Joe Satriani - Professor Satchifunkilus & The Musterion Of Rock

Whenever Satch lays down another side of his patented über-cool electric guitar, aficionados and fair-weather fans alike wonder if he can maintain his own immensely high standards of songwriting and playing. The answer is, as usual, a positive thumbs-up. Ably assisted by the longstanding rhythm section of drummer Jeff Campitelli and bassist Matt Bissonette, the bald fret-flailer delivers 10 prime cuts bridging ambient overdriven rock (as on opener Musterion), dinky funk (Professor Satchifunkilus) and plain old pedal-to-the-metal driving anthems (the closing one-two of Asik Vaysel and Spanish guitar-led Andalusia). Out Of The Sunrise is exactly that – drifting piano and lilting guitar work – and the daftly titled (as we’d expect) Diddle- Y-A-Doo-Dat sees Satch stretch back to Purple days with a fusion-edged tour de force. Altogether satisfying, and not a duff note played.