Shapeshifting
Joe Satriani is a name in music that holds so much weight, you might even say he is somewhat a guitar virtuosa and with a hugely impressive back catalogue and 18 studio albums, it’s not hard to see why. Now he has released his latest effort, ‘Shapeshifting’. This is an album to sit down and listen to in its entirety. It really does take you on a musical journey.
Opening with the title track, this is a high energy rock number. Drummer Kenny Aronoff kicks things off with the blast of a snare roll and then bassist Chris Chaney comes in with a rolling bass line. Joe Satriani kicks in with some overdriven guitar. The sound is incredible and Satriani’s guitar is literally singing. What an amazing piece of music. I love the fade out at the end, just returning to the solitary bass groove.
Next up is a very classic rock sounding track, just named ‘Distortion’ – this is an all out retro 80s feeling epic. I love the guitar on the track and I have to say the drums feel very much at the forefront of the track too. Kenny is absolutely hammering seven bells out of the kit. The sound is absolutely massive.
In contrast to the enormity of the previous track, ‘All For Love’ is quite the opposite. Lots of sustain with melancholic cascading melodies. A real slow burner, but so tremendously powerful and effective. The guitar is almost weeping, it is an emotionally led piece and perhaps one of my favourites on the album.
Next up is perhaps the strangest track on the album. Another complete departure from what came before, ‘Ali Farka, Dick Dale, an alien and Me’ is a completely bizarre piece of music. Talk about shapeshifting, this incorporates so many different styles, but before the listener gets settled into one of the styles, Satriani moves on to another theme. Perhaps this is all too much at once, maybe it is a little too much experimentation. Sometimes less is more.
And talking of less is more, as if to give the listener a little rest bite from the craziness of the previous track, ‘Teardrops’ is next, a slow moody piece. This is a wonderfully refined track, a slow walking bass line with an emotional guitar over the top. It builds slowly and moves perfectly into the southern rock tinged ‘Perfect Dust’. This is more traditional country rock and roll. I love the guitar tone on this one, just the slightest bit of crunch. Fantastic.
The album continues, it’s a great record and then behold, another surprise. A piano led track. Yes, keys player Eric Caudieux takes the lead on ‘Waiting’. With a beautiful melody with a very understated guitar underscoring the piano. Not something I expected from Joe Satriani. He is showing his tender delicate side here and I love it. Definitely one of the prettiest moments on the album.
Following ‘Waiting’ we are treated to a little bit of reggae followed by the album closer, ‘Yesterday’s Yesterday’. What another surprise. Opening up with a whistled melody that gives way to an acoustic guitar and banjo. I really like this, it’s a bluegrassy country number and again a complete departure on what you would expect from a Joe Satriani track.
The album is certainly well suited to its name, as the tracks do ‘Shapeshift’. There is so much musical variety to be enjoyed and on the whole, it works so well. There was perhaps a little bit too much variety in ‘Ali Farka, Dick Dale, an alien and Me’ – but as for the rest of the album, I loved the contrast and varying musical styles that were presented, from reggae, classic rock even stretching to the country bluegrass stuff. Such an eclectic album with so many surprises. This album is Joe Satriani proving that he has plenty more tricks up his sleeve and I for one can not wait to see some of these tracks played live, sooner rather than later, I hope.
Released By: Sony Music/Legacy Recordings
Release Date: 10th April 2020
