|
"With "Black Swans And Wormhole Wizards", and after a few less fertile years, the magic is back !"
|
4/5
|
|
|
Doesn't the weight of years have any bearing on Joe Satriani? Everything leads us to believe it at the moment when he releases his fourteenth album. His adventure with the super-group Chickenfoot has brought this guitar genius back to the forefront and this new album, Black Swans And Wormhole Wizards, definitely confirms that the inspiration and taste for composition are still there.
The first track, "Premonition", unfolds a simple structure (often the case with Satch) but with the right amount of melody. The sound has dried up a bit and we understand that the Chickenfoot adventure has left traces in the inspiration. Let's take the track "Pyrrhic Victoria". We get caught up in the opening riff that would not have sworn on the album of the four rockers. It's an incredible melody, perfectly aerial as only Satch knows how to write, which breaks the false nonchalance of the song. Gone are the days of technoid experimentation (which, despite everything, has been rather successful) or the catch-all of the last few albums.
"Dream Song" takes shape on a wah-wah sweep and keeps until the end a sobriety that is nice to hear. The second composition that serves as an obligatory passage, "Wind In The Trees", has the particularity of a trembling wah-wah-like game that is not common in Joe's work and that deconstructs all the codes of the tearful ballad stamped Satriani.
Those who liked the eponymous album keep in mind a very abrasive blues with a very harsh rhythm section by Manu Katché and Nathan East. Satriani's playing was right there and the album was a real success. The finesse of the playing is found here with the heaviness of "Littleworth Lan"" whose slight kinship with the genius Jeff Beck is tempting. Almost similar case with "Two Sides To Every Story" which is more jazz and funk but with the same accuracy. Note the beautiful contribution of Mike Keneally on keyboards to create the so catchy atmosphere of this song, and on piano during the final phrases of "Wind In The Trees". "The Golden Room" brings us back to The Extremist with its Indian rhythms and that characteristic wah-wah.
The excellent Noise, in his review of Professor Satchafunkilus And The Musterion Of Rock, wrote: "Joe Satriani has made a very good album, even if the magic that surrounded his debut tends to disappear over time". Although Satch's great admirer, I couldn't say that Noise was wrong. But I can say that with this new album, the magic is back. - Official website
|
|
TRACK LISTING:
01. Premonition-03:53 02. Dream Song-04:49 03. Pyrrhic Victoria-05:09 04. Light Years Away-06:11 05. Solitude-00:58 06. Littleworth Lane-03:46 07. The Golden Room-05:20 08. Two Sides to Every Story-04:10 09. Wormhole Wizards-06:27 10. Wind in the Trees-07:43 11. God is Crying-04:53
LINEUP:
Allen Whitman : Basse Jeff Campitelli: Batterie Joe Satriani: Guitares / Basse Mike Keneally: Claviers
|
|
|
|
(0) MIND(S) FROM OUR READERS
|
|
|
|
|
Top of the page
|
|
|
(0) COMMENT(S)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
READERS
3.7/5 (3 view(s))
|
STAFF:
4/5 (5 view(s))
|
|
|
|
|
|
IN RELATION WITH JOE SATRIANI
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
OTHER REVIEWS
|
|
|
|
|
OTHER(S) REVIEWS ABOUT JOE SATRIANI
|
|