RECORD STORE TALES
Parts 1 – 50
Parts 51 – 100
Parts 101 – 150
Parts 151 – 200
Parts 201 – 250
Parts 251 – 300
Parts 301 – 320
RECORD STORE TALES MkII:
Getting More Tale
#321-350
#351-400
#401-450
#451-500
#501-600
#601-700
#701-800
#801-900
Friday afternoon and we’re off to the races! The Summer 2024 season of Grab A Stack of Rock has commenced and Jex Russell was there to ring in this happy tradition. The theme(s) for this week are: Top 11 Albums & Songs to Play with the Windows Down! Summer is the time for rocking the road, and Jex and I brought the thunder with two excellent Nigel Tufnel Top Ten lists!
Highlights:
Show notes:
This show was dedicated to my Uncle Paul, and my mother in law Debbie, who inspired some of these picks. It’s also in the spirit of friendship and good memories with Jex’s friend Lucas, and my friends Peter, Bob and Trev.
See you next week for Top 11 Marillion albums with Todd Evans and Uncle Meat!
GRAB A STACK OF ROCK With Mike and the Mad Metal Man
Episode 57: Top 11 Albums to Play with the Windows Down – with Jex Russell
Show & Tell on four formats: CD, cassette, LP and 8-track
Long we have waited, but Spring is here and the traditional outdoor afternoon Grab A Stack of Rock is back too.* Jex Russell joins for this happy cottage tradition. Last year, these afternoon outdoor shows were incredible fun! If you were there last year, you know! If you weren’t, join the rock and roll party today at 3 PM E.S.T. It’s our first live show in almost a month, after several weeks of popular re-runs!
The theme this week is a “Nigel Tufnel Top Ten” list: Our 11 favourite albums with play with the windows down! There are so many to choose from, this list is literally wide open. What are you choosing to play this spring with the windows down? Many of my picks are traditional favourites with stories attached.
Now, due to a miscommunication on my part, I will do top 11 albums, while Jex will do top 11 songs! This will give us plenty of variety in the lists. Expect plenty of show & tell.
This episode is dedicated to my late Uncle Paul, whose beloved ‘Cuda appears in the show art. He loved music and cruising, and we spent many summer hours in his car with the take deck going! Will Van Halen make these lists today, or something else? Tune in and join the fun! We always chat with the comments section, live.
What are your top 11 albums or songs to play with the windows down? Drop a comment today, on Grab A Stack of Rock.
Friday April 26 at 3:00 P.M. E.S.T. / 4:00 P.M. Atlantic. Enjoy on YouTube or on Facebook!
* forecast is for 14 degrees C
Previous Reading:
Record Store Tales #600: The Vault
Disk 1 Review
Disk 2 Review
Disk 3 Review
Disk 4 Review
Disk 5 Review
Disk 6 Review
Disk 7 Review
Disk 8 Review
Disk 9 Review
Disk 10 Review
Bonus Disk Review
What are the best tracks of the 165 included? What about the “action figure” and coin? What’s the final score?
GENE SIMMONS – The Vault (2018) Final Score
Part One: The Best Songs
Every song that was scored 4/5 or higher is listed below, in disc order.
Disk 1
Disk 2
Disk 3
Disk 4
Disk 5
Disk 6
Disk 7
Disk 8
Disk 9
Disk 10
(none)
Disk 11
Part Two: The Worst Songs
Because there are so many songs in the two star range, every song score under 2/5 is list here in track order.
Disk 1
Disk 2
(none)
Disk 3
(none)
Disk 4
(none)
Disk 5
Disk 6
Disk 7
Disk 8
(none)
Disk 9
(none)
Disk 10
Bonus Disk
Part Three: Action Figure, Coin, and Book
The much-ballyhooed Gene Simmons “action figure” is…a statue. It’s a very nice statue, but there are no moving parts. You can’t pose Gene with your other Kiss action figures. Even the MacFarlanes were slightly poseable. It’s quite large and heavy. Very solid. Though mine is sealed and hard to examine up close, You can see the sculpt is excellent. It’s a very high-end likeness. The paint details on the face appear to be quite nice, and you can even see a silver zipper going up Gene’s black leather jacket.
The coin is just a hunk of metal. Drill a hole in it and hang it around your neck for fun.
The book is loaded with info, but not as much as you’d like. Gene sometimes repeats stories, especially when it comes to Ace Frehley and Peter Criss misbehavin’. Though Gene usually tries to highlight who is playing on which songs, it’s not always clear. In some cases this information is lost, but it would nice to see credit breakdowns in the notes. It’s loaded with sketches, lyrics, unreleased photos, and other assorted curiosities.
Though heavy, and housing all 11 discs within, the book does feel flimsy along the spine. It is also a dust magnet. It is a shame it didn’t come with some kind of slipcase. Fans are going to have to improvise their own storage methods. I’ll probably put mine inside a tote bag. It is also a shame that the CDs themselves slip in and out of cardboard sleeves, but that was expected.
Part Four: Average Score
This isn’t to say there isn’t a lot of filler on the Vault. It only looks like there isn’t because I chose to list songs under two stars only. There are simply too many 2 star songs. It would get tedious. However, there is a surprising amount of good stuff on this set too, and otherwise perfectly listenable tracks. “Mongoloid Man” may be offensive, but it does rock.
