Review Summary: Look Mom, the dogs got out again
It is doubtful anybody would deny the obvious fact – all three musicians in the Winery Dogs are notable for their high productivity. The discographies of
Richie Kotzen, Billy Sheehan and Mike Portnoy include heaps of albums recorded with multiple bands and as solo artists. However, this is not what we'll be discussing today. Instead, we'll be talking about their joint project and its third album, which has finally seen the light of day. And it took them less than 10 years (eight, to be more precise)!
The band’s recipe is simple. These musicians of remarkable talents put all the eggs in one basket, but, despite the proverbial wisdom, they produce (and for the third time, no less) a product, which manages to be rather distinctive and devoid of many of the conventionalities and artistic clichés the power trio accrued in their other projects.
At first glance, we see typical melodic hard rock (you may be quick to brand it ‘dad rock’) based on conventional pop structures. But this reviewer would not have the heart to call it banal and trite. All because of the extraordinary musicianship yet again demonstrated by everybody involved, a trait that imbues the Winery Dogs sound with enough individuality.
Every song presented on the album is painted in the lasting color of impeccable taste. The traditional forms present on the album are filled to the brim with venerable content, confirming that the band’s formula is still sturdy and viable.
The rocking groove, fervor, and charm of the opening duo of
Xanadu and
Mad World, unleashed to promote the album prior to its release, leave no doubt as to what’s to come. The tightness and focus on these tracks are symptomatic – the bandmembers remain at the top of their game, and they manage to pull this off with such ease and abandon. Confidently pushing the new set of rocking tunes, the Dogs strike out in 99 percent of cases.
The duel of machine gun-like bass and loquacious guitar on
Rise is engaging and pyrotechnical, just like the song itself. And the drum beat from Portnoy tightly holds together pretty much every track, not letting the velocity drop one bit (and sometimes even accelerating the rhythm section, like on
Gaslight).
Resembling a freight train
The Vengeance assuredly maintains its course speed, but feels as heavy and saturated due to touches of progressive and heavy metal. The track
Pharaoh, which unsurprisingly includes Arabic guitar motifs, is a busy, sound-filled canvas that is shaken and smoothed out with skillful compositional strokes. Also notable are Kotzen’s vocals. He easily switches between tenor and falsetto, sprinkling everything with his trademark hoarse quality, all in short, effortless intervals.
Lorelei, the only slow number on the album, is a bluesy cut with its waddling, drunken-like tempo. It feels deceptively simple – even the guitar lines just echo the howling vocals – yet this quality is precisely what makes the song stand out, turning it into a nice change of pace among the technical high-speed chase of the album.
And, finally, rounding out the third LP, there is
The Red Wine, connecting itself to the winery allusion in the band's name. It favors easy-going Southern rock and roughneck rock ‘n’ roll, finishing the highly charged 48 minutes with a touch of improvisation, giving us an album that can be easily consumed in one sitting.
A curious fact:
III was released on February, 3, which is also Richie Kotzen’s birthday. He turned 53 years old. Quite an impressive gift to all of us willing to appreciate it, it has to be said.
