Joe Satriani
Strange Beautiful Music

THE REVIEW

Once again I find myself faced with an album by the great Joe, but unlike “Surfing with the Alien” (already reviewed by yours truly), I find more melodic sounds that are certainly no less technical. Fast and intricate tracks like “Mind Storm” and “Belly Dancer” are nevertheless complemented by enjoyable ballads with a slower rhythm but not a less complete composition like “Starry Night” and “Sleep Walk”.

This difference in style is undoubtedly dictated by the 15-year gap during which Satriani's style evolved, separating the two masterpieces (I remind you that “Surfing with the Alien” is Joe’s second album, released in 1987, while “Strange Beautiful Music” was released in 2002).
Each track within the album is also impressively complete, and by this I mean that the rhythm parts, which include riffs of a decent compositional level, are by no means neglected in favor of self-aggrandizing solos. Satriani, in fact, continues to construct solos aimed at the harmony of the whole piece and not to compose slow, monotonous rhythms that have the sole purpose of enhancing, by contrast, solos executed at breathtaking speeds.

Unfortunately, I have heard negative comments about this album that have truly disappointed me, claiming it was constructed with overly electronic sounds; these statements are also dogmatically shared by most purist fans. I consider comments like these to be unfounded, attributed to an album that, in my view, is simply fantastic.