Joe Satriani: Engines of Creation (1 Viewer)

[Mike Broadman]

Satriani is easily one of my favorite guitar players. Not just because he is skilled, but because all of his fancy playing actually has a purpose- the songs are actually, well, songs. Classic Satch music is full of melody, phrasing, and can be lyrical without words.

Today, I finally got around to picking up his last CD, Engines of Creation. In general, I despise techno and electronica. There are probably a bunch of techno fans in this forum- sorry, I just don't get the whole machine-made music thing.

However, I decided to give Satch the benefit of the doubt. I'm liking it. It certainly is no Surfing or Crystal Planet, but I didn't expect it to be. He's trying something different, and he deserves credit for that. He's cranking out some interesting sounds from his instruments, and there is some good groove on the tracks.

The funny thing is, the music is structures and performed like straight-ahead rock, just using techno sounds. I wonder- are they any techno/electronica fans who've heard this? What do you think? Could one play this music at a rave?

I would imagine that a lot of Satch fans aren't fond of this album. After all, his audience is full of guitar and hard rock freaks who wouldn't rave if you put a gun to their head.

Does anyone have the SACD? How does that sound?

And speaking of SACD, wouldn't it be wonderful to have a SACD of Surfing with the Alien, Time Machine, or Crystal Planet? Ah, perchance to dream...

 

[KeithH]

Mike, first off, I would love to have Surfing with the Alien on SACD. That would be incredible. I have both the CD and SACD of Engines of Creation, and the SACD kills the CD. The CD is good on its own, but once I heard the SACD, I was hooked. The CD is flat by comparison. There is a lot more energy on the SACD. The sound on the SACD is more layered, so I feel the music is more easily resolved on the SACD. It's definitely worth picking up for $16.99 at Best Buy, in opinion.

As a bit of useless trivia, there is an error in the text on the Engines of Creation SACD. Track 1, "Devil's Slide", comes up "Devil's Side" on the SACD. The text is correct on the CD.

 

[Lee Scoggins]

Mike,
I strongly second Keith on this one.
The Super Audio version obliterates the CD.
Highly recommended.
By the way, have you heard the Hank Mobley SACD? I tried to find it at Tower twice but no luck.
Lee

 

[Rachael B]

Joe's SACD is one of Sony's best me thinks. I like that Joe has tried something different. Musicans need to evolve sometimes to keep intresting. SURFING WITH THE:alien: would be cool on SACD! I actually have it on LP and CD....I like it so much I'd buy it again....why not? Wouldn't it be grand if ENGINES OF CREATION had a CD layer?Now you won't be able to sleep till you have the SACD too. Best wishes!

 

[Mike Broadman]

I will definitely be getting the SACD. I was planning too anyway, so it's nice to hear it sounds good.

Lee, I have not heard the Hank Mobley SACD. Heck, I haven't even heard of the Hank Mobley SACD. Which album is it?

I don't know if I've mentioned it, but Hank is easily one of my favorite sax players, so I really do hope he puts out some hi-res stuff. His tone deserves the finest treatment.

All in all, I think I'm coming along pretty well with my SACD collection- ~15-20 SACDs, most of them classical. I plan on picking up practically every single classical SACD that comes out, which should result in a robust, diversified sampling of classical music, all on hi-res. It's also giving me an extra reason to hear some music I've never seriously listened to before: Dvorak, Mahler, Brahms.

I saw Jeff Beck's Blow By Blow in the store the other day. I think it's a multi-channel mix. Anyone hear this one?

None of my discs are hybrids. Are they rare/non-existant, or am I just unlucky?

 

[Yohan Pamudji]

I agree, Engines of Creation on SACD is very impressive.

Sony and their non-hybird SACDs--I don't get it. Wouldn't it be easier to get SACD into the marketplace if people owned hybrids? FIM, Chesky, Telarc, etc., are all doing hybrids. Why isn't Sony?