chant" is arguably one of the weirdest moments in a career full of eccentricity, but it's painfully out of place. However, with its catchy melody and call-and-response verses, it's going to make one heck of a concert singalong. On the whole, Satriani really doesn't push boundaries or stretch his guitar vocabulary too much here, but even on his worst day his productions could best any other shredder du jour based simply on the fact that he crafts songs rather than insipid guitar-scale exercises to flaunt and flail around carelessly. ~ Rob Theakston, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Throughout its nearly decade-long run, the G3 series of tours has always featured guitar wizards Satriani and Vai at the helm, with a mystery third guest always in the rotation to contrast against the mentor-and-student duo. Sometimes the results are complementary (Eric Johnson), and other times they're mildy theatrical and amusing (Yngwie Malmsteen). This time around the special guest star, Dream Theater's John Petrucci, finds himself in the middle of Tokyo and starting off the two-disc session. His "Glasgow Kiss" and "Damage Control" are both presented with great skill and technical precision, sometimes hitting too close to the mark, making his accuracy and his performance seem cold and calculated. Still, he's exponentially more accessible than the flamboyant Yngwie and he sticks to the basics of delivering a solid performance. Vai also delivers a solid performance with a rousing rendition of his most well-known solo outing "The Audience Is Listening." Unfortunately, the hysterical teacher's voice is missing and somewhat detracts from the song's charm, but it's a minor complaint few would gripe about. "K'M-Pee-Du-Wee" is extended and has never sounded better, especially as Vai stretches out and delivers more of an improvisational element to the more atmospheric parts of the song. And finally, Satriani takes the stage and presents three extremely eclectic selections from his catalog, culminating in the intensity of his anthem "War" off of his 1992 epic The Extremist. The session ends with a three-song cover jam led mainly by Satriani that features ZZ Top's "La Grange," Jimi Hendrix's "Foxey Lady" and Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water." It's not the best G3 lineup ever, but it's far from the worst and guitar fanatics the world over will no doubt thoroughly enjoy it. ~ Rob Theakston, All Music Guide
'Is There Love in Space?'
Release Date 4/13/2004
Tracks 11
Label Epic
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Guitar boss Joe Satriani's ninth album reflects the terrain he's traveled more than it points to an unexplored one -- and yes, that does prove to be a good thing. Satriani has explored many directions over eight previous albums, mashing together rock, blues, jazz, and pure technical proficiency in a dizzying blend that bears his unique signature. Is There Love in Space? recalls two distinct projects from his catalog, the groundbreaking Surfing With the Alien and the exotic Strange Beautiful Music. From the former is the driven, balls-out, tough blues-and-hard rock riffs and hooks, while from the latter are involved and sometimes intricate melodies and Eastern-tinged modes -- though none of the electronica. Satriani's sense of writing catchy turnarounds and hooks is ubiquitous here, and though he uses keyboards, they are never employed as more than devices to further along the framework of a particular tune. Even the vocal cuts here work well, "Lifestyle" with its roosty rock & roll vocal, boogie on methamphetamine whir, and bombastic power chords is a great choice for a single, as is the stomping, metallic "Hands in the Air," which updates Steppenwolf's "Born to Be Wild" riff in extremis. The mid-tempo tunes, such as the wah-wah-phased title track and the shimmering "If I Could Fly," are nice changes of pace too. The funky future blues of "I Like the Rain" features a slightly annoying vocal, but in its ZZ Top-fueled desert boogie, it hardly matters. The masterpiece on the set is "Searching," however. It's slow- to mid-tempo stride and minor key cadence pushed to the limit by the razor-wired and feedback aesthetic of its ten-minute sprawling excess. While guitar hero records are anything but cool in the new century, this guitar hero offers one cool little record. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
'G3 Live: Rockin' in the Free World'
Release Date 2/17/2004
Tracks 16
Label Sony
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
