Joe Satriani Album by Album Thread

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by stodgers, Jan 20, 2016.

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  1. bunkaroo

    bunkaroo Forum Resident

    Yes Crystal Planet was very good. :)
     
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  2. stodgers

    stodgers Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Montana
    Nope, not the one I'm thinking. ;)
     
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  3. stodgers

    stodgers Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Montana
    TIME MACHINE

    To capitalize on his success, in 1994 Joe’s new label took a bunch of outtakes and EP songs and released them with a handful of new tracks for a colection that would be called Time Machine. Though it was awfully early to be releasing a retrospective, the inclusion of a live disc made it an appealing purchase for many. But I’m only reviewing the studio work here, which is a bit of a mixed bag. It helps one to see Joe’s career to date in greater context, but on the whole, it isn’t a very satisfying front-to-back listen.

    Time Machine

    Like a steampunk monolith of gears and valves, the title track to this album comes lurching out of the gates with total authority. Those staccato notes in the background give the feel of a mechanism working away, and the melody line is simple and soaring. The fact that this song takes so long to develop builds the dramatic tension. The flurry of legato lines that start at 2:47 are terrific and the whammy lines that end the solo are signature Satch. Just a terrific piece of work.

    The Mighty Turtle Head

    A funky nod to boogie songs past? Or a potential indication of bluesy things to come. This second track shows Joe’s live band in tight form. The swift changes between the thematic elements of the song that starts at the one-minute mark are pretty sweet, but the song as a whole isn’t one of the stronger ones in Joe’s repertoire, and the drums feel mixed way too far up for my tastes.

    All Alone

    Those first resonant drums hits followed by the opening melody notes just tear at your soul. Though Joe has tried on two albums to recreate the ballad, here he nails it with a Billie Holliday cover. There are some beautiful moments in this song, but it is just the whole of it that is remarkable. Despite some repeated themes, it never feels repetitive.

    Banana Mango II

    This starts off pretty slow, and though all the layers are interesting enough, it definitely has the feel of a NOTE cast-off. But in one moment, that all changes. At 2:36, the song finally kicks into high gear, giving you the goods you’ve been waiting for. And those runs starting at 3:24 are awesome.

    Thinking of You

    Here’s a song that offers very little to write about. It’s pretty and all… But… It just kind of goes nowhere.

    Crazy

    As much as I dislike Joe’s singing, I love this song. Sure, the lyrics are terrible, but it has so much energy and is so much fun, you can’t help but go along for the ride. I remember sitting down and trying to figure out those guitar lines that come after each chorus, and just grinning along with it on each take. I can say this is probably one song where a guitar melody may not have worked instead of the vocal, but I guess we’ll never know.

    Speed of Light

    I like this song well enough, but it also kind of feels like it isn’t going anywhere.

    Baroque

    Breathtaking in every single note, this song quickly replaced Day at the Beach as my favorite song of all time. I spent an entire semester in college just mastering this one song, getting the articulation of each note to sound just right. But playing it is nothing compared to hearing it. It almost brings tears to my eyes. The haunting delay of the Eventide Harmonizer over such a deliberately ornate guitar line, and the repetition of and subtle changes to the ongoing theme. Gawd damn, I love this song.

    Dweller on the Threshold

    Whoa – but now I gotta turn down the volume!! This SOTA outtake could easily have taken the place of Hill of the Skull, but was probably just too aggressive for that album. It is distinctive and alien in its sound, never losing momentum throughout. The opening notes of the solo are like a foreign language, but it resolves to something recognizable, if not terribly fluid. All in all, good song, but better as an outtake here than on an album, though that ending might have been perfect right before Circles. I just wish it didn’t come right after Baroque.

    Banana Mango

    Each of these four songs has different merits and while I find them enjoyable in the context of this album, I don’t think they would be as interesting if just listened to on their own. This one is obviously overshadowed by its sequel, but the closing 30 seconds are probably the most interesting part.

    Dreaming #11

    Here we get the first indication of Joe’s versatility as a composer, using his instrument to create every sound, even to replace a drum kit. But the ‘bass drum’ is way too punchy through headphones, and the remainder of the track isn’t particularly striking, except the ending train sequence.

    I Am Become Death

    This is easily the best of the EP tracks, and the title is so apt. This is such a creepy and foreboding track. I love just about every part, but that backwards guitar solo is what does it for me.

