# Joe Satriani Album preivew: Black Swans And Wormhole Wizards



## Bloody_Inferno (Aug 20, 2010)

Interesting title on the new disk. No audio previews as of yet, but there's plenty to read on Joe's insight to every track:

Joe Satriani's Black Swans And Wormhole Wizards: full album preview | MusicRadar.com

Plus it has Mike Keneally on keys, which is already a massive bonus.


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## scottro202 (Aug 20, 2010)

Man am I looking forward to this album!!


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## Eptaceros (Aug 20, 2010)

What a ridiculous title.


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## Psychobuddy (Aug 20, 2010)

I'm not a huge Joe Satriani fan, but this should be cool.

Thanks for posting.


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## Esp Griffyn (Aug 20, 2010)

Too much to ask to get Stuart Hamm back on the bass? Satch has never been better than when he had Hamm playing for him, and his live show is infinitely better when Hamm is there. Massively disappointed that he isn't playing on the new record.


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## GeoMantic (Aug 20, 2010)

I had my Satriani phase when I first started to listen to more 'shreddy' stuff. Not so much now, but he still has some killer tracks.


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## Cyntex (Aug 20, 2010)

So far I liked every album Iheaerd except for the last one, actually, interested to hear what he brings out this time.


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## AvantGuardian (Aug 20, 2010)

I always look forward to new Satch albums. I think he's been a little hit or miss lately. Strange Beautiful Music and Super Colossal were both packed with good tracks, but I didn't much care for Is There Love In Space? or Professor Satchafunkilus or whatever the hell that one was called. I tend to listen to a lot of shreddy/super techincal stuff these days, but I always come back to my Satriani albums because he is just a really solid songwriter and a tasteful guitarist. He makes excellent use of unusual chords and exotic scales as well.


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## BrainArt (Aug 20, 2010)

I'm excited for this. As one of the guitarists who got me seriously playing, I Satch will always have a place in my heart.


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## Charles (Aug 20, 2010)

Whatever happens with this album, at least it will be better than the techno one.

But seriously I'm very excited to see what the team of Satch + Keneally can come up with.


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## Chris Bowsman (Aug 20, 2010)

Always interested in hearing new Satch.

When I was in high school, a friend and I went to see Satch at a small-ish club in Cincinnati. A week later, we saw Steve Vai there, with Mike Keneally playing keys & rhythm guitar, and Mike's band Beer For Dolphins opening. That was a pretty awesome week


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## Enselmis (Aug 20, 2010)

Satch was my first live show and it was with Hamm. Still one of the best I've seen. I have a spot in my heart just for him.

This looks really cool, can't wait for it. I actually really liked his last album. Revelation and Asik Vaysel were both amazing tracks.


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## Bloody_Inferno (Aug 21, 2010)

Charles said:


> Whatever happens with this album, at least it will be better than the techno one.



I actually think that Engines of Creation is one of his better albums IMO. It wasn't safe for Satch and it showed a good result in composition and playing because of it.


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## Trespass (Aug 21, 2010)

I feel that Satch should perhaps take a few years off and experiment. I mean, the entire output of his career can be summed up structurally as:

Melody - Guitar

Harmony - Everything else.

Basically homophonic music at it's most simplistic level. He's basically playing to a backing track. There is no counterpoint or interesting voice work going on. The majority of the harmony is powerchords with a small line in between. 

In terms of the horizontal structure, aren't all Satriani songs something like: Intro - Verse - Chorus - mini solo - Verse - Chorus - Bridge - Big Solo - Recap - Outro

For a guy that intimately knows his theory, and quite simply has the respect of musicians of all types around the world, you'd think he would take advantage of it like Vai has. Please, stop proving yourself the archetypal shredder when your acclaimed by many to be something more.


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## Eptaceros (Aug 21, 2010)

Trespass said:


> I feel that Satch should perhaps take a few years off and experiment. I mean, the entire output of his career can be summed up structurally as:
> 
> Melody - Guitar
> 
> ...



