REVIEWS:
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(reviewed by Nick Karn)
Judging by the title of this album, Joe Satriani must be implying right off the bat that his very considerable guitar playing abilities intend to create something otherworldly. Much like Jeff Beck and Steve Vai before him, here, Joe goes for writing clearly guitar dominated, but yet still song-oriented, instrumental pieces that intend to not only wow the listener with their playing, but also contain melodies that you can hum along to in the shower. In fact, I would argue that in terms of hooks, he accomplishes his task even better than the more widely acclaimed next album, and it ends up one of his more consistent efforts on the whole. The one problem, though, is that being 1986 and all, the production style (with booming drum machines, electronic gimmicks, and other traits like this) makes the album sound by far the most dated one in Joe's catalog. Once you get past the often stiff tone, though, you'll find the songs are quite good.
The best of these come when Joe either uses the production style to his advantage or employs hooks that are excellent enough to eclipse this shortcoming. Take the darkest and most gripping tune on here (the opening title track), featuring distinct opening chiming notes leading into a dramatically creepy opening guitar melody which builds very impressively (with bursts of soloing and subtle changes throughout). Even the booming 4/4 drums add to the atmosphere! The slickness is also used effectively on "Driving At Night", with its' pulsating rhythmic pace and 'driving' guitar part evoking a neat atmosphere of driving down a city street with flashy lights all around. Granted, the sound can make things seem a bit dumb (the rhythms on the otherwise incredibly funky tune "The Snake" make it seem like a polished mid 80's dance number, and the decent rocker "Memories" employs a silly hair metal guitar tone in its' opening), but only a little.
Almost the entire album is very listenable, though, even for non-instrumental enthusiasts. Even the more underproduced 'short solo spots' like "Brother John" (with an intimately spare, slight tinge of darkness to it) and the lightning fast closer "The Headless Horseman" work well - the latter song isn't exactly scary in mood, but its' speedy pace still effectively allows for visions of Ichabod Crane being chased over the bridge. Other tracks like the slightly overlong, but nice and atmospheric bluesy ballad "Rubina" and the very poppy, uplifting "New Day" basically point the way to even greater successes in the future, and less memorable, but still pretty darn good, moments like the tense, time changing piece "The Enigmatic" (with rumbling drums contrasting the light guitar work) and the midtempo party metal groove of "Hordes Of Locusts" (okay, so it doesn't match its' title, but it's got cool sitars, and that's what matters) round out this set. Almost an 8, but a little short due to those production factors and the fact that only a couple songs are exactly awesome. But this is a damn good start, and again, better than the next one in my mind.
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(reviewed by Nick Karn)
At the time of this album's release, Satch's record label (Relativity) was dominated by the kind of music (death metal) that was almost the complete opposite of the more textured and uplifting guitar-oriented material here. After recording it, even Joe himself had doubts as to how well it would sell in the musical climate of 1987 amongst less than overwhelming overproduced mainstream rock, and for obvious reasons. But surprisingly, the end result, a collection of 10 very song-oriented instrumental compositions much like the last one, went on to big mainstream and critical success, and still is considered one of the man's shining moments. Personally, I find Surfing With The Alien to be a little overrated - sure, this album does breathe new life into instrumental music by focusing in a lot more on melodies and structure instead of aimless wanking, but a few too many of these songs are a little lacking as far as diversity and emotional impact compared to later on, so the experience can get a little monotonous.
Take, for example, the title track and "Crushing Day" - both might have the general tone and flow of a typical Satch composition, and in the former's case, it pulls that off okay (even though it isn't the most breathtaking thing ever), though in the latter one the tail-chasing arrangement just isn't very good at all despite a nice melody to carry it, and as a result it seems to drag on forever. A good amount of side one, while not bad by any means, is more effective as background music than anything else, with the shiny, funkish "Ice 9" probably most fitting this category. The spare handclap-accented ballad "Always With Me, Always With You" is a little simplistic and dull, seeming like only a precursor for even greater heights in this vein ("Cryin'", for one), and "Satch Boogie" just comes off as overly flashy speed that exists solely to put Satch's considerable technical skills on display. Not that I don't appreciate those skills, but I believe them to work better when they're done over a good riff instead of a generically boring bluesy groove.
