Engines of Creation - Satriani, Joe (CD 2000)

Joe Satriani has been astounding guitarists and non-guitarists alike since the mid '80s. He's one of the few instrumental musicians these days that can still be considered influential. His music has appeared in movies, commercials, and all over the radio for years. He's a hero to thousands of guitarists all around the world who cherish every one of his albums and study them like crib sheets, learning how to play each and every note.

His technique is impeccable. His creative abilities are unmatched in the world of rock guitar. His influence? Immeasurable. Given all that, I have to ask one question.

Why oh why did you abandon us Satch?

Engines of Creation is the most disappointing album I've heard in a long time. What really upsets me is that it came from the most unlikely of sources. From the man who I would've sworn would never have shifted away from his core audience. A man who seemed to be the only person willing to carry the guitarists torch after it had been dropped by most others. A man who only two years previous was attempting to "save" the art form from extinction. It seems he gave up and decided to drive the nails into the coffin himself.

So what's wrong with Engines of Creation? The obvious answer is that it isn't a rock record. Satriani has gone techno. Now there's something I didn't see coming. This is a stylistic shift an order of magnitude greater than Metallica moving from thrash towards more bluesy metal. It's instantly alienating to almost all fans in his genre of music.

Why Joe felt the need to do this I'll never know. Of course I'm being much to quick to judge. This was a grand experiment which allowed Joe to branch out and try something new. Unfortunately it was a leap I consider incompatible to his earlier body of work. I don't knock him for trying something different, I just really wish he hadn't. In fact I wouldn t be surprised if he doesn't already regret the decision. I've heard that he's keeping the number of songs from Engine down to a minimum on his current live set list.

I think I may I understand the motivations behind this record. You see, Joe is an artist who has tasted of commercial success. He's had gold albums (a feat almost unheard of in the instrumental realm) and had a lot of media exposure. His last album, Crystal Planet, while still showing the same brilliance he's always had, didn't sell extremely well and I think he may have taken that as a sign that he needed to try something new. What he didn't understand is that his popularity may be waning publicly but he has an established fan base willing to gobble up any of his output. Changing styles is only going to hurt him on both ends.

The problems with Engines of Creation are apparent right from the opening. Devil's Slide starts off with a very obvious techno drum loop before the guitar comes in. The guitar tone is different and very unlike Satch. It's heavily processed and very distorted. In certain parts of the song Joe's playing shines through and he cuts loose with some impressive runs. My real beef is that the main theme (an important staple of all Satriani's work) isn't very memorable, or pleasing to listen to. And that dumb drum-loop ruins even the good parts.

Flavor Crystal keeps the same sort of feel going, yet features a more inviting theme. It just doesn't seem like something Satriani ought to be playing though. The solos remind me of some of the ideas he had on Crystal Planet yet they don't do anything for me here.

Fortunately Satriani can't keep the electronica stuff going the whole album. Until We Say Goodbye is a laid back song, very much in the vein of his slower numbers from Joe Satriani. Goodbye just feels a lot more organic than the digital mayhem elsewhere. See Joe, sometimes less is more. Satriani even shows off his blues side (something he needs to do more often) on the slide guitar track Champagne. It's not perfect, but it sounds like gold compared to everything else here . . . that is until the break where all the groundwork he laid in the opening is wasted with some drum loops and weird effects.

Not all of the techno stuff is terrible. Borg Sex actually makes an interesting listen but it's still not my style of music. The processing here is extremely heavy and his guitar elicits some appropriately machine like sounds but I yearn for the more accessible pieces The Extremist or Flying In A Blue Dream. Clouds Race Across The Sky has some pretty cool sections as well, but they're just that; sections. Snippets of music that make you realize that Joe Satriani's body isn't really possessed by The Dust Brothers. He's still in there somewhere and the brilliance we expect can't be completely hidden by all the techno rhythms.


I'm curious to know what a real techno fan would think of this music. I'm going to assume it's decent but I doubt Satriani's being played at all the raves or anything. To me it doesn't make sense but maybe Joe has just mastered another genre. His technique is still jaw-dropping, but I can't help but wonder why he chose this area to display it in.

Until We Say Goodbye is the one real saving track on the album and probably the only song you need to hear from Engines. For all but the most ardent fans I say skip this release. It'll send a message to Satch and hopefully he won't make the same mistake next time. I'm not giving up on him yet, just don't expect me to listen to Engines of Creation very often.

Satriani's next release will be better. I have high faith in that statement. I mean, it couldn't be much worse really. Until that time, those craving a fix of guitar wizardry still have Yngwie Malmsteen. At least he knows what his fans want.

Track Listing
1. Devil's Slide
2. Flavor Crystal
3. Borg Sex
4. Until We Say Goodbye
5. Attack
6. Champagne?
7. Clouds Race Across the Sky
8. Power Cosmic 2000, Pt. 1
9. Power Cosmic 2000, Pt. 2
10. Slow and Easy
11. Engines of Creation