''Professor Satchafunkilus and the Musterion of Rock'' is the twelfth studio album by guitarist

Joe Satriani Joseph Satriani (born July 15, 1956)Prato, Greg"Joe Satriani – Music Biography, Credits and Discography". ''AllMusic''. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved May 28, 2014. is an American guitarist, composer, songwriter, and guitar teacher. Early in his ...

, released on April 1, 2008 through

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, also known as SCA), is the American arm of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group ...

.Lymangrover, Jason
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AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

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All Media Network RhythmOne , previously known as Blinkx, and also known as RhythmOne Group, is an American digital advertising technology company that owns and operates the web properties AllMusic, AllMovie, and SideReel. Blinkx was founded in 2004, went publi ...

. Retrieved 2014-03-13. The album reached No. 89 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' 200"Professor Satchafunkilus and the Musterion of Rock - Joe Satriani , Awards"
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. Retrieved 2014-03-13. and remained on that chart for two weeks, "Joe Satriani - Chart History" ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

''. Retrieved 2014-03-18. as well as reaching the top 100 in four other countries."Joe Satriani - Professor Satchafunkilus and the Musterion of Rock (album)"
''finnishcharts.com''. Hung Medien. Retrieved 2014-03-13.

Release and tour

Recording for ''Professor Satchafunkilus'' began in October 2007 Satriani, Joe (2007-10-29)
"New Sessions in Progress"
satriani.com. Retrieved 2014-04-05. and the title was announced on March 13, 2008.Webmaster (2008-03-13)
"New Album and Podcast!"
satriani.com. Retrieved 2014-04-05. Touring began in Europe from April to June with guitarist

Paul Gilbert Paul Brandon Gilbert is an American hard rock and heavy metal guitarist. He is the co-founder of the band Mr. Big, and was also a member of Racer X, with whom he released several albums. In 1996, Gilbert launched a solo career, for which h ...

as the opening act, followed by Australia and New Zealand in July, Mexico and South America from late July to August, and concluding in North America from October to November.

Overview

The album's title has two meanings: the first part is a homage to Satriani's nickname of "Satch", while "Musterion" is a

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Biblical The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

word meaning "hidden thing", "secret", or "mystery". From the date of the album's release until April 11, 2008, Satriani began a special "Guitar Center Sessions" tour, followed by a worldwide tour on April 30. All tracks were composed in 2007, with the exception of "Come on Baby", which, as Satriani explains, was written in 1993 amid a snowstorm during a vacation in

Lake Tahoe Lake Tahoe (; was, Dáʔaw, meaning "the lake") is a Fresh water, freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada of the United States. Lying at , it straddles the state line between California and Nevada, west of Carson City, Nevad ...

. His son ZZ later encouraged him to finish the piece, upon which it became the third song dedicated to his wife Rubina (after "Rubina" from '' Not of This Earth'', and "Rubina's Blue Sky Happiness" from ''

The Extremist ''The Extremist'' is the fourth studio album by guitarist Joe Satriani, released on July 21, 1992 through Relativity Records The album is one of Satriani's most popular releases and his highest-charting to date, reaching No. 22 on the U.S. ''Bil ...

''). It was later used by Canadian figure skater

Vaughn Chipeur Vaughn Chipeur (born December 21, 1984) is a former Canadian figure skater and figure-skating coach. He currently resides in Edmonton, Alberta. Chipeur is also the Figure Skate Technical Representative and Brand Ambassador foTRUE Temper Sports ...

for his short program at the

2010 Canadian Figure Skating Championships The 2010 Canadian Figure Skating Championships were held from January 11 to 17, 2010 in London, Ontario. The event determines the national champions of Canada and was organized by Skate Canada, the nation's figure skating governing body. The seni ...

. "Revelation" was written about the death of fellow guitarist

Steve Morse Steve J. Morse (born July 28, 1954) is an American guitarist, best known as the founder of the Dixie Dregs and as the lead guitarist of Deep Purple from 1994 to 2022. Morse has also enjoyed a successful solo career and was briefly a member of ...

's father, as well as being a tribute of sorts to Morse's playing.Bosso, Joe (2008-09-25)
"Joe Satriani: The Human Touch"
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Guitar World ''Guitar World'' is a monthly music magazine for guitarists – and fans of guitar-based music and trends – that has been published since July 1980. ''Guitar World'', the best-selling guitar magazine in the United States, contains original art ...

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NewBay Media NewBay Media, LLC was a magazine and website publisher founded in 2006 and headquartered in New York City. NewBay Media served five marketplaces — Music, Pro Audio/AV, Video & Broadcast, Consumer Electronics, and Education. In April 2018, Fu ...