Despite the flaws I just mentioned, however, most of side one is nice as far as listenability goes, and side two is significantly better in terms of making its' material work as full-fledged compositions that not only serve the background music purpose well, but also have long-lasting hooks that make you want to listen to them again. In this vein come the two best tracks on the entire effort in the quite dynamic "Circles" (which goes from light guitar shading to a driving, fast-paced rocker and back effortlessly, with not only awesome axework but equally effective drumming along the way) and my personal favorite, the gorgeously rich nighttime rocker "Lords Of Karma", where touches of sitar complement his guitar incredibly well throughout, particularly in the middle bridge and intro, and that great guitar part that appears occasionally just symbolizes the whole uplifting tone of the album so well.
Even the two brief interlude tracks here serve a purpose quite well and are hardly filler at all, especially compared to some of the weaker stuff on side one. "Hill Of The Skull" is the most bombastic one, with a slow-moving build and a guitar part that sounds a bit like the chorus melody of "In The Court Of The Crimson King", and "Midnight" is another lightning fast display of notes, but played by themselves they somehow come together into a rich mood piece. And the closing "Echo" is quite good as well, as it sets up a mildly dark, bass-led groove with some subtle touches in there from Satch among nice bluesy soloing. Good tracks, those ones on side two, and they're certainly enough to lift the album from just so-so status into something fairly well-rounded and more enjoyable.
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COMMENTS
my favorite! i told you i was in holtville in 1996. and despite grunge being almost over, i went to ms. vandermark's class and played this motherfuckingly good album! is that a word or not?
1.SURFING WITH THE ALIEN: STARTS WITH CROWD NOISES THEN THE FLYING SOUNDS.. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! BLASTING INTO HYPERSPACE JOE SHREDS! YOU KNOW THIS FUCKING ROCKS! HEY I GOT A JOKE : MOM THERE IS STILL GUM IN MY HAIR WE TRIED EVERYTHING. OLIVE OIL, LEMON JUICE, TARTARE SAUCE, CHOCOLATE SYRUP, BACON FAT, HAMMOST AND BABBA GANOOSH! GET OFF THE DANG ROOF!
2.ICE 9: YEAH! DESPITE A DEBBIE GIBSON MARATHON, JOE KICKS HER ASS INTO THIS POUNDING TRACK!
3.CRUSHING DAY. SPEEDING UP AGAIN! YOU KNOW THIS TRACK IS AWSOME! SOARING GUITARS AND SUPERWARP SPEEDS! JOKE 2: CHIMICHANGAS Y CHILI RELLENO. STEAK PICADO, TAMALES, QUESADILLA, ENCHILLADA TORTILLA TACOS AL CARBON! BUENAS NOCHES, SENOR! BIENVENIDOS AL CASA DE SALSA! TENEMOS MUCHOS COMIDAS SABROSOS! EL ARDIENTE POLLO MUY DELICIOSO! SUS OJOS SE QUEMAN! SU ESTOMAGO ESTA EN FUEGO! SE QUEDA EN EL BANO POR UNA SEMANA! ENTIENDE, ESTUPIO GRINGO TONTO! THAT'S SPANISH!
4.ALWAYS WITH ME , ALWAYS WITH YOU: WOAH! MY GIRLFRIEND LOVES THIS ONE! MY THIS IS SO FUCKING GORGEOUS! MAN! HOW TENDER IS THIS LOVE SONG! I DREAMED I MAKE OUT WITH LIV TYLER, KELLY OSBOURNE, AND CAMERON DIAZ! TOP IT ALL OF WAS A SOARING LEAD GUITAR!
5.SATCH BOOGIE: HEYAH! THIS BLASTING ROCKER HAS ALL THE SPEED OF A SUPER CAR SPEEDING 79 MILES! CHECK OUT THE PSYCHEDELIC GUITAR SOLO!
