I agree, and have always said, that Satch's last good album was Crystal Planet. In all honesty I was hoping Satch would go more down the seasoned guitar veteran route ala
Joe Satriani (the album). I thought that album showed a very mature and organic growth to his tried and tested safe over-dubbing method of composing, but he seems to want to go back to his old methods. Satch also has a tendency to want to cater for his younger audiences, what with wearing hooded tops and leather jackets, and this tendancy shines through in his, quite often, immature approach to composition in his latest album releases.
Having heard the track
Musterion this morning, I was reminded of the opening track
Not of this Earth from the rhythm section. When the guitar monody kicked in though I was thoroughly disappointed. Why does the JSX amp sound like some £10 cheapo distortion pedal plugged straight in to the desk? Come on Joe, buy yourself a decent rig and screw the bloody endorsement campaigns already!
Having said all that, and on a positive note, it's good to hear Joe experimenting more with exotic scales once again; I miss the mysteriousness (no pun intended) of Joe's earlier comps.
I'm not going to pre-judge this album, and I'm still keeping an open mind about it. It could be Satch's renaissance album and a return to form?
[Edit:
Andalusia sounds pretty good. He should have done the whole album acoustic.]
