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RELEASED: September 15 2007 / Already out (Jap)
PRODUCER: Richie Kotzen
LABEL: R&C (Jap)
BAND:
Richie Kotzen
Virgil McKoy
Franklin Vanderbilt
Arlan Schierbaum |
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Vocals, Guitar, Production, Feel
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Sometimes boring |
TRACKS:
1.Go Faster 2. Feed My Head 3. Fooled Again 4. Can You Feel It 5. You're Crazy 6. Chase It 7. Bad Things 8. Do It To Yourself 9. Dust 10. Faith 11. You Know That 12. Satellite |
OVERVIEW
There’s just no getting this guy down. After last years stellar Into The Black, one might think that Richie was ready to slow down. Wrong. Just a year later and he’s already resurfaced with another album. Old fans will be absolutely stoked to se Mother Head’s return, even though with a completely different line-up (though a great one). But can Richie dish out more magic so close together?
SONGS
Proceedings kick of in typical funk tinged rock style that Richie is famous for. His voice is still sounding at its peak since last years Into The Black. Cool, up beat song. Some busy guitar work are abound on Feed My Head, but its Fooled Again that finally gets back into the greatness that made Into The Black so compelling; great to see Richie let loose and jam with some very tasty licks. Revved up boogie Can You Feel It lets loose with some crazy virtuoso licks over a classic Texas groove. Some sensational keyboard melodies help You’re Crazy turn into an album highlight, perfect. Regretful ballad Chase It is as great as you would expect. Bad Things plods along and Do It Yourself dishes out some more soulful lyrics, plus a couple of handfuls of super fast trills and hammer-ons. He lets wail on the great Dust and absolutely nails it on Faith. Cool moody jams and flashy licks make You Know That a winner, and the spacey instrumental caps off a great album.
CONCLUSION
The introspective and personal nature of Into The black made it almost impossible to top, but what this does have that the last album isn’t; is a return to some virtuoso guitar attack, that made him famous in the first place. The songs are still very soulful, but he manages to slip in an array of great guitar licks and tricks. Slightly more variation and a spectacular backing band make this accessible to old and new fans alike. There’s not a bad thing I can say about this album. While I’d still hold Into The Black on a higher plain, this is surely a great, great album.