6.HILL OF THE SKULL: WHOA! WHAT IS THIS AM I DREAMING OR IS THIS TRACK STRANGE
7.CIRCLES: STARTS OFF DARK AND AIRY THEN CAME A BLASTING ROCKER! THEN CALMS DOWN. SO EXPERIMENTAL!
8.LORDS OF KARMA: A NIGHTTIME SONG WITH SITAR SOUNDS AND A NIGHTTIME FEEL LIKE I CAN PICTURE MYSELF LOVING THE COLORS I CAN WRITE AND IMAGINE MYSELF IN A SPACED OUT WORLD WITH COLORS AND PSYCHEDELICS AND PRETTY GIRLS.
9.MIDNIGHT: AN INTRO OF KEYBOARD-GUITAR PLAY
10.ECHO: A DARK JAZZ TUNE WITH DARK GUITARS SOUNDS.
ANYHOW THIS GUITAR IS LIKE YOUR POWERFUL TOOL AGAINST THE NU METAL MESS
BECAUSE IT IS LIKE THE FUCKING TALIBAN SORRY FOR THAT ANYHOW GUYS WHY DID YOU NOT HAVE TIME MACHINE? I ALREADY HAVE! ANYHOW SEE YA!
(reviewed by Nick Karn)
This was the point of Joe Satriani's career, third album Flying In A Blue Dream, where he decided to add his vocals to the arsenal, and while his voice isn't great, it's very competent in fitting the music, and surprisingly, it is those songs which are among the best highlights on this one. "The Phone Call" is a breakup song with an irresistible bluesy groove and is highly infectious (and continues to rock at solo time), while "I Believe" has a lighter atmospheric ballad feel and very well constructed lyrics to go along with the heavenly solos on this track. The centerpiece, "Big Bad Moon", meanwhile, is totally explosive blues and is the perfect vehicle for his flashy, never indulgent, tasteful playing. "Bike" is also a pretty cool rocker.
Don't count out the all-instrumental stuff here though - there's still plenty of musical variety explored with a whole lot of passion and great flair, with "Back To Shalla Bal" and "The Forgotten Part 2" painting a great atmospherical picture and creating unexplainable tones (with some very emotional work in the latter). "The Mystical Potato Head Groove Thing", meanwhile, is just about as interesting musically as its' title, with some weird Eastern stuff going on within the song and the closing "In The Light" is a very beautiful ending to the album.
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(reviewed by Nick Karn)
A solid and quite breathtaking release, in my opinion this is the way quality instrumental music should be constructed - built around a distinct, totally memorable riff or instrumental part with a heck of a whole lot of potential emotion generated from the selection of just the right notes, which is what occurs on "Cryin'", a completely moving piece where Satch lets the notes of his lead guitar part act as a vocal to the song over the music in the background, and it's probably just as, if not more, shattering than a song with lyrics and vocals. Metal, blues, funk, some classical guitar stuff, chugging riffs, a hard-hitting live sound from the backing band, odd experimentation (the short solo piece "Tears In The Rain"), it's all here in one awesome package.
"Friends" has a great uplifting guitar melody and begins the album on a powerful note, while the title track boasts both a mysterious edge and very accomplished playing and the hard-hitting "War" has a lot of riff intensity. In sharp contrast is "Rubina's Blue Sky Happiness", which is a really pleasant, beautiful folk number that amazingly soars and the second half opener "Summer Song", Satch's best known hit which distinguishes itself with a memorable riff and perfect rhythm playing (rhythm guitars, bass and drums) behind the lead parts. The funk-flavored "Why?" is also very pleasant and groovy, and "Motorcycle Ride" is what it sounds like, so it's an exciting track. The closing blues homage "New Blues", meanwhile, is another brilliant showcase of just how much emotion can be generated without singing a note. The only big problem here is a few of the songs could probably be trimmed a minute or two, but they're so well performed it doesn't really take away from their quality a terrible amount. An essential release for instrumental music fans in general - certainly guitar freaks as well.
