The twilight zone (Rush) (LP 3672)

Rush  2112 (CD, Mercury Records, 1976) ****  

Genre: Prog rock

Places I remember: Real Groovy Records

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: A Passage to Bangkok 

Gear costume: 2112

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6

*Active compensatory factors: I have an ambivalent feeling towards Rush. Previously, I've owned this album on vinyl and other Rush albums on CD, but I have sold them all over the years. I think it comes down to how I feel about Geddy Lee's vocals. Sometimes I like them, other times they put me off.

I needed to get 2112 back though, because the instrumental passages are just so damn good! Plus, it's quite prog in approach. The first side presents a chilling picture of a future world where technology is in control. Not so futurist now, is it! Being one side, it's the perfect length - a 20 minute suite makes up the title track. Side 2 has shorter stand-alone songs.

The musicianship from the trio is first rate - Alex Lifeson on guitars, Neil Peart on drums, and Geddy Lee on bass. These guys are inventive and, on 2112, accessible. This is their first classic album, I do believe.

Where do they all belong? I think I'll call it quits with 2112 and finish on a high. Who knows. I'll probably be tempted to buy post 2112 albums if I find them for a reasonable price (not a given these days).

*I somehow missed publishing this back in the R's. Better late than never.

Answers (G3) (LP 3734 - 3735)

G3  Live in Concert (CD, Sony Music, 1997) ****  

G3  Live in Tokyo (CD, Epic Records, 2005) ***  

Genre: Rock

Places I remember: Virgin Megastore (Dubai), Kings Recording (Abu Dhabi)

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Red House (Live in Concert)

Gear costume: My Guitar Wants To Kill You Mama (Live in Concert)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6

Active compensatory factors: I like the G3 concept - Satriani plus two other guitarists who take a few solo turns and then regroup for a combined jam.

The first album's lineup is Joe plus Eric Johnson and Steve Vai. Joe's three songs are great and so are Eric's. He has a more understated, fluid style, but it's still very melodic. I'm not that fussed with Stevie Vai - his is a much more show-offy couple of songs. Lots of shredding but he lacks the emotional connection I get from Eric and Joe. I sold off my Vai CDs many years ago. I'll stick with him when he's in Zappa's band.

Their combined jam is next level amazing though. Three cover songs, one each by Freddie King, Frank Zappa and Jimi Hendrix. Woah nelly!! Each one is amazing as they trade off - guitar-slinger style.

The second album again features Vai and Satriani. This time, Dream Theater's John Petrucci joins in the fun. The three combine for another spectacular jam on three cover songs - this time Deep Purple, ZZ Top and Hendrix. Worth the price of admission just for those three.

Where do they all belong? A nice addition to the Satriani collection.

Watch your step (Brian Auger) (LP 3730 - 3733)

Brian Auger  Auger Incorporated  (Vinyl, Soul Bank Music, 2023) *****  

Laura Cantrell  Just Like a Rose (The Anniversary Sessions) (Vinyl, Propeller Sound Recordings, 2023) ***

Shirley Collins  Archangel Hill  (Vinyl, Domino Records, 2023) ****  

Graham Parker & The Goldtops Last Chance to Learn the Twist (Vinyl, Big Stir Records, 2023) ***

Genre: Jazz, jazz fusion, country, folk, rock

Places I remember: Real Groovy Records (Auger), JB Hi Fi (the rest)

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: The Music of the Devil (GP)

Gear costume: The Bonny Labouring Boy (Archangel Hill)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6

Active compensatory factors: Apart from the Brian Auger compilation (a triple), these albums come from a recent JB Hi Fi 75% off sale. Whaaat? Yes indeed - some real bargains to be had (a few more are in the S and onwards collection so I'll get to them in due course.

Auger Incorporated is special in that it's a chronological collection from his beginnings as a jazz pianist, through his various bands to the 2020's. A remarkable career!

Laura Cantrell has a very pure Americana (with a leaning towards country) sound. She specialises in clear and simple singing without a great deal of artifice. That and the tasteful backing (love that sporadic pedal-steel) make this a welcome introduction to her work.