One cannot overstate the importance of finally have the three historic Van Halen recordings. This is something that never seemed particularly likely until the Vault. Other demos of value include “Only You” and the Bob Dylan sessions. There is clearly enough good material here to justify buying. The amount of repeat songs under different titles is irritating, but that’s how Gene writes. He re-uses ideas until they either make an album, or don’t! For better or for worse, you’re getting a lot of those unreleased tapes right here. Most of them involve material for his two solo albums.
Let’s face it: Kiss die-hards want these collectible demos, for a number of reason. One is that we’ve been reading about some of these song titles for decades. Second is that many of them feature Kiss members in addition to Gene, such as Eric Singer, Eric Carr, Tommy Thayer, Bruce Kulick, Ace Frehley and Paul Stanley. They also include almost-members such as Bob Kulick and Anton Fig. For all intents and purposes, many of these tracks can be considered Kiss demos, released under the Gene Simmons name.
The disc with the best score was Disk 3 at 3.83/5, with its Van Halen demos elevating it. The lowest scoring disc was Bonus Disk at 2.16/5.
The average score for all 11 discs:
3.04/5 stars
However, here’s something important to note. The final score doesn’t matter. Not at all. Gene Simmons throws everything at the wall. He writes, and he re-writes, and he keeps going until he has 165 songs jammed onto a box set. The value here isn’t simple. It’s not something you can break down into numbers. The joy of hearing Eddie Van Halen doing whammy dives on “Tunnel of Love” cannot be quantified. The value of certain demos like “Only You” overshines mere numbers. This box set’s value will continue to pay musical dividends as we listen and listen again for years to come.
Thanks for joining us for this journey through the Vault!
Previous Reading:
Record Store Tales #600: The Vault
Disk 1 Review
Disk 2 Review
Disk 3 Review
Disk 4 Review
Disk 5 Review
Disk 6 Review
Disk 7 Review
Disk 8 Review
Disk 9 Review
Disk 10 Review
For those keeping score at home, this bonus CD contains tracks 151-165 in the Vault box set, 15 more than originally promised!
GENE SIMMONS – The Vault – Bonus Disk (Disk 11) (2018 Rhino)
As Gene notes in the book, there are many different versions of “Feel Like Heaven”…the most notorious of which is not on this box set. The “Vulgar Version” as we’ll call it is still just a bootleg. If you don’t know what it is, don’t ask. This demo of “Feel Like Heaven” is the most primitive, with Gene singing and playing bass over the sound of a vintage drum machine. This song is getting a bit repetitive, but this version definitely belongs only on a bonus disc. 1.5/5
“Obnoxious” is a surprise. It has a punky quality, but it also shares a chorus with “Reputation” which is an unreleased Kiss song from the 70s. “Obnoxious” is pretty good, daresay I prefer it to “Reputation”. The low-fi arrangement of bass and harmony vocals, with minimal guitar and no drums is really cool. Clearly it wasn’t intended to be released as-is, but I wouldn’t really change much. It sounds like Kiss. Sometimes things are best left primitive. Who knows? 4/5
Remember when the Kiss 40 compilations came out? They featured a brand new Kiss song called “Samurai Son”, featuring a Japanese girl group called Momoiro Clover Z. Although Kiss praised them at the time of the compilation album, in the liner notes here, Gene called them “basically dancers”. Ouch! Gene’s song submitted for the Kiss 40 compilation was “Mina-San, Mina-San”. Though ultimately, “Samurai Son” works better, “Mina-San, Mina-San” has a vintage Kiss vibe that the other song lacks. Really, the only thing wrong with this version is that Gene had to do all the vocals himself including the female backing vocals. So, it’s not perfect, it’s a little cringe when the backing vocals come in. Again, this is a demo – for demonstration! The song was not chosen and therefore never properly finished. 3/5
“Just Begun to Fight” is a title long mentioned in collector’s circles. Unbelievably, it’s really good. Gene notes it uses the same chords as “Dr. Love”, which is something that comes up frequently in this box set. The chorus shares commonality with “Burning Up With Fever”. Strangely, this might be the best use of them! “Just Begun to Fight” is vintage Kiss. Slow, powerful groove and a killer upbeat chorus. You can hear where Ace Frehley would lay down his solo. Gene recorded this song in 1978 with forgotten studio musicians. I would have liked to hear this song finished. Solid! 4.5/5
“It’s Funny, But It Ain’t No Joke” sounds like a low quality early 80s Kiss song. It’s fast and is fully written with lyrics and backing vocals, but it ain’t no good. Pun intended. There’s a pretty dreadful bridge to enjoy, and a caveman guitar solo to burn your ears out. 1/5