    Saying Goodbye

    This is a beautiful song in so many ways. The effects are so well-executed that they become an integral enhancement to the music. Perfect title, again…

    Woodstock Jam

    I think I’ve listened to this track twice in the 20+ years I’ve owned this album. This would be listen #3. The keyboard sounds are just silly, and the noodling that starts things off – and never stops - makes me want to hit skip. It’s a total bore. If anything, it shows why there was no chemistry with this version of the Extremist band.
     
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  4. stodgers

    stodgers Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Montana
    Well, no love for Time Machine. Guess I had better bust out those headphones again!!
     
  5. bunkaroo

    bunkaroo Forum Resident

    I actually forgot to listen to this as I was planning to listen to each album as this moves along. I listened to the S/T instead.

    My recollection of this one is that I love the title track. Outside of that nothing really stick out in my mind. And like you, I listen to "Woodstock Jam" maybe once a decade. It's kind of like the really long song at the end of one of the Liquid Tension Experiment records - it's just a little too much.
     
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  6. slipkid

    slipkid Senior Member

    I liked it a lot when it came out. Just haven't listened to it in a long time.
     
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  7. stodgers

    stodgers Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Montana
    JOE SATRIANI

    After the success of The Extremist, Joe decided to take a chance. Hiring the legendary Glyns Johns to produce wasn’t any risk, but taking Johns’s advice and stripping down his sound to just a Marshall stack and little more, and throwing him in a room with highly-paid and world renowned session musicians for a couple week most certainly was. Here is a guitarist that is notoriously particular about every element of his recordings, and now was casting that all to the wind. Joe brought in the songs, the band played them, and that was it – very few overdubs, no re-recording take after take, no musicians following the lead of a midi drumkit. This is Joe Satriani at his most raw, and IMO, at his very best.


    Cool #9

    There is no mistaking it when this album starts that this is going to be something different. Though the title is classic Joe, everything else about this song is not. No crunching distortion or slap-back delay here, folks. Just pure, nearly unadulterated guitar. But once that solo kicks in, you know exactly who is playing. This song is smoking from start to finish and sets the tone for the album to come in both its sound and feel, leaning more on blues and funk than the prior album’s metal sounds. But what makes this song – and this album – so distinctive is the absolutely clear separation between every instrument. More than any other rock album I own, this has the sound and feel of a live band playing in a room - and loving every minute of it.

    If

    According to his bio, this was the only song actually written during the recording sessions for this album. Given that, it has a more spontaneous feel than some of the others, and I like the breakdown in the latter part of the song a lot. The bassline is spectacular and punchy throughout and the high-res version gives the rhythm guitars nearly equal footing with the lead. This becomes a bit problematic in the solo though as all three guitars compete for attention and distract from the ripping fretwork. But at the end it all starts to work again, and for the first time on this listen, I realize that the lead guitar is centered in the solo, then in the left channel at the end, suggesting it may be Andy Low playing out, and not Joe?

    Down, Down, Down

    One of four distinctly blues tunes on the album, this one lives up to its name. Somber and pensive, this song just breathes throughout. There are so many subtle articulations of ghost notes and the like in the empty space of the verses that you just have to sit back and drink it all in. Some great moments like at 5:13 make this one well worth the patience it asks for.

    Luminous Flesh Giants

    If that isn’t a Satch song title, I don’t know what is. And this song just kicks total butt from beginning to end. This is probably for me the best example on this album of a song that could have been done in Joe’s signature style, but so obviously benefits from the more laid back recording style Glyns Johns employs. There are still layers upon layers here, and the riffing is all first rate, but we get to hear everything so clearly, it allows you to pick something new to highlight on every pass. And that solo run that starts at 2:57 is just sick. But it is the part at 3:20 that just makes this song a classic. Love it.

    S.M.F.

    This is the one song on the album that feels like a reach, like Joe trying to be Clapton for five minutes. Trouble is, the song is way longer than five minutes and doesn’t find itself worthy at any point, IMO. Remove this song and you have a stronger 53-minute album.

    Look My Way

    Just a bit of fun thrown in. You can’t even hate the vocals on this one. A refreshing change of pace from the previous song.