. Retrieved 2014-03-13. As with "One Robot's Dream" from ''

Super Colossal ''Super Colossal'' is the eleventh studio album by guitarist Joe Satriani, released on March 14, 2006, through Epic Records.Theakston, Rob"Super Colossal - Joe Satriani" ''AllMusic''. All Media Network. Retrieved 2014-03-14. The album reached No. ...

'' (2006), Satriani continues with the theme of exploring the humanistic side of robots on "I Just Wanna Rock". On a

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...

detailing the making of the album, he explained the track to be about a robot's experiences at a rock concert. The final two tracks, "Asik Vaysel" and "Andalusia", were both inspired by the late

Aşık Veysel Aşık is Turkish for Ashik, a traditional musician and troubadour Aşık is a Turkish name. Notable people with the name include: Given name * Aşık Çelebi (1520–1572), Ottoman biographer, poet, and translator * Âşık İbretî (1920–1976) ...

, a critically acclaimed figure of

Turkish folk literature Turkish folk literature is an oral tradition deeply rooted, in its form, in Central Asian nomadic traditions. However, in its themes, Turkish folk literature reflects the problems peculiar to a settling (or settled) people who have abandoned the ...

. "Andalusia" features a melody (from 1:40 to 1:53) which was previously played by Satriani on his 1993 video ''The Satch Tapes'', during an

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

segment. On a podcast prior to the album's release, Satriani explained that a publishing error was the reason why Aşık Veysel's name was misspelled "Asik Vaysel" on the back cover, and that it would be corrected on subsequent pressings."Joe Satriani - Asik veysel Podcast"
on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

. Retrieved 2016-01-12.

Critical reception

Jason Lymangrover at

gave ''Professor Satchafunkilus'' three stars out of five, saying that Satriani "shines in his ability to hold back and write tasteful verse/chorus songs with memorable hooks." The songs on the album were described as "technically impressive numbers that never go overboard with the showboating and rely on a sense of feeling rather than virtuoso technique." One song that was criticized as a low point was "I Just Wanna Rock", but highlights included "Overdriver", "Musterion", "Andalusia", "Asik Vaysel", and the title track.

Track listing

Personnel

–

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

, bass (tracks 1, 4, 7),

talk box A talk box (also spelled talkbox and talk-box) is an effects unit that allows musicians to modify the sound of a musical instrument by shaping the frequency content of the sound and to apply speech sounds (in the same way as singing) onto the sou ...

hand claps A clap is the percussive sound made by striking together two flat surfaces, as in the body parts of humans or animals. Humans clap with the palms of their hands, often quickly and repeatedly to express appreciation or approval (see applause), b ...

(track 4),

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

, mixing,

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

Jeff Campitelli Jeff Campitelli (born 29 December 1960) is a drummer who has worked with Joe Satriani on many of his albums as well as live performances. Before Satriani's breakthrough in instrumental music he played with Joe Satriani in a band called The Sq ...

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

(tracks 2, 4, 9, 10),

bongos Bongos ( es, bongó) are an Afro-Cuban percussion instrument consisting of a pair of small open bottomed hand drums of different sizes. They are struck with both hands, most commonly in an eight-stroke pattern called ''martillo'' (hammer). The ...

, shaker,

tambourine The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though ...

(track 3),

cowbell A cowbell (or cow bell) is a bell worn around the neck of free-roaming livestock so herders can keep track of an animal via the sound of the bell when the animal is grazing out of view in hilly landscapes or vast plains. Although they are t ...

, hand claps (tracks 4, 10) *John Cuniberti – tambourine (tracks 6–8), hand claps (track 4), engineering, mixing, production * Matt Bissonette – bass (tracks 2–6, 8–10) *ZZ Satriani –

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

Eric Caudieux Eric Caudieux is a French sound engineer and producer. An accomplished player of the keyboards and rhythm guitar, he is best known for his work with Joe Satriani, appearing on many of his albums and as a member of his backing group when he is on to ...

–

digital editing Digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operate in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital media can be created, viewed, distributed, modified, listened to, and preserved on a digital ...

sound design Sound design is the art and practice of creating sound tracks for a variety of needs. It involves specifying, acquiring or creating auditory elements using audio production techniques and tools. It is employed in a variety of disciplines including ...

*Mike Boden – hand claps (tracks 4, 10), digital editing, engineering assistance *

Bernie Grundman Bernie Grundman is an American audio engineer. He is most known for his mastering work and his studio, Bernie Grundman Mastering, which he opened in 1984 in Hollywood. The studio, which includes engineers Chris Bellman, Patricia Sullivan, and Mi ...

– mastering

Charts

References

External links

In Review: Joe Satriani "Professor Satchafunkilus And The Musterion Of Rock"
at Guitar Nine Records {{Authority control Joe Satriani albums 2008 albums Epic Records albums