The song “Love By Invitation” was entirely written around one jazz chord that Gene liked. That chord repeats a lot. Gene doesn’t think this song was ever presented to Kiss. It doesn’t matter. Same results. Sounds like Unmasked era. Cool sax solo at least. 1.5/5
“Dorothy Lamour” also goes back to the Unmasked era, with Anton Fig on drums and Holly Knight on keyboards. This has an oldies rock and roll feel, but heavier. It has that 1950s sound with the bopping piano. Anton provides a solid backbeat. You can instantly hear a huge rise in quality over the previous drum parts on this disc. This doesn’t sound at all like a demo. This sounds like a finished album track with a great chorus accentuated by backing vocals. A song like this could have worked with Kiss, had they wanted to go back to that sound. Reminds me a bit of a toned-down “Bloody Luxury” by Whitesnake. 4/5
“Queen of Hearts” is not the Hot in the Shade song. This is a keyboard demo written with Pepy Castro around the time of Unmasked. It is truly dreadful, sounding like a lullaby for your nightmares. If it were a song by Jan Terri, it would be her best track, but it could be Gene’s worst. 0.5/5
Written in 1966, but recorded in 1980, “My Lorraine” is…something. Gene strums some pretty chords on acoustic and then breaks into a bad falsetto. For the second verse, he goes back to his normal voice. It’s a fine little folky song, but easily and justifiably forgotten. 2/5
“Leeta” is marginally better. This bad Beatles-y ballad was previously released on the Kiss Box Set. This old recording by Gene’s band Bullfrog Bheer reveals that Simmons had diverse tastes, but really hadn’t decided what he wanted to do. He was, and still is, willing to throw anything at the wall and see what sticks. However, if “Leeta” was a Beatles song, they would have given it to Ringo. 1.5/5
“Put on Your Slippers” originates in 1969, and Gene talks of the “folly of youth” in the liner notes. He wanted to be like Paul McCartney, and write and play all the instruments himself. He describes “Put on Your Slippers” as inspired by the Beatles’ “She Came In Through the Bathroom Window”. See above note about Ringo. 1.5/5
Back to 1978, drum machines and keyboards! “Gypsy Nights” is so corny it’s hilarious! It sounds like an AM radio song from the era. It is fine, up until the bridge, which is just from another song altogether. The smooth guitar solo is nice, but…wow. Just wow. 2/5
Back in 1987 on the Kiss eXposed video, Paul Stanley teased Gene about writing songs such as “I Love Eskimos”. Gene responded by saying, “That’s not too far off.” And here we have “Eskimo Sun”…also known as “Only You!” The melody is familiar, but the song is otherwise very different, and not very good. It’s interesting to finally hear the “Eskimo” song that Paul was joking about, and it’s fascinating that it’s actually “Only You”, but wow, this is really not enjoyable listening. 2/5
Mercifully coming closer to the end, “Nancy” is another Bullfrog Bheer song. You can imagine Gene writing this stuff, taking it so seriously, thinking he is the McCartney of the next generation. Meanwhile, the song he wrote is utter crap. 1/5
And finally, written for Gene’s late uncle George comes one of the most surprising songs of all. “My Uncle Is A Raft” goes back to the 10th grade, performed with friends. It’s a delightful little folky jig that sounds like something from the 1930s. It’s hard to say it’s a great song, because part of its appeal is its low-fi authenticity which lends of a comedic vintage quality. It ain’t bad though. The “yee-haw!” in the middle of the song says it all. This is an upbeat little number that sounds like it’s from another era entirely. Fascinating and delightful. 4/5
What a weird disc this was!
Average score by song: 2.16/5 stars, the lowest of the set.
Next time, we will sum up the box set and look at the extras. The Vault isn’t finished yet.
Bonus Disk 11 Track length and songwriters (from Wikipedia)
1. Feel Like Heaven (3:07) Simmons
2. Obnoxious (2:37) Simmons
3. Mina’San, Mina’San (2:13) Simmons
4. Just Begun to Fight (3:27) Simmons
5. It’s Funny, But It Ain’t No Joke (2:32) Simmons
6. Love by Invitation (3:21) Simmons
7. Dorothy Lamour (2:31) Simmons
8. Queen of Hearts (3:14) Simmons / Castro
9. My Lorraine (1:58) Simmons
10. Leeta (2:25) Simmons
11. Put on Your Slippers (2:24) Simmons
12. Gypsy Nights (2:55) Simmons
13. Eskimo Sun (3:08) Simmons
14. Nancy (1:27) Simmons
15. My Uncle Is a Raft (1:16) Simmons
Previous Reading:
Record Store Tales #600: The Vault
Disk 1 Review
Disk 2 Review
Disk 3 Review
Disk 4 Review
Disk 5 Review
Disk 6 Review
Disk 7 Review
Disk 8 Review
Disk 9 Review
For those keeping score at home, this CD contains tracks 136-150 in the Vault box set. This time we foray into genres far and wide, from disco to reggae.
