{"id":44456,"date":"2014-08-30T06:38:51","date_gmt":"2014-08-30T11:38:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=44456"},"modified":"2014-08-30T06:38:51","modified_gmt":"2014-08-30T11:38:51","slug":"richie-kotzen-essential-richie-kotzen-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2014\/richie-kotzen-essential-richie-kotzen-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Richie Kotzen | Essential Richie Kotzen<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Alissa Ordabai<\/span>
\n– Senior Columnist —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"RichieFor his new 2-disk compilation Richie Kotzen chooses tracks that pitch him to the mainstream audience \u2013 22 easily accessible, but nevertheless stunning cuts. No matter if he leans toward soul, rock, or blues, each song not only stays self-explanatory, but also defines Kotzen\u2019s take on the genre. Oddly, he almost completely omits material from the Eighties and the Nineties \u2013 not just the high-brow instrumental stuff, but also some striking songwriting gems. Which is a shame, as sophistication of Inner Galactic Fusion Experience<\/em> and bounce of Mother Head\u2019s Family Reunion<\/em> could have added breadth and depth to this r\u00e9sum\u00e9. <\/p>\n

Despite this being a kind of \u201cbest of,\u201d the first disk opens with two brand-new tracks. \u201cWar Paint\u201d resurrects classic blues-rock with vintage grit, and \u201cWalk With Me\u201d puts a campy spin on a perfect pop tune \u2013 complete with a sweeter-than-sin chorus and the Eighties electronic pop vibe. Versatility and propensity to magpie influences remains an innate Kotzen trait. But so does his emotional edge and knowing how to angle it with harrowing precision. <\/p>\n

The second disk is all about that \u2013 unsettling, painfully personal ballads. Fresh studio versions and acoustic versions of the songs mostly from his Noughties period sound more streamlined as opposed to the originals. Kotzen fanatics — who know the originals by heart — will miss the raw nuances and the urgency. Newcomers will still be impressed by RK\u2019s fearless candor.<\/p>\n

But despite the mass-market orientation of this release, Kotzen still comes through as one of the greatest guitar virtuosos around, a unique balladeer, and a teller of some deep emotional truths. He can easily adapt to the mainstream, but the entirety of his gift still doesn\u2019t fit into a regular consumer niche \u2013 a blessing for a true explorer he hopefully will remain for decades to come. <\/p>\n

Genre: Rock<\/p>\n

Disk 1:
\n1. War Paint
\n2. Walk with Me
\n3. Love is Blind
\n4. Go Faster
\n5. Fooled Again
\n6. OMG (What\u2019s Your Name)
\n7. Help Me
\n8. Bad Situation
\n9. Lie to Me
\n10. Fear
\n11. You Can\u2019t Save Me
\n12. Doing What the Devil Says to Do
\n13. Remember (Reprise)<\/p>\n

Disk 2:
\n1. What is
\n2. High
\n3. Change
\n4. Special
\n5. Paint It on
\n6. Holding On
\n7. Until You Suffer Some (Fire and Ice)
\n8. The Road
\n9. Regret<\/p>\n

Label: Loud and Proud Records<\/p>\n

Web: http:\/\/richiekotzen.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 8\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Alissa Ordabai – Senior Columnist — For his new 2-disk compilation Richie Kotzen chooses tracks that pitch him to the mainstream audience \u2013 22 easily accessible, but nevertheless stunning cuts. No matter if he […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":44457,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10848],"tags":[2317,9913,9612,568,2387],"class_list":{"0":"post-44456","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2014","8":"tag-cd-review","9":"tag-essential-richie-kotzen","10":"tag-loud-and-proud-records","11":"tag-richie-kotzen","12":"tag-rock"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44456","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44456"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44456\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44457"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}