Is There Love In Space?

• Flying In A Blue Dream
• Not of This Earth
• Super Colossal
• Professor Satchafunkilus And The Musterion Of Rock
• Crystal Planet

1. Gnnaahh - This is somewhat new from Joe.2. Up in flames - Something is amiss with this song as in, there isn't much connectivity between the background rythm and the music, which Joe is trying to play. The music appears disoriented.3. Hands in the air - Nice song except for the bridging between the two main riffs. Nice solo. Could be better if the bridge is better done.4. Lifestyle - Singing is not one of Joe's strength and it still isnt. I wouldn't rate this song as bad, but I wouldn't say that it is good either.5. Is there love in space? - Things start to pick up here. Joe did a good job on this song. Very nice melachonic sense in it. I like this one.6. If I could fly - This is perhaps one of the best songs in the album. Nice rythm with cool guitar licks that gets you into the music.7. The souls of distortion - Nice song and again, one of my favourites here. The Wah pedal was used in full effect.8. Just look up - I would rate this song above average. It doesn't have that "stick in your mind" effect like most of Satch's ballads does.9. I like the rain - Okay, this is perhaps the song that I dislike most in this album. I don't think it connects to what Satch is about.10. Searching - A long song with tonnes of gutair solos. Despite recieving bad comments from most of the reviewers here, I find this song pretty good.11. Bamboo - I think Joe did a good job on this. It might sound a little strange, but strange is what Joe is about. Very harmonious mellow tune.

It's not that his soloing isn't superb - it's just that the compositions aren't quite as good as on past albums.

There are, however, a few gems on this disc which make it worth buying, including "Gnaah," "Is there Love in Space?" "If I Could Fly" and "Just Look Up." I'm willing to cut Joe a little slack for some of the other "mediocre" tracks on this release - I think in some ways he is trying to simplifiy his approach. For example, there are several tunes on here which center on a basic, two- to three-chord progression ("Lifestyle," "I Like the Rain"). Back to the blues, where he so often likes to to be.

There are also some tunes here that , in my opinion, misfire: "Searching" is a disjointed epic with no central theme - and no gratifying conclusion. I can''t tell if this was his stab at doing prog rock or if he simply needed to fill 10 minutes on the disc. (By the way, I think it would be great to hear Joe do a prog rock/fusion effort backed by Terry Bozzio and Tony Levin, or other virtusosos). "Bamboo" is also sort herky jerky in the beginning - not sure what he is trying to do here - a very weird sounding closing track.

The recording itself is excellent.

The title of the disc and title track bother me - and seem to border on ridiculous. Is love not an emotion we carry with us wherever we go? Maybe he should have checked with some of the astronauts at NASA. They probably could have filled him in. Or maybe he didn't hear Bowie when he sang in "A Space Odyssey" - "tell my wife I love her very much ..."

Buy it if you are a hardcore Joe fan. Skip it if you aren't.

The CD is a nice blend between FIABD and SBM. There's even a couple of new vocal pieces ("Lifestyle" and "I Like The Rain"). Highlights are the rockin' "Gnaahh", spacey(!) "Is There Love in Space?", unsettling "Souls of Distortion" and the sublime "Bamboo". THE highlight though, clocking in at 10:07, is "Searching". This has to be heard to be believed. It's my favourite Satch piece since "Cool #9".

If you are a fan, get it. You wont be dissapointed.

However, ITLIS is the only Satch CD in my opinion that lacks its own identity. It's a collection of avenues Satriani explored before in his previous CDs, but this time he does it with less inspiration. Sorry to say.

Track by track, it goes like this for me.

1- Gnaahh - great riff, infectious groove, maybe the best song... only letdown is the solo, kind of Ice9 shredding but doesn't live up to the great song2- Up in flames - house full of bullets #2, without the great hook3- Hands in the air - typical Satch riff, but way too similar to "Surfing with the alien"4- Lifestyle - vocal track and what a big surprise: one of the best songs in the CD and by far Satch's best vocal ever. Without taking away the song's merits, when a vocal song is a standout in a Satch CD it's not good news5- Is there love in space - good song, good soloing6- If I Could Fly - good song, pop-ish feel works great... the final vamp could have been 1 minute shorter though7- Souls of distortion - interesting song, but I think the use of effects is a bit overdone8- Just Look Up - the CD goes downhill from here... this is Starry Night number 2... In the past, Satch's ballads had much better melodies and/or very interesting rhythm sections and harmonies. This one doesn't compare to Always With Me or Love Thing. The rhythm section is just chords strumming. The soloing is good, but the songwriting is subpar9- I like the rain - filler vocal track10- Searching - ten-minute song without a proper theme to tie it together, the main riff is off of Rasperry Jam's guitar effect but the track lacks more tension/release (à la The Forgotten)11- Bamboo - weird song, experimental if you will... wouldn't hurt much if the other tracks were stronger, but this CD could have used a stronger closing number.

Of course, if you're a Satch fan you'll buy this and enjoy. But ITLIS is subpar when you consider Satriani's standards. Songwriting is inferior to that of Engines of Creations and Strange Beautiful Music's and doesn't come close to that of Crystal Planet or earlier works.

You'll find love in space, but more so in Crystal Planet or Silver Surfer!

"Is there Love in Space?" is a great CD! He kicks it off with "Gnaaahhh"- which starts out with a groove-like riff and a screaming guitar lick that I think he uses Whammy and Wah pedals on if I am not mistaken. Anyway, it ROCKS!

Track 2 is more along the lines of the straight forward grunge-shred sound that Satch fans know and love.

Track 3 is one of my favorites- it sort of reminded me of a few of Steve Vai's pieces, but then again, Vai learned what he knows from Satch, so we could say his stuff sounds like Satch- anyway... it kicks it! A sassy guitar riff with intricate soloing in the middle and on the bridge.

Track 4 is a vocal song- "Lifestyle"- cool song- he makes good use of the whammy bar, and cool harmonies.

Track 5 is the title song "Is there Love in Space?" It starts out with a sort of mellow mysterious intro, then kicks into a nice groove on the chorus with doubled octaves, cool harmonies and great solo work- this one has grown on me alot the more I listen to it...

Track 6 starts out like a ballad and builds momentum into a rock-anthem-like chorus- great song...

The others are great for the most part-

On track 7-"Souls of Distortion" Satch uses overdrive distortion and Wah pedals to create a sort of crunchy but tone rich harmony that rocks.

Track 9- "I Like the Rain"- is an interesting piece- it starts out with the roar of a Harley Davidson motorcycle then rides into an upbeat, modal song with harmonica in the background and a filtered vocal track that sounds sort of like the effect he used on "Big Bad Moon" for those of you who are familiar with that one from his album "Flying in a Blue Dream."

This album is definitely worth picking up- great, creative, innovative work from one of the elite guitarmasters!

• Styles > Jazz
• Styles > Pop
• Styles > Hard Rock & Metal
• Styles > Rock
• Styles > Rock > Rock Guitarists

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