GENE SIMMONS – The Vault – Disk 10 (2018 Rhino)
“Take It Like a Man #2” originated with a riff written on bass, and then intended for Psycho-Circus. Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer play on this demo. It was intended that Ace, Peter, Paul and Gene each take a line, and Gene does his little imitations of the members where he wanted them to sing. This song may have had been better than “You Wanted the Best” which had the same idea. It’s heavier and sounds pretty good in this demo form. Though it came later, it has a Creatures vibe. 3.5/5
“Take It Like a Man #1” is the original bass lick from which the song was later written. This is included to show how Gene would “hear” a full song in his head when coming up with the riff on bass. It also demonstrates he’s a better bassist than he gets credit for. This unfinished idea is just that: unfinished. Yet you can hear he was onto something, as demonstrated by “#2”. 2.5/5
“Have Mercy, Baby” is a Simmon / Kulick composition with Bruce playing guitar. This is a fully-fleshed out demo, at first recorded to four-track and then upgraded to 24-track for overdubs. It sounds like a Crazy Nights or Hot in the Shade era tune. That said, it wouldn’t have been album worthy. Though Bruce Kulick always offers intelligent and tasteful solo work, the song itself only has one or two solid hooks. 2.5/5
Gene gushes over Eric Carr as a human being in the liner notes. “We Won’t Take It Anymore” is a song that originated in the same session as “My Babe”, next on the box set. Written by Gene and Eric, this is a hard rocker with a cool chorus. It really is a shame that Eric wasn’t nurtured as a songwriter in Kiss the way he could have been. This has a strong “All Hell’s Breakin’ Loose” kind of vibe, and the chorus really would have worked well with Kiss. 3.5/5
“My Babe” is completely different! This fast, almost pop-punk! It almost throws back to Dressed to Kill-era Kiss, with that kind of simplicity and basic rock and roll arrangement. What it is, is a hybrid of many things and all of them sound good to me. It’s understandable why Kiss didn’t want to do this kind of song in the Carr era, but they really should have. 3.5/5
“Eat Your Heart Out” is not the same song that was later used on Monster (though the chorus really is similar). This is a late 70s demo of an idea that originated with “Rotten to the Core”. It’s a tangled web since so many ideas appear in multiple forms on this box set. This is a menacing little rock song that would have worked on any Kiss album from that period, but probably just wasn’t good enough. There are some cool melodies on the pre-chorus especially. 3/5
“Nine Lives” is a cool late-80s idea with Bruce Kulick on guitar. Again, not quite good enough to replace one of the album songs, but there is promise here too. It has a slow, slinky vibe. Kulick shows of some cool whammy work, followed by two-handed tapping. His technique seems to date it to Crazy Nights. 3/5
Back to the 70s, “Howling for Your Love” has Katey Sagal and the girls on backing vocals. It’s very similar to “Bad Bad Lovin'”, also known as “Dr. Love”, and the tangled web of songs becomes even more so. It’s pretty good and, once again, had Kiss made more albums, this would have been on one of them. 3/5
“I Ain’t Coming Back” is the song that “Never Gonna Leave You” from Disk 7 became. This is a four track demo with a dancey beat, but it’s no better than the other version. One of the poorer tracks on this set, with a chorus that should have never hit the recycle bin. Just trash it. 1/5
The riff to…ahem…“Granny Takes A Trip” sounds similar to “Weapons of Mass Destruction”. The title here was taken from a store in New York that sold platform boots. It’s very metal, but not very good. It’s very alterna-grunge. Probably intended for Carnival. Very noisy. Not worth exploring further. 1/5
Former Journey and Vinnie Vincent Invasion singer Robert Fleichmann co-wrote “Piece of the Rock” (not the King Kobra/Kick Axe song). This has a dark 80s vibe but sounds unfinished. There’s a compelling guitar part with good verses and a decent chorus, but the bridge that connects them should be excised. The song just needed something else to go in that section, and it would be pretty good. 2.5/5
Gene says “Rock It” was inspired by Fine Young Cannibals. I also hear Love and Rockets. Judging by the vocal track, this sounds like it was recorded much later. It’s not bad. There’s something cool going on here, especially with those 80s drum programs. 3/5
“Sticky Goo” is a cool reggae-based idea. It also has a “New York Groove” vibe. It could be finished into something cool. Cool, but different. There’s no denying that some of these songs would simply not work with Kiss and would have to go on solo albums. But, then again, they did do “Torpedo Girl”, so who’s to say what’s ultimately outside the Kiss wheelhouse? Gene is sure to lay down crunchy rhythm guitars here to ground it in rock. Still hearing lots of “New York Groove” though. 3/5
“Love Came To Me” is Gene’s answer to “I Was Made For Lovin’ You”, but it also re-uses certain melodies from “Love Is Blind”. (This is not mentioned in the book, but I’m telling you with my ears.) Gene concedes that he doesn’t know as much about dance music as Paul Stanley, but this isn’t a bad stab at the genre. It’s not as fast and infectious, but the bassline is a lot of fun, as is the beat. You could dance to it. 3/5
“Roar of the Greasepaint” is the original idea that later became “Journey of 1,000 Years” on Psycho-Circus. He later added chords from the earlier “You’re My Reason for Living 4 Track” (Disk 4) to create the final version. That version is superior for many reasons, including the heavy orchestration and progressive vibes. “Roar of the Greasepaint” has a cooler title though. It really ties into the Kiss image and should have been left as-is. This was the closing song on Psycho-Circus, and would have been the closing song on this 150 song box set…if Gene didn’t include an 11th bonus disc! 3.5/5
Average score by song: 2.76/5 stars
Disk 10 Track length and songwriters (from Wikipedia)
1. Take It Like a Man #2 (2:38) Simmons
2. Take It Like a Man #1 (2:44) Simmons
3. Have Mercy, Baby (4:04) Simmons / Kulick
4. We Won’t Take It Anymore (3:03) Simmons / Carr
5. My Babe (1:51) Simmons / Carr
6. Eat Your Heart Out (2:22) Simmons
7. Nine Lives (3:33) Simmons / Sigerson
8. Howling for Your Love (2:47) Simmons
9. I Ain’t Coming Back (3:02) Simmons
10. Granny Takes a Trip (1:55) Simmons
11. Piece of the Rock (3:48) Simmons / Fleischman
12. Rock It (2:23) Simmons
13. Sticky Goo (3:05) Simmons
14. Love Came to Me (3:25) Simmons
15. Roar of the Greasepaint (3:07) Simmons
Previous Reading:
Record Store Tales #600: The Vault
Disk 1 Review
Disk 2 Review
Disk 3 Review
Disk 4 Review
Disk 5 Review
Disk 6 Review
Disk 7 Review
Disk 8 Review
Welcome back, creatures of the night. For those keeping score at home, this CD contains tracks 121-135 in the Vault box set.
