JOE SATRIANI The Elephants of Mars | Weekly Heavy Metal Album Review

Released by earMUSIC on April 8th, 2022

Quick Background

Joe Satriani, known to any guitarist or guitar enthusiastic, is an American guitarist, composer, songwriter, and guitar teacher. He is a 15-time Grammy Award nominee and has sold over 10 million albums, making him the bestselling instrumental rock guitarist of all time. I have been a fan since the 90's and 1987's Surfing with the Alien is one of my favorite albums of all time. 

The Elephants of Mars

The Elephants of Mars is his 18th solo studio album following 2020's Shapeshifting. I really liked that album and it was on my top 30 list of that year. Let's see how the new album holds up. An intense rocker with soothing elements, "Sahara" opens the album with elegance. It's a trademark Satriani song and a great opener. But it's also deceiving as this is not just another of Satriani's albums, there's a lot going on here. With 14 songs in 67 minutes, The Elephants of Mars is an album where variety is at the heart of it. The title track and song number 2 is another classic Satriani track with the early records vibe to it. "Faceless" is a beautiful ballad with a nice piano intro and a slow tempo melody as we come to expect from him. "Cryin'" is classic song that comes to mind when I listen to "Faceless". "Blue Foot Groovy" brings his bluesy side to the surface, remember 1995's "Cool #9"? Something like that.  

But don't get fooled by those early songs, the albums goes into many places, some new, and there's a lot of fusion elements. "Sailing the Seas of Ganymede" kick-off the fusion and experimental part of the album. "Doors of Perception" with a prominent percussion and Asian string instruments follows. "E 104th St NYC 1973" is full on fusion track. "Pumpin'" is  funky song with so cool synths. "Dance of the Spores" features a Wah extravagance but more interestingly inspired by Circus music. Then 80's electronic music homage "Night Scene" is another curved ball. I love the keyboard solo on this one. 

The Picky Guy

I guess my only complain is that the album is a bit too long. So I wonder if the last two songs really needed to be there. The other thing is, if you are more into Satriani's rocker side, then you may be disappointed with this album. But other than that, it's Satriani still in super shape.

Wrap Up Opinion 

Joe Satriani has nothing to prove, after almost 20 studio albums he has collected millions of fans and accolades. However, with  The Elephants of Mars he demonstrate that standing still is not option. A dynamic album combining classic elements from the early albums with experimentation and fusion music makes this new album a pleasure to listen. It's another delight also to inspire guitar players around the world. A very good album, 83/100. 

SCORE: 83/100

Genre: Instrumental Rock

Released by earMUSIC on April 8th, 2022

Rating System

99 - 100 Perfect
94 - 98 Excellent
87 - 93 Great
82 - 86 Very Good
77 - 81 Good
66 - 76 Mixed
58 - 65 Bad

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