Rock n Reel Reviews | Richie Kotzen - The Essential Richie Kotzen - Rock n Reel Reviews
- Release Date: 02/09/2014
- Genre: Blues, Pop, Rock
- Record Label: Loud and Proud Records
- Sounds Like: Chris Cornell, Jonny Lang, The Winery Dogs
- Reviewed By: Dave
On September 2nd guitarist extraordinaire Richie Kotzen will release a career retrospective collection named ‘The Essential Ritchie Kotzen’ on Loud and Proud Records. This packed double CD release encompasses Kotzen’s entire career and includes some classic material, acoustic performances, bootleg material and two brand new songs (“War Paint” and “Walk With Me”). With a massive 18 solo records under his belt Kotzen had more than enough material to pick from, but the main man wanted to show how his sound and style had evolved throughout the years and said “I hand-selected songs so newcomers can get into my music and learn who I am as a recording artist.”
The collection shows a wide range of styles from rock, blues, jazz and fusion to pop and soul and If nothing else it shows how accomplished a musician Ritchie Kotzen actually is. Personally I had no idea that Ritchie Kotzen had so many solo albums, I knew he spent some time in Mr. Big, Poison and also had his latest group effort from The Winery Dogs in for review last year. His solo material sits somewhere in between the aforementioned acts. There are tracks that have many similarities to The Winery Dogs (Go Faster), but it’s spliced with a little more of a bluesy feel, almost reminding me of Jonny Lang at times. Tracks like ‘OMG (What’s Your Name)’ comes complete with funky bass-lines and a grooving chorus, the band are smoking hot and Kotzen has done a great job of picking his backing musicians. Vocally Kotzen is bang on the money and his raspy tone fits the style of these tracks like a glove. At times his voice ventures into a Chris Cornell type texture on tracks like ‘Walk With Me’ and on occasion even reminds me of 80′s phenomenon Terence Trent D’Arby.
The first CD is fantastic, just great songs that will burrow their way into your memory and stay there for days. I can see myself burning this CD to disc to play in the car, and it’s an album that the majority of listeners will enjoy regardless of what kind of music you are into. Kotzen has a soulful depth to his voice that you can’t help but enjoy listening to, plus the music is pretty damn catchy too, which helps. The unreleased tracks on this disc are really good too, ‘Lie To Me’ I found particularly addictive. Its composition is very pop orientated, but Kotzen’s smooth vocal carries the style very well.
The second disc hears Richie Kotzen in an acoustic setting, and it’s here in the stripped down environment that the Chris Cornell vibe sticks out even more. Don’t get me wrong, Kotzen has an amazing voice but you can’t help but hear the similarities. The acoustic tracks are a good addition to the collection and fans of Kotzen I’m sure will love these renditions, but personally I don’t know how much I would go back to them on future listens to the album.
I wasn’t really sure what to expect before playing this album but I was pleasantly surprised by the calibre of Richie Kotzen’s solo material, disc 1 in particular was a really enjoyable listen. Fans of Kotzen will love this collection of songs and this release might even bring some new ones over, myself included.
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