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(reviewed by Nick Karn)
The followup to The Extremist lacks the effects-laden, heavy, creative and diverse sound that characterized Satch's previous releases, having much more of a bluesier, and toned down feel., while tending to let his backing band play a bit more. The songs seem to have a darker edge, and in some places are even better than the previous release, but this album did get a little bit overlooked, as some fans of were a bit turned off by the sound - some dismissing it as simplistic blues rock. That may be true at times, but Joe Satriani still wins points for its' 'in your face' more groove oriented feel. "Cool #9" is an awesome example of that 'groove' which goes on for 6 minutes with great soloing work and never getting boring or letting up. The great riffs of "Luminous Flesh Giants" and dark blues showcases "S.M.F." and "Down, Down, Down" also have serious potential, but don't quite reach it because of their length - the same minor problem that was apparent on the last album is magnified somewhat on those songs. There's also a song featuring his vocals this time (unlike the last album), in the form of the somewhat annoying and filler quality "Look My Way".
The second half of the album, however, is more of an improvement where the sound is more effectively realized - "Moroccan Sunset" and "Home" achieve the great emotional simplicity that a few of the last album's tracks did. They're not technically amazing compositions, but they'll definitely leave an impression inside. "Killer Be Bop", meanwhile, is certainly technically amazing - it's a phenomenally jaw-dropping frenzied 7 minute blues jam that has to rank among Satch's best moments, and it's not just due to him either. "You're My World" is another worthwhile track due to how it's built almost like a classic pop song with no lyrics.
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(reviewed by Nick Karn)
Yet another good, extremely consistent Satch album, but signs of decline seem to be setting in just a little here. As opposed to the much more pronounced bluesy feel of Joe Satriani, this album is a return of sorts to the feel of something like Surfing With The Alien, only with an updated late 90's sound and arguably a wider variety of guitar textures. However, it's somewhat of a harder listen than either of those two albums because of one thing - the length. Sure, Flying In A Blue Dream worked at over an hour because of the instrumental tracks were of high quality and vocal songs were added in for diversity, and the self-titled album seemed to place a lot of its' classic material in the second half, but at 67 minutes, Crystal Planet is longer than those two, but it's somewhat more even throughout. A couple of songs rank as Satch classics, definitely, but most of the material is just good, and regardless of whether the songs are nice to listen to or not, there's only so many tracks in a row with pretty much the same arrangements I can put up with.
Really, when going through this album track-by-track, I can't find too many flaws - the only really obvious one is the closer "Z.Z.'s Song", which just repeats one quiet lullaby-styled guitar line over and over for three pointless and extremely bland minutes - but there are several other times during thie album where I just wish he'd be more adventurous considering how long he keeps it going. Slightly different guitar tones aside, he's already explored the song stylings (and in places, probably melodies) that characterize "With Jupiter In Mind" and "Secret Prayer" numerous times on his 80's, and the fact that they come in the middle of the album when things feels more like they're winding down doesn't help. Even tracks I really appreciate when listening to them by themselves (such as the lightning fast runs flowing into a majestic background wall of guitars on "Time" and one of the rawest bass-heavy pieces he's ever attempted in "Psycho Monkey") have the misfortune of coming near the end of the album, by which time I want to hear some vocals already.
There are still numerous ideas and hooks throughout these pieces regardless of how structurally unadventurous a lot of them are, though. Extremely cool fast arpeggiations dominate the theme to the opening "Up In The Sky", numerous key changes and suble time signature shifts appear on the bizarrely titled "Trundrumbalind", "Ceremony" has curious little wah-wah effects and an overall feel that recalls "Driving At Night" without being overly reminiscent of it, and "A Train Of Angels" even has a marching drum intro and a great riff that sounds like King's X crossed with "Summer Song", to name a few. Not surprisingly, the only time he really explores the bluesy side of Joe Satriani at all is one of the most generic tracks on here "House Full Of Bullets", whose swinging groove has probably been explored tons of times by artists in both hard rock and blues, so maybe that's a good thing he's experimenting a little.
