Review: 'Shapeshifting' by Joe Satriani

Joe Satriani Shapeshifting

By Mike O’Cull

Rock guitar ace Joe Satriani reaffirms his top-of-the-heap status on his new record Shapeshifting, released April 10th, 2020 on Sony Music/Legacy Recordings. Produced by Satch and Jim Scott (Tom Petty, Foo Fighters, Red Hot Chili Peppers), the album features a stellar cast of players in addition to Joe, that includes drum hero Kenny Arnonoff (John Mellencamp, Smashing Pumpkins, John Fogerty), bassist Chris Chaney (Jane’s Addiction), and keyboardist Lisa Coleman (Prince). It’s a superlative set of new music full of tightly-written, engaging instrumentals that don’t need a singer up front to rock hard and hold your attention. This type of writing is Satriani’s trademark, and is one of the main reasons he’s developed a huge audience while many other technically-proficient rock guitarists mainly play for other guitar players.

Satriani first came to prominence with his signature ballad “Always with Me, Always with You” from 1987’s Surfing With The Alien album. The beautiful, melodic track brought instrumental guitar playing back to rock radio for the first time since the 60s and set Satriani on his way to becoming the best-selling instrumental guitarist of all time. Since then, Joe has created a body of work of impeccable quality that, to many people, is the benchmark all other rock guitarists are compared to. He is also a legendary guitar instructor whose students, including notables Steve Vai, Kirk Hammett, Charlie Hunter, and Alex Skolnick, have gone on to have their own successful careers.

Satch gets us going with his title track, “Shapeshifting,” straight away and immediately delivers the goods. It’s a classic Satriani number full of all the things we love about his music. He employs cool octave melodies, a memorable off-kilter riff, and expressive trem-drenched leads that leave no doubt in anyone’s ears why he’s the straight-up rock guitar champion of the world. Joe doesn’t just play fast, he plays music and lets his considerable chops serve each track as needed.

“Big Distortion” is up next and treats us to a blast of good, crunchy rock and roll with hit single potential. Joe Satriani waits until almost a minute-and-a-half in before unleashing his skills, building interest before then with a great groove and an echoed-out power chord riff. When he finally lets go, he goes hard into a vocabulary that ranges from pentatonic to modal and back again without ever overwhelming the song or grandstanding. This is his genius and, if it could be boiled down and bottled, would give aspirants a profoundly different idea of what rock playing is all about.

“Ali Farka, Dick Dale, An Alien and Me” takes the record on a big left turn and combines Joe’s spaceman side with tribal beats and surf/metal tremolo picking. Satriani does this freaked-out-but-focused style better than anyone out there and always turns it into something that’s uniquely his own. His tone is huge, dirty, and articulate and his note choice is beyond reproach. He has a knack for the more direct rock material that’s undeniable but he’s also deeply creative and eccentric in his artistry when he wants to be.

The lead single from Shapeshifting, “Nineteen Eighty,” harkens back to the New Wave era and Joe’s first band The Squares. It’s a driving rocker with a fleet-fingered intro, a big beat, and a harmonized instrumental hook tracked through a vintage MXR phaser for period-correct authenticity. Joe Satriani expands upon the old-school vibe of those days and the results are glorious.

One deep track that bears mentioning is the minor key rock instrumental “Spirits, Ghosts and Outlaws.” It’s an uptempo-yet-moody track with cinematic appeal that does much with texture and feel. It’d be a great theme for a sci-fi western movie. Satch lets it fly just enough to thoroughly rock you but never loses his bare-knuckle edge. Be sure to also spin “Waiting” and “Here The Blue River.” Shapeshifting is another bold, beautiful effort from one of the great guitarists of our times and adds another chapter to Satriani’s already prodigious legacy. Listen loudly and repeatedly.