JOE SATRIANI – The Elephants Of Mars

Mars To Earth: Satriani Has Arrived

For over three decades, Joe Satriani has traveled the world, playing to sold-out crowds as both a headliner and as founder of the all-star “G3” guitar extravaganza. His recordings have sold more than 10 million copies worldwide to date, with two albums going platinum and four others going gold, and 15 Grammy nominations between them. Joe Satriani’s newest album, the 19th studio effort: The Elephants Of Mars feels like a crowning jewel on top of an already starred career.

Pure Genius

With the pandemic forcing a lockdown, and band members spread out across the world, Joe Satriani used the down-time to remotely record what may be his finest work to date. With a goal of setting a new standard for what a guitar instrumental should be, Satriani has pulled out all of the stops. He explains “I want to show people that an instrumental guitar album can contain far more creative and entertaining elements than I think people are using right now.”

Having more time to record meant more time to experiment, giving Joe Satriani and company the opportunity to really push the musical boundaries. “We did everything. We tried the craziest ideas. And we entertained every notion we had about turning something backwards, upside down, seeing what could happen.”

With the exceptional talents of Kenny Aronoff on the drums, a legend himself, the drums are perfectly conceived and performed for the music. Joe Satriani has a great group of support players that help him create some excellent instrumental guitar music, that can’t really be beat for this reviewer.

Final Notes

At 66 minutes, normally you can get fatigued. Not so with The Elephants Of Mars as Joe Satriani has this dreamy-like style that captivates you, taking you to another place on a musical journey that’s more than worth the trip. Not just for guitar aficionados, The Elephants Of Mars is an album for everyone.

Lineup

Joe Satriani – guitars, keyboards
Kenny Aronoff – drums
Bryan Beller – bass
Rai Thistlethwayte – keyboards
Eric Caudieux – keyboards
Ned Evett – spoken word

The Elephants Of Mars – Tracklist

1. Sahara
2. The Elephants of Mars
3. Faceless
4. Blue Foot Groovy
5. Tension and Release
6. Sailing the Seas of Ganymede
7. Doors of Perception
8. E 104th St NYC 1973
9. Pumpin’
10. Dance of the Spores
11. Night Scene
12. Through a Mother’s Day Darkly
13. 22 Memory Lane
14. Desolation