Out Now: Stream the Debut Album from Smith/Kotzen (Adrian Smith of Iron Maiden + Richie Kotzen)

Two titans of hard rock history converged before the COVID-19 pandemic to forge a new musical partnership, and Smith/Kotzen was born. Combining the talents of guitarist Adrian Smith of Iron Maiden and Richie Kotzen (of his prolific solo career as well as stints with Poison and Mr. Big), they set out on an album project that was completed before the COVID-19 pandemic halted all plans in 2020.

That record was previewed in recent weeks with a handful of tracks showcasing the serious chops these two guitar icons have, leading up to today’s release date.

Click here to pick up Smith/Kotzen on CD from our Rock Cellar Store
Click here to pick up Smith/Kotzen on LP from our Rock Cellar Store

Self-produced by Smith and Kotzen and mixed by Kevin ‘Caveman’ Shirley, the album features nine songs and contributions from drummer Nicko McBrain, Smith’s band mate in Iron Maiden, who lends his skills to the song “Solar Fire.” Kotzen’s musical pal Tal Bergman also plays drums on three songs, with Kotzen manning the kit for the remainder of the record.

Should traditional live concerts be able to resume in the relatively near future, here’s hoping Smith/Kotzen is able to tour behind this project.

Said Smith: “Richie and I started working together a couple of years ago. We’d been jamming as we’d been friends for a few years before that. We both share a love for classic rock and bluesy rock so we decided to get together and start writing some songs and it went from there. Pretty much everything on the album is handled between Richie and myself including the production. We had developed a really strong idea of how we wanted it to sound and I’m very pleased with how it turned out. There’s a lot of cool songs on there that we are really happy with.”

Richie Kotzen added: “We had a very fluid process in writing. Sometimes Adrian would send me a riff and I would immediately hear some kind of melody or a vocal idea. And sometimes it was the other way round so it was a kind of circular motion. We’d get together whenever we could and throw some ideas around and it just evolved, which was great because there was no pressure and nothing other than just a natural course and I think the record really speaks for that.”

Stream the new record below.