Product Description

For his first album since dabbling with electronica on 2000's ENGINES OF CREATION, Joe Satriani returns to the bread-and-butter of straight-forward instrumental virtuosity with a few exotic nuances sprinkled throughout like musical parmesan cheese. Heavy synths and delays give "Oriental Melody" a sinister glint while fat guitar tones mix with Middle Eastern-flavoured chord progressions on the intriguing "Belly Dancer". Fans put off by Satch's recent experimentation will havefurther reason to rejoice over the return of this prodigal son once they hear the thundering riffage of "Mind Storm", hook-filled "New Last Jam" and sassy snap of "Hill Groove". Elsewhere, the Long Island native distinguishes himself from the calculated playing associated with practitioners of thisgenre that he spawned on two cuts--the acoustic-guitar laced "You Saved My Life" and equally moving "Starry Night". Theone non-original is a gorgeous cover of the Santo and Johnny '50s hit "Sleep Walk" featuring a cameo by Robert Fripp, aguitar god in his own right. STRANGE BEAUTIFUL MUSIC is a welcome return from one of music's more maddeningly gifted participants.

Track Listing

1. Oriental Melody
2. Belly Dancer
3. Starry Night
4. Chords Of Life
5. Mind Storm
6. Sleep Walk
7. New Last Jam
8. Mountain Song
9. What Breaks A Heart
10. Seven String
11. Hill Grove
12. Journey
13. Traveller
14. You Saved My Life

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10677 in Music
• Released on: 2002-06-24
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
Strange Beautiful Music--über-axeman Joe Satriani's eighth studio album (following on from the acclaim of Grammy-nudging Engines of Creation)--begins strangely and doesn't get beautiful until a third of the way through. Perhaps that's the result of a too-conscious effort to be that most elusive of things, "different". Openers "Oriental Melody" and "Belly Dancer" are every bit as Middle East as their titles suggest, but Satriani abandons this odd style with the kind of audacious whimsy that only a multi-million selling guitarist can do three tracks in, with the infinitely more interesting "Starry Night". It's semi-acoustic with a much simpler arrangement, which demonstrates that, in this genre especially, less can definitely be more.

His contemporaries have all carved out niches for themselves--from Santana's Latino-flecked demented noodling to Steve Vai's very strange but often very beautiful projects. However, no matter what Satriani tries (unless a completely acoustic album is on the cards--that would be interesting) there's nothing much a lead guitarist can really do to make things "different"--it's the same highly strung guitar with a scattering of strange effects--and at the end of the day they all sound like a buzzing Brian May with the capo on the eighth fret. If he really wanted to be different then he should have just hooked up a battered Jazzmaster to an overdrive and a fuzzbox, or unplugged altogether. --Ben Johncock

Customer Reviews

An absolute revelation
For years I've thought of Joe Satriani as playing self-indulgent, pretentious, vacuous nonsense, without ever really listening to him. I bought this album because I was nevertheless curious and because the price was right - and what a good decision that was! The viruosity blows your socks off, as expected, but the variety of his playing - powerful, sensitive, mind-boggling, subtle in turns - is an absolute revelation. It's a brilliant combination of technique, musicianship and great tunes. I just wish I hadn't been so narrow-minded in the past. If you like guitar music, then buy this album. If you're glad the radio DJ's think it necessary to talk over every instrumental intro or guitar solo, then steer clear.

Breathtaking stuff
One of the biggest challenges for artists in Satriani's genre is to be able to be technically proficient, but also to provide something interesting to listen to in the flurries of notes and runs. There are several 'Shred' albums out there that compromise this to nothing more than "See how fast I can play". Fortunately, there are guitarists out there who are not afraid of still being musically creative and be able to dazzle with virtuosity, while still being able to craft something melodic as well.

Satch has been able to take fast leads out of the genre it was best known for (i.e Metal) and take it into more exotic soundscapes. However, the amazing fretwork that Satriani is well known for is better, and more creatively used than ever before. Guitarists will be asking "How the hell did he do that?" - songwriters will probably also be asking the same question with the same amount of awe! Each song has a distinct and seperate 'feel' to it, unlike many shred albums where each guitarist seems to have similar basslines and drumbeats as the previous one. Satch proves that shred guitar shouldn't just be confined to videogames or action cartoons.

The master returns.
This album is truly superb, it has obviously benefited from being written by satch AND the rest of the band, it seems to have another dimension when compared to the other albums. Even Crystal planet which was a superb album.

there are many styles on this album and I like many reviewers have always respected satch's ability to do great instrumental guitar work without it being a pure shred-fest. Buy this album and listen to a master at work (and crank up the volume for "Mind Storm" and "Seven Strings" trust me, you will not regret it.