CD Review -- JOE SATRIANI, Prof Satch

[TwilightOdyssey]

CD review, JOE SATRIANI, Professor Satchafunkilus and the Musterion of Rock

I was very curious whether Satch could match the song writing and sonics of Super Colossal, and it's a great relief to see Satch not only still has the chops and imagination but is not so forward-looking as to turn his back on the past.

Full of allusions to his earlier works, Prof Satch is a darker, more mature effort that spans just about everything he's done to date while still keeping it fresh sounding. Notable on this album is the quality of the bass playing, which really stands out instead of hiding behind a wall of guitars. It sounds a lot more organic and like a band than someone jamming with a drum machine with bass added 'just because'.

The production isn't as clean as Super Colossal, but as far as performances go, this one ranks up there with the more adventurous material from Not Of This Earth and Dreaming #11.

I look forward to seeing Satch do this new material live.

Highly recommended!!

[Lazy_McDoesnothing]

I'm downloading the album now!  If it's as good as you say I might just have to go to Guitar Center in Chicago on Saturday to buy the album from Satch himself!

[Jonny]

Awesome stuff. I own the Anthology and Super Colossal. I think they're both great.

Will purchase this soon. :)

[blue]

i've been listening to Time Machine and the re-mastered Surfing with the Alien all week, and the new one just arrived this morning! haven't had the chance to listen yet, but i'm looking forward to it!

and i've got my tickets to see Satch (and Paul gilbert) next month  :)

[gingataff]

I've been downloading his podcasts about the making of the album, it's good to hear Ben compare the album with Not Of This Earth which compositionally is still my favourite Satch album.

[Adam.M]

I've been downloading his podcasts about the making of the album, it's good to hear Ben compare the album with Not Of This Earth which compositionally is still my favourite Satch album.

Where would those podcasts be? i'd love to hear 'em!

Im just listening to this now, i really like this one so far, didn't quite gel with super colossal, couldn't listen to it on its own merit, i just kept thinking about the damned pevey colossal amps.

Glad to see there isnt any songs titled 'little red box' or 'satchurator' that are just adverts for his new distortion vox distortion pedal. After Super Colossal i kind of expected it...

[gingataff]

I got them from iTunes, the link is on satriani.com

[Philly Q]

I just realised I haven't bought a Satch album since Joe Satriani, and he still had hair then!  I liked all the earlier stuff (Not Of This Earth was the first CD I ever bought!) but I thought the JS album was boring and the later stuff just sort of passed me by.

It's about time I got re-acquainted with his work.

[CUBE]

the last track on the CD is awesome, i never heard Joe do stuff like that for a long time

[Adam.M]

That last one really shocked me too, great track!

I felt the middle-to-late tracks, the weirder ones werent to my taste exactly but the first few, i think 5 tracks and last one (maybe more than one at the end, need to re-listen, was distracted) were really good!

[apmaman]

going to see him in Glasgow!


Boooyah!

The new albums good. I love the I just wanna rock song.

[Mr Ed]

My favourite tracks would be:

Revelation
Come On Baby
Out Of The Sunrise

I loved how I Just Wanna Rock started out, nice classic rock vibe, but it seemed a little lacking for me, like it was building up to go somewhere but never got there.

Either way, my favourite of his last 2/3 releases.

[MajorPentatonic]

Great album and great guitarist. Nice to see someone last as long as he has without resorting to repeating himself. Whilst he has an unmistakable sound, he always somehow manages to deliver something fresh with every album.

Probably his best work since the early days.