The Essential Richie Kotzen

Richie Kotzen was just a teen when he exploded on the scene with solo albums on Shrapnel Records that showed the young virtuoso as a vicious rocker. Stints with Poison and Mr. Big paid the bills and raised his profile among non-musicians, and he currently plays in the commercially successful Winery Dogs, with Billy Sheehan and Mike Portnoy. This greatest-hits collection was personally assembled by Kotzen himself, who threw together classic material from his 18 solo albums, acoustic versions, rerecorded versions, and two brand-new songs (“War Paint” and “Walk With Me”) that illustrate his tenacity. While much has rightfully been said about his guitar work, Kotzen deserves praise as a soulful hard rock singer and a versatile songwriter. Songs like “War Paint” and “You Can’t Save Me” were recorded with Kotzen playing all the instruments, yet sounding like an elastic live band in the process. “Lie to Me” is a previously unreleased track. “What Is,” “High,” “Change,” and “Special” were rerecorded in 2014, while “Regret” and “Damaged” are presented in their original demo versions.