Shirley Collins has long been a favourite of mine. Archangel Hill is her most recent release and it's like she's your lovely grandmother, in the room with you, giving you a one-on-one performance. The instrumentation is appropriately spare, allowing Shirley's voice to take centre stage.

Graham Parker's latest album is the last on my list. Again from 2023, he is with The Goldtops for this one.

His voice may be a lot more lived in these days, but the whole approach reeks confidence in his abilities. The music is fun to listen to, as it has echoes of all those years in between, even reaching back to his own youth (he was born in 1950). 

You have to hand it to him and Brian and Shirley - still looking to express themselves last in their career, in 2023; still with things to prove; and still enjoying the process enough to put out new records. 

God bless them!

Where do they all belong? I also picked up a couple of The Kinks' back catalogue albums and a David Sylvian album which I'll get to eventually.

Clouds race across the sky (Joe Satriani) (LP 3718 - 3729)

Joe Satriani  Surfing with the Alien (CD, Relativity Records, 1987) ****  

Joe Satriani  The Extremist (CD, Relativity Records, 1992) ****  

Joe Satriani  Engines of Creation (CD, Epic Records, 2000) *** 

Joe Satriani  Strange Beautiful Music (CD, Epic Records, 2002) ***

Joe Satriani  Is There Love in Space? (CD, Epic Records, 2004) *** 

Joe Satriani  Super Colossal (CD, Epic Records, 2006) *** 

Joe Satriani  Professor Satchafunkilus and the Musterion of Rock (CD, Epic Records, 2008) *** 

Joe Satriani  Black Swans and Wormhole Wizards (CD, Epic Records, 2010) *** 

Joe Satriani  Satchurated Live in Montreal (CD, Epic Records, 2010) *** 

Joe Satriani  Shockwave Supernova (CD, Sony Music, 2015) ***

Joe Satriani  What Happens Next (CD, Sony Music, 2018) ****

Joe Satriani  The Essential Joe Satriani (2CD, Epic/Legacy Records, 2010) ****

Genre: Rock 

Places I remember: Marbecks Records, HMV, Fopp, Fives, JB Hi Fi, Kings Recording (Abu Dhabi), Virgin Megastore (Dubai)

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Summer Song (The Extremist)

Gear costume: Crushing Day, Surfing with the Alien (SWTA), Searching (Is there...Space?), Ten Words (Super Colossal), Wormhole Wizards (Black Swans...)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6

Active compensatory factors: A cunning bit of marketing right there in Surfing with the Alien. I loved The Fantastic Four Marvel comics when I was growing up. The Silver Surfer was originally one of the bad guys - a herald for the beyond evil Galactus. And yet - I loved the very cool The Silver Surfer.

Joe aligns himself in a gnarly way with that mystic, mythic, cool character. Chuck some wraparound sunglasses on the Silver Surfer and boom - Joe!

Surfing with the Alien always takes me back to 1987 - working at Macleans College in Auckland, with that poster on my classroom wall. It is kind of of-its-time, too. This kind of guitar shredding was big in the late eighties-nineties and Joe was a pioneer. It doesn't seem showoffy though, because Joe marries his guitar prowess to actual songs, songs that have melodies thanks to his guitar.

Once I'd bought, experienced, loved Surfing with the Alien, I was putty in Joe's hands. The fact that he trades in rocking guitar instrumentals meant that he became a go-to from then onwards for music to play while marking student work.

The Extremist has become his biggest selling album. The variety of approaches and feels on the album works to its advantage. As AllMusic pointed out - 'the chugging Summer Song, the warm Friends, the slamming Motorcycle Driver, and the crunching The Extremist show Satriani's talents as a guitarist are undiminished, while the more traditional neo-folk approach to Rubina's Blue Sky Happiness and the bluesy New Blues are different from anything he has done before. So, too, is the droning rock of War and the plaintive, questioning funk-rock of Why.'

I guess the question is - could he sustain this kind of music, continue to challenge himself and retain/build on an audience? I have dipped in and out of Joe's career, The Extremist was his fourth album, my second.

I didn't get the next few, but I picked up a CD pack from Fopp for only a few quid. It included Surfing with the Alien and a sequence of four albums starting with Engines of Creation.

