Richie Kotzen
Into the Black

A glorious past should never be tarnished.

And indeed Richie Kotzen is well aware of this. Poison and Mr. Big delivered him to musical popularity, in addition to his solo albums.

Perhaps tired of the usual hard rock sounds and the usual flamboyant soloing, Ritchie Kotzen returns to the scene with “Into the black”.

Without much fear, I say it is a really good album, truly beautiful. But beyond that, it must be said that one must indeed forget the old Kotzen. What I have in my hands is a sweet and melody-rich album, punctuated by Richie’s very melodic and distinctive voice. All ballads then? Yes, with the strong flavor that characterized Mr. Big with very attentive arrangement and sound work. Among the pop atmospheres infused with blues, this album slips by quickly, leaving the impression that once again Kotzen has hit the mark.

A distant relative of the previous “Get Up”, the gentle hard rock of the album takes shape with the first, slightly aggressive “You can't save me”, characterized by a somewhat coarse chorus, but it matters little: a song I’d say is nearly perfect and simple. In contrast, beginning with a clean arpeggio, “Missunderstood” is also characterized by a brief but decisive solo. So far, the atmosphere remained decidedly aggressive, but with “Fear”, the mood calms. Kotzen offers us moments of strong musical charisma. He doesn’t forget the lessons learned over the years with the big names, and he manages to endow even these songs with a high dose of quality and arrangements that ooze professionalism and quality. This is evident already in “The Shadow”, even though it is a song too much a child of “Shine” by Mr. Big, but it’s pleasant and can be listened to without too many pretensions. 

Melancholy makes its appearance in “Doin what the devil says to do”, a sweet and slow ballad, with blues and pop reminiscences, while characterized by a sweet Rock&Roll “Till you put me down”. “Sacred Ground” is imposing as a piece and showcases the vocal qualities of this guitarist, who, in my opinion, would outshine many singers of the genre. Certainly the hardest and most rock-sounding track, enriched with a long solo. The rhythm continues with “Your Lies”.
The acoustic sweetness of “Livin in bliss” concludes beautifully, reminding me a lot of the acoustic pasts of Mr. Big (a bit of Static is present in this song), and “My Angel”, perhaps the most sentimental track, but of great impact and very atmospheric. Perhaps very radio-friendly, but definitely a beautiful piece.

Forgetting the more raw hard rock Kotzen had accustomed me to is easy with this beautiful album. Surely it’s not miraculous, after all, it lacks a bit of that punch, that aggressiveness that Kotzen often used in his music, but the music is surely of quality, the melody is not lacking, the technique slightly set aside to favor the homogeneity of the songs and arrangements.

A beautiful product, by no means disappointing.