Taking the singer-free route hasn't made Joe Satriani a household name, but every guitarist on the planet knows him well. Satch first found fame as instructor to ax-wielding superstars such as Steve Vai and Metallica's Kirk Hammett. One of the numerous Eddie Van Halen clones of the '80s, Satriani accomplished the one thing his Floyd-Rose-happy peers didn't: evolution. Satriani's primordial histrionics have been scaled back a bit, allowing a more heartfelt, less wheedly sound surface. On his latest opus, Strange Beautiful Music, Satriani explores every style in the tablature book: moody Egyptian pieces, swampy blues and even a subdued take on the instrumental standard "Sleep Walk." But local air guitarists shouldn't be too concerned: Satch can still dazzle with the daredevil fretboard maneuvers that made him a six-string legend.
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