That one has a completely different sound and style as Joe embraced electronica and techno music! Gulp. Not my favourite genres (under-statement) so I approached this one with caution.

As the first track Devil's Slide rocks out with trance embellishments I relaxed, a bit. It's unmistakably Joe Satriani but a Joe who's challenging himself to come up with new colours - I respect that. It works for a couple of the songs, but it dates the album a bit and it's not one I come back to often.

Strange Beautiful Music has more of his hook laden instrumental rock, but this one is a bit more inconsistent in its hits and misses than previous records. He's still looking to challenge himself, but SBM feels like a step sideways.

Is There Love in Space? is his nineth studio album. By now the electronica experiments were over and done, but this time there are a few songs with vocals by Joe. He's not a singer so his vocals are heavily processed, and largely successful (i.e. not embarrassing).

Super Colossal produces more excellent instrumental rock music as Joe runs through his box of guitar tricks. Nothing new here - just a master practitioner at work. The anthemic Ten Words is one great example of that.

The fiendishly titled  Professor Satchafunkilus and the Musterion of Rock is a three and a half star. Joe again gets credit for stretching himself with some new looks and grooves. Along with Surfing and the compilation coming up later, this album is one of my key go-tos.

Clearly, he is a virtuoso on the guitar, but he never gets in the way of the songs which tend to be melodic with the guitar often substituting for vocals. I haven't mentioned the other musicians yet, but longtime drummer Jeff Campitelli and bassist Matt Bissonette provide fantastic support.

Black Swans and Wormhole Wizards was his 13th studio album. AllMusic described it thus: "a mature work from one of the great rock guitarists" and "pure guitar prog, filled with compressed boogies, sci-fi synths, exotic flourishes, and all of Satch's phasers and flangers in full-tilt overdrive'.

I particularly like the use of piano on the album, in particular on Wind in the Trees. Beautiful (and not strange) music.

Saturated Live in Montreal is a two CD set recorded live in December 2010 as part of the tour to support Black Swans and Wormhole Wizards. 

Ten of the 11 songs from that album are done live. Then it's a clutch of fan favourites, which makes for a very enjoyable set. It's a long set though and probably more than I can consume at a single sitting. For that reason, I'm more likely to head towards a single studio album or the double compilation.

Speaking of single studio albums - next on my list is Shockwave Supernova from 2015. There were personnel changes for this one with new rhythm sections -  Marco Minnemann and Zappa band vet Vinnie Colaiuta sharing drum duties and Bryan Beller/Chris Chaney providing the bulk of the bass playing.

It doesn't sound too different to my ears - Joe's sound tropes are well established by this point. The album starts off strongly but it's a long one and the slower songs feature more towards the end of proceedings.

My final studio album is 2018's What Happens Next. The drums are from Chad Smith (his amigo from Chickenfoot) and the bass is played by Deep Purple veteran Glenn Hughes.

Joe takes a more direct and simpler route on this one and it sounds terrific. Glenn Hughes gets to play some pumping bass lines and Chad locks onto Joe's guitar as he did while in Chickenfoot. It's an awesome power trio treat!

The Essential Joe Satriani double CD came out in 2010 and is an excellent collection which cherry picks all of Joe's big moments to that point. If you are looking for a place to start this is it. Then go for What Happens Next.

Where do they all belong? Next up - a couple of G3 albums Joe made along the way.

All I ever wanted (Santana) (LP 3716 - 3717}

Santana  The Best of Santana (CD, Columbia Records, 1998) ****  

Santana  Carnavel: The Best of Santana (2CD, Sony Music, 2009) ****  

Genre: Latin rock, rock, pop

Places I remember: The Warehouse, JB Hi Fi

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Samba Pa Ti

Gear costume: Evil ways

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6

Active compensatory factors: Selecting songs for a Santana compilation must be a nightmare. So many great moments!

The advantage of these two (the Wikipedia discography has 23 Santana compilations) is that they both predated Supernatural. 

If you want a short cut into the Santana-verse, Carnaval shades The Best of Santana of these two because it's a double CD so it has a wider range (but doesn't include Soul Sacrifice for some bizarre reason).

