Wow! This is a blast from the past.
I had some pals who got this, back when it came out, way back in 1987. I’m thinking of Rowan and James. Steeped as they were in the lore of axe-heroes, such as Van Halen, Gary Moore, Yngwie Malmsteen, Steve Vai, and… the latter’s guitar teacher, Joe Satriani.
One of the things I personally like about this album is that it’s all instrumental. And another is that it’s more musically broad-ranging in mood and tone than some more metal-centric ‘axe-hero’ type albums of that style/era.
Ironically, as I type that, we transition from the mellow 6/4 ‘Always With Me, Always With You’, to the hyper-rockin’ ‘Satch Boogie’!
Instrumental guitar lead rock, it’s basically a solo recording, with a bit of help on the drums/percussion/rhythm programming front. Satriani plays all guitars, bass and synths, etc. He also did some of the rhythm programming, and all the production.
Three others musos are credited, in mostly drum/percussion related roles: Bongo Bob Smith (drum programming, percussion), Jeff Campitelli (drums/percussion), and John Cuniberti (percussion/engineering).
For sheer skill, this is five star fare. From a musical enjoyment perspective? There are a few standout tracks – for me the very best are ‘Always With Me, Always With You’, and ‘Echo’, effectively the album’s two ballads – and then a larger amount that’s very well done, but rather dated.
Fun to revisit, and pretty good, overall. But neither a classic nor a favourite.
*Could’ve been played by a young Daniel Day Lewis!