Adrian Smith and Richie Kotzen: Now there’s two names I never imagined I’d be typing together in the same review, let alone the same sentence. One is the longtime guitarist for Iron Maiden. The other is a hard rocking bluesman with a cult following. Besides being guitarists, I guess the one thing both have in common are their absolutely rabid fanbases. I’ve always “got” the Maiden fandom because I’ve considered myself part of such since 4th grade. The cult of Kotzen? Not so much. This isn’t to disparage Kotzen’s talent. I enjoy his early shred output. He’s also responsible for the most listenable Poison album, Native Tongue (fight me glamsters). That said, I never understood the messiah like worship he’s received, particularly over the past decade with The Winery Dogs.
Taking that into consideration, it should be no surprise that I don’t understand a good portion of Kotzen’s latest release, a collaboration with Adrian Smith entitled Smith/Kotzen. Don’t be fooled by the name. If you’re going into this expecting any Maiden-isms, don’t. Smith/Kotzen feels like a glorified Kotzen solo album with Smith going along for the ride. It’s rather a shame. The last time we heard Smith release something outside of Maiden was in the late 90s with the grungy and equally underwhelming Psycho Motel, so I was expecting a little more than what’s offered here.
You may be asking, “Well Joe, what is offered here?” I’m glad you asked. Smith/Kotzen lies firmly on the Kotzen bedrock of blues driven hard rock. It’s got soaring soulful vocals and gutsy guitar work. Usually, I’m an absolute sucker for this formula. Where it fails with Kotzen is with the songwriting itself. He writes and releases music so frequently. As a result, many of these songs tend to sound like haphazard afterthoughts (“You Don’t Know Me”, “I Wanna Stay”). If they aren’t ruined by lack of memorability, they’re potentially solid songs soiled by the evils of modern production (“Taking My Chances”, “Running”).
For as much as I’m griping about Smith/Kotzen, it’s not a complete dud. “Scars” is a slow, soul infused blues tune. Kotzen sings his heart out, sounding like the great Glenn Hughes and the lead guitar work is rather impressive. “Glory Road” is another track in this blues vein which grabbed my attention. It seems Kotzen is more efficient when playing straightforward blues rock as opposed to a harder variation, the latter having the potential of falling into the traps of modern rock clichés. Other highlights include the swaggering “Some People” and my choice cut, “Solar Fire”, which is essentially Whitesnake style hard rock with a ZZ Top flavored twang.
Something tells me Smith/Kotzen is a one and done collaboration. If it does end up happening again, I’d like to see Smith play a greater role stylistically and even vocally. Sure he doesn’t have the pipes that Kotzen has, but if we’re going to make things fair, it would be nice to hear him sing at least a few songs. Though truth be told, if Smith ever plans on releasing music outside of Maiden again, I’d much rather it be a second A.S.A.P. album. The debut is one of the unsung masterpieces of AOR. The scary thing is that last sentence might be the most controversial opinion in this entire review.
4 out of 10
Label: BMG
Genre: Hard Rock
For fans of: The Winery Dogs, The Dead Daisies, Whitesnake