One of the biggest obstacles for all act of creation is boundary, whether it’s self imposed by an artist or any other form of technical limitations regarding their craftsmanship. But sometimes, an artist’s own individual sensibilities can turn into their creative boundaries, such as being confined to only a particular style of expression that the artist is recognizable for. Like being limited to one’s own brand of artistry.
It’s kind of like a paradox—every artist, in any field, has their own signature ways of expression, which in turn, makes them limited in not-so-subtle ways. To put it simply, what defines them, what makes them unique and endearing, turns into their own creative boundaries in the long run. That’s why it’s so important for artists to try to reinvent themselves or taking their brand of creativity to places where they’ve never been. Otherwise in the long run, their work starts to get stale and predictable.
And when the said artist is Joe Satriani—the virtuoso superguitarist with works spanning over multiple decades, the question of reinvention or bringing some fresh new elements becomes heavily relevant. And as you can guess from the title of the album, the central theme is the idea of change and this is what drives the album. But now the question is—how does it turn out? And this review is a long and elaborate answer to that.
But there’s one thing I can declare right off the bat—‘What Happens Next’ is a delicious and meticulous sonic mix of virtuosity and glacial songwriting. In fact, even non guitar players or fans will dig it, that’s how terrific this album is and definitely ranks as one of the most memorable albums made by Satch.
Now as to how much freshness is there in the music or how well it stacks up to Satch’s other albums, the entire review is an answer to that.
So to start off, if you want a ‘neo-Satch’ feel, you’ll find it here. But honestly, there’s not as much of it as you may think, based on the title and such. There’s definitely sparks of new elements here that sounds unlike anything Satch has played in his glowing carrier of 2 decades, but they’re not all over the place, which would be more preferable. And the usual Satch tropes of songwriting is very much there, which sometimes work against some of the fresh themes present in the album.
The album kicks off with ‘Energy’, an impatient rocker with an intoxicating riff. Honestly, I feel it’s one of the very best album openers in Satch’s discography and when you hear the first few seconds, you’ll know why. Also, the decision of bringing Chad Smith and Glenn Hughes (his former Chickenfoot members) in this record definitely pays off big time and it’s evident in this track. There’s just a huge feeling of a live band here, which fits beautifully with the tone of the song.
Next up is Catbot, a rolling, groovy song that faithfully carries the feeling of that ‘live band’ throughout. Now the solo part of the song is one of those neo-Satch moments, not only is it spectacular, it’s also unlike anything we’ve heard from him. It’s supremely melodic and warm, but there’s also lots of spaces in the solo that makes it one of the greatest musical moments in the entire album, for me at least. Hard to describe but you’ll feel it. And there’s a short but delicious jam section at the second half of this track which adds a lot of color and air. Although full of the usual fare of licks and phrases from Satch, but it fits the song well nonetheless.
Thunder High on the Mountain is one of biggest musical highlights in this album and is a prime example of the central theme—bringing new and fresh elements and giving it a rollicking Satch-ish flair. Not only does it work magnificently, it reminds us why Joe Satriani is one of the greatest songwriters on the Electric Guitar—every single second of this song is memorable, from the opening section to the heavy, anthemic (yes, really) riff to the melancholic bridge section. This track has greatness written all over it and is a must listen for every Satch fan out there.
As for Cherry Blossoms, it’s another testament of Satriani’s Zen-like songwriting prowess on the Electric Guitar. He knows how to make that perfect melody and build a gorgeous track around it. But what’s most interesting about this song is the solo section where Satch plays a distinct Japanese vibe through his pedals and makes it feel esoteric and unique at the same time, very hard to describe through words but you’ll love it when you hear it, that’s for sure.
Righteous is a very straight forward, in-your-face Satch track and it excels at that. For me, it’s one of the best tracks in the album. It also has a very unique dynamics throughout that works in favor of the melody.