GENE SIMMONS – The Vault – Disk 9 (2018 Rhino)
Gene wrote “It’s Gonna Be Alright” with Mikel Japp, who was a Paul Stanley co-writer. This was written for Creatures, and this 4:29 version appears on that box set. Japp came up with the opening lick while the rest came from Gene. It’s a good song, though too upbeat and pop for Creatures. The drum machine is just a placeholder, but even with the drum machine, it’s a good song already. The guitar part is catchy and Kiss-like. It would have fit into that Kiss Killers sound. 3.5/5
“It’s Gonna Be Alright #2” was re-done with Bruce Kulick in the mid-80s. This is more fleshed out, with solos and harder-edged guitars. The drum program is more sophisticated and it’s more suitable for an album like Asylum. A real shame that songs like this were not chosen in favour of weaker compositions. Some songs might not have fit the direction of the album, but perhaps the direction of the album was at fault. 4/5
“Everybody Knows #1” is performed with Tommy Thayer, who plays a very similar acoustic guitar part inspired by “Rock Bottom” from Dressed to Kill. The electric guitars kick in, along with a massive chorus. This would date back to the Hot in the Shade era and absolutely should have been on that album. The answering vocals are killer and it makes you wonder what Paul Stanley could have done with those backing vocals. According to Wikipedia, the Japanese version of Asshole contained “Everybody Knows” as a bonus track, but it is unknown which one. 4/5
“Everybody Knows #2” is a very different version. This one is more 90s and alterna-rock. It could have worked on an album like Carnival of Souls or Psycho-Circus. While it is still a good song, the previous one is superior, though that might just be a matter of taste. The chorus is intact but a lot of the hooks I liked are not. 3.5/5
A very special demo is ahead. “You’re All That I Want” was of course the closing song on Kiss Unmasked. Gene says this is the only demo he has with Paul Stanley assisting. Therefore this is the Starchild’s only appearance in this box set, and perhaps therefore the only “true” Kiss demo. It’s like a shock to the system to finally hear Paul singing, nine discs in. This demo doesn’t have the pep of the final version, but they were going for something harder edged. The acoustic guitars are very crisp and unlike anything on the Unmasked album. This demo just proves that Gene and Paul are better together than apart. 4/5
“Kids With Painted Faces” is the third version of “I Am Yours”, here re-written with new lyrics including one about playing air guitar to Ace. The Beatles influence still comes through. This is the song Gene compared to “All the Young Dudes” due to its anthemic guitar melody. One lyric is pretty poignant: “There is no Kiss without you.” True, Gene. True. 3.5/5
“I Wanna Rule the World” is another variation of the “Now That You’re Gone” / “Mirage” idea. It sounds as if the Beatles moved to Seattle in 1992. It’s quite intriguing. There was a certain simplicity that was happening with melody in the 1990s, and this demo shares that quality. It is not bad, but the rough and distorted recording does it no favours. It is important to remember that “demo” means “demonstration”. You would literally record an idea to relay or demonstrate the idea to another person, either for them to perform it themselves, or see if they are interested in it. 3/5
“Rule the World #2” is a completely different idea with a similar title. In the liner notes, Gene explains he does this to make box sets harder for reviewers to write about (kidding!). This is a very grungey, alternative song with droning guitars and a distinctly 90s sound. This is one of the songs Gene wrote with Scott Van Zen. It’s pretty good, and if Kiss had just made more albums instead of drying up creatively after the reunion, this might have come out on one of them. 3/5
“Damn, I’m Good” starts with Gene coming up with the CCR-inspired chord ideas on acoustic. It then fades into a funky electric demo with Eric Singer. Gene notes that he re-used some of the lyrics in this song in multiple other songs in the box set, including opener “Are You Ready”. Now, you don’t often associate Gene Simmons with funky rock, but “Damn, I’m Good” cooks. Kiss could not have done a song this funky without Ace Frehley, which is to say, though it is only mildly funky, it would benefit from the guy who wrote “Torpedo Girl”. In short: this is a different song and it may turn off some listeners. I think it’s great. 4.5/5
An instrumental version of “Dial L For Love” appeared on Eric Carr’s posthumous Unfinished Business album. Now here is a full version with drums, lyrics and Gene Simmons singing. Bruce Kulick also appears, and Adam Mitchell helped finish. It has a cool 80s riff with the harmonics that were currently in vogue. Had it been included, Gene says it would have been on Animalize or Asylum, but I think his memory is a bit faulty. This sounds more like Crazy Nights era. It should have had Eric Carr singing. The chorus sounds up his alley. 3.5/5
“Just Like the Movies #1” is the only song Gene wrote with singer / songwriter Stephen Bishop. This might be a good thing. It’s hard to hear what Gene was going for. It sounds like something circa Unmasked, with complex pre-recorded drums and a dancey sound. In fact some of it did end up in “She’s So European” if you listen carefully. You won’t read that in the liner notes. Gene liked the title as a chorus idea: “Just like the movies, I feel like Romeo.” The idea seems like it has something usable, but this recording wouldn’t have been it. 2/5