See: most shredders.


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## Trespass (Aug 21, 2010)

^ That's my problem. Satriani has the theory and musical exposure to do a lot more interesting things than just "shred". Perhaps that's why he hasn't been relevant to anyone besides guitar nerds since the 80s.


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## ThorSilhouette (Aug 21, 2010)

well i think some of the appeal in satch is his compositional restraint, straightforward structure, and catchy melodies. he consciously writes pop tunes. i mean thats his thing. he's the "gateway" to vai. thats how it was for me at least.


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## UGH (Aug 21, 2010)

IMO this guy's work suffers 'cuz he never takes any kind of break. I feel like I'm constantly beseiged by some form of new release of his.


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## shadowlife (Aug 21, 2010)

Haven't been interested in Satch since "Super Colossal", but with Keneally on board, i'll have to give this one a listen.


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## Pauly (Aug 22, 2010)

Bloody_Inferno said:


> I actually think that Engines of Creation is one of his better albums IMO. It wasn't safe for Satch and it showed a good result in composition and playing because of it.



Agreed, a lot of the newer Satch stuff is quite safe and samey. I'd really like him to just try and play about with incorporating other genres into his instrumental tracks and see what happens. The loops and samples in Engines sound a bit dated (as most electronic music tends to do) but the ideas are cool - techno slide guitar e.t.c. and I'd like to see the same sort of thinking at work again, rather than more records that sound like a Satriani jam with his friends.


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## MistaMarko (Aug 22, 2010)

Wow, that title.


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## Bloody_Inferno (Aug 23, 2010)

ThorSilhouette said:


> well i think some of the appeal in satch is his compositional restraint, straightforward structure, and catchy melodies. he consciously writes pop tunes. i mean thats his thing. he's the "gateway" to vai. thats how it was for me at least.


 
This, to me, is the reason why Satch appeals to non guitarists. Satch has always remained song based, and has consistantly written good songs that has appealed to a wider audience than the average shredder. And he's always restrained himself from overplaying too much unless necessary (a firm foot in the blues, though admittedly his playing recently has become a little too blues based for my liking). 

His songs are what makes non guitarists come to his concerts. It's quite refreshing to see women dancing in a Satch concert as opposed to the many who come to see how flawlessly he can play The Mystical Potato Head Groove Thing (thought that's still mighty impressive to see even to this day ).


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## Harry (Aug 23, 2010)

As much as his music may not be as complex compositionally, to be honest I find it much easier to just listen to Satch for say, every day for a month straight, but after about 5 days of Vai, I need a break.
To me, Satch has always been the master of instrumental rock guitar.
Definitely will be interested to hear what the whole album sounds like


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## zero_end (Aug 23, 2010)

Sounds that he got a hang on Dream Theater's "black clouds and silver linings"




Bloody_Inferno said:


> I actually think that Engines of Creation is one of his better albums IMO. It wasn't safe for Satch and it showed a good result in composition and playing because of it.



I second that. 



> This, to me, is the reason why Satch appeals to non guitarists. Satch has always remained song based, and has consistantly written good songs that has appealed to a wider audience than the average shredder. And he's always restrained himself from overplaying too much unless necessary (a firm foot in the blues, though admittedly his playing recently has become a little too blues based for my liking).


This is also the reason that his music appeals to me as much as/in combination with the shredding; being said that, I also agree to an extent with what _*Trespass*_ has explained; IMO, "professor satchafunkilus..." is his most dullest/boring album to date so my expectations for his latest release are rather low. Hope to be proven wrong tho.



> and his live show is infinitely better when Hamm is there.


True that!!!

I've seem him like 4 times live and the one I liked the most was in the last tour with the mighty Stuuuuu! Made the songs form the last record come to life and ballsier.


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## Xiphos68 (Aug 30, 2010)

BUMP guys.
Satch has a song up now. It's very jazzy like and I like it a lot for that style. Not so much like Surfing or Extremist though at least for now. Lord willing, we'll find out more soon.


