Black Swans and Wormhole Wizards

Black Swans and Wormhole Wizards
Studio album by
Joe Satriani
ReleasedOctober 5, 2010 (2010-10-05)
RecordedJune–August 2010 at Skywalker Sound in Nicasio; Studio 21 in San Francisco
GenreInstrumental rock, progressive rock
Length53:12
LabelEpic
ProducerJoe Satriani, Mike Fraser
Joe Satriani chronology
Live in Paris: I Just Wanna Rock
(2010) 		Black Swans and Wormhole Wizards
(2010) 		Satchurated: Live in Montreal
(2012)
Singles from Black Swans and Wormhole Wizards
  1. "Light Years Away"
    Released: September 7, 2010

Black Swans and Wormhole Wizards is the thirteenth studio album by guitarist Joe Satriani, released on October 5, 2010 through Epic Records.[1]

Release and touring

Recording for Black Swans and Wormhole Wizards took place between June and August 2010[2][3] and the title was announced on August 20.[3] A podcast of each track was put up on Satriani's official Facebook profile and YouTube channel leading up to the album's release,[4] with "Light Years Away" being released as a free MP3 single download on September 7, 2010 in exchange for the customer advertising it in a Facebook post or Twitter tweet.[5] Two bonus tracks, "Heartbeats" and "Longing", were made available through Best Buy and Napster.[6]

Touring began in Europe from October to November, followed by North America in December to January 2011.[7]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]

Stephen Thomas Erlewine at AllMusic gave Black Swans and Wormhole Wizards three stars out of five, calling it "a mature work from one of the great rock guitarists" and "pure guitar prog, filled with compressed boogies, sci-fi synths, exotic flourishes, and all of Satch's phasers and flangers in full-tilt overdrive."[1]

The album reached No. 45 on the U.S. Billboard 200[8] and remained on that chart for two weeks,[9] as well as reaching the top 100 in ten other countries.[10]

Track listing

All music is composed by Joe Satriani

No.TitleLength
1."Premonition"3:52
2."Dream Song"4:48
3."Pyrrhic Victoria"5:08
4."Light Years Away"6:11
5."Solitude"0:57
6."Littleworth Lane"3:46
7."The Golden Room"5:19
8."Two Sides to Every Story"4:10
9."Wormhole Wizards"6:27
10."Wind in the Trees"7:42
11."God Is Crying"4:52
Total length:53:12
Best Buy edition bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
12."Heartbeats"3:25
13."Longing"3:55

Personnel

Charts

Chart performance for Black Swans and Wormhole Wizars
Chart (2010) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[11] 84
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[12] 65
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[13] 77
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[14] 65
Croatian International Albums (HDU)[15] 32
Czech Albums (ČNS IFPI)[16] 33
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[17] 32
French Albums (SNEP)[18] 39
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[19] 85
Italian Albums (FIMI)[20] 35
Scottish Albums (OCC)[21] 54
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[22] 34
UK Albums (OCC)[23] 62
US Billboard 200[24] 45
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[25] 7
US Top Hard Rock Albums (Billboard)[26] 5
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[27] 14
US Top Tastemaker Albums (Billboard)[28] 23

References

  1. ^ a b c Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Black Swans and Wormhole Wizards - Joe Satriani". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 2014-02-08.
  2. ^ Webmaster (2010-06-01). "New Message from Joe, Club Joe and Europe Dates" Archived 2015-09-24 at the Wayback Machine. satriani.com. Retrieved 2014-04-05.
  3. ^ a b Webmaster (2010-08-20). "Black Swans and Wormhole Wizards Preorder & North America Tour" Archived 2015-09-24 at the Wayback Machine. satriani.com. Retrieved 2014-04-05.
  4. ^ "Joe Satriani - Black Swans and Wormhole Wizards Podcasts". satriani.com. 2010-10-05. Retrieved 2014-02-08.
  5. ^ "Free MP3 Download of "Light Years Away"". satriani.com. 2010-09-07. Retrieved 2014-02-08.
  6. ^ "Joe Satriani Best Buy® Exclusive" Archived 2015-07-16 at the Wayback Machine. Best Buy. Retrieved 2014-02-08.
  7. ^ "2010/2011 The Wormhole Tour". satriani.com. Retrieved 2014-04-05.
  8. ^ "Black Swans and Wormhole Wizards - Joe Satriani | Awards". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 2014-02-08.
  9. ^ "Joe Satriani - Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved 2014-03-18.
  10. ^ "Joe Satriani - Black Swans and Wormhole Wizards (album)" Archived December 18, 2014, at the Wayback Machine. finnishcharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 2014-02-07.
  11. ^ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 244.
  12. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Joe Satriani – Black Swans And Wormhole Wizards" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2015-07-15.
  13. ^ "Ultratop.be – Joe Satriani – Black Swans And Wormhole Wizards" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2015-07-15.
  14. ^ "Ultratop.be – Joe Satriani – Black Swans And Wormhole Wizards" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2015-07-15.
  15. ^ "Top Stranih [Top Foreign]" (in Croatian). Top Foreign Albums. Hrvatska diskografska udruga. Retrieved 2015-07-15.
  16. ^ "Czech Albums – Top 100". ČNS IFPI. Note: On the chart page, select 42.Týden 2010 on the field besides the words "CZ – ALBUMS – TOP 100" to retrieve the correct chart. Retrieved 2015-07-15.
  17. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Joe Satriani – Black Swans And Wormhole Wizards" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2015-07-15.
  18. ^ "Lescharts.com – Joe Satriani – Black Swans And Wormhole Wizards". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2015-07-15.
  19. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Joe Satriani – Black Swans And Wormhole Wizards" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 2015-07-15.
  20. ^ "Italiancharts.com – Joe Satriani – Black Swans And Wormhole Wizards". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2015-07-15.
  21. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  22. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Joe Satriani – Black Swans And Wormhole Wizards". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2015-07-15.
  23. ^ "{{{artist}}} | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved September 14, 2022.
  24. ^ "Joe Satriani Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved November 4, 2020.
  25. ^ "Joe Satriani Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved November 4, 2020.
  26. ^ "Joe Satriani Chart History (Top Hard Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved November 4, 2020.
  27. ^ "Joe Satriani Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved November 4, 2020.
  28. ^ "Joe Satriani Chart History (Top Tastemaker Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved November 4, 2020.