Guitar legend Joe Satriani premiered a new song today, "Catbot." The thumping, riff-packed instrumental track is from his new album, What Happens Next, which—as fate would have...
Guitar legend Joe Satriani premiered a new song today, "Catbot." The thumping, riff-packed instrumental track is from his new album, What Happens Next, which—as fate would have it—was released today via Sony Legacy.
“What if your robot cat got out at night and tried to hang out with real cats? That’s what this song is the soundtrack to,” Satch told Yahoo! Music. Satriani hasn't written many feline-centric tunes over the years, although he did release "Dog with Crown & Earring" as a Japanese bonus track in 2004. Cat-wise, the closest he's come (until now) is "Cataclysmic," from 2015's Shockwave Supernova.
Um, moving right along...
What Happens Next—Satch's 16th studio effort—represents a new direction for the guitarist. This time around, he wanted to take a break from his usual high-concept, sci-fi-influenced outings and move toward a basic, hard rock style. As a result, he recruited Glenn Hughes to play bass and Chad Smith—his Chickenfoot bandmate—to play drums.
“I said to Chad in an early text, ‘No odd time signatures, no progressive stuff, pure rock and soul,’" Satriani said in a November press release. "The last two records really showed I was enjoying playing with progressive elements, and when I reached the end of Shockwave Supernova, I said, ‘I think I’ve done it. For some reason, I don’t feel like going back over that anymore’.”
“Chad plays in such an unusual way," Satriani told USA Today. "It’s so instantly lovable with what he’s doing with his drumming. It always sounds like the drumming you want to hear. Everyone was in top form, because they just walked out of either the studio or off the stage. We had just the best seven or eight days.
You can catch Satriani in