In some circles, Joe “Satch” Satriani may be known more as a teacher than as a solo artist. Starting in 1978, he has taught such famous guitarists like Steve Vai, Larry LaLonde, Kirk Hammett, Charlie Hunter, Kevin Cadogan, and Alex Skolnick. He has shared the stage with Mick Jagger and even toured with Deep Purple after Ritchie Blackmore left (he declined a permanent position in the band). However, since 1986, he has released 13 solo albums, three of which went gold and one went platinum. As a follow-up to another recent article (http://www.examiner.com/classic-rock-music-in-paterson/rock-out-to-chickenfoot-on-hagar-s-birthday-review), let’s take a look at Satriani’s October 1995 self-titled release, that is geared more towards blues than just straight ahead rock.
The album starts with ‘Cool #9’ and the rhythm guitar and drums keep a nice groove going. There is a really hip piano part (played by Eric Valentine) that really should be turned up more in the mix to achieve a better effect. The concisely titled second track ‘If’ has a chord progression that almost needs some vocals, but the listener is left with just Satriani’s guitar. That suits them just fine for this groovy track, accented by Manu Katche’s excellent drum work. The first ballad of the album is ‘Down, Down, Down’ and Satriani’s solo has a low, haunting sound, much like Santana or Slash. The volume gets blasted back up with ‘Luminous Flesh Giants’ and even though Satriani plays lead, rhythm guitar, and bass on this track, Valentine’s keyboard plays a surprisingly big role.
‘S.M.F.’ has a perfect blues sound, highly brought about by Nathan East’s bass line. Satriani certainly proves that he can be an improvisational blues soloist. We finally hear some vocals in ‘Look My Way’, and Satriani uses effects to try and cover up his singing (even though he shouldn’t have). Greg Bissonette’s percussion is a perfect background to this country blues ditty. Katche uses his brushes perfectly on ‘Home’, as we get another ballad for the shortest tune on the album. While one would want a specific feel for a song titled ‘Moroccan Sunset’, Katche doesn’t quite give us what we want. Thankfully, the guitars make up for an almost distracting drum part.
The next track, ‘Killer Bee Bop’, mixes free jazz with head-banging punk, due in large part to Katche’s drum work. Andy Fairweather Low does a great job keeping up with Satriani as he quickly navigates his guitar solo through the work. ‘Slow Down Blues’ is in two parts, with Satriani playing an harmonica solo over his own guitar playing for the first part. The second part has the rest of the band join in, playing a rock-blues over the Bo Diddley riff. Thought it has an almost pop sound, ‘(You’re) My World’ shows Satriani playing every instrument, except for the drums played by Jeff Campitelli (who also uses brushes expertly). The album ends with the slow-tempo ‘Sittin’ ‘Round’, as if to take the listener to a smoky blues joint. It is a splendid way to end the album and leave the audience wanting more.
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