In an essay on "The Guitar's Use in Pop Music," Frank Zappa once made reference to latter-day guitarists and their penchant for "clouds of educated gnat-notes." (He also referred to their "pathetic lick-spewage and freeze-dried stereotypifications.") The point he was hammering home like so many nails at a crucifixion was that pop/rock guitar playing/soloing had lost its character and no longer reflected the personality of the individual player. Form and feel had been sacrificed for blazing speed and spiritless riffage. One must assume that G3 Live: Rockin' in the Free World -- from star guitarists Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, and Yngwie Malmsteen -- is, by and large, the kind of axemanship that Zappa was decrying: machine-like technicians lacking a sense of musical lyricism. While that appraisal does lend some valuable insight into this album, it would also be too harsh to apply it rigorously here. To begin with, this primarily instrumental two-disc set -- recorded at the Uptown Theatre in Kansas City on October 21, 2003 -- is entertaining. And there's no doubt that this trio of guitar slingers really can play -- it's just that they do so, particularly in terms of their soloing, within rather narrow stylistic parameters (for the most part). Each guitarist performs his own set on the lengthy first disc, before they team up to perform three covers -- Jimi Hendrix's "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" and "Little Wing," and Neil Young's "Rockin' in the Free World." Admittedly, the vehicles for the trio's virtuoso indulgences on this album range from hard rock to metal to classical, but are really just hooks to hang solos on. Sometimes the other instruments cut out altogether. Satriani's titanic boogie rocker "The Extremist" opens proceedings and sets the bar pretty high. He shows a lighter touch on "Always With Me, Always With You," and dips into his classical bag for "Midnight," before tearing things up again with the metal raver "The Mystical Potato Head Groove Thing." Vai offers up the loftier, organ-laced "You're Here," the lurching hard rock of "Reaping," and the slow and stately "Whispering a Prayer," which brings to mind the playing of Yes' Steve Howe and some of the work on Jeff Beck's solo albums. A nice stylistic departure. Meanwhile, Malmsteen, renowned for his preternatural speed, shows just how fast those gnat-notes can be fired out on tracks like the perfectly titled "Blitzkrieg" and the classical "Trilogy Suite Op. 5: The First Movement." The Hendrix jams are disappointing and suicidal song choices to begin with, utterly damning the players on the matter of style through unavoidable comparison to the originals. But "Rockin' in the Free World," which doesn't dilute the song itself, is a highlight and gives the set a certain passion that is lacking in other places. This is a showcase album from three guitarists with plenty of flash and flair, excellent technique, and just enough stylistic variety to keep the balloon in the air. Of course, regardless of what Frank Zappa might've had to say, speed-guitar freaks are gonna love this one. ~ Adrian Zupp, All Music Guide
'Strange Beautiful Music'
Release Date 6/25/2002
Tracks 14
Label Epic
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
What's a guitar hero to do now that the masses prefer electronic beats and rap-metal to killer scale runs? Joe Satriani seeks that answer on Strange Beautiful Music. Satriani set himself apart from other would-be kings of the six-string in the 1980s by combining impeccable technique with great feel and pop hooks. With those qualities, he produced great guitar-driven albums like Surfing With the Alien and Flying in a Blue Dream. On his 2002 release, Satriani tries to make his music fresh by incorporating world music influences and a bit of techno flava. To his credit, he succeeds more than he fails. "Belly Dancer" combines straight-up rock riffs with Middle Eastern-twinged melodies and faster-than-sound runs up and down the fretboard. On "Oriental Melody," Satch's world music sensibility shines with the help of ping-pong delay and keyboards. He still has a knack for great hooks, too, as is evident on "New Last Jam," which features a melody that bounces around in your head for days. But none of these tracks approach the pop brilliance of his Surfing With the Alien songs. In many ways, the experimental nature of songs like "What Breaks a Heart" hark back to his Not of This Earth release. But Strange Beautiful Music suffers from inconsistency. While the mix-and-match approach works on "Belly Dancer," it can also result in the bland discontinuity of "Chords of Life," which at times sounds like "All Along the Watchtower" and at others resembles scale and chord exercises from Yngwie Malmsteen -- not an enticing combo. And "Starry Night," while a nice ballad, feels like an attempt to rewrite his masterful ballad "Always With You, Always With Me." ~ Michael Gowan, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Booked into San Francisco's Fillmore Auditorium and slated to film three songs for the venue's Live! at the Fillmore TV show, Joe Satriani decided to take the opportunity to record and film his show for a double CD and DVD. The audio version, clocking in at close to two-and-a-half hours, serves to create a thorough introduction to an artist who, up to this point, had not released a real compilation. The album presents concert