After that taster you next need to go to the source.

A recap on my five-star Santana albums for you:

• Santana (1969)
• Abraxas (1970)
• Santana III (1971)
• Caravanserai (1972)
• Love Devotion Surrender (1973)
• Borboletta (1974)
• Africa Speaks (2019)

Where do they all belong? Phew. So much great music in their catalogue. Given the vast amount of music, there will be peaks and troughs, but Carlos and his revolving roster of collaborators should all take a bow. This is a very impressive body of work stretching from 1969 to 2019. Fifty years and counting! Go Carlos! I take my hat off to you!

Smooth (Santana) (LP 3710 - 3715)

The Santana Brothers  Viva Santana! (CD, Spectrum Music, 2000) ****  

Santana  Supernatural (CD, Arista Records, 1999) ***

Santana  Shamen (CD, Arista Records, 2002) ***

Santana  All That I Am (CD, Arista Records, 2005) **

Santana  Santana IV (CD, Santana IV Records, 2016) ****

Santana  Africa Speaks (CD, Concord Records, 2019) *****

Genre: Latin American rock, rock, pop

Places I remember: Shona Walding's collection, JB Hi Fi

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Cho Cho (Santana IV)

Gear costume: Thoughts, Contigo (Viva Santana!), Blue Skies (Africa Speaks)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6

Active compensatory factors: The Santana Brothers' album - Viva Santana! compiles material from their 1994 album called The Santana Brothers with Sacred Fire, a live album from 1993.  So, you get the best of both on one album. For both, Carlos and his brother Jorge (yes - a guitarist) are joined with nephew Carlos Hernandez (yes - a guitarist).

The brothers + nephew play a heavier kind of driving rock than the standard Santana band with rock drums and bass turned up more and, on the studio set at least, there are limited Latin influences. For the most part, there are no timbales, conga or percussion embellishments. Contigo is an exception, as they add a beautiful texture to the song which builds from a meditative start into some fierce guitar from Carlos Santana.

Generally, that approach allows for some concentration on the trio's guitars and they are, as you'd expect, pretty spectacular, whether in lyrical relaxed mode or rocking out mode.

Supernatural. It came out of nowhere, by simply adding some superstar guest vocals to some jam type songs, Carlos produced a commercial behemoth. Whaaaat? How is that possible? Two words: Clive Davis - the man who signed the band to Columbia in 1968, does it again in 1999 - signs them to Arista.

The guests?  They included Rob Thomas, Eric Clapton, Eagle-Eye Cherry, Lauryn Hill, Dave Matthews, and CeeLo Green.

That said, I am not a fan of this album. I don't like the approach - the push towards a commercial pop sound resulted in six singles coming from the album and I don't like the procession of guest vocalists - there is no uniform/consistent vocal presence. 

The positive was that it (hopefully) generated interest in Santana's earlier work. Hopefully the screeds of new admirers checked out Love Devotion Surrender.

Shaman repeated the trick of Supernatural (Clive Davis and Carlos probably looked at each other and said, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it"). It worked again - including the number 1 status, by using modern artists like Seal, Macy Gray, Dido, Michele Branch and, erm..Placido Domingo! My reservations expressed for Supernatural are also repeated. Again, maybe people headed off to listen to a real Santana album like Abraxas as a result. I sure hope so.

All That I Am was a three-peat of all-star guests - Steven Tyler does okay but I'm not a huge fan of the rappers in attendance. The album starts off well with some non-famous guest Latino rock but then it's a parade of what by now is the tried and true. 

It's a long album too - I sometimes think it's a different band playing. The only distinguishing feature is Carlos' guitar that pops up from time to time. Enough already with the pop albums Carlos! Time for a rethink! In the meantime I sat out the next three releases.

My interest was reactivated by the announcement that the classic band who made the first three Santana albums was back together for an album. Excuse me?

Yes. It was true and Santana IV emerged. Could it possibly be as good as those iconic classic five-star albums? Well, not quite, but it is way better than those superstar vocal albums that preceded it. 

