Tag: joe satriani

Being a fan of all things guitar, Joe Satriani has consistently released great records ever since I first became aware of him with Surfing With The Alien. This is Joe’s sixteenth release that came out in 2018. It was recorded as a 3-piece with Chad Smith on drums, and Glenn Hughes on bass. I really love this record, it has such a great groove and the production is superb.

Energy is very identifiable as Joe, but Catbot is just awesome. It has a monster bass line and Chad’s drums give Joe that platform to rip it up. Thunder On The Mountain starts with some experimental sounds and vibes, before the huge big beat arrives.

I’m going to skip to my favourite moments. As well as the already mentioned Catbot, the double kick blast of Headrush with a Peter Green inspired riff is up there, as well as the very funky Looper, which is my favourite piece on the album, and the reggae tinged Invisible.

Joe is a master of his craft and long may he release albums as good as this.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

Other than his previous solo band Squares, who he recorded one album with, this is Joe’s second album released back in ’86. Joe opened  the door for all guitarists to release solo instrumental albums and brought them into the mainstream.

Not as commercial sounding as Alien, as there are moments of what I call fusion, this album is still a huge leap forward in terms of style. Joe has a great sense of melody to his playing which really appeals to me, and on tracks like Rubina (which I think is dedicated to his wife) the emotion he creates is jaw dropping. Then again, on The Enigmatic he is channeling his inner Robert Fripp, as this reminds me of King Crimson. Driving At Night is superb with its very eighties drum machine, keyboards, and killer guitar. Hordes Of Locusts is more of what we’d get on the next album with the same vibe and sound, and some serious fretboard gymnastics. Of course Joe is now at the top of the tree but this was a huge gamble when it first came out.

8/10 from The Grooveman.

I think all rock fans were surprised when Joe had huge success with Surfing With The Alien, as rock instrumental albums weren’t supposed to be that popular. So there was a bit of pressure on the follow up to see if it was a fluke. Also, the first album was mostly electronic drums so it’s nice to hear a real drummer on this album. If anything, this album is better than Alien.

The opening title track is superb and I love the the melody of the guitar and that driving groove. In fact, the driving factor throughout the record is how well Joe creates guitar melody’s and hooks from what usually would be vocal lines. There are some super creative pieces on here with the use of peddles, sounds, and tones like on the track Headless where it sounds like a harmonica is being used.

Of course the big thing on this album is having tracks with vocals, and the best of those for me is Strange with that off time funky groove. Big Bad Moon has the riff to On The Road Again, only with some serious guitar overload. The best of the instrumental tracks is The Bells of Lal Part Two. The guitar playing is just insane and if you want to know why everyone raves about Joe, then go no further than here. I’m a big fan of Joe and he continues to make great records.

9.5/10 from The Grooveman.