recordings of material first heard on Satriani's previous studio releases: one from Not of This Earth (1986), four from Surfing With the Alien (1987), one from Dreaming #11 (1988), four from Flying in a Blue Dream (1989), two from The Extremist (1992), two from Time Machine (1993), one from Joe Satriani (1995), six from Crystal Planet (1998), and three from Engines of Creation (2000). The guitarist varies the pace, combining up-tempo hard rock tracks with more melodic medium-tempo numbers and even some lovely ballads. His vibrato-heavy, sustain-drenched playing remains consistent and identifiable no matter what the context, but despite his reputation as a high-speed riff technician his work can be surprisingly lyrical at times. His band -- bass, drums, and a keyboard player who sometimes picks up a rhythm guitar -- provides letter-perfect support, and Satriani draws considerable energy from an enraptured audience, making this an ideal sampler of the guitarist's work. Anyone who thinks of hard rock guitar playing as only one part of a complete musical palette, or who looks for more of a dynamic range in an instrumentalist, is likely to suffer from flagging attention before the two discs are over. But lovers of rock guitar in the Jimi Hendrix tradition will love this one as much as the fans in attendance did. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
With Crystal Planet, Joe Satriani made an effective return to his signature sound following the erratic blues-rock detour of Joe Satriani. For the follow-up to Crystal Planet, Satriani is once again exploring novel territory in an effort to keep his music fresh, and Engines of Creation is the biggest stylistic shift he's made yet -- to electronic music. Satriani's guitar is still the focal point of the music, to be sure, but while his virtuosity is obvious, it's often submerged in the new demands of this musical idiom. That isn't a surprise either, given that Satriani is one of the few guitar shredders whose taste and musicality have never been in question. But fans who simply want to hear him rip through his typical jaw-dropping solos may be disappointed (even though, in the end, there are more than a few solos), as will those guitar fans who reflexively disdain all sounds electronic. Having defended it, though, Engines of Creation isn't a total success. While the music is certainly influenced by techno and electronica, it probably won't appeal to listeners coming from those arenas; overall, it simply isn't as adventurous as much genuine electronica, avoiding complex backing rhythms or edgy sonic textures; nor is it as hypnotic, meandering or drifting aimlessly at times instead of moving into trancelike states of consciousness. Plus, Satriani's songs are often more traditional than they may seem upon first listen; many of the compositions are based on repeated themes and riffs and standard rock-song structures, switching between recurring, identifiable sections rather than gradually building and unfolding. However, the album can also be quite inventive. Satriani has challenged himself to find ways of coaxing totally new sounds from his guitar, and he weaves them seamlessly into the futuristic electronic soundscapes. Moreover, his melodies and main themes have rarely been this angular and off-kilter, meaning that exploring this music has indeed helped Satriani refresh and re-imagine his signature sound. Even the pieces that aren't ultimately that revolutionary are still intriguing, since very few musicians have the technical training and innate sense of musicality required to mine this territory. Overall, Engines of Creation is a brave and sporadically successful experiment, and it's also a promising new direction for Satriani should he choose to continue this vein of exploration and take it out even farther. ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Joe Satriani always stood apart from the legions of guitar virtuosos who surfaced in the late '80s, largely because he had a sharper ear than his peers. He didn't limit himself to hard rock or heavy metal, preferring to draw in elements of pop and jazz as well. At his best, he stood head and shoulders above his peers, many of whom were his former students. However, his records were a little uneven, especially those featuring his vocals, and it seemed like he had painted himself into a corner by 1995's eponymous effort. Remarkably, moving to Epic revitalized his career. Recording wih longtime bassist Stuart Hamm and drummer Jeff Campitelli, Satriani turns in an all-instrumental record with Crystal Planet. It's an instrumental record with a difference, finding the guitarist taking more chances than ever. There are some familiar hard rock and ballad workouts, but what's astounding about the album is that it shows his technique continuing to develop and deepen, reaching into new, uncharted waters. It's his finest all-instrumental effort since Surfing With the Alien. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
