Twenty years in and Satriani is still making compelling, if misunderstood, albums.
Joe Satriani is misunderstood. That is an amazing thing for an artist like Joe Satriani. He's been around for 20 years as of the release of Super Colossal — I discovered him nearly that long ago.…
Article comments
26 - AndyG
Satriani and Vai are my favorite guitar players. Satriani is probably a bit more melodic and straight forward, while Vai is more avant garde. Both are technically amazing.
The one area of differentiation is their live acts. I saw both on their recent tours. At the G-3 concert, I (and much of the crowd) was much more excited about watching both Paul Gilbert and John Petrucci. Both of their recent albums are excellent. For Satriani, I was actually felt like I was watching a Broadway show - admired the skills but wasn't excited. And he could basically play alone - the other members were background filler. I could have replaced the rhythm guitarist (maybe).
Contrast that to Steve Vai, who played for almost 3 hours, and was unbelievable in many ways - great light show, unbelieveable guitar playing (makes it look effortless) and stage presence (passion), 2 kick-ass violinists and Dave Weiner (who even though he takes a backseat to Vai, is noticeable and admired).
I have the JEM guitar and like it very much. Based on the above comment I'll probably buy the Satriani model.
By the way, the review gets the main points. That Satriani is a great song writer, and probably more consistent in that regard than Vai.
But nothing beats the experience of a Vai concert live....