Joe Satriani returns with new track Sahara, announces The Elephants Of Mars album

What a time to be alive in the world of instrumental guitar icons – Steve Vai has a new album with a crazy new Ibanez guitar on it and now Satch is back. And he's bringing a new song and album news with him.

The song is Sahara, and the album to follow is the intriguingly-titled The Elephants Of Mars (Satch's backpack below is also intriguing us – what's in there?). The album will be released via earMusic worldwide on 8 April; his first worldwide deal with the label.

 Preorder the album

Joe Satriani

(Image credit: Eduardo Peña Dolhun)

We tried the craziest ideas

Like many musicians in the pandemic, Satch and his band recorded his 129th studio album remotely, with the guitar giant pushing himself to create a “new standard” for instrumental guitar albums to be measured against. “I want to show people that an instrumental guitar album can contain far more creative and entertaining elements than I think people are using right now.”

It's good to hear Satch's ambitions are still burning. “We did everything," he says. "We tried the craziest ideas. And we entertained every notion we had about turning something backwards, upside down, seeing what could happen.”

Joe Satriani

(Image credit: Joe Satriani)

The Elephants Of Mars tracklisting:

1. Sahara   

2. The Elephants of Mars                   

3. Faceless                                          

4. Blue Foot Groovy                           

5. Tension and Release                      

6. Sailing the Seas of Ganymede       

7. Doors of Perception                        

8. E 104th St NYC

9. Pumpin’

10. Dance of the Spores

11. Night Scene

12. Through a Mother’s Day Darkly

13. 22 Memory Lane

14. Desolation

"All the platinum albums have got these things that don't belong there" – Joe Satriani talks transcending the shred label

Rob Laing
Reviews Editor, GuitarWorld.com and MusicRadar guitars

Rob is the Reviews Editor for GuitarWorld.com and MusicRadar guitars, so spends most of his waking hours (and beyond) thinking about and trying the latest gear while making sure our reviews team is giving you thorough and honest tests of it. He's worked for guitar mags and sites as a writer and editor for nearly 20 years but still winces at the thought of restringing anything with a Floyd Rose.