Joe Satriani, Guitar Legend Part 2
Posted on December 31, 2007
Filed Under Guitarists |
An Ibanez Legend
Joe Satriani wields Ibanez guitars like a surgeon with a scalpel...or maybe a knight in King Arthur’s court. My point is the guy in one versatile son of a gun and knows how to play guitar. If he set foot in a local guitar shop, half the store would probably drop to its knees.
I previously discussed the earlier part of Joe's canon. Now I’d like to delve into some of his later works. In 1993, Satch released a double CD titled “Time Machine.” I remember first appreciating the awesome cover showing Joe jumping across floating stop watches holding his chrome boy JS Ibanez guitar. This CD was a sort of leftovers album, surprisingly most of the tracks are of very high quality. The album kicks off super strong with the infectious title track. There is great variety on this record from the bluesy The Mighty Turtle Head to the speedy Dweller on the Threshold. ‘Thinking of You’ is a really beautiful acoustic piece with stunning melodies. Presumably he used and Ibanez acoustic. The fist disc finishes with Woodstock Jam which I always thought of as a filler track really, but by then you’re already won over by the quality of the previous songs. The second disc is a live CD which I actually rarely spin.
After two additional releases, Satch put out what has to be his most controversial and despised album, Engines of Creation. Essentially this is a dance CD but with a profound hard rock guitar focus. Engines is a risky experimental album. Engines is a hugely successful experiment. This disc is peppered with guitar tones we’ve never heard on a Satch record. The synthetic drum sound is a bit grating at times but ultimately the songs on this disc prevail. Borg Sex is a masterpiece and a concert favorite. In fact any song off this record works fabulously in a concert setting with traditional rock instrumentation. The criticism of this record is baseless and only genre-based. If the listener can transcend the dance genre, they will certainly appreciate this fine album.
Amazingly after Engines of Creation Joe was able to slip on his old hard rocking shoes and come up with Strange Beautiful Music. I can unhesitatingly call this CD a masterpiece. Once again Joe is pictured on the cover holding his Ibanez with the logo clearly visible as if to say, my axe and I are here to crush! Count ‘em, 14 excellent songs. OK 13. I despise the Hawaiian flavored Sleep Walk. I just hate the style of the song. OK I’m guilty. Also it just sounds entirely out of place among the other songs on this disc. Granted he is exploring many styles on this disc but only this song sounds like the odd duck. Starry Night is probably one of the better stylistic experiments of Satch’s career. It’s quite a feat that at this stage of his career, Satriani can strap on his guitar and pump out a lengthy album of consistent quality like Strange Beautiful Music. And hence the reason for all the genuflection at the guitar shop.
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