JOE SATRIANI
Is There Love in Space?
Epic Records 2004
www.satriani.com

Read the Joe Satriani interview

What's the 4-1-1?
Satch’s latest effort, his 11th solo album overall, further explores his extra-terrestrial mastery of the guitar – albeit while working in a more comfortably grounded environment.

Genre
Hard rock / metal / instrumental

The Good
Joe starts things off with a commanding "Gnaah". Repetitive string bending is the inspiration for this song. Joe displays some great hammer-ons and string tapping during the solo section. "Hands in the Air" finds Satriani switching to dropped D tuning for more meaty riffing. He adds a splash of keyboards ala Steve Vai. Cosmic tones and a warbley guitar effect dominate the slow tempoed title track "Is There Love in Space". "If I Could Fly" has an acoustic heavy chord progression, highlighted by melodic soloing. "The Souls of Distortion" relies heavily on, what else...heavy distortion. Satriani goes manic on his improv soloing.

The ten minute epic "Searching" displays Satriani's knowledge of his fret board and guitar effects in all its glory. "Lifestyle" is the first of two songs that not only has Joe on guitar, but also has him handling vocals. That's right; Satriani takes the mic in this catchy number about his lady's deadly way of life. He delivers the vocals in an echoy, new-wave style. "I Like the Rain" has the same echoy vocal delivery, but it fits the songs better. Kicked off with a motorcycle engine revving, this bluesy track gets the blood pumping with a little 12 bar blues progression and piercing licks. Joe adds a little harmonica for fun.

The Bad
It's not a bad thing, but vocals don't really suit Satch.

The Verdict
Thank God Satriani abandoned the Engines of Creation techno idea and reverted back to what he does best.

Did you know?
Joe Satriani's young son plays on the track "Bamboo". He plays a bass guitar with a violin bow.

Rating: out of 5

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--George Dionne