“I Know Who You Are” ended up on Gene’s first solo album as “Living In Sin”. This early demo features Joe X. Dube of Starz on drums. Though this version still features prominent piano beats, it’s more rock n’ roll, and Kiss-like, than his solo counterpart. You can almost hear where Gene would want Ace to lay down a fat solo. Gene says all this is based on an old song idea called “Drive Me Wild”. 3.5/5
“Sweet Temptation”, or part of it anyway, was used in “Only You” on The Elder. It becomes the “I can’t believe this is true, why do I listen to you?” part. The rest was discarded. Which is fine. The chorus is not memorable. It’s fascinating how these songs come to be. Of course, as we have discussed, perhaps the older demo of “Only You” is better than the final, but here’s the missing element that was needed to created the Elder version. 2/5
“Are You Always This Hot” is a late-80s shredder song featuring Bruce Kulick and co-written by Adam Mitchell. The solo is all whammy and tricks, and the tempo is that uptempo plod that Gene was good at on albums like Animalize. “Are You Always This Hot” is a song title we’ve seen printed in magazines and books for years, but I always thought with a title like that, it was a Paul song. Nope! All Gene. 2.5/5
“Fourever” goes back to the same sessions as “Bad Bad Lovin'” aka “Dr. Love”, so you know how old it is, though this version sounds newer. It features prominent sax, and was inspired by the Dave Clark Five. It’s basically Gene singing about himself and Kiss, but it’s certainly not the first time. It’s pretty good, mostly because of the saxophone and cool shouted backing vocals. It could have worked with Kiss, who did eventually incorporate sax into some of their music. 3.5/5
Average score by song: 3.3/5 stars
Disk 9 Track length and songwriters (from Wikipedia)
1. It’s Gonna Be Alright (4:30) Simmons / Japp
2. It’s Gonna Be Alright #2 (3:15) Simmons / Japp
3. Everybody Knows #1 (3:55) Simmons
4. Everybody Knows #2 (3:45) Simmons
5. You’re All That I Want (4:06) Simmons
6. Kids With Painted Faces (3:15) Leader / Simmons
7. I Wanna Rule the World (5:01) Simmons
8. Rule the World #2 (4:08) Simmons / Van Zen
9. Damn, I’m Good (3:29) Simmons
10. Dial L for Love (3:42) Simmons / Mitchell / Carr
11. Just Like the Movies #1 (2:45) Simmons / Bishop
12. I Know Who You Are (3:28) Simmons
13. Sweet Temptation (2:48) Simmons
14. Are You Always This Hot (3:01) Simmons / Mitchell
15. Fourever (3:05) Simmons
This weekend on Grant’s Rock Warehaus, we tackled a band that needs and deserves more attention: Canada’s Kick Axe!
“Nobody’s talking about Kick Axe!” said Grant. We aim to change that with this show. Please give it a watch! What are your favourite Kick Axe songs?
This is a show I am very proud of. Our passion for these albums and songs comes through. This might be the best Kick Axe content you’ll find on Youtube today! Show notes are below, if you want the Cole’s Notes version, but you’ll have to watch the video to get our album rankings.
Formed 1976, Regina Saskatchewan as “Hobbit”.
Original lineup:
Ray Harvey added on guitar.
Moved to Vancouver BC, Gary Langen leaves band replaced by Brian Gillstrom, Charles McNary hired as vocalist.
1981 – Playboy Street Rock – live track called “Reality is the Nightmare”.
1981 – Weekend Ride / One More Time (Harvey on vocals).
Produced by Bill Henderson and Brian Too Loud McLeod of Chilliwack.
Wrote “Heavy Metal Shuffle” which opened Vices later on. Attempted to record an album but never released it.
McNary replaced by George Criston, who brought in power, range and soul as well as a unique sound.
1984 – Signed to CBS in Canada, approached Spencer Proffer to produce because they wanted the same sound as Metal Health by Quiet Riot. Proffer liked the band personally and thought highly of their musicianship. Album Vices released on Pasha in the US.
Recorded existing material (2 songs re-written with Proffer) in Hollywood at S.I.R. 30 Days in the Hole – a cover, like Cum On Feel the Noize, but not intended to be a hit, just a showcase for their talents. Released on the soundtrack to Up the Creek.
Ran into Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler – supposedly approached Criston to replace Ian Gillan in Black Sabbath. Proffer was working with both bands.
Vices is their best album. Proffer intended it to be a concept album about vices. Not a bad song. Bangin’ backing vocals. Music video for On the Road to Rock made major impact in Canada, with the comedic video attracting attention. The Vices mascot was one of my first “rock buttons”.
Vices did not perform to expectations, but Kick Axe wrote three songs for the next Black Sabbath album: “Wild in the Streets”, “Hunger”, and “Piece of the Rock”, later recorded by W.A.S.P. and King Kobra. Kick Axe did not want to lose Criston to Sabbath. “Piece of the Rock” is one of the rarest Kick Axe tracks, only released on a 2005 issue of Rock the World.
1985 – Second album – Pasha wants band more streamlined for radio. Brought in Pasha staffer Randy Bishop to help on lyrics. Co-wrote 5 songs and co-produced Welcome to the Club. Some of the heaviness is blunted, in favour of better song structure and melodies. Recorded at Metalworks in Toronto. Cover art by Hugh Syme, which the band never understood the meaning of.
