March 14, 2000 - Engines Of Creation

A week after my last release and two years since "Crystal Planet", Joe Satriani released his eighth album "Engines Of Creation" on March 14, 2000. As Joe likes to do, most of the people who were on his last album are nowhere to be seen here! The only remaining musician from last album is keyboardist Eric Caudieux, and he only does some keyboards, with Joe doing some himself as well. The new rhythm section is Pat Thrall on bass and Anton Fig on drums to complete this album's line-up. This album is a radical departure from Satriani's usual instrumental rock style as Joe goes all in on the electronica/techno music with a lot of computers and programming being used! This is certainly a surprising twist, and one I'm not sure that Ì like, but let's listen before we judge!

The album opens with "Devil's Slide" and it's driven by a pretty simple but epic-sounding rhythm guitar riff and Joe plays some very computer-y/techno lead guitar overtop. It sounds decently cool, and it's nice to see Joe change things up from his norm, but this is not the direction I would have taken. As you'd expect the guitar solo is pretty awesome and it sounds like some regular Joe guitar: some pretty fast and wicked shredding. Don't get me wrong, this was still a pretty cool song, just a little unexpected is all. Up next is "Flavor Crystal 7" and Joe plays another very techno-y lead guitar riff, but once again things actually sound pretty epic and cool, even if it does kinda sound like we're at a rave! Joe plays some more standard-sounding guitar overtop of this techno riff and it's certainly an interesting mix (even if it might not be the best). Joe rips off a pretty good solo as you'd expect, but most of this song has some pretty chill and fairly tame guitar. Track 3 is "Borg Sex", named after the species from Star Trek, and it certainly has a sci-fi vibe to it with a few layers of computer-y sounds that all combine for a unique and interesting riff. Joe plays some epic and loud lead guitar overtop and this kind of has an industrial vibe to it, like a Nine Inch Nails song. How do you think the solo was? It's a long one on this song, and Joe does some pretty awesome shredding throughout, starting off with a nice loud backing riff,but finishing quietly and epicly. The next track is "Until We Say Goodbye", the album's only single, and it has a pretty slow and dreamy mood to it with Joe playing some typically slow and smooth guitar. Caudieux adds some pretty basic keyboards to the background and this slower song is decent, but definitely the least good song so far. I can see why it was the single I guess, it's very easy and accessible, but aside from an obviously solid guitar solo, this is not a very good showcase of Joe's talents. Track 5 is "Attack" and it's got a groovy main riff with some catchy bass, and then Joe starts to play some fast, techno-y guitar overtop that sounds pretty crazy! It sounds like a video game, but to me that's pretty cool and I think it's a pretty sweet main riff! Eventually things slow right down and Caudieux plays some epic synths in the background while Joe solos nicely overtop with some cool stuff. Then they nicely return to the techno main riff for another round before ending the song with a strange and trippy new riff. Up next is "Champagne?" and Joe plays some Southern style guitar overtop of a techno-y backdrop and this is definitely not what I ever expected to hear. Two different worlds simultaneously existing, and it's actually pretty catchy. There's a cool middle section that loses the Southern guitar, then they jam out the Southern/techno riff again. The song seems to be over, but there's another minute of Joe playing a completely new guitar sound and riff and it's alright, but it seems out of place with everything else. Track 7 is "Clouds Race Across The Sky" and it's got a pretty light and breezy backing riff that Joe plays some slow and epic guitar overtop of. Joe ends up doing some solid soloing as you'd expect, but this song is over six minutes long and there's just not enough happening for most of it. It's a decent song, but easily one of the weaker ones on the album. The next track is a short one called "The Power Cosmic 2000-Part I" and Fig plays a simple but epic sounding drum beat that sets the stage nicely for Joe to solo. Joe plays a slower lead guitar riff that sounds solid and also adds another riff to the background that is way faster and way better. It's a pretty cool song for just over two minutes and it unsurprisingly leads right into track 9, "The Power Cosmic 2000-Part II". We hear a computer-y keyboard riff by Caudieux and Joe plays some techno guitar overtop for an interesting main backing riff. Joe also adds some slower lead guitar that sounds like a mix between a sitar and a synthesizer; definitely lots of interesting sounds on this one! The solo is pretty awesome once Joe really gets rolling and for a song with so much techno influence, I'm surprised that I like it so much! It was pretty cool! Up next is "Slow And Easy" and Fig plays another catchy drum beat and the mood matches the name of the song with a very slow pace and a very easygoing vibe. Joe's lead guitar is pretty simple by his standards, but things do have an epic air to them. It's still one of the less exciting songs on the album though and it goes on a little too long. The album wraps up with it's title track "Engines Of Creation" and it has a pretty simple backing riff, but Joe plays some pretty good lead guitar. They eventually add some techno-y keyboards and then Joe starts to solo overtop of all of it and with everything going things sound pretty good right up until the end.

That is the end of "Engines Of Creation" and I thought it was a decent album overall! It is very experimental and out of the norm for Joe Satriani to use so much techno and keyboards, but I found for the most part things sounded pretty solid. There were a few slower, weaker songs as on most of Joe's albums, but overall I was surprisingly impressed. I think it's better than both his self-titled album and "The Extremist" even, but not quite as good as "Time Machine", so 6th out of 8 will have to do. What can we expect from Joe next time? I'll be here to find out!