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## Xiphos68 (Aug 30, 2010)

BUMP.


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## Bloody_Inferno (Aug 30, 2010)

http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/ge...ck-from-black-swans-and-wormhole-wizards.html

Brendan (IbanezshredderB) has already posted Light Years Away on a separate thread but I guess it's appropriate to have it in this thread. 

That said, I've only heard the new song once. Sounds like he's harkening back to the Crystal Planet vibe (which is awesome). I'll be waiting patiently until the full album comes out to make a better judge.


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## BrainArt (Aug 30, 2010)

Bloody_Inferno said:


> http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/ge...ck-from-black-swans-and-wormhole-wizards.html
> 
> Brendan (IbanezshredderB) has already posted Light Years Away on a separate thread but I guess it's appropriate to have it in this thread.
> 
> That said, I've only heard the new song once. Sounds like he's harkening back to the Crystal Planet vibe (which is awesome). I'll be waiting patiently until the full album comes out to make a better judge.



Oh yeah, I totally forgot about this thread last night when I posted mine.  I was tired. Either way, I still dig it. I'll have to give it another listen, later.


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## Xiphos68 (Aug 30, 2010)

Bloody_Inferno said:


> http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/ge...ck-from-black-swans-and-wormhole-wizards.html
> 
> Brendan (IbanezshredderB) has already posted Light Years Away on a separate thread but I guess it's appropriate to have it in this thread.
> 
> That said, I've only heard the new song once. Sounds like he's harkening back to the Crystal Planet vibe (which is awesome). I'll be waiting patiently until the full album comes out to make a better judge.



I apologize I didn't know that. But yeah I like the song myself a lot!


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## guitar4tw (Sep 1, 2010)

That title better be meant to be humorous, because if not, it would be the equivalent of farting in a glass of wine and sniffing it, while making sounds of enjoyment.


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## MFB (Sep 2, 2010)

guitar4tw said:


> That title better be meant to be humorous, because if not, it would be the equivalent of farting in a glass of wine and sniffing it, while making sounds of enjoyment.





No humor here as Joe is ACTUALLY calling the album, "Black Swans and Wormhole Wizards."


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## Lord_Elixer (Oct 5, 2010)

I just finished listening to the new album for the 3rd time and I must say I am fairly impressed.
Glad to hear Satch has gone back to his bluesy roots while still adding new twists!
Has anyone else had the pleasure of listening to it yet? :-D


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## Esp Griffyn (Oct 5, 2010)

Xiphos68 said:


> BUMP guys.
> Satch has a song up now. It's very jazzy like and I like it a lot for that style. Not so much like Surfing or Extremist though at least for now. Lord willing, we'll find out more soon.





I know this is a month old now, but imo the first 5 minutes of that song are just not progressive enough. He just cycles through riffs and throws in a solo here and there, and while it's a great song on it's own, it's what he has been doing for the best part of the last 10 years. As such, we are all pretty familiar with that now, so it's impact is lessened. The last 90 seconds are 10/10 stuff though.


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## guitareben (Oct 5, 2010)

Just started listening now . Sounds good and fun so far, and i am enjoying it very much


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## Holy Katana (Oct 5, 2010)

Esp Griffyn said:


> I know this is a month old now, but imo the first 5 minutes of that song are just not progressive enough. He just cycles through riffs and throws in a solo here and there, and while it's a great song on it's own, it's what he has been doing for the best part of the last 10 years. As such, we are all pretty familiar with that now, so it's impact is lessened. The last 90 seconds are 10/10 stuff though.


Since when was he considered "progressive?" Do you mean "progressive" in the sense of prog rock?


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## Pauly (Oct 5, 2010)

I think he meant in the sense of progression as an artist. I can sort of agree with that, although obviously Joe can put out whatever he wants as he's the guy making music. Most of his albums up to the last few were fairly distinctive sound and flavour-wise. Lately they've been quite samey and you could swap songs about from different albums and think they were the same record. 

