Is There Love In Space?

Is There Love In Space may be a good summation of the career of axe-wielder Joe Satriani to this point in time - let's review. Taking a page from "Surfing With The Alien", Joe's got Jeff Campitelli drumming and John Cuniberti in the engineer's chair. From "The Extremist" we find bassist extraordinaire Matt Bissonette; from "Engines Of Creation" you have Eric Caudieux at the digital editing desk. And taking his cue from "Flying In A Blue Dream", Satriani tests his vocal cords on two numbers, "Lifestyle", and the heavily effected "I Like The Rain". But we're not here to talk about vocal cuts; the nine instrumentals with their aggressive guitar stylings a la "Crystal Planet" and "Strange Beautiful Music" are what are going to move a few hundred thousand copies for Epic Records. Joe's son, ZZ Satriani, makes his first instrumental appearance, providing a bowed bass to the closer, "Bamboo". Here's fifty-five more minutes of seminal guitar licks and a whole host of sounds to try to duplicate, which will keep you budding young guitar players busy for several weekends, at least.