    Home

    Man, this song is gorgeous. And the drum kit just sounds spectacular on it. The fact I am even talking about a drum sound on a Satriani track should tell you something. But the solo is so heartfelt and intimate on this one as well. And you can hear every single note and every single time his pick even brushed the strings between phrases. Nothing is disguised, and it all sounds amazing.

    Moroccan Sunset

    I didn’t like this song when I first heard it. Then I saw Joe on this tour and he unleashed this one with such a fury, and now in every listen I hear that performance. To me, this is the song on this disc that I can’t imagine any other way, on any other album, and with any other production style. It is one of the high points on the disc. When I hear this song, it makes me realize I don’t listen to this album enough. I don’t mean play it, I mean listen.

    Killer Bee Bop

    This seems to be Joe’s first foray into a truly jazz-oriented song, and it works beautifully. The ferocity of the openings notes that become a recurring theme in the song are but one element of its distinctiveness in his catalog to this point. Every instrument is just raging through this one like a Mingus song on amphetamines. I love it.

    Slow Down Blues

    But I love this song most of all. It isn’t so much the song itself, as the moments within it. Here, the harp accents in the intro are the perfect counterpoint to the dobro and slide guitars, and when you get that first distorted note of Part II, it’s on. Unlike the seven-minute blues tune earlier on the disc, every note of this one feels like it is leading you somewhere awesome, and at 2:54 that journey begins in earnest. The distorted vocal through the harp mic sets the down and dirty tone for the next four minutes, a counterpoint to the ambient and shimmery intro. At 4:18 things go up a notch, but it is really at 4:32 that you get swept away. I just get total goosebumps at this point. But my very favorite part is when the bass, lead, and rhythm guitar all lock in with the drums at 5:30. Up to this point, things felt like a loose jam, but from here out, they just complete rock the joint. Goosebumps. Every time.

    You’re My World

    If this track sticks out from the rest, it is by design. Recorded in a different time and place, with Jeff Campitelli on drums, this feels more like something that could have been on any other Joe album. But it is still a terrific piece and well deserving of the Grammy nomination it received. I love the layered guitars at 1:37, followed by that heavy phased guitar. A really elegant tune.

    Sittin’ Round

    Closing things out on a bluesy note, the title of this song says it all. Four guys, sittin’ round jamming for a couple weeks, and this is what they close out with. There’s a great build in this one, but otherwise it is a fittingly easygoing way to wrap up what is my favorite Joe Satriani album.
     
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  8. Claus

    Claus Senior Member

    Location:
    Germany
    One of Satriani's Top 5 albums. Great laidback work....
     
  9. slipkid

    slipkid Senior Member

    That album was the first Joe album that I did not like. Still don't (except for the first song). None of the rest of it works for me for some unknown reason, I just don't like the songs I guess.

    Other than Engines of Creation (which I find hard to stomach because of all the electronica) this is my least favorite Satch album.

    I forgot to update my Satch scorecard earlier, here it is for up to this album:

    Not of This Earth - 5
    Surfing With the Alien - 6
    Flying in a Blue Dream - 7
    The Extremist - 8
    Time Machine - 7 (I actually need to listen to it again to refresh my memory though, been awhile since I spun it, but I recall liking it when it came out & that reminds me of something I should mention...)
    Joe Satriani - 2
     
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  10. slipkid

    slipkid Senior Member

    Regarding Time Machine, a quick story. Sorry but I didn't have time to post this while the thread was on that album.

    I've seen Satch almost every time he came to Philly area. First show I saw was at the TLA, for Surfing with the Alien. I was in the first row. It was either Halloween or Mischief Night if I recall correctly. Have a bunch of stories about that show I won't bore everybody with.

    Point I wanted to make though was that I saw him at The Tower Theater on 12/3/92. One of the songs he did was Rubina and it was goosebump worthy, really beautiful. I was there with a guitarist friend who also had his own local music studio that he rented out. He was always looking to make business contacts, handing out cards at shows to people that he felt looked like musicians who might use his studio, talking to guys working at the shows on the lights or the board, etc. Anyways after that Tower show we hung out over at the board on the floor and he was talking shop so to speak with the guy running the board. Learned the show was recorded. We lobbied for them to release that show, or at the very least, the song Rubina. And not that our conversation ended up meaning a thing, but that version of Rubina is on Time Machine (along with several other songs from that show).
     
