Label: Three Dog Music
Release date: February 3, 2023
Production: The Winery Dogs (mix: Jay Ruston)
Album length: 50.52 min
Genre: Progressive Rock / Hard Rock
Rating: 9.0/10
With all three members of The Winery Dogs constantly tied up in other projects, it seemed unlikely we’d ever get another studio outing from the band. But we did. This February saw the release of the band’s third studio album, which puts three superstars of the global rock and metal scene under one roof. And they need no introduction.
Interestingly, Richie Kotzen (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Billy Sheehan (bass) and Mike Portnoy (drums) have served up their most musically accessible record yet on this third outing, compared to the first two: the self-titled debut from 2013 and its follow-up “Hot Streak” from 2015. With the band’s formation in 2012 and two albums released fairly close together, they kicked up enough dust among music fans around here that demand for a successor (and interest in the band) stayed high enough through the eight years that followed. So the trio finally found the time and space to make their third The Winery Dogs album.
Those of you who know the first two albums know you don’t mess around with the “wine dogs”. Three well-rounded entities armed to the teeth with technical brilliance and, above all, expressive uniqueness, given how the forces are distributed inside the triangle of the trio, deliver a special musical story that nothing comes close to when it comes to artistic expression. Three musicians loaded with incredible careers (Sheehan and Kotzen were also Mr. Big bandmates between 1997 and 2002), experience and confidence remain, in what the substance of “III” delivers, breathtaking musical entities. On the individual level. And when these three individualists join forces as a trio, that individual-level astonishment amplifies itself, they feed each other vibrationally and energetically, and through a new musical body of expression they reach an absolute artistic one-of-a-kind, a real gem.
“III” is loaded with brilliant solo excursions from all three musicians, which every fan of the progressive flavors adorning the album will welcome. Kotzen’s playing adds an occasional veil of blues, especially in some of his guitar solutions, and that impression is reinforced by his distinctive, soulful vocals (Lorelei, for instance, could sit on any of Kotzen’s solo studio albums). The intros, outros and transitions are boldly spiced with improvised assaults from Sheehan or Kotzen, and Portnoy holds his own with his vivid, trademark rhythmic fracturing. The way they complement each other is exceptional.
So. “III” once again bends under all those improvisational runs and figures that will surely take your breath away. No brakes there. What’s interesting, though, is that “III” is noticeably more balanced musically. That means the verse–chorus thread is easier to follow in the songs. When it comes to shaping the chorus melodies in particular, “III” is a hefty upgrade on both of its predecessors. Opener Xanadu is instant proof. Even the looser parts of the album give you the feeling that the red thread of the song structures is easier to follow than ever before. Take Stars, for example. The extended middle-eight passage in it is astonishingly well put together. Through an excellent improvisational dialogue (in that passage), Portnoy and Kotzen masterfully “catch” each other at the last moment on the edge of the abyss of possible fragmentation, and bring the song back into one of the catchiest choruses on “III”.
“III” also keeps an exceptional organic liveliness. It proves that the material that made it onto the album was recorded the way the trio plays a live show, in the studio. An expected move from the trio. It’s a must for any album like this. With as few after-the-fact studio fixes and “beautifications” as possible. “III” is a live, stripped-down beast that grabs you and sucks you in with all its honesty and openness. And it’s incredible how much of the available sonic spectrum just three musicians manage to cover. The arrangement of the building blocks is exceptional. Optimized. The contrasts are magnified and complement each other intensely. The groove of this album is gigantic. Even “monstrous”, if you like.
Musically, The Winery Dogs are their own story. That’s why the band has gathered a particular kind of audience around it, the more demanding crowd, in tune with the demands of the music The Winery Dogs stand behind. Kotzen is a vocal oddity and really the first building block of the Winery Dogs story, the one that decides whether you’ll go on to dig deeper into the band’s music or write it off on the spot. But this isn’t the first such case in rock and roll history, when we talk about similar one-in-a-million, unique and special super-trio rock outfits that nothing comes close to (Rush, The Police and Motörhead jump to mind).
Boom! Full throttle. Madness. Take your pick. But in the end, it’s not all madness. The bluesy Lorelei mentioned above, for example, is the moment on the album where The Winery Dogs serve up exquisitely sensual softness. So! “III” gives the impression that the trio paid more attention than in the past to featuring and maintaining the verse–chorus structure, while at the same time delivering so much dynamism and improvisational acrobatics again that The Winery Dogs remain a serious artistic bone to gnaw on, appealing to a specific audience of demanding music gourmets, among whom professors of music of all stripes and music nerds are in no short supply. They won’t be in short supply at the band’s show in Ljubljana on October 29, 2023, either! It’s great to know that Portnoy, Sheehan and Kotzen, with their insanely packed daily schedules of musical activity, still got together and recorded another excellent new The Winery Dogs album! Special in every way and different from anything else you’ll find on the rock and roll map. May it stay that way in the future!
Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Track list:
1. Xanadu
2. Mad World
3. Breakthrough
4. Rise
5. Stars
6. The Vengeance
7. Pharaoh
8. Gaslight
9. Lorelei
10. The Red Wine
Line-up:
Richie Kotzen – guitar, keyboards, vocals
Mike Portnoy – drums, percussion, backing vocals
Billy Sheehan – bass, backing vocals