What about the stuff that I would rank as classic for Satch, though? First off, "Love Thing" continues to cement his talents for being incredibly lyrical with his ballads without actually singing anything, and it's not necessarily just his note choices but also his choice of guitar tone. It's very 'watery' and intimate, for lack of a better description, and the progression that's used for it is simply top-notch. And of course, there's the incredibly cool top highlight "Raspberry Jam Delta-V" that correctly predicts his excursion into techno on the next album. Well, at least the guitar tone during that fantastic main riff is techno-ish, and the rhythm has a very dancey quality, but that's not all that's great here! Check out the solos he pulls off, and especially that bassline right underneath. Wow. In any case, I haven't namechecked all 15 songs, because they all follow the same rocker/ballad pattern, but they're all good. Very tough to sit through all at once, yes, which makes the 7 a bit lower than before, but otherwise, not too much to complain about.
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(reviewed by Nick Karn)
Creativity is a strange thing, you know. See, normally, when a song-oriented veteran guitar hero incorporates techno elements into his music, it might be a good indication that he's spent creatively, instead trying to get hip with the times. Engines Of Creation, however, is one of those rare times when the result of a guitar hero's 'bandwagon jumping' or whatever is actually more interesting and in some cases better than the material he was doing before. Not that I'm all that familiar with techno or the various modern subdivisions of it, but the material here, to me at least, comes off more like a really neat Satch interpretation of techno rather than a generic and dull album from the genre. There are still the flashy solos and songs generally based on one or two themes that characterize his music, but they're also augmented with keyboards, a bunch of background embellishments, and exciting complex rhythmic patterns. Add that to the fact that every song on here is worthwhile in some way, and as a result it's an album I consider one of his best (not to mention most overlooked).
The opening track immediately convinced me that his sonic departure into this territory just might be for the better. "Devil's Slide" is incredibly addictive and catchy, with a very ominous quality to lightning-fast techno rhythms, plus the guitar tone to that riff sounds like it could easily be reproduced on a keyboard (very futuristic sounding). And the heavy 'machine gun' riffage that breaks up the atmosphere acts as a chorus of sorts is a truly adrenalizing contrast to the rest (it really worked when I saw him do the song in concert, with the flashing lights accompanying it and all). "Attack" has a similarly-paced feel in places, with another extremely fast rhythm and equally blazing riffs, solos and sound effects answering it as well as a descent into mellow, very spacey territory. It's a dynamic song! "Flavor Crystal 7" even cleverly combines the personality of newfound electronic Satch (the robotic techno rhythms and sound effects) with the old-school Satch (the bursting, joyous guitar lines that pop out of all this, as well as the solos) for a striking sound.
For the most part, I also really like the rest of the material. The only really noticeable flaw here is that, in terms of structure, these songs are really nothing new. Instead, this is more a triumph of production - the guitar tones and background embellishments definitely make things sound more otherworldly than they are. The first part of "The Power Cosmic 2000" comes to mind here, and this aspect also helps the otherwise trademark 'track 4' balladry of "Until We Say Goodbye" become something more substantial with a more layered environment, especially with the rich, sweeping symphonic overtones keyboards provide later on in the song.. Yeah, I realize this stuff isn't really as dense, creative or varied as I'd wager the best techno music probably is, but I still think Satch really knows what he's doing here. He actually makes a song as bafflingly titled as "Borg Sex" really groovy and interesting without embarassing himself! What cool little bubbling keyboard textures and 'screeching' guitar parts he's got going.
