Imagine Jimi Hendrix hadn’t died back in 1970, but instead became an intrepid explorer of the billions of galaxies out there. On his return to earth, the experience cast his playing against interstellar soundscapes and fiery blues-rock, the collision creating a sonic journey through time and space. That, pretty much, is what you get with Joe Satriani.
Guitar-based instrumental albums inevitably conjure up thoughts of obsessive six-string nerds, who prize technical perfection ahead of meaningful compositions. While he possesses that knowledge and ability, Satriani's best releases mix virtuosity with hooks and masterful songcraft. The result is as close to commercial as this genre gets.
'Shockwave Supernova' - album number 15 from the New York native – is very much in that mould and finds him reuniting with co-producer John Cuniberti, while also utilising his current touring band – Mike Keneally, Marco Minnemann and Bryan Beller – and a few previous collaborators to craft a record born from an on-stage epiphany about his guitar hero persona.
“The album is a concept album that tracks and exposes the exploits and inner demons of this alter ego, the one I've created to be a more extroverted version of myself,” the axeman told Guitar Techniques.
Based around the titular character, the material eschews his early noughties detours into jazz and fusion and continues in the vein of recent releases, boasting groove-laden rock and alien-blues with sumptuous melodies, apocalyptic riffs and scintillating fretwork.
The explosive title track and On Peregrine Wings batter out dark, heavy rhythms punctuated by tuneful bursts, Cataclysmic is the sound of Alice In Chains being sucked through a wormhole and A Phase I'm Going Through spins slinky rite-of-passage motifs around strutting riffage.
The material is obviously well thought out, but that doesn't make it soulless. All Of My Life and Lost In A Memory feature emotive textures, while If There Is No Heaven charges from metaphysical angst into the light of a new dawn. There's a feathery counterbalance too, with San Francisco Blue a grin-inducing shuffle and Crazy Joey hopping with a funky beat, cheeky shredding and a swaggering refrain full of glitter.
'Shockwave Supernova' doesn't quite pack the accessible punch of 2013’s 'Unstoppable Momentum', but it does retain the same emphasis on lean, memorable songs bereft of the superfluous self-indulgence Satch has occasionally fallen prey to. It's also more challenging than its predecessor, due to a 15 song, 64 minute run time that was apparently needed to tell the character's complete story. It's dangerously close to being too long, but there's little stylistic repetition and the tracks form a well-paced, cohesive narrative arc.
It may not scorch the senses as Satriani's earlier work did, but this record is a well crafted delight that gets better with each listen. Like 'Unstoppable Momentum', 'Shockwave...' delivers a mature strain of songwriting without sacrificing the instrumental pizazz and inventive thinking that makes him – or his alter ego? - one of the greatest fretboard wizards in any galaxy you'd care to name.
Joe Satriani Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Sun November 01 2015 - MANCHESTER O2 Apollo
Mon November 02 2015 - BIRMINGHAM Symphony Hall
Tue November 03 2015 - GLASGOW Royal Concert Hall
Wed November 04 2015 - SHEFFIELD City Hall
Thu November 05 2015 - CARDIFF St Davids Hall
Sat November 07 2015 - SOUTHEND Cliffs Pavilion
Sun November 08 2015 - BRISTOL Colston Hall
Mon November 09 2015 - PORTSMOUTH Portsmouth Guildhall
Tue November 10 2015 - LONDON Eventim Apollo
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