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RICHIE KOTZEN ‘Change’ Frontiers FRCD160 (2003)
The latest solo album by the former Poison and Mr Big guitarist. Kotzen
also covers the Mr Big tune Shine and ex- Mr Big drummer Pat Torpey
appears on High. Apart from these two and some extra backing vocals
from Charlie Sarti, Kotzen plays and produces the entire album.
Plenty of musical styles on here and Kotzen has a decent set of pipes on
him. Touch of nu metal on opener Forever One, a song with a real down
and dirty bass line Puddle of Mudd meets Linkin Park minus the
turntables! Get A Life takes on Butch walker at his own game - a
glorious slice of hard-edged melodic rock. Touch of latter-day Mr Big on
Don't Ask, complete with a big chorus. The Mr Big trcak, Shine
gets an acoustic workout here and sounds great. Kotzen's vocals are not disimilar to Mr Big vocalist Eric Martin in places. Very catchy hook on this
track and a surefire radio hit. Kotzen shows of his range of guitar styles
well from the rock on the aforementioned tracks to the jazz-rock workout on
Unity. Tasty piece of funk rock on Fast Money Fast Cars, again
adding more variety to the mix.
A very varied album and enjoyable to boot. Should find a ready audience
amongst the Mr Big and Kotzen fanbase. Well worth a listen
Website
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Review by Jason Ritchie
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***** Out of this world | **** Pretty
damn fine |
*** OK, approach with caution unless you are a fan |
** Instant bargain bin fodder | * Ugly. Just ugly |
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