Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Kotzen, Richie
Label: Loud & Proud Records
Release: 2014
Running time: 98:15 (CD1 + CD2)
Rating: 4.5/5
Richie Kotzen is that quiet, shy guy who doesn’t ask for the glare of the film spotlights, because he knows deserved success only comes with hard graft. A musician who keeps the music world in awe with his quirks and his bottomless creativity, he has put out a whopping 18 studio albums over his career, and the 19th is just in the making. His studio debut came out when he was nineteen, then he joined Poison. His reputation earned him the Mr. Big guitarist spot, where he filled in for the dazzling guitar wizard Paul Gilbert on two studio albums.
Richie progressed and matured incredibly fast as a musician. On his albums from the nineties you can follow a trend: with every new release, the number of credited guest musicians drops. Kotzen quickly picked up some enviable bass playing, he handles keyboards one way or another (they often serve as his main instrument when writing music), and over the years he taught himself to drum too, to the point where today he only occasionally calls in one of the drum masters for help in the studio. So on the first albums he still needed a regular drummer and the odd bassist, and then he started playing absolutely every instrument in the studio himself. The cherry on top: around 2007, Kotzen gradually stopped using a pick when playing guitar. These days you wouldn’t catch him with a pick in his hand on a concert stage even in your dreams.
Kotzen’s body of work is a vivid fold-out of growth and development into a top-class artist. Over the first decade of his career he carved himself into the audience’s hearts as one of the best guitarists on the planet, and in the second decade, with his distinctive vocal timbre, he leapt forward as a singer and grew into a first-rate vocal interpreter. Today I can proclaim him a true little vocal and guitar »beast«, wielding both weapons . Both weapons united in one »conductor«, which, in how it handles ideas, is for the most part polished to its expressive optimum.
The first CD of this compilation is electric, the second is (mostly) acoustic. The first CD brings two brand-new songs, one updated one, and remastered versions of the originals. The second CD brings freshly arranged classics played in a strictly acoustic manner, and the »circle« is closed by two demo recordings of songs Richie made for the debut of the super rock trio The Winery Dogs. Although the man promised the compilation would cover selected works from every studio album of his solo career, that’s not the case. Interestingly, for example, besides the first two studio albums, the fourth one is missing too, let’s call it his »breakthrough« The Mother Head’s Family Reunion« (1994). That’s the one where Richie came back »in from the rain« (read: from Poison to refocusing on his solo career).
A little earlier, in one of the paragraphs above, the word »circle« came up. The first two songs and the last two songs of this compilation are very much alike in how they’re composed, in the production picture and in the way they’re interpreted. Both new songs, the opener War Paint and right after it Walk With Me, present today’s Richie Kotzen with a strikingly mature, polished feel for songwriting. A mix of the natural warmth and liveliness of the product, which the sound production develops, and the contrast embodied by a charming, intently gazing rhythmic kinetics with the melodic definition of the lead tunes, over which arches a compact note of blues, soul, funk, even Motown elements, and of course a hefty load of rock-oriented phrases, delivers some of the most subtly crafted arrangements and compositions of Kotzen’s career . Generally speaking, of the last decade, that is, from the album »Get Up« (2004) to today. In this respect Kotzen also defined the look of the first disc, with the weight on the latest creations, notably the albums »24 Hours« (four songs), »Go Faster« (two songs), »Into the Black« (three songs), »Piece Sign« (one song), »Get Up« (one song).
On the compilation you can trace Kotzen’s bond with his current The Winery Dogs buddy Billly Sheehan, an old Mr. Big companion. The new song War Paint has a transitional guitar phrase in the bridge leading into the chorus, doubled and harmonized with the bass line the way Billy Sheehan would do it. That gives a direct answer to the question of whose example Richie learned bass from. Of course, we’re talking about the reach of a musician who is first and foremost a guitarist and vocalist. The other new song, Walk With Me, delivers a more relaxed mood and even more melodic accessibility ,and what also gives it a special place among Kotzen’s creations is the integration of the theremin, which in the decorative garnish of the arrangements proves to be an integral instrument of the song.