Band brought in cover of Joe Cocker’s version of “With A Little Help From My Friends”. Rik Emmett, Lee Aaron, Andy Curran, Alfie Zappacosta and more on backing vocals. Very cool music video made of the recording session.
Pretty solid album, though not as banging throughout as the original. The cover tune is completely different, but really excellent.
The band and Proffer blame lack of sales on parent label Epic. No support. Toured with Autograph, Krokus, Night Ranger, Helix and Triumph.
1986 – Ray Harvey returns home to deal with family matters. Joins Rock & Hyde as touring guitarist (Bob Rock & Paul Hyde).
The Transformers soundtrack released. Hunger, and Nothing’s Gonna Stand In Our Way released as Spectre General. All done by Proffer, without knowledge of the band. Due to pseudonym used, no benefit to band happened.
Still signed to CBS in Canada. Next album picked up by Roadrunner in US.
Rock the World (initially “Fuck the World”) recorded as four piece. Self-produced primarily by Larry due to lack of funds provided by CBS. Recorded at Right Trak in Vancouver. Also forced to mix the album themselves. The cover tune this time is The Chain by Fleetwood Mac.
Band breaks up – sherrifs seize equipment due to unpaid debts. Later immortalized in the song Rocking Daze on Kick Axe IV.
2002 – Kick Axe reunite with Gary Langen returning, this time on lead vocals. George Criston remains active in country and more soulful music. Has expressed no interest in returning to rock. Has not participated with reissues. Has worked as a guitar tech for Sarah McLachlan, Dido, Avril Lavigne, and k.d. lang.
2004 – Kick Axe IV self produced. Best song Rockin Daze written by Brian Gillstrom. Decent album but not memorable long-term except for Rockin Daze. Gary Langen has a style of voice reminiscent of Phil Naro.
2008 – Gary Langen leaves band, replaced by Daniel Nargang.
2023 – Run to the Thunder, first new song in decades, to be followed by new album.
Record Store Day is already said and done in Australia, and Peter Kerr of Rock Daydream Nation has returned with reports, and bounty.
Peter presents to us some exclusive Thin Lizzy, Motorhead, and some acts that are a little more regional to his neck of the woods. I show off a bit of my favourites from past years. We also discuss the value and collectability of RSD releases in general. Give it a watch!
If anyone wants to do me a solid, I’m looking for:
Previous Reading:
Record Store Tales #600: The Vault
Disk 1 Review
Disk 2 Review
Disk 3 Review
Disk 4 Review
Disk 5 Review
Disk 6 Review
Disk 7 Review
Onto Sonic Boom and some other albums. For those keeping score at home, this CD contains tracks 106-120 in the Vault box set.
GENE SIMMONS – The Vault – Disk 8 (2018 Rhino)
“We Rocked It All Night” is an autobiographical song written for the Sonic Boom album. Though modern sounding, it also has a throwback vibe. It would have fit well on Sonic Boom and you could make an argument for its inclusion. It has a cool old-time rock and roll vibe while remaining modern Kiss. Gene can’t help referencing back to “Rock and Roll all Nite” in the lyrics, and it’s alright by me. 4/5
“She’s Rotten to the Core” is a Gene Simmons / Bruce Kulick composition not to be confused with “Rotten to the Core”. They are two different songs. It can get very confusing going through these demos! Gene likes to re-use titles and lyrics. This also has a vintage Kiss sound to it. Catchy chorus, circa Rock and Roll Over. “She’s rotten to the core, and I don’t care!” Really good tune that would have worked well on a number of Kiss albums. 4/5
“S&M Love” is the same musical idea as “Sweet & Dirty Love”, recorded with Tommy Thayer. These originate with an old Gene song called “Jelly Roll”. This version of the song has lots of tasty slide guitar action and sounds pretty much ready for an album. It’s better than the version on Asshole. It’s more rock and roll. 4/5
“Sweet & Dirty Love #2” with Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer is a dirtier demo of the same song. It’s a lot rougher sonically but with just as much slide. Good, fast & heavy. Too much it doesn’t sound as good. 3.5/5
“Jelly Roll” is the original idea. You can hear the riff there, and suddenly a younger Gene Simmons is singing the same melody that we just heard. There’s a certain AC/DC vibe here without the slide guitar. Perhaps it was too fast and straight-ahead for Kiss, who knows? A song like this easily could have been on Love Gun. 3.5/5
In this Vault, we often hear later versions before we hear the originals. “Just Gimme Love #2” is a Thayer & Singer update of a song we’ll hear later on. It has a cool “Kickstart My Heart” beat and tempo. Lo and behold, this song later became “You Wanted the Best” on Psycho-Circus. The chorus is different, and maybe a little more Kiss-like. Thayer’s solo is in the Ace ballpark. Regardless, it’s not quite the song that the final version would be, though it’s pretty good. 3.5/5
“You Wanted the Best” is of course the re-written version considered for Psycho-Circus. Gene explains in the liner notes that Ace and Peter were largely absent from the sessions not because they were underskilled as we were told before. Now Gene says it’s because the two wanted to renegotiate their contracts last minute, so they were forced to start working with Thayer on the album. This song was intended to be sung by all four members and ultimately that’s exactly what happened when Ace and Peter “came to their senses”. There are some cool lines here that didn’t make it into the final version here such as “Yeah, we’re back baby!” 3.5/5
