Joe Satriani, What Happens Next (2018) A Review

Joe Satriani, What Happens Next (2018) A Review

By: Erreh Svaia
Rock N Roll Animal

I once dreamed that I played keyboards on the recording sessions of Joe Satriani's highly successful Flying in a Blue Dream, unfortunately the songs I supposedly played on weren't included on the final version of the album, in that dream my "musician" friends played cruel jokes on my bad luck; 1989's Flying in a Blue Dream was an important record for me, I liked it a lot, I played it all over and over until I went to bed, that might explain why I even dreamed about those songs, beating Satriani as one of the world's greatest contemporary instrumentalist is a tough feat, I guess that with the exception of his alumni Steve Vai, no other guitarist has been as successful as him on a solo recording career, Satriani's obsession with sci fi is also legendary, and that's precisely what makes What Happens Next such a transcendental departure for Satriani, here he is leaving his comfort zone and his usual obsessive space age thematic, What Happens Next is a more simple concept (consider simple doesn't mean easy or cheap), first, Satriani company is streamlined to a couple of musicians, the extraordinary bassist and singer Glenn Hughes, who seems to be promoting himself as the hardest working man in town, playing on almost very record made the last 10 or 15 years; On the other side there is Chad Smith, known as the Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer, but not quite recognized, as he truly deserves, as the best RHCP player and one of today's greatest  drummers.

The best thing about What Happens Next is the fact that it is full of great songs, from fiery rockers to soulful pieces along some terrifying experiments done in a very lively fashion, as Satriani runs true musical risks in an intelligent way, the fact that Satriani is accompanied this time with more organic, less cerebral players is the main ingredient for such a free flowing record full of exciting surprises, Glenn Hughes is obviously not bass virtuoso Stuart Hamm, a regular Satriani collaborator and that might be perhaps a clue factor in the album, Hughes is a well know fiery and soulful player adding variety and flexibility to the whole record while Smith, a man hungry for breaking the mould as a funky drummer (having played recently with operatic metal diva Tarja Turunen and hard rock supergroup  Chickenfoot) and moving towards a more universal way of playing, as a rhythm section they both are awesome performers during the hard rock driving speed ball named Energy, the record's opener and the brutally distorted pyrotechnics on the follow up Catbot, displaying a new vitality on Satriani's level of compositions, changing mode on Thunder High on the Mountain, an epic composition perhaps best suited for Satriani or Hughes, and a total challenge for Smith, but one he aptly faces always perfectly backing Satriani's outstanding guitar exercises and totally shredding guitar riffing and clear flirtatious with heavy metal.

Cherry Blossoms is the perfect space for Satriani to prove himself not only as a master on guitar, but as a master on melody, recalling the superb Carlos Santana, right before the energetic rhythm blasts of Hughes and Smith, and then going into some of his most beautiful and expressive playing on the totally uplifting and gorgeous Righteous, with some of the most awesome and exciting guitar playing we are about to hear this year, Satriani out bests himself on this one, perfectly leaning on Smith refreshing drumming style and taking Hughes musically into a very interesting musical direction.

The aforementioned Santana and his spiritual playing is invoked again on the aptly titled Smooth Soul, definitely one of the central musical pieces on the whole album, but in case you are missing the energy variable, Headrush is an infectious and frantic piece of music that recalls another guitar hero named Van Halen, sometimes sounding too close to big rock boogie or Hot for Teacher, or a piece more better suited for the impressive Chickenfoot, that while one is listening to it, one keeps waiting for the silly "aaaa's" to appear, or David Lee Roth vocal histrionics, right before jumping on the soulful Looper, a perfect showcase for Satriani's evolving style taking a very lyrical stance here, or going into deep spiritual funk, perhaps under Smith guidance, on the title track, a piece with plenty of room for some of the most fine tuned Satriani playing ever, and although Bad Funky Badass is not as funky or as badass as one would expect, there is some nasty bitting guitar riffs to enjoy.

The most striking thing about What Happens Next is the obvious maturity Satriani's guitar playing is putting in display, considering this from an already mature artist is truly inspiring to hear him starting form scratch all over again, taking some interesting risks and taking a couple of very interesting players on the trip with him.