Over the years Kotzen has developed a language that’s remarkably accessible to the masses, merging basic blues, soul and funk, always implemented with rock intensity, exceptional musicality and the occasional funky, disco-ish feel in the rhythms. That’s embodied above all by the top-notch compositions on the compilation, such as Fooled Again, Bad Situatiuon or OMG (What’s Your name) – the latter could easily grace one of T.M. Stevens’ studio records. Or the perfect mix of eroticism and bleeding emotion in Lie to Me. A special moment of Kotzen’s career is also tied to the run of three »Into the Black« songs, an album many still call the peak of his solo discography. It’s also his only album that carries the »sticky«… pardon, »Parental Advisory« label, and the »devilish spell« of a song in which Kotzen’s soul is caught, You Can’t Save Me, is full of one kind or another of »fuck the« f-bombs in its verses.
The journey through this compilation is a journey through a tangle of emotions and passions. Kotzen relives it all so sincerely that this baring of his personal side literally sucks you into the magic he brings to life through the songs. That’s actually the songs’ biggest trump card, and the element that keeps fulfilling the listener with this heartfelt quality. Revelations of feeling rarely hit this intensely. This too proves what an exceptional vocalist Kotzen has grown into. At the same time, you can’t possibly overlook his pedigree as one of the world’s best guitarists, with an instantly recognizable style (and sound). The elements of vocal and guitar expression are balanced incredibly effectively across the compilation’s songs (the first disc!). Fooled Again, for instance, is brilliant in its first part in terms of compact musical value, created above all by the deeply felt delivery of Kotzen’s vocal, while in the second half the musician literally »explodes« into extended solo acrobatics, where the guitar work stands in on equal terms for the language of vocal intensity, a sea of passion and emotion.
Kotzen has always been regarded as a great wizard on acoustic too. He already released the album »Acoustic Cuts« in 2003, and last year he did a concert tour over the summer that was entirely acoustic. Most of the songs that made up that tour’s repertoire form the picture of the second disc. These numbers mostly date from Kotzen’s creative era of the nineties, with a strikingly effective adaptation of the Poison song Until You Suffer Some (Fire and Ice). The acoustic versions appeal especially because Kotzen’s vocal works a little differently in them, even a touch lower, and actually draws emotion and passion in a different way than the originals. The vocal steps to the fore on the second disc, and the note of deep feeling is intensified further this way. Evidently Kotzen felt he had to breathe fresh life into the older songs in his repertoire, since he sees them differently today than when they were written. Simple. The musician has grown more mature, wiser! This vibe is broken near the end of the second disc by the addition of two demo recordings that were used on The Winery Dogs’ debut. The two contrast effectively and »loosen up« the second disc, taking us back to exactly the start of the whole story, to the new songs that open the first disc. That’s why this compilation, with both discs, works like a circle where the beginning is also the end of the story and vice versa. So you absolutely have to listen to this compilation by spinning the first disc first and the second one right after it.
The compilation »The Essential Richie Kotzen« is a first-rate starting point to begin your adventure into the unique musical world of this excellent artist. The material on both discs is especially warmly recommended to anyone who doesn’t know Kotzen yet. It’s also pretty much a must for all fans of his music, since it contains two new songs, two demo recordings for The Winery Dogs debut, a refreshed take on Lie to Me, as well as a bundle of rearranged older songs in a new acoustic outfit, with a strikingly excellent, fiery reworking of one of the songs he made for Poison. On top of both CDs, you also get a DVD collecting absolutely all of Kotzen’s videos released so far.
Lineup
Richie Kotzen – vocals, backing vocals, guitar, bass guitar, drums, keyboards, theremin
Production
Richie Kotzen
Track list
CD1:
1. War Paint *
2. Walk With Me *
3. Love Is Blind
4. Go Faster
5. Fooled Again
6. OMG (What’s Your Name?)
7. Help Me
8. Bad Situation
9. Lie To Me
10. Fear
11. You Can’t Save Me
12. Doing What The Devil Says To Do
13. Remember (Reprise)
*… new song
CD2:
1. What Is (2014)
2. High (2014)
3. Change (2014)
4. Special (2014)
5. Paint It On (Acoustic Version)
6. Holding On (Acoustic Version)
7. Until You Suffer Some (Fire And Ice) – (Acoustic Version)
8. The Road (Acoustic Version)
9. Regret (Original Demo Version)
10. Damaged (Original Demo Version)
DVD:
1. Walk With Me (2014)
2. Paying Dues (2009)
3. 24 Hours (2011)
4. Larger Than Life (2009)
5. Losing My Mind (2005)
6. Help Me (2012)
7. Chase It (2008)
8. Player (2011)
9. The Shadow (2011)
10. My Angel (2011)
11. I Would (2008)
