Joe Satriani’s obsession with otherworldly phenomena has been a driving force of his music from day one. From his unearthly guitar playing to his intergalactic album titles (1986’s Not of This Earth, 1987’s Surfing with the Alien, etc.), Satriani has just about done and said it all short of revealing himself to in fact be a Martian and not the born and bred New Yorker (suuurreee) we’ve been told he is. Yet despite gracing the cover of every guitar magazine, selling millions of albums, and topping “best guitarists ever” lists across both the light and dark web (the latter being an educated guess), Satch continues to push the boundaries of both his respective instrument and the space-time continuum.
On his latest album, The Elephants of Mars, Satch and his band of ALFs (for those without knowledge of 80s sitcoms, that stands for “alien lifeforms”) have concocted a mind-bending collection of hard rock, blues, and jazz instrumentals. At the forefront is Satch (after all, it is his album). Unlike his flashy late 80s and early 90s output that kept aspiring shredders up at night, Satch’s current fare sees the guitarist weaving tapestries of atmosphere and mood with 6 strings and 24 guitars. Now that doesn’t mean for a second he can’t unleash a barrage of notes at lightning speed. Take the closing passage of “Tension and Release” for example, which sees Satch tearing it up with the speed and intensity of a 25 year old, not a 65 year old.
While the majority of the songs on Elephants sit comfortably in the “guitar centric progressive hard rock” category, by no means do they follow the norms and conventions associated with the genre, especially considering Satch established such norms and conventions. The whammy bar clinic that is the opening “Sahara” and the acoustic “Doors of Perception” inject a flavor of eastern folk music. The jazz fusion tendencies of “Blue Foot Groovy” and “Pumpin'” recall mid 70s Jeff Beck. The dirty blues of “Tension and Release” burns down the house, yet without sacrificing melody or grace in the process.
What’s most interesting about this album is its use of electronic soundscapes and noises to further enrich Satch’s sonic palette. I’m not sure if these effects were programmed by Satch himself or an outside artist, but whoever was responsible deserves a gold medal. The hypnotic title track, “Sailing the Seas of Ganymede”, and “Dance of the Spores” are among just a few of the cuts accentuated by these truly odd electronic elements. The average guitar purist may cringe at such innovation, and is welcome to do so from the depths of their mother’s basement.
These are of course but a few highlights of what is Satch’s most consistent album in quite some time. I feel like I’m doing a disservice by brushing over the reggae infused “E 104th St NYC 1973”, unorthodoxly metallic “Through a Mother’s Day Darkly”, and passionately symphonic “Faceless”, but in all seriousness, the music speaks for itself. Put on your best spacesuit and get ready to explore the beyond. No, this isn’t a dream, blue or otherwise. It’s reality, which in the long run is even stranger than fiction. On that note, who’s that little pale green fellow in the corner of my room watching me type th-
7 out of 10
Label: earMUSIC
Genre: Hard Rock
For fans of: Steve Vai, Buckethead, Paul Gilbert