For some reason Chepito Areas wasn't invited but the other guys from Santana III are onboard for some deep grooves and some fiery interplay between Neal and Carlos. Ronald Isley is on a few songs for vocals and his voice feels right at home in this company.

Carlos has always been a restless kind of musician - always looking for a challenge and some freshness. Sometimes he's got stuck - most noticeably those few albums after Supernatural, but mostly he's forged his own path and moved forward.

He followed up Santana IV with Africa Speaks, in which he sounds re-energised, reinvigorated and renewed as a musician. The Latin, rock and jazz strands of his music are fused together in a quite brilliant way. The band is on fire (Cindy Blackman Santana's drumming is brilliant), and vocals by Laura Mvula and Concha Buika are similarly inspired. 

What are the odds that I'd end my Santana wrap up of the live and studio albums with a five-star album? After All That I Am, I'd have given you great odds. Thankfully, it's a brilliant record.

After Africa Speaks he went back to the Supernatural formula - I'll pass. 

Where do they all belong? next up - a couple of compilations to wrap things up Santana-wise. I also need to find a copy of Abraxas Pool's self-titled album. The Santana III band without Carlos made this album in the late nineties. Chepito is on it too, so it's a must have.

Changes (Santana) (LP 3706 - 3709)

Devadip Carlos Santana  The Swing of Delight (CD, Columbia Records, 1980) ****  

Santana  Zebop! (Vinyl, CBS Records, 1981) ***  

Santana  Shango (Vinyl, Columbia Records, 1982) **  

Carlos Santana  Blues for Salvador (Vinyl, Columbia Records, 1987) **** 

Genre: Jazz fusion, rock

Places I remember: Fopp, Marbecks Records

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: American Gypsy (Zebop!)

Gear costume: Hold On (Shango), 'Trane (Blues for Salvadore)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6

Active compensatory factors: Deep breath y'all. Into the eighties we go. As a reference point on the right is what I looked like in the mid-eighties. Buckle up!

Carlos put the disappointing Marathon behind him and went full on jazz fusion for The Swing of Delight - before returning to the rock moves of Zebop! and Shango. Who knows what he was thinking.

First up - The Swing of Delight was the real deal, although, as a double album, it's hard to sustain the high intensity throughout. 

Carlos again uses musicians from Santana as well as iconic members of Miles Davis' 1960s quintet: saxophonist Wayne Shorter, pianist Herbie Hancock, bassist Ron Carter, and drummer Tony Williams.  Guys that Santana described as 'the best musicians on the planet'. He's not wrong. They perform as such on this album too, in case you had any doubt. 

It's a well named album - the music swings over the expansive, mostly instrumental double album. If you are a Santana fan, you need this one - ignore the reviews from critics.

Zebop! was the first Santana album of the decade. It's way better than Marathon. The rock songs are delivered better (Winning, Changes, The Sensitive Kind, Searchin for instance) and the Latin rhythms are retained for a couple of the tracks. Alex Ligertwood's vocals are a bit more convincing as well.

In many ways, Shango was a carbon copy of Zebop! Both are lively rock albums that enjoyed success with singles lifted from them. Hold On (Shango) is a catchy song, and probably my pick amongst them. 

The album is notable for Gregg Rolie's return on organ for one track and a co-producing/ co-writing role. 

It's just not the sort of Santana I really enjoy - a couple of the songs are even done in a cod reggae style and they don't work for me - hence the meh rating. 

Book-ending my eighties Santana collection is another solo Carlos album. Blues for Salvador was named for his son. The album is another where the lines between the solo Carlos and band merge as a number of Santana members play on Blues for Salvador.

The guest star list is also impressive: Greg Walker returns on vocals; Alphonso Johnson – bass; Tony Williams – drums
Buddy Miles – backing vocals.

Although the songs come from a variety of sources (soundchecks, outtakes from other albums), the whole album hangs together remarkably well. It's a much more rewarding album that Zebop! or Shango.

Where do they all belong? There are a couple of other albums released in the eighties I didn't buy: solo one - Havana Moon (1983); Santana - Beyond Appearances.

The nineties onwards is next in this Santana-a-thon.