Black Swans and Wormhole Wizards is the thirteenth studio album by guitarist Joe Satriani, released on October 5, 2010 through Epic Records.Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Black Swans and Wormhole Wizards - Joe Satriani". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 2014-02-08.
Release and touring Recording for Black Swans and Wormhole Wizards took place between June and August 2010Webmaster (2010-06-01). "New Message from Joe, Club Joe and Europe Dates" . satriani.com. Retrieved 2014-04-05.Webmaster (2010-08-20). "Black Swans and Wormhole Wizards Preorder & North America Tour" . satriani.com. Retrieved 2014-04-05. and the title was announced on August 20. A podcast of each track was put up on Satriani's official Facebook profile and YouTube channel leading up to the album's release,"Joe Satriani - Black Swans and Wormhole Wizards Podcasts". satriani.com. 2010-10-05. Retrieved 2014-02-08. 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."Free MP3 Download of "Light Years Away"". satriani.com. 2010-09-07. Retrieved 2014-02-08. Two bonus tracks, "Heartbeats" and "Longing", were made available through Best Buy and Napster."Joe Satriani Best Buy® Exclusive" . Best Buy. Retrieved 2014-02-08.
Touring began in Europe from October to November, followed by North America in December to January 2011."2010/2011 The Wormhole Tour". satriani.com. Retrieved 2014-04-05.
Critical reception
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."
The album reached No. 45 on the U.S. Billboard 200"Black Swans and Wormhole Wizards - Joe Satriani | Awards". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 2014-02-08. and remained on that chart for two weeks,[ "Joe Satriani - Chart History"]. Billboard. Retrieved 2014-03-18. as well as reaching the top 100 in ten other countries."Joe Satriani - Black Swans and Wormhole Wizards (album)" . finnishcharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 2014-02-07.
Track listing
Personnel Joe Satriani – guitar, keyboard, bass, engineering, production Mike Keneally – keyboard Jeff Campitelli – drums, percussion Allen Whitman – bass Mike Fraser – engineering, mixing, production Mike Boden – engineering, digital editing Dann Michael Thompson – engineering assistance Judy Kirschner – engineering assistance Eric Mosher – additional editing, mixing George Marino – mastering
Charts + Chart performance for Black Swans and Wormhole WizarsChart (2010)Peakposition Australian Albums (ARIA) 84
References
External links Black Swans and Wormhole Wizards at satriani.com Interview with Joe Satriani at Ultimate Guitar