A great blues album, lots of different blues styles with mostly good results (Joe Satriani - Joe Satriani)

Member Name: SnooP_WiggleS

Product:	Joe Satriani - Joe Satriani
Date:	20/12/07 (56 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Some great songs, superb production and sound quality especially on the drums

Disadvantages: Those who aren't a fan of 12 bar blues won't like some of the songs that much

Arguably the king of of instrumental guitar (along with Steve Vai) returns with a more blues inspired sixth album. This album is far more laid back than previous efforts such as 'Surfing With The Alien' or 'The Extremist'. Not much 'shred' here with slightly more restrained (only in speed, not in feel) guitar solos. So for those who are blues fanatics is this Satriani album worth checking out? Mostly yes, its got enough variety to keep non blues fans interested. Keep in mind that blues is being used rather broadly in this case, mostly this album doesn't follow the traditional '12 bar blues' chord progression, which personally I think belongs in improvised concerts but not on cds. A rundown of the songs:

Cool #9:
A great start to the album, showcases what to expect to a certain extent. a simple backing guitar chord progression follows the song most of the way, with some excellent subtle piano work also accompanying, and of course. But perhaps even more than Joe Satriani's top guitar work, the drums find a prominent and varied place in this song. All the subtleties of the cymbal work come through crystal clear, its a great song to appreciate what a talented drummer can come up with. Joe Satriani's lead guitar is catchy as always, with some great solos here. Lots of 'octave' effects using the digitech whammy pedal that sound great. A classic.

If:
This one is a more rockin tune, with some interesting dual rhythm guitar work (playing complementing chords/strums) backing up Satriani's lead. Again the drum work is top notch, even having a chance to solo in a couple of places. Later on the feel changes a little to an almost chili peppers influence particularly in the rhythm guitar.

DownDownDown:
This song takes it down a notch or ten with a much slower feel. Classic 'wailing blues'. Joe Satriani really manages to put some emotion into the lead guitar in those one, creating a great feel to the song.

Luminious Flesh Giants:
Back to the more rocky feel similar to 'if' with this song. A bit of synth work is subtle introduced however so its not quite the same. Overall it sounded slightly repetitive to me, not too bad but perhaps the main lead lick is overused.

S.M.F
A more obvious blues song following the 12 bar blues pattern clearly. That said its not too bad, and has a good laid back feel to it. Joe has a go at his harmonica in this one too. More great drum work again. By the end the 12 bars blue factor was a little wearing however, so non blues fans may want to only just sample this song rather than listen to the full almost 6min 45seconds.

Look My Way:
Joe does some singing on this song, with more 12 bar blues influence here. The stereo effect of the percussion is quite cool however, definitely one to listen to on a decent set of headphones. Again i rarely listen to all of this song either though.

Home:
A great improvement. Wonderfully laid back, with a great memorable lead lick. One of my favorites on this album.

Moroccon S.:
A slightly weirder feel to this song particularly for the main 'chorus' lead lick. Once the main solo gets going it settles to a more 'wailing blues' feel. Once again some great solo work by Joe.

KillerBeeBop:
Another song with great drum work in the intro (they all do well, but this one highlights it). A very freeform blues feel to this one until the guitar comes in. This song intentionally is well 'all over the place' in feel. Lots of interesting time signatures, but some of the guitar work isn't my thing. One of the main guitar lead lick is too discordant for my liking (you'll know it when you hear it), a bit too weird.

SlowDownBlue:
The longest song on the cd at over 7 minutes, this one covers a lot of track. The first three minutes involve a simple harmonica accompaniment to slide guitars (first an acoustic, then a more distorted one joins in, the leaves). Then the bass and drums creep in to create a laid back blues rock feel, with even some short vocal lines added in. From there the song builds up momentum gradually to some great blues solo work on guitar and harmonica. great stuff for blues fans, and non blues fans will still appreciate somewhat as long as the song length doesn't bother them.

You're My W:
Another decent song, less laid back as some efforts here but still easy listening, features some wah pedal work of the lead guitar through most of the song to great effect.

Sittin Roun:
A very laid back blues finisher to the album. Unlike some of the others this one has the same feel throughout the song, never really building up into anything big, not necessarily a bad thing. A solid finish to an interesting blues album.


Production and sound quality wise this is arguably Joe Satriani's best. The stereo separation of instruments is absolutely amazing in places, everyone gets there own space to clearly be heard in the mix. Cool #9 highlights this with rhythm hard right in the sound field, piano hard left, bass and lead guitar around the center, And drums filling up the gaps with cymbals spanning the entire sound field. Again the drum work is the highlight here, its a very 'open' and natural drum sound, something that is sadly not done very often nowadays in (nowadays its all about hyper compressing the life out of the drums loosing any subtlety and nuances). Its always present but almost never over dominates the mix, rather it complements it. Listen to around 2:45 on cool#9 for great effect where every cymbal hit has a clear spot in the stereo spot, they can all be picked out easily. Even non drummers will instantly recognized they all sound different, even if they don't known what a 'ride', 'splash' or 'crash' cymbals are. The mix is also wonderfully dynamic, with many songs like 'SlowDownBlue' varying from a single quiet acoustic slide guitar to full blown band, again something thats sorely missed in modern music (in favor of uniform loudness throughout the song so it sounds good in the car with all the road noise about). So consequently not one to listen to in loud noisy environments like on the road - this is music to listen to on its own, in detail with a great setup. Headphones are especially recommended on this one, though it of course still sounds great on a decent set of speakers that have a decent stereo separation. Its also mastered to maximize sound quality, which of course as a consequence makes it a few db quieter than the usual pop music that competes to blast your ears out. Nothing a tweak of the volume knob doesn't fix, or digital users can adopt either Itunes 'sound check' or 'volume levelling' (windows media player) or 'replaygain' (winamp and others) to make your entire collection of songs at the same volume level be they old or new. Overall a perfect mix that complements every song to its maximum.

Summary: While some may find it a bit too blues, save for a couple of songs its got variety, good stuff