Now there’s something that needs to be said before I get to Smooth Soul. Any longtime fans of Satch knows that there is an incredible degree of ‘economy’ in his playing—in the sense that Satriani always brings the most out of the least. Which means he composes the phrasings in a way that brings the most amount of melody in an incredibly short amount of time—like only in a few minutes you get the feeling of hearing a deep and elaborate piece of melody. There’s a kind of crystallization of music that Satch has proven himself to be a master of. In his songs, you can easily hear the almost invisible line between sublime and cacophony, between loudness and noise.
But sometimes, that crystallization works against the core of the song and Smooth Soul is a prime example of that. When the song shifts gear, it feels as if it would have been better if it didn’t. This is one of those pieces of music which you would like to get deeper and deeper, exploring the multitudes of melodic layers and textures. But instead, this song just ends up as feeling short of it’s promise. Here we also see the Satch flair of ‘fragmentation’ in songs (into different sections) which works against Smooth Soul. It seems like this song was meant to be an uninterrupted flow of pure melody than another multi-sectioned piece of guitar music.
The second half of the album is a lot more varied than the first and without going through all of them individually, I’ll just mention the highlights and the more memorable ones here.
Headrush has a kind of ‘Satch Boogie’ feel and works great as an arena stomper. The solo is the real highlight though, it has both the feels and the thrills and blends both of these two in a sumptuous songwriting spectacle. Staple Satch stuff here.
Looper is another track that falls short, or what it feels like. There’s lots and lots of technical virtuosity and musical theatrics all over this one, but overall it feels worked up and for me, it’s one of the weakest tracks on the album.
Moving on to What Happens Next, it’s another terrific song that combines both melody and virtuosity in an eclectic mix that you’d want to hear over and over again. The opening chord sections fit greatly with the central theme of the album—it seems like it belongs to a genre of it’s own and is totally different from the rest of the record. The song also feels like it’s a constant build up of the mystique and the suspense of the theme of the record, and is all the better for it.
Next is Super Funky Badass, and it’s the best song on the entire album. Yeah, had to put it there as bluntly as possible. It’s over 7 minutes long but feels like it could’ve gone 7 more minutes and would’ve still feel like it’s over too soon. That’s the magic, the wildness and the musicality of this track. For me, it’s one of the greatest tracks from Satch and your ears will tell you why.
As for the last two songs, Invisible is possibly the weakest of the entire album and even though it features a lot of signature guitar pyrotechnics from Satch, it feels a bit repetitive and just another by-the-numbers instrumental track than anything else. The solo’s pretty great, but that’s about it.
Forever and Ever is the perfect closing track for the album, simply because it’s one of those pieces of music that you wouldn’t want to end. The song is an intimate celebration of Satch’s influences and inspirations which includes the late great Hendrix. Forever and Ever sounds and feels like a heartfelt love letter to Joe’s roots along with some exceptional songwriting moments. It comes alive from the get-go and you can literally feel the yearning and the aching in the song. In my experience, this song is one of the greatest tracks in Joe’s entire career and whether you appreciate Satch’s music or not, you owe yourself to listen to this one.
To sum it all up, What Happens Next is one of the very best Satriani albums ever. There are lots of fresh new elements here that’s unheard in any past Satch records along with some truly unforgettable songs that reminds us why he’s one of the greatest songwriters on the Electric Guitar. Looking back on the whole album, it feels like a fever dream of liquid electric wildness that rushes through you. Though there’s a part of me that wishes there were some ethereal tracks like ‘Goodbye Supernova’ here but this is a different album than Shockwave Supernova and has it’s own identity and themes. And except for ‘Invisible’ and ‘Looper’, all of the songs here shine and feel like they are part of a musical narrative.
So yes, ‘What Happens Next’ is yet another terrific record from Satch that deserves to be in your collection—whether you love Guitar music or just a fan of great music, in all it’s different forms. I tend not to give scores to reviews cause I feel numbers aren’t nearly accurate enough to describe art—so from me, the end verdict on this album would be just one word—Amazing. I hope that sums it up and for me, it definitely does.
Comments
Post a Comment