Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Satriani, Joe
Label: Epic Records
Release: 2006
Runtime: 59:02
Rating: 3.5/5
Joe is a super-friendly, smiling guy, and one look at the cover of his new record “Super Colossal” will convince you of that. He’s proof that the man simply can’t run out of energy. Positivity everywhere! Whether it’s G3, guest spots on stages all over, or his solo career, Joe is at the creative peak of his career! For those of you in a hurry who can’t be bothered to read everything: the new record “Super Colossal” is one of Satriani’s better creations. It packs in a nice number of tunes again, and you start wondering what’s even left to say. Aren’t eight tracks enough, with no extra “filler” songs? Well, Satriani easily proved me wrong and showed that he’s never going to run out of ideas. Convincing musical ideas that manage to pull the listener in and actually shock them in a positive way with their listenable difference and freshness.
The opener fits the title of the record. The song Super Colossal has a massive curtain of guitar “synthesizer” and a “power” rhythm line that gets the adrenaline going right away. The production captured the necessary liveliness. You can feel that Satriani has sailed into his mature years and dropped that typically strict focus where everything has to be absolutely subordinate to guitar soloing. Bass and drums are lively and take intense part in Satriani’s world of endlessly piercing guitar adventures. Of all the “ultra supersonic guitarists” of the modern era, from Vai to Malmsteen (if you like), all armed to the teeth and beyond with formal training, Satriani is the guy who serves up just the right mix of devilishly good guitar trickery wrapped in always highly listenable song forms that work right from the first spin. Satriani doesn’t force things, he stays within reasonable limits, and “Super Colossal” has a clearly visible common thread. It’s an easygoing rock album that, in the same breath, strolls freely between different genres, which means Joe has that rare but sought-after virtue of serving up polished music straight for the ear. At the same time, he masterfully carves out a path to his own recognizable expression, which means nothing less than freedom in creating music.
Just Like Lightin’ has a “funky disco seventies feel” and as such is an unexpected switch-up in the album’s dynamics, and the image of the Bee Gees easily pops up before your eyes. In It’s So Good it’s not hard to picture 50-year-old dads dancing around in Hawaiian shirts with cocktails in hand, somewhere far away from all their worries. Next comes a “souped-up” ride through the Eastern-flavored Redshift Riders, and then the record continues with the “power love” ballad Ten Words, where Joe shines with a simple riff, tastefully seasoned with solos.
From there the master wittily plays with his toy, especially in the ceremonial A Cool New Day, then on through the icy, “moody,” psycho-futuristic stroll One Robot’s Dream, the twisty, dreamy The Meaning Of Love, followed by the easy-gliding Made Of Tears and one of the record’s highlights, the “alien-like” dramatic Theme for a Strange World. In this run of songs, the record hits some of its most impressive moments of dynamic mood swings. The album closes with Crowd Chant, a typical anthemic song built for packed concert halls, crossed with a classic “barocco” motif.
Satriani has delivered a mature album, a perfectly balanced mix of easygoing “rock” listenability, marked by punchy guitar voltage and the soft refinement of Joe’s genius in equal doses throughout the record. Satriani, as a soloist/composer, has often been accused of contrived, artificially instant musical forms, but “Super Colossal” proves the opposite. It’s a sensual, joyful record on which Satriani has no egocentric fits, instead offering pleasure in impressive, complete melodies where the solos are laid down in exactly the right doses and in exactly the right places. “Satch” made a record with exceptional feel, which he’s known for anyway, but this time, by using that skill, he managed to deliver an album that stands out especially among everything in his rich discography.
Lineup
Joe Satriani – guitar, bass guitar, keyboards
Jeff Campitelli – drums
Simon Phillips – drums
Production
Mike Fraser & Joe Satriani
Tracklist
1. Super Colossal
2. Just Like Lightnin’
3. It’s So Good
4. Redshift Riders
5. Ten Words
6. A Cool New Way
7. One Robot’s Dream
8. The Meaning Of Love
9. Made Of Tears
10. Theme For A Strange World
11. Movin’ On
12. A Love Eternal
13. Crowd Chant
