JOE SATRIANI

With Joe Satriani now at the age of 54, the legendary guitarist and Ibanez endorsee for over two decades shows no signs of slowing down in his music career. Quite the contrary; Satch has been seemingly ubiquitous within the public eye during the past couple of years which have seen him assume role of guitarist in a band context with fellow rock luminaries Sammy Hagar, Michael Anthony and Chad Smith with the already globally successful Chickenfoot, as well as that unfortunate plagiarism furore and subsequent litigation case against Coldplay towards the end of 2008 over the alleged theft of melodies from 'If I Could Fly' in the Brit band's song 'Viva la Vida' (which eventually resulted in an out of court settlement). Early 2010 saw the release of a two disc solo CD/DVD 'Live in Paris: I Just Wanna Rock!', but here we have his fourteenth studio album, 'Black Swans and Wormhole Wizards', continuing the ambiguously themed titles following 2008's 'Professor Satchafunkilus and the Musterion of Rock'. As enjoyable a slab of retro rock fun Chickenfoot's eponymous debut was last year, it's great to have Satch back purely on his own terms with what is, dare I say, a career best. At least to my ears, anyway. The eleven tracks on offer have all been embellished with sonically lavish layers of instrumentation like never before in Satch's canon of work, lending a greater emotional depth and aurally engaging significance to his erstwhile more forthright rock attack. 'Black Swans and Wormhole Wizards' becomes comparable in this sense to the output of Joe's former pupil, Steve Vai, a man who has always flourished with richly layered music. That is not to say Satch sounds like Vai in any small way, rather his textured approach on this new release is simply reminiscent of Vai. Of the personnel involved in 'Black Swans...' (which also includes long-time Satch sticksman Jeff Campitelli and The Mermen bassist Allen Whitman) it's perhaps of most interest to read that keyboards were provided by Mike Keneally, a man renowned for his session work with Vai (as well as a brief stint in Frank Zappa's band and other curious collaborations such as with Norwegian avant-gardists Ulver). Here, his keyboards are stunning and indubitably supplement and complement Satch's guitar widdlings with alluring results (Keneally is even afforded a lengthy piano solo on penultimate track 'Wind in the Trees'). However, it's the guitar that remains centre stage throughout the album's duration with Satch's virtuoso fretboard shredding kept to a minimum in favour of giving space to his richly melodious motifs in each of the tracks. In allowing his guitar to breathe in this refined manner, there's a genuine sense that the man is truly playing from within, expressing inner emotions though his wide array and arsenal of stylistic techniques. Instrumental guitar albums don't get much better than this. Musically honest, captivating and masterful in every sense of those words. An incredible piece of work.

LABEL:

FORMAT:

Epic Records

Album

BLACK SWANS AND WORMHOLE WIZARDS

Review by Mark Holmes

RUNNING TIME:

53:10

RELEASE DATE:

4th Oct 2010

TRACK LISTING

1) Premonition
2) Dream Song
3) Pyrrhic Victoria
4) Light Years Away
5) Solitude
6) Littleworth Lane
7) The Golden Room
8) Two Sides To Every Story
9) Wormhole Wizards
10) Wind in the Trees
11) God is Crying

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:

USA

"...there's a genuine sense that the man is truly playing from within, expressing inner emotions though his wide array and arsenal of stylistic techniques. Instrumental guitar albums don't get much better than this."