Kendra Keene

State Hornet

Joe Satriani’s talent was clear during his performance atDimple Records last Wednesday as he performed music from his new CD”Is There Love in Space?” to a store filled with eagerfans. After watching him perform for well over an hour with hisband, you are taken aback. This is a man who first picked up aguitar in 1970 at the age of 14 and has been heavily practicingever since. Satriani’s stage presence is electrifying, whichis uncommon considering the fact that there is very little signing.After the show you come to the realization that this was no show&- this was music.

One of the main aspects that you notice most about a Satrianiperformance is that his fans are diehards. Someone once said thatSatriani is the guitarist for the guitarist. This was evident whenyou looked at the excited crowd in Dimple Records, half of whomwere holding their electric guitars ready for Satriani’ssignature. His fans don’t stop there &- for he hastaught everyone from Kirk Hammett of Metallica to David Bryson ofCounting Crows.

While most musicians these days are trying to be great ateverything, Satriani puts all his effort into one thing &-mastering the guitar. With his latest album Satriani secureshimself as being one of the greatest guitarist out there today.

Satriani first established himself in the San Francisco musicscene in the early 1980s. His newest CD is filled with crisp rockrhythms and the finest guitar melodies given by a six string.

A highlight of the album is “Just Look Up,” which isprobably the most romantic and soulful song on the album. The onenegative part of “Is There Love in Space?” is thesinging, in the song “Lifestyle.” It could be that itis just impossible to meet the quality of the guitar with vocals orit could be that they just didn’t try hard enough.

Overall “Is There Love in Space” will probably beremembered as one of Satriani’s greatest albums, due to thefact that the album, like his live performance, has been finallytuned for many years. Whether you are watching him live orlistening to him on your CD player, it is clear that you have justheard the sound of a great musician playing at the top of thisgame.