I've never been much of a fan of instrumental guitar albums. I find they get boring really quickly and much of what you get is the guitarist trying to show off how clever he is and how well he can play, which is all very fine but you know me: I like my melody. So if there's no real actual tune in the music, if it's just a guy shredding up and down scales or picking at strings in a way that would make other guitarists cream their pants but leave the rest of us bored, then I lose interest. However I do have a lot of respect for this guy, so we'll give his latest a go.
Shockwave Supernova --- Joe Satriani --- 2015 (Sony Music)
Introduction: I don't really have to explain who Joe Satriani is, do I? Played with everyone from Deep Purple to Malmsteen, Petrucci, May and Fripp, and teacher of greats like Steve Vai and Kirk Hammet. This is his fifteenth album, and yes, it's all instrumental and it's all guitar.
1. Shockwave supernova: Decent rocking start, uptempo track with of course some fine riffs. And melody, thank god.
2. Lost in a memory: More a sort of restrained piece, elements of jazz (just a little) and some pop here too. Nice keys.
3. Crazy Joey: Um, scratching? Or is that him doing something clever on the guitar? Slower song anyway, and this comes across to me as one of those I spoke of earlier, where the guitarist is just really showing off and there's no real song
per se. Meh.
4. In my pocket: Kind of a funky feel to this one. Hah! Reminds me of Plankton! Ooh! Harmonica! Lovely!
5. On peregrine wings: Heavier vibe to this, like the percussion. Some great work on the guitar. Like this one a lot.
6. Cataclysmic: Another decent rock track with overtones of progressive rock in places. It's okay I guess, but that old bugbear, boredom with instrumental guitar music, is beginning to set up house in my head...
7. San Francisco blue: Boogie swing blues. It's pleasant but that's about it. The piano is nice. Thought this would actually be a slow blues tune. Disappointed.
8. Keep on movin': Nice fast piano driving this, sort of new wavey in its way. Guitar takes over of course and I must say it loses some of its charm.
9. All of my life: Nice tune, but boredom really is beginning to set in now...
10. A phase I'm going through: And there it goes. Unless something really different happens now I'm just on autopilot, waiting for the album to end.
11. Scarborough stomp: As the title indicates, it's a stomp. That is all.
12. Butterfly and zebra: Okay this is gorgeous. Soft laidback guitar, real balladic feel about it.
13. If there is no Heaven: This is totally bitchin' too. Much faster, great mood and rhythm to it and needless to say, the guitar work is flawless, but what really makes it is the drumming in this case. Oddly enough though, I would have linked the title of the previous song with the melody of this one, and the melody of this one with the next one. Never quite understand how instrumentals get titled.
4. Stars race across the sky: Quite nice, mid-paced sort of thing with a chingling guitar going in the background.
15. Goodbye supernova: Really like the orchestration in this, slower track somewhat in the vein of “Butterfly and zebra”.
Conclusion: It got much better towards the end, and there's no doubt Satriani is a great guitarist, but a lot of it was just too seemingly aimed at guitar players or enthusiasts to really interest me. Some great tracks, but some pretty boring ones too. Not something I'd ever tend to revisit I have to admit.