Joe Satriani – Unstoppable Momentum
Epic Records
www.satriani.com

Rating: B+

Joe Satriani has done it again…he’s created yet another instrumental guitar album that mixes a boat load of technical ability with stirring melodic compositional skills, creating a unique musical soundscape that retains a very human, emotional element.  I guess you could call that mix the Satriani Soup.  The guy is getting so good it’s scary.    

Ok, lets be real, Joe’s last album, Black Swans and Wormhole Wizards was perhaps his most musical album ever, and if that is too much for you then it sits second only to the iconic Surfing with the Alien.  Because of that, Unstoppable Momentum struggles to compete, yet it is still pretty damn special, something Satch realized and put into the title of the work.  Like Wormhole Wizards, Joe is writing music at a definite peak creative period. 

Joe’s brilliance shines on the title track and on the epic “Lies and Truths.”  We are so spoiled when it comes to Joe’s playing that many likely will say, “That’s really good” when if it was any other guitarist, other than Satch, or maybe Steve Vai, we would be going “D.A.M.N.”  The moral of this paragraph is to remember that when greatness becomes normal we need to remind ourselves that it is still okay to get excited.  The last thing one should do is take Joe’s greatness for granted.  The fact that Satch is still creating music at such a high level is most impressive.   

With Unstoppable Momentum Satriani has continued to push forward and let his inner rock star shine through.  He is part guitar god, part Chickenfoot rock star and part just yer ordinary bald guy with black shades, beating his musical instrument into submission. 

All sides of his musical personality are representing in the Satriani Soup, leaving all who partake in his unique concoction very musically satisfied.  

By Jeb Wright