Band:	Smith/Kotzen
Album:	Smith/Kotzen
Style:	Hard rock, Heavy metal
Release date:	March 2021

01. Taking My Chances
02. Running
03. Scars
04. Some People
05. Glory Road
06. Solar Fire
07. You Don't Know Me
08. I Wanna Stay
09. 'Til Tomorrow

Fun fact: "Kotzen" wouldn't be a good last name for someone whose native language is Dutch? Too similar to "kotsen" which means puking?

Why did I mention this? I don't know. It isn't like I would describe this album as puke-inducing or anything. In fact, I enjoyed this record quite a bit at times. It does miss the mark in certain aspects though. Let me explain.

Okay, let's start with the production, which is done by Kevin Shirley. Some of the people I know aren't big fans of his mixing but, personally, I find that his productions are usually good with some stellar stuff and some duds in there as well. This album sounds rock-solid in terms of mixing and it's very guitar-focused, as you might expect from an album made by two guitar masters. That being said, the drums, vocals, and bass do have their place, so you get a nice and cohesive sound.

Like I said when I talked about the production, this album loves to push the guitars to the forefront. Its entire goal is to make them the star of the show and that's exactly what they managed to do. The energy, flair, and flow are dictated by the skilled work of Smith and Kotzen. The rest of the instruments are clearly here for support and not too much flashiness but there are moments where there's a bit more to them. The drums on "Solar Fire", for instance, are brought to you by none other than Nicko McBrain, and that does add some extra groove and style to the song. The same goes for some of the songs with Tal Bergman on the drums. The other tracks (where Kotzen plays the drums) feel more straightforward. The vocals from Kotzen and Smith are solid and fulfil their purpose. But yeah, this is a record you listen to for the guitar work. I can't stress that enough.

The lyrics are what you can expect from this kind of record; nothing too special, but fitting. Never going too much on the cheesy road that it doesn't fit the style of music that's being played here.

Flow and pace are well done, and the record keeps things moving. It all sounds easy-going which really adds to the feeling of progressing through the album at a steady pace. I never really had the feeling that things were slowing down too much or that there were parts that felt too excessive and long.

So, what's the conclusion here? Well, for guitar lovers this is definitely worth a listen. I would lie if I said that I didn't enjoy some of the stuff that's offered here. However, you've probably gathered from the review that there really isn't that much more to this album. And I kind of wished for a bit more to be honest. Sporadically it does offer that, but it's too little and too scarce to be a record that will see a lot of listens in the future. For that it's not memorable enough.