It might just be me losing interest in that style of music though, as they definitely haven't been listened to as much as his 'classic' records since I've gotten a little burnt out with the instrumental guitar genre, especially the straightforward stuff.


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## Bloody_Inferno (Oct 6, 2010)

A sneak peak of Joe's most recent rehearsals. Lots of gear.


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## Esp Griffyn (Oct 6, 2010)

Holy Katana said:


> Since when was he considered "progressive?" Do you mean "progressive" in the sense of prog rock?



While his songs are no Rush style Epics or the twisting stuff of DT style compositions, they were previously a lot more adventurous and varied in the past, with different sounds, interesting structures, wild solos. Now, a lot of Satch's music just sounds like him jamming over backing tracks, like he isn't pushing himself at all as a writer or as a player.

And it stands in the sense that with his songs being less progressive, his career has not been as progressive as it could be. Over the last 10 years, he has done largely the same thing on each album, whereas previously the albums had distinct styles and themes. The theme seems to be stuck on "play it safe with bluesy jamming over rocky backing track", but without the wild playing and interesting note choices from the past. His "alien voice" solo style that he used a lot in the 90s seems to have disappeared.


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## boni (Oct 6, 2010)

I love old satriani, but that song posted over here is just so BORING.


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## Koshchei (Oct 6, 2010)

Trespass said:


> ^ That's my problem. Satriani has the theory and musical exposure to do a lot more interesting things than just "shred". Perhaps that's why he hasn't been relevant to anyone besides guitar nerds since the 80s.



And audiophools. His bland arrangements are pretty much ideal for testing out the frequency response of those brand new $10,000 speakers.

At the G3 concert a few years ago, the only people who were raving about Satch after the show were the late-40s early-50s cosmetic dentist crowd who couldn't play guitar, but had just purchased the latest greatest exotic-wood tuned-enclosure mantis-stairwell hair-piece adjective-adjective speaker system.


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## Bloody_Inferno (Oct 10, 2010)

Ok, after finally buying the album, all I can say is that it definitely IS a better release than Satchifunkalus. The keyboards really do put Satch outside his usual comfort zone and sound, it's clearly heard on the opening track Premonition, as well as Wormhole Wizards where the keys just enhance Joe's playing. Mike Keneally's solo on the latter track is sick too. Though Joe's been playing a heap of midtempo and swing numbers of late, some of the tracks here are stronger than his previous recent efforts. 

Also, with Wind in the Trees, Joe officially becomes the only artist that makes the Autotune sound purely awesome. 

EDIT: For those who wanna know Joe's response to him no longer using Peavey amps:

Interview: Joe Satriani - Into the Wormhole - Premier Guitar



> Have you stopped using the Peavey JSX amps completely?
> 
> I haven&#8217;t used the JSX amps since the Chickenfoot tour started over a year ago. We did that first club tour through the U.S. back in May of last year. When I got back, I met Sammy at his studio. We both plugged into some Marshalls that we had and we thought, &#8220;We gotta go back to playing Marshalls!&#8221; We knew what Chickenfoot really needed. He was playing is own Crate model before that. Just like that, the two of us switched to Marshall. The next week we flew to Vienna and Marshall had a bunch of amps waiting for us. Then I started trying to figure out how to use the JVMs, and I&#8217;ve had a lot of fun with those amps. They&#8217;ve been really amazing sounding on the Chickenfoot tour, and they wound up having a great presence on my new solo record.
> 
> ...


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## maxoom (Oct 10, 2010)

"The engineer Santiago Alvarez at Marshall figured out a way to get them to be big and ballsy."

I wish I knew what was done because that lack of low end kick and balls is the only reason I have not bought one of these new Marshall JVM`s.


