06.12.2008
Spins: Dennis Wilson, Joe Satriani
Dennis Wilson
Pacific Ocean Blue (Legacy Edition)
Label: Caribou/Epic
If you like: Brian Wilson, Jimmy Webb, Van Dyke Parks
Song to download: “River Song” (disc one), “It’s Not Too Late” (disc two)
4 stars (out of four)
Dennis Wilson’s public role in the Beach Boys was that of a rogue who played the role of rock star far better than he played drums. So nobody was expecting Pacific Ocean Blue, Wilson’s 1977 solo album, to be the masterpiece among Beach Boys solo albums - including the output of brother Brian Wilson, the band’s eccentric genius.
The album, long unavailable, has been re-released as a two-disc set - the other disc being Bambu, the late Wilson’s unreleased second album. The aural equivalent of stormy seas, Pacific Ocean Blue remains a startlingly vulnerable, fragile and tumultuous recording of grand sweep and emotional revelation. Wilson’s ragged voice adds to melancholy songs filled with ingenious epic arrangements, odd harmonic turns and gorgeous melodies - it’s the sound of honesty.
Bambu doesn’t quite live up to legend, but it’s still chockablock with marvelous songs - “It’s Not Too Late,” sung by Dennis and his late brother Carl, is soul-rendingly astounding. Indispensible.
Joe Satriani
Professor Satchafunkilus and the Musterion of Rock
Label: Epic/Red Ink
If you like: Jeff Beck, Steve Vai
Song to download: “Come On Baby”
3 stars
Virtuoso electric guitarist Joe “Satch” Satriani is considered by many guitar geeks to be the best and most inventive rock guitarist in the world. Such anointments are nebulous, at best, but Satch makes a pretty convincing case with Professor Satchafunkilus and the Musterion of Rock, his latest album.
As expected, the disc overflows with Satch’s arsenal of seeming impossible tricks, executed with precision, ease and emotion. He can play fast and flashy, but always with a sense of humanity missing from other likeminded guitarists. He doesn’t challenge himself on all tracks, and one - “I Just Wanna Rock” - is worthy of a cringe.
But the majority of the album is given to Satriani coaxing new colors, sounds and textures from his instrument, accentuating the hypermelodic and dramatic nature of his compositions, something that makes Professor Satchafunkilus enjoyable to anyone who enjoys great music.
Ed Bumgardner