I'm not entirely sure what made Satch want to attempt a project like this (and he must have wanted to treat it as just a one-time thing, considering he went right back to his trademark sound for the following album), but I'm glad he did, as it shows a more inventive side to him than I've seen in quite a long time. Never before or since has he created something as funky and richly textured as "Champagne", with all sorts of nicely layered electronic nuances complementing the slide guitars and supremely catchy bassline, or as spacey as the closing title track - here, the keys provide the main reflective melody instead of Satch soloing over a rhythm guitar. In addition, the 'heavenly' theme of "Clouds Race Across The Sky" has inspired soloing, and "Slow And Easy" proves slow, bluesman grooves can work together well with electronic nuances. An interesting album here - Satch fanatics might be turned off by the relative lack of soloing and some of the more generic techno aspects here, but not me! Too bad this got relatively ignored within his catalog maybe for these reasons.
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(reviewed by Nick Karn)
Eh, despite the title of this album, the actual music contained within strikes me as neither strange or particularly beautiful - more like Familiar Routine Music, if you ask me. Satch's experiments with expanding his guitar sounds and his forays into electronica on the last two albums may not have always had great results, but they were at the very least interesting, and showed that he had a nice portion of creativity left in his arsenal. On here, though, the experimentation is mostly gone, leaving a dude who really seems as if he's really starting to run out of ideas, and instead just recycling earlier ones (as well as other people's, as well) - if there's an album in his catalog where he definitely relies on formula, it's this one for sure. Compounding this problem is the fact that this runs over an hour long (the Crystal Planet disease hits again), and taken together, every song on the second half seems more boring than the last, a result not unlike sitting through an entire Satch concert. Instrumental music isn't meant to be taken in more than 45 minute doses, goddamn it!
That isn't to say the end result's not still enjoyable, though - this guy is hardly capable of making a bad album, and even the more boring moments work fine as background music, and I'd also say Strange Beautiful Music would be just as good as the previous efforts if trimmed by about 20 minutes or so. Plus, there are a couple killer tracks here - "Mind Storm" is one of the most bottom-heavy and intense things he's ever written, and the way he varies that riff pattern throughout can really bring images of thunderstorms and a chaotic landscape in the sky to 'mind' (the portions when the riff drops out also remind me of lightning). In addition, the rolling "New Last Jam" is a well-flowing composition practically ideal for a car ride in the grand tradition of "Summer Song", and a cover of the 50's ballad "Sleep Walk" actually features Robert Fripp, of all people, as he adds some really neat dreamy guitar textures to the mix. Quite relaxing.
Speaking of Fripp, parts of the majestic symphonic hook to the opening "Oriental Melody" sound an awful lot like King Crimson's "Red" to me (one of my ultimate standards for instrumental music), though on its' own it stands as a real hypnotizing atmospheric piece. I think Fripp just might have been an influence on Satch's career, actually. And while we're on the subject of recycling/rip offs, "Starry Night" is pretty much a rehash of "Always With Me Always With You" combined with "Friends", I guess (only with a banjo and several layers of guitars), and Satch must believe the "Chords Of Life" were discovered by Dylan on "All Along The Watchtower", judging by the main theme that runs through that song (har har). The Easterny "Belly Dancer" doesn't remind me of any of his own specific songs (or anyone else's) in particular, but it just seems slightly more routine than usual. Wow, the guy can play fast.... but we already knew that!
All of these songs covering the first half are somewhat good (if not great except for "Mind Storm" and maybe "Sleep Walk"), so I'd probably still keep them if I were in charge of editing down this friggin' thing. It's the second half I'm more concerned about. "Hill Groove"? Get rid of that generic crap! "Mountain Song"? Err... can't recall it. "Seven String"? We don't need a weak rewrite of "Mind Storm" on the same album. "The Traveler"? Ooh, a rehash of "Mind Storm" and "Chords Of Life".... pass. "You Saved My Life"? More like "You Made Me Sit Through Ho-Hum Balladry". I guess the only ones here that pass the test are "The Journey", which sounds much more like an ideal, pleasant closure to the album (even if I can't remember exactly how it goes) and the sheer uplift of the Surfing With The Alien-esque "What Breaks A Heart". Keep those two, clean up the filler from the cutting room floor, and you have a strong 7! But someone forgot to hire an editor, so Satch will have to settle for a 6 instead, and a set of songs that's probably his weakest.
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