The Elephants of Mars

Guitar virtuoso Joe Satriani has long defined his style not just by razor-sharp chops, but also by the spirit of imagination and curiosity that shines through in his most innovative work. Recorded slowly and patiently at his home studio while the COVID-19 pandemic kept him from touring, The Elephants of Mars highlights Satrianis imaginative approach to instrumental guitar rock, twisting his already versatile guitar sounds into new forms of warped, fantastical, and often fun-loving compositions. Album-opener "Sahara" is as dust-swept as the title suggests, with a slow, broiling melodic figure switching gears to cosmic distortion tones midway through. By the end, the song has traveled from the Sahara desert to a red planet in a different solar system. Rapid shuffling through wildly varied sounds and ideas becomes a theme of the album. The frazzled, high-octane title track moves between moments of Satriani shredding over a shuffling groove and breakdowns to wobbly electronic sounds and more subdued playing. Multi-tracked, harmonized leads give the guitars of "Sailing the Seas of Ganymede" a synthy quality, and the song moves through segments of tension that break with technically dazzling solos or move into unexpected passages of space-aged funk. "Through a Mother’s Day Darkly" is cinematic and unsettled, with moments of spoken word floating over its bristling and busy arrangement. Satriani tones the exhilarated energy of the album down for the pensive "Faceless" and the misty, nostalgic atmosphere of the midtempo downtown rumination of "E 104th St NYC," while flexing his well-established gifts for power balladry on the lovely, almost Beatles-like melodies and bluesy detours of "22 Memory Lane." The Elephants of Mars is in keeping with the powerhouse technical ability Satriani has been a master of since the 80s, but the extra time he took to completely explore every idea makes the album more interesting and offers a deeper look into the guitar gods active psyche. ~ Fred Thomas