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Richie Kotzen - Into The Black

 

	YEAR: 17 July 2006 PRODUCER: Richie Kotzen LABEL:Headroom-Inc BAND: Richie Kotzen
+ Songs, Vocals Production, Mood - Little variation	TRACKS: 1.You Can't Save Me 2. Misunderstood 3. Fear 4. The Shadow 5. Doin' What the Devil Says to Do 6. Till You Put Me Down 7. Sacred Ground 8. Your Lies 9. Livin' in Bliss 10. My Angel

 

OVERVIEW

Richie Kotzen has proved himself, time and time again as a dedicated and respected musician. Yet, any real commercial success has proved elusive for his solo releases. He achieved massive success with both Posion and Mr Big, and has released an abundant amount of albums. Into The Black sees a coming of age Richie, pouring his heart out onto probably his darkest, but strongest effort yet.

 

SONGS

Album opener You Can’t Save Me is an unbelievable attention-grabbing song that is darker, more aggressive and stronger than anything he has ever done. It’s immediately evident how Richie has grown as a vocalist, at times coming very close to Chris Cornell territory. This is the strongest track on the album, but far from the only decent one. Misunderstood keeps the dark introspective mood of the album. Richie seems very down on himself and intent on releasing his demons. This is another great song. Fear continues the mid-paced, organic texture of the album, with a more uplifting chorus (though the lyrics reveal otherwise). The Shadow is another sensational ballad-style number, great vocals and melodies. It almost sounds like Pink Floyd when Doin’ What The Devil Says To Do begins, but changes moods quickly, providing some great blues-like guitar work; this song is very reminiscent of The Black Crowes. Yet another great one. Sacred Ground shakes it up a bit, with the first real appearance of any distortion. The background riff continues over his droning verses, but turns into another great chorus, very Audioslave, very good. As with the other songs, Your Lies starts to sound a little Ben Harper-ish or even Lenny Kravitz, yet he fairs better when he stays closer to himself. Richie starts to move on with the soulful Livin’ In Bliss and manages to hit the mark again. He finishes up with the beautiful ballad ala Mr Big styled My Angel.

 

CONCLUSION

The worst thing about this album is that it will probably go relatively unrecognised. Currently only available on iTunes and Richie’s site, it’s missing a lot of it’s target audience. I have no doubt, with the proper backing, this could’ve been a commercial break-through for Richie. But as it stands, its just a great testament to the man’s song writing, singing and playing skills. The mood is very dark at times, but extremely honest. It’s not for everyone, and if your looking for his harder edged rock style, you won’t find it here. It may take a few listens to get into, but you will find 10 well crafted songs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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