“Just Gimme Love #1” is now, finally the original 1970s version of everything we’ve just heard. It is from the same recording session that yielded “Love Is Blind” and other songs. It’s kind of crazy how Gene wrote this music for his band and they didn’t get around to it for 20 years. This original idea is less breakneck and more in the vibe of old school Kiss, but the chorus doesn’t have the right vibe yet. It’s a little clunky, but Kiss obviously would have made more more their style. Since the idea here is a little more primitive, the rating is lower. 3/5
You gotta love Gene’s titles sometimes. “Hit the Ground (Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is)” is a Singer / Thayer demo with improvised lyrics just to get the musical idea down. It originally came to Gene while in a car so he sang into into a cell phone to record it. There’s something cool here, but it’s just a fragment of a song, not a complete idea. 2.5/5
Pete Townsend inspired the big chords on “Who Said So”. It definitely sounds like a Who outtake, and Eric Singer sounds like he’s going for a Keith Moon vibe on some of his fills. Tommy Thayer is on guitar as Gene counts out the sections to the band. “Bridge, two, four!” They are literally hashing out the song live in the studio. There could have been something here. As it is, it’s just the basis of an idea. 2.5/5
“Bad Bad Lovin'” is crazy. We already heard another version of “Bad Bad Lovin'” that became “Dr. Love” on Disk 4. Now Gene revisits the idea in 1978 and sounds more like Alice Cooper or Lou Reed in a sing-talk voice. There’s a saxophone. This is cool. Some of the words later became “Good Girl Gone Bad” on Crazy Nights, but largely this sounds like “Charisma” on Dynasty. Gene doesn’t say so, but this can be considered a prototype for “Charisma”. 4.5/5
Jumping ahead to Revenge, “I’m Paralyzed” eventually ended up on that album. Bob Ezrin has a writing credit and joins on the chorus. It’s a very cool demo, but the chorus is not the final one. It doesn’t quite fit, but of course they would fix that later. Drums are programmed and Gene played the guitar with a coin a-la Brian May, to a get a certain chug chug sound. Not bad stuff. 3/5
“Chrome Heart” is a Bruce Kulick / Gene Simmons demo from a post-Crazy Nights era where Kiss needed to rock a little more. This song smokes! Bruce Kulick always brings a certain level of quality. This is better than most of Gene’s songs that made it onto Hot in the Shade. How do songs like this get lost? Yet another song that should have been released on an album. It does sound like some parts turned up elsewhere. 4/5
Gene really likes these big Mountain chords that inspired “Goin’ Blind”. “‘Til the End of Time” is a similar idea, mostly instrumental with Gene scatting improvised lyrics. There was potential here to create a similar slow, determined and emotional song of heavy construction. 3.5/5
This disc closes on a pretty clean demo of “Thou Shalt Not” from the Revenge album. All the music is there, but none of the lyrics aside from the title. There are empty spots that Gene intended to fill with words. It’s kind of funny to hear that. Good idea with a final song that was album-worthy. 3/5
Average score by song: 3.46/5 stars
Disk 8 Track length and songwriters (from Wikipedia)
1. We Rocked It All Night (3:25) Simmons
2. She’s Rotten to the Core (3:33) Simmons / Kulick
3. S&M Love (2:40) Simmons
4. Sweet & Dirty Love #2 (3:24) Simmons
5. Jelly Roll (1:54) Simmons
6. Just Gimme Love #2 (3:40) Simmons
7. You Wanted the Best (3:41) Simmons
8. Just Gimme Love #1 (3:34) Simmons
9. Hit the Ground (2:10) Simmons
10. Who Said So (1:55) Simmons
11. Bad Bad Lovin’ (3:15) Simmons
12. I’m Paralyzed (3:40) Simmons / Ezrin
13. Chrome Heart (3:36) Simmons / Kulick
14. Till the End of Time (3:15) Simmons
15. Thou Shalt Not (3:07) Simmons / Damon
The Arkells are not slowing down! With last year’s surprise release of the unplanned acoustic album Laundry Pile, not to mention the two Blink albums, the band are back in 2024 with their first full covers album! Of note, this album includes Abba’s “Gimme Gimme Gimme (A Man After Midnight)”, previously only available on an iTunes EP. This is its first physical release.
Tracklist
01) Dancing On My Own
02) I Want You Back
03) You Make My Dreams
04) As It Was
05) Sledgehammer
06) Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!
07) 9 to 5
08) I Wanna Dance With Somebody
09) Dancing in the Dark
10) The Power Of Love
11) Dancing Queen
WHY DISCO LOADOUT?
A disco loadout is a term in our industry that describes a very humbling act. Many bands have experienced this, and we certainly have. Sometimes when you’re on tour you might pull up to a venue to find there is a later show happening the same night. The promoter, looking at his spreadsheet, has decided that it makes financial sense to book two separate shows on the same night. Your band is playing the early show, and when you are finished, you must load your gear down the stairs and out the door while a lineup of people waits to get into the venue for the next show. The later show is usually a cover band, performing songs that everyone knows and likes.
We have been humbled by this in the past and instead of living with the embarrassment, we have performed and recorded those songs for you. We’re taking the term back.
Disco Loadout Vol 1. Songs Arkells like to play when we need to party like it’s a late show.
mikeladano.com 