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  11. bunkaroo

    bunkaroo Forum Resident

    Looks like I'll be the dissenting voice on the S/T. I didn't like it then and I didn't like it when I revisited it last week. Now admittedly I am not a blues guy but this is not a typical blues record. There are several songs on the record I do like ("Cool #9", "Home", "Moroccan Sunset", but this is also the only record of Joe's that I actually skip tracks - I never do that. I believe they are "S.M.F." and "Slow Down Blues". Overall, this is probably the most disappointing release I've heard from him. I know some of the 2000's output can blend together but song for song this is the weakest one for me.

    I think it was cool Joe tried something different - it's just not something I wanted from him.
     
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  12. chrischerm

    chrischerm Forum Resident

    I thought Time Machine was up and down at times. That said, the title track is one of my favorite Satch songs. So good! I remember putting together a Satriani mix for a buddy who wanted to get into him, but hadn't heard much by him. I started that mix off with the song Time Machine.
     
  13. stodgers

    stodgers Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Montana
    I knew there would be folks who didn't like this album, and I can understand why. But when I listen to it, there is just so much going on that I can always dig into it and find something new. As a fan of progressive music, to me this was a natural extension of Joe's evolution as a musician, but I was not surprised to see him do an about face and go right back to the way he was used to working. In the bio, he is diplomatic, but clear, about not having been satisfied with the experience of recording the S/T album. My only lament is that he would soon get into a mode of being completely closed off from outside input, and I think his output suffered.
     
  14. artist_nine

    artist_nine Forum Resident

    Location:
    Finland
    I agree. My favourite track from the album.
     
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  15. bunkaroo

    bunkaroo Forum Resident

    Sorry to backtrack just going through Time Machine now. I forgot how much I like this one. "Speed of Light" kind of feels like a rehash of "Summer Song" but I think I like it better. Everything is better than I remember though. This may actually tie FIABD for my second favorite now. It's definitely right there with Extremist and FIABD.
     
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  16. slipkid

    slipkid Senior Member

    I'm a dissenting vote as well. Except for Cool #9 I like nothing on that album at all, can't even force myself to sit through the whole album.
     
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  17. Claus

    Claus Senior Member

    Location:
    Germany
    JS sounds still great today.... not in the same league like his best albums, but light years better, what he recorded in the last 10 years!
     
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  18. bunkaroo

    bunkaroo Forum Resident

    His bassist and drummer were quite and upgrade for his latest record (Beller and Minneman).
     
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  19. bunkaroo

    bunkaroo Forum Resident

    I listened to Crystal Planet again last Friday - definitely a return to form for Joe and I loved hearing Stu back on bass for most of the tracks.
     
  20. stodgers

    stodgers Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Montana
    Hope to get to it tomorrow myself!
     
  21. stodgers

    stodgers Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Montana
    CRYSTAL PLANET

    I’ll be the first to say that as an advocate for the album preceding this one, I found Crystal Planet to be a terrific disappointment when I first got it. The raw energy of that eponymous album, and its pristine production, is traded back in for Satch’s signature sound - the full-on surf-rock vibe is back. For that reason alone, it took me quite some time to dig into this material. The sheer length of the album, combined with the relative homogeneity of its tracks makes a lot of it run together, and it doesn’t help that this is really the first album that seems to be pedestrian in some of its guitar work. Where Joe used to thrill with every note, here we get some real clunkers. But the moments of glory, oh how they shine!!!


    Up In The Sky

    Anyone disappointed in the sound of the former release could not be happier than with the way Crystal Planet kicks off. A flurry of plucked harmonics leads into a mid-tempo riff that sets the stage for yet another perfectly titled Satriani tune.

    House Full of Bullets

    This was one I found hard to like when I first got the album but it has since grown on me. It seemed overly repetitive, but that only forces one to search for the subtleties in the track. For instance the chord changes over the opening verse and how the main rhythm stays constant, but Joe switches it up every couple measures. The solo doesn’t do much for me except the part at 2:38. And I do think he does a better job integrating the harmonica here than on prior albums. Overall, not a stunner, but not as bad as I first thought.

    Crystal Planet

    A funny thing happens when you read liner notes for the first time in 20 years: you notice things like Joe plays a guitar synth on this one. Huh, never knew. That opening riff is classic Joe, but this one is all Stu Hamm in my mind. Once that driving bass kicks in at 0:27, it hardly lets up. It is not a complicated line at all, but the fills and breaks make it happen, and it does keep the ball rolling. For those who think guys like Hamm and Sheehan are all flash, this song proves they can play for the song. This I a well-produced song with all the delay and synthy-ness to it, and at 3:46 is where I just start smiling. Awesome way to close things out.

