Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Satriani, Joe
Label: Sony Music
Released: 2015
Running time: 64:13
Rating: 3.5/5
The man who more or less crowned instrumental guitar rock in the second half of the eighties and changed the music world forever, now one of the most respected and celebrated guitarists on the planet, Joe Satriani, is back on the scene with his, believe it or not, 15th studio album. Back at the producer’s helm with him is Satriani’s longtime buddy John Cuniberti, who last produced Satch’s album »Professor Satchafunkillus And The Musterion of Rock«(2008). For this record Satch kept his touring crew and »carried« them from the stage into the studio: the (for years now) outstanding multi-instrumentalist Mike Keneally, plus the new super rhythm section from The Aristocrats, Marco Minnemann (drums) and Bryan Beller (bass).
The album »Shockwave Supernova« really doesn’t offer the listener any more surprises or novelties. With it Satch delivers his tried-and-true formula, which, in his own strictly instrumental style, once again tests how well the guitar language works across many genres, its »compatibility« with them. There are 15 tracks. Way too many, since some of them sound too much like past, already tested ideas from Satriani’s older albums. That makes the album too long. Then again, Satriani has been mellowing with the years. He enjoys teamwork more and more, and above all he’s focusing on guitar playing in the calmer passages, where he now prefers to be sparing with notes and tones and shapes the development of a song so that it’s first and foremost about creating atmosphere. In that sense, hanging out with the aforementioned musicians is more than welcome, since Keneally and Minnemann in particular are players who, in a different musical environment, push straight into the realm of avant-garde, progressively minded jazz and rock fusion. These very musicians are an important element of the new era in Joe Satriani’s music, because with their contribution they bring much-needed freshness and dynamism to how things unfold, given that Satriani’s style has been set in concrete for years and is therefore predictable. Only one basic condition has to be met: the boss has to give you some room where your creative genius can leap out. On that front too Satriani has calmed down, so he successfully tames his ego, which isn’t always front and center on the album.
Once again Keneally is a crucial tipping point on the scale. With his lucidity and sparkling ideas he takes care of richly coloring and contrasting the content of Joe Satriani’s guitar phrases, so that the songs breathe dynamically as a whole (one of the album’s best tracks, Keep On Movin’). The basic premise remains musicality. Satriani has always strived for perfect melodies, and this time is no different. That’s why »Shockwave Supernova« goes straight to the ear. Even though the album features top-notch musicians who can’t wait to jump into the wildest musical experiment imaginable, the boss doesn’t let them across the whole record, because he constantly makes sure the songs never fall apart into a flood of musically unconnected motifs (Cataclysmic).
Overall, the album gives off a sense of mature calm. The crew often builds a backdrop around Satriani aimed at creating moods (Lost in Memory, All Of My Life, or the album’s closing two tracks), even though the album opens with a bang on the title track and is backed up later on by similarly harder-rocking excursions (On Peregrine Wings with its incorporation of a gypsy rhythm, and If There is No Heaven, which could easily serve as the album’s opening song). There’s the lucid Crazy Joey, followed by San Francisco Blue, both drawn from rock’n’ roll or boogie rock, and then we run into a short misstep in the form of the »childish« Butterfly And Zebra. Although these songs add a touch of lucidity to the album, you can’t really call them a miss, since Satriani already played out similar tricks on past albums.
All in all, “Shockwave Supernova” is a really lovely new studio release from a seasoned master and refined guitar virtuoso, but it brings nothing we haven’t heard before, so it’s no creative peak in his career. It’s an album tailor-made for fans of Satriani’s guitar playing, and its ultra-melodic catchiness is the factor that gives the album an approachability that less demanding listeners can tune into. Satriani simply knows what he’s doing, and so he knows how to deliver a product that pretty much anyone can like!
Lineup
Joe Satriani – guitar, keyboards, bass on track no. 4, harmonica
Mike Keneally – keyboards, guitar on track no. 2
Marco Minnemann – drums on tracks no. 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 13, 14 and 15
Vinnie Colaiuta – drums on tracks no. 3, 4, 8 and 11
Bryan Beller – bass on tracks no. 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 13, 14 and 15
Chris Chaney – bass on tracks no. 3, 4, 8 and 11
Bobby Vega – bass on track no. 9
Tony Menjivar – percussion on track no. 9
John Cuniberti – percussion on tracks no. 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 and 14
Production
John Cuniberti & Joe Satriani
Track list
1. Shockwave Supernova (3:49)
2. Lost in a Memory (4:12)
3. Crazy Joey (3:40)
4. In My Pocket (4:12)
5. On Peregrine Wings (5:26)
6. Cataclysmic (5:02)
7. San Francisco Blue (3:19)
8. Keep on Movin’ (4:23)
9. All of My Life (4:02)
10. A Phase I’m Going Through (3:59)
11. Scarborough Stomp (3:59)
12. Butterfly and Zebra (1:47)
13. If There Is No Heaven ( 5:07)
14. Stars Race Across the Sky (4:45)
15. Goodbye Supernova (5:46)
