RICHIE'S BREAKIN' DOWN
cd-heaven | ROCK CITY | 06/10/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Wow, this is the most versatile musicians of our time. He started out shreding, then playing rock, jioned Posion completely changing their sound from party anthems to ballsy bluesy rock, then jumping to fusion, funking out with Glenn Hughes and made a couple funk rock albums, then by 1998 he played rock again before finally settling on blues. What a run on sentence, but in a nutshell it briefly explains is versatility with missing a few stops. Currently holdong the guitar spot in Mr. Big( their new one, Get Over It, is Superfantastic! ), but has devoted his last two solo efforts to the blues. I first heard Richie's 1999 blues CD called Bi Polar Blues and what a marvelous piece of music. I was blown away because he plays every genre of music with such conviction that he's study the art for years. While I wasn't expected to be so easily blown away by his latest effort, Break It All Down, I was shocked, THIS MAN CAN PLAY THE BLUES better than most certified blues legends. Hearing this is believing! While Bi Polar had a dry sound to it, BIAD finds Richie drenched in the blues, playing it all wet and hot. There is not one bad song on here, but there is an incredible similarity between THe Feeling's Gone and The Thrill Is Gone from Bi Polar. But I'm not whining, they both sound fantastic if not the same. If you want to hear a great blues CD from a man just hittin' 30 years old, BUY THIS! Richie has proven himself a very prolific guitarist, singer and songwriter for the past 10 years playing everything under the sun with the love and passion you yearn for in a musician."
Richie's Magnum Opus
M. Middleton | 06/25/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"As much as I like all of Richie's other albums, this is by far his strongest release to date. The songs are top-notch. Great playing, great songwriting, awesome production, incredible singing (as always). What sets this CD apart from the rest for me is the songwriting. Every single song on here is brilliant. "I Would" should go down in history as one of the greatest songs ever written. "You Don't Know" has a great classic sound that reminds me a little of Joe Cocker's version of "With A Little Help From My Friends". "I Don't Belong" has some great bluesy Hendrix/SRV-style playing.It's very sad that this man doesn't get the recognition he truly deserves. At least he's playing with Mr. Big instead of Poison now. Just a slight difference in the talent department I would say. But still, I wish he could be sickly huge on his own because he really deserves it.If you're even contemplating buying this CD, DO IT. You won't be sorry."
Good from the start, but better with every listen
Curt-Man | from Indiana | 06/14/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"As a big fan of Richie's work, I was stoked to find that three of his import-only releases as well as this, his latest offering, were being released simultaneously. This album does take right off from where Bi-Polar Blues left off, however it has some of the same vibes evident from his "What Is..." and "Wave of Emotion" albums. From the first listen I was hooked on 'Some Voodoo' and the title cut, but the other songs prove to be equally great and enduring with multiple listens. 'The Feeling's Gone' and 'I'll be Around' are currently squaring off for my favorite tune on the album. This truly is a fantastic album by an incredible guitarist, who is not getting nearly the recognition he deserves! True, I sometimes miss the old shred-God Richie, but his song-writing gets better with every album."
Track Listings (11) - Disc #1