    Love Thing

    Another ballad that pales in comparison to SOTA’s classic.

    Trundrumbalind

    This is another one that does almost nothing for me. The off-kilter time of it is a nice touch, but I just find it meandering and rather uninteresting.

    Lights of Heaven

    I like how this piece opens, with the shimmery riff that then kicks the doors open thirty seconds in. But other than that, I don’t find much to write about here.

    Raspberry Jam Delta-V

    This song, on the other hand? I could write about this one all day. This is a masterpiece and shows that Joe’s brief experimentation with a whammy pedal on Cool #9 was just a warm-up. To date, I have never heard anyone use that effect as brilliantly – and fluidly - as he does here. The intro is one thing, but that outro solo..? Holy sheezballs! And this is another one that Stu Hamm just rocks the socks off of. And those hammer-ons from 1:20… Awesome. But it is those breaks, like at 1:40, followed by those singing whammy notes that just light it up for me. The solo is restrained, but fits overall with the song. And then we get some cool orchestration and then from 4:32 out, the guitar and bass just work off each other and it is pure heaven.

    Ceremony

    Interesting opening riff, and the melody line is nice and all, but… I’m not hot on this one. Apparently Joe’s first seven-string recording, to me it doesn’t have the balls one would expect from that.

    With Jupiter in Mind

    This one does nothing for me. But this is where I really start noticing the homogenous nature of the production and how it offers little to nothing to make tracks stand out from one another. I also notice how Joe’s solo guitar has a sort of screamy sound in the upper register that sounds artificial, and not at all as natural and euphoric as on The Extremist even.

    Secret Prayer

    Another one that does little for me.

    A Train of Angels

    Now we’ve got something. That balls-out opening marching band drum beat and riff is just what the doctor ordered to shake some dust off this record. The subtle tempo change underneath it all as the drum kit and bass come in is perfectly executed, and the rest of the song just takes off. There’s a world of difference between the songwriting on a tune like this and the two before it. So much more engaging. But while the dynamic range on the hi-res is slightly better than the original CD, here is where the ear fatigue starts to set in.

    A Piece of Liquid

    A nice reprieve for the ears, but it just doesn’t have the depth or character of other mellow tracks Joe has done, despite the bass flourishes towards the end.

    Psycho Monkey

    I absolutely hate this song. The main riff and bluesy breakdown are so by-the-numbers it is gut-churning. It takes a lot of restraint not to hit skip on this.

    Time

    And for a long time, I actually stopped this CD at A Train of Angels, in part because I thought the preceding track and this one were awful. But with time and energy, I dug into this track and realized that it is by far one of the most superb compositions that Joe has put to record. What initially to me felt like a NOTE cast-off (when it was actually a leftover of the JS sessions) is really so complex I couldn’t digest it all at first. From the initial reverse-gated drum whack and layered rhythm guitars that punch you right in the face, to that brilliant ascending chorus with chiming guitars underneath, to that mind-blowing time and tempo change that the song rides out on… Man, it is just a thing of beauty. I deeply regret having sold this song short early on.

    ZZ’s Song

    Why oh why did this album not end oh so perfectly with Time? In reality, that’s where I end it. This could have been a album of ten good to great tracks, and instead there are five more to drag it out. Though I might have given this one a pass if it were in the middle of the album to break up the monotony.
     
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  22. Claus

    Claus Senior Member

    Location:
    Germany
    Crystal Planet is good... but has also a few fillers.

    6/10
     
  23. PacificOceanBlue

    PacificOceanBlue Senior Member

    Location:
    The Southwest
    Time Machine is a very cool album; a great mixture of rare early cuts, some new cuts, and live tracks. Still love it to this day.
     
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  24. PacificOceanBlue

    PacificOceanBlue Senior Member

    Location:
    The Southwest
    I think The Extremist was his last truly great album. Satriani has certainly produced some great music over the past 20 years, but this was the last of what was a series of really good albums.
     
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  25. Claus

    Claus Senior Member

    Location:
    Germany
    The last truly great album was Strange Beautiful Music IMO
     
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