Cheap Strange Beautiful Music (Music) (Joe Satriani) Price

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Customer Reviews of Strange Beautiful Music

Excellent as usual
By the nature of the music he now exclusively plays (instrumental rock), Joe Satriani is a non-conformist. So it's surprising how willing he is to satisfy the whims of his fans, who didn't give his last album, 2000's "Engines of Creation," a decent chance. Disguised beneath a fog of techno wizardry, that album delivered Satriani's signature virtuoso guitar stylings, but the unfocused mixing made it seem like so much pointless noodling. On his first album since, "Strange Beautiful Music," Satriani dresses his performances in their old, fan-tested best, letting the music speak for itself. It continues in the tradition from which "Engines of Creation" seemed to waver, including both the squeaking high notes of "Crystal Planet" and the bluesy sensitivity of his self-titled album, but produced with the same workmanlike dedication to quality that distinguished "The Extremist." In other words, it's Satriani being as excellent as he usually is. He may be giving in to the whims of us fans, but who are we to complain?

Minor problem: The CDText annoyingly misspells the title as "Stranger Beautiful Music."

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Ahh, the Joe I love is back. . .
After what I thought was a disappointing studio album in "Engines of Creation," "Strange Beautiful Music" harkens back to Joe's older albums. It sounds like the best of "The Extremist", "Joe Satriani" and "Crystal Planet" have been blended into one album with some great new melodies. It flows nicely, and there are no throw away songs. Of course, musical tastes are subjective, but I really love this album. I have found few musicians who can set a mood and give me pause for reflection like Joe Satriani. There are several songs on this new album that accomplish that - "Mind Storm" especially. If EOC wasn't for you but you love Joe, you'll love this album. Joe sounds so much better with a real bassist and drummer, and that's what you get here. Joe is, in my opinion, the preeminent guitar player in the world for this type of music. Grab the CD and enjoy.

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Not the satriani of old
I'm amazed that so many people give this album a good review. Where is the Satriani of old, the edginess, hunger and precision combined with amazing songcraft. I've no doubt the skill is still there but the sound isn't (these later albums have a sound reminiscent of a muffled car horn!) and the songwriting is hit and miss to say the least. On earlier albums there were no misses only hits and if I was choosing a best of album I'd struggle to pick any songs from this album as none of them stand out. To all Satch novices try his earlier albums first especially "Not of the Earth" and "Surfing with the Alien" as this album is not a fair representation of his talent.