Artist Recommendations from Andrzej Citowicz

Music didn't just influence me. It built me. Here are ten artists I carry with me every single day — in my fingers, in my writing, in the way I hear the world.

1. Bon Jovi (New Jersey era)

The reason I ever believed a song could save someone. But it's the New Jersey album that hits deepest — darker, heavier, more honest than anything before it. "Living In Sin," "Blood on Blood," "I'll Be There for You" — that record is a masterpiece of hard rock emotion, and I've never stopped going back to it.

2. Def Leppard

The masters of melody and atmosphere. Their production made me understand that a song isn't just what you play — it's what you feel between the notes. Pyromania and Hysteria are still miracles to me.

3. Lady Pank

My Polish roots are my first rock language. Before I understood English lyrics, Lady Pank were already showing me that rock music could have a soul and a sharp edge at the same time. Jan Borysewicz's guitar work and Janusz Panasewicz's voice were proof that great rock had no borders — it could come from Wałbrzych, my polish home town, just as much as from London or New Jersey.

4. Richie Sambora

Not just a guitarist — a storyteller with strings. The way he blended emotion with technique showed me that a solo should make you cry, not just applaud.

5. Winger / Kip Winger

Criminally underrated. Kip wrote songs that were both intelligent and deeply emotional — that combination is rarer than people think. In the Heart of the Young is a masterpiece that deserves far more respect.

6. Desmond Child

The invisible architect behind so many anthems I grew up with. Understanding his work taught me the craft of the song — the hook, the bridge, the moment that breaks you open.

7. Joe Satriani (The Extremist era)

The Extremist is where I understood what a guitar can truly say without a single word. Satch doesn't just play — he speaks. That album opened something in me about melody, space, and the pure emotional weight of an instrument played with total conviction.

8. Metallica (Black Album & Load era)

People debate the direction they took — I never did. The Black Album showed me how heaviness and restraint can coexist in the same song. And Load proved that great rock musicians should never stop evolving, even when it makes people uncomfortable. Both records live in my playing to this day.

9. Europe (Out of This World era)

People often stop at The Final Countdown and miss what came next. Out of This World is where Europe showed real depth — mature songwriting, powerful melodies, and a band that had grown far beyond the image people pinned on them. Joey Tempest wrote with a sincerity on that record that still moves me. Classic rock isn't a genre — it's a language, and that album speaks it fluently.

10. Whitesnake / David Coverdale

The voice. The drama. The unapologetic emotion. David Coverdale never sang a line he didn't mean. That kind of commitment to feeling is something I try to bring into everything I record.

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