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## prh (Oct 10, 2010)

i think this album will kick arse live, but sadly my taste has changed a bit much for me to be able to just sit and listen it through and be interested


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## Imalwayscold (Oct 10, 2010)

EDIT: Nvm didn't read the thread properly


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## SirMyghin (Oct 10, 2010)

I am looking forward to hearing this album, but I am in the time of the year I am not allowed to buy small things without getting shot by the wife. The song previews all sounded excellent. I recently saw him on the Satchafunkilicus tour, and I really enjoyed that album too. 

We have tickets to see him Dec 8th in Toronto. I cannot wait, Massey hall is a wonderful venue. Very small (3000 seat), good sound, the occasional vision obstructing pole (none for us this time!)


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## Mindcrime1204 (Oct 10, 2010)

Esp Griffyn said:


> While his songs are no Rush style Epics or the twisting stuff of DT style compositions, they were previously a lot more adventurous and varied in the past, with different sounds, interesting structures, wild solos. Now, a lot of Satch's music just sounds like him jamming over backing tracks, like he isn't pushing himself at all as a writer or as a player.
> 
> And it stands in the sense that with his songs being less progressive, his career has not been as progressive as it could be. Over the last 10 years, he has done largely the same thing on each album, whereas previously the albums had distinct styles and themes. The theme seems to be stuck on "play it safe with bluesy jamming over rocky backing track", but without the wild playing and interesting note choices from the past. His "alien voice" solo style that he used a lot in the 90s seems to have disappeared.


 
Very well said, +1.


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## ShadyDavey (Oct 10, 2010)

Listened to and reviewed "Black Swans..." just this week and I have to say while it's not perhaps in the same league as Surfing or Extremist this is by far his best release of recent years. There are unexpected moments (for those expecting a "by the numbers Satch album") his playing does have a certain gravitas, and the production (recorded at Skywalker Sound) sounds superb - the guitars in particular really do have balls.

The "Strange Beautiful Music"/Alien Voice does make brief appearances, but still not often enough for my taste.


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## Esp Griffyn (Oct 10, 2010)

Koshchei said:


> At the G3 concert a few years ago, the only people who were raving about Satch after the show were the late-40s early-50s cosmetic dentist crowd who couldn't play guitar, but had just purchased the latest greatest exotic-wood tuned-enclosure mantis-stairwell hair-piece adjective-adjective speaker system.



At the G3 concert I went to a few years ago, everyone was excited about Satch. His albums for the past 10 years may not be his best era, but he has not waivered in terms of amazing live shows. His improv is what makes it so special, and having Stuart Hamm in his live band for his last album had his rhythm section sounding it's best since...well, since Hamm was last in the band! It only took 8 years or so to get him back, and now he is out of the touring band again! Perhaps you were just listening to the wrong people at the gig? Only the most ridiculously pretentious, up their own arse guitarists I've met think they cannot learn anything from Satch.


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## Esp Griffyn (Oct 10, 2010)

ShadyDavey said:


> Listened to and reviewed "Black Swans..." just this week and I have to say while it's not perhaps in the same league as Surfing or Extremist this is by far his best release of recent years. There are unexpected moments (for those expecting a "by the numbers Satch album") his playing does have a certain gravitas, and the production (recorded at Skywalker Sound) sounds superb - the guitars in particular really do have balls.
> 
> The "Strange Beautiful Music"/Alien Voice does make brief appearances, but still not often enough for my taste.



My brother got his copy of this in the post recently, I will be giving it a full listen very soon. And even if it's not Satch at his absolute best, I'd rather listen to tasteful, if "safe" playing from Satch than most other music these days. Satch playing at 50% of his ability and commitment is better than hearing most bands at 100% of theirs! 

I think I will stick on the live in San Francisco dvd before bed to listen to the alien voice guitar in the middle of "Borg Sex". Eric Cadeux does a great job of speaking back to Satch, it's one of my favourite musical moments, pretty much ever.


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## SirMyghin (Oct 10, 2010)

Esp Griffyn said:


> and having Stuart Hamm in his live band for his last album had his rhythm section sounding it's best since...well, since Hamm was last in the band! It only took 8 years or so to get him back, and now he is out of the touring band again! P



I have been looking for info on the tour band and haven't found it yet. Shame Hamm won't be there, he freaking rocked last tour (and whenever he plays, Hamm and Wooten are like my go to bassgasms/get owned by players).


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## Bloody_Inferno (Oct 10, 2010)

SirMyghin said:


> I have been looking for info on the tour band and haven't found it yet. Shame Hamm won't be there, he freaking rocked last tour (and whenever he plays, Hamm and Wooten are like my go to bassgasms/get owned by players).


 
Judging from the rehearsal photos I posted earlier, it would include Allen Whitman on bass and Mike Keneally on keys (both played on the album) along with the usual suspects (Galen Henson on guitar and Jeff Campbitelli on drums). 

Speaking of rehearsals, going through all of Joe's Podcasts, in addition to that gorgeous orange JS24, looks like he's bringing the blue JS Strat (w/3 Pro Tracks) and a JS with a Sustainiac equipped (for The Golden Room). Loving his new guitars.


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## Holy Katana (Oct 12, 2010)

Esp Griffyn said:


> While his songs are no Rush style Epics or the twisting stuff of DT style compositions, they were previously a lot more adventurous and varied in the past, with different sounds, interesting structures, wild solos. Now, a lot of Satch's music just sounds like him jamming over backing tracks, like he isn't pushing himself at all as a writer or as a player.
> 
> And it stands in the sense that with his songs being less progressive, his career has not been as progressive as it could be. Over the last 10 years, he has done largely the same thing on each album, whereas previously the albums had distinct styles and themes. The theme seems to be stuck on "play it safe with bluesy jamming over rocky backing track", but without the wild playing and interesting note choices from the past. His "alien voice" solo style that he used a lot in the 90s seems to have disappeared.


I was just asking for you to clarify. I know what you mean.


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## SirMyghin (Nov 17, 2010)

Finally got around to buying and listening to this. I enjoyed it thoroughly. For those in love with the 'alien voice' the modulation he uses on "wind in the trees" is really something, very interesting to hear. While he may not be as 'adventurous' I like his takes on world music and different styles. It is important to me to keep your horizons wide open. While he doesn't shred much on this album, that to me is a big plus. One of my beefs with instrumental guitarists is often when they solo they get too far from the song. 

This one sets a good mood, a little easier listening than some of his old work, but very nice. I may chime in again when I listen to it a few more times.


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## Bloody_Inferno (Nov 18, 2010)

An in depth look at Joe's gear:


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## Bloody_Inferno (Dec 14, 2010)

Bumping this up. More info on his gear for the Black Swans tour:





And some more pics:

















L-R: JS2400 prototype, Production JS2400, JS1200 w/Sustainiac, JSA10BK acoustic. The most interesting part is that the JS2400 prototype orange is an alder body. Joe mentiones that it's got that upper midrange as opposed to the more well rounded tone of basswood on his other JS models. 






Pedalboard: (top, l to r) Voodoo Lab Pedal Power AC supply, Vox Ice 9 overdrive, Vox Satchurator distortion, Voodoo Pedal Power 2 Plus power supply, Roger Mayer Voodoo Vibe Jr, Radial JDI passive direct box, Pedal Power 2 Plus (bottom, l to r) DigiTech Whammy pedal, 2 Vox Time Machine delay pedals, Marshall JVM 410 footswitch, Boss Super Chorus, Voodoo Lab Proctavia, DigiTech IPS-33B Super Harmony Machine footswitch, Vox Big Bad Wah pedal. 

So the Digitech IPS-33B is the pedal he uses for Why...


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## Xiphos68 (Dec 14, 2010)

That red JS2400 looks so nice!


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## davidb1986 (Jan 12, 2011)

Is it me or does he bring more bluesy sound than the "he what I can do, I'm Joe Satriani" sounds we love so much? I like the bluesy-ness of this cd.


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