REVIEW: Dust – Hard Attack / Dust (1972/1971)

The KISS RE-REVIEW SERIES Supplemental:  Kerner and Wise.

DUST – Hard Attack (1972) / Dust (1971) (2013 Sony Legacy)

fans know the names of Richie Wise and Kenny Kerner.  This production team laid down the first two Kiss records, and although their production was not the best, they were the first.  But where did they come from?  A little trio called Dust.  Wise was the singer and guitar player.  Kerner was the manager, co-producer and co-writer.  They released two records as Dust, also featuring legendary Derringer bassist Kenny Aaronson and drummer Mark Bell.  These two albums, Hard Attack and Dust, were remastered and compiled as one CD by Sony in 2013 (presented in reverse order).

The cool thing is the Dust albums actually sound better than the Kiss albums.

Dust were a hard rockin’ band, distinguished by having loads of slide and pedal steel guitars (handled by Aaronson).  Dust were travelling the same roads as other bands such as Aerosmith, Cream, Free or Zeppelin, but with less of an identity.  The songs were good.  “Stone Woman” is slippery slick blues rock, while “Goin’ Easy” is a laid back southern acoustic blues.  And they could get heavy.  “Love Me Hard” is the kind of proto-metal that Budgie, Sabbath and Purple were doing on the other side of the Atlantic.

3.5/5 stars

This was a 200 word review in the tradition of the #200wordchallenge.

 

 

20 comments

    1. Definitely. It’s cool to discover bands from this era, with that sound you like, but you never heard the albums before. I feel like there is still much to explore.

      Like

      Reply

  3. Hard Attack? Love me hard? sounds like a certain bunch of make-up wearing guys learned a thing or two about song titles righ here.

    HMO is right, this sounds right up my alley.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

      1. You wouldn’t think there would be any connection between Kiss and the Ramones. They’re about as far apart on the spectrum as can be, but there is this band. I find that pretty interesting.

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

        1. Actually Zack I found out years later that Paul used to run into the Ramones at clubs and befriended them. Kiss covered Rock and Roll Radio! We’ll get there when we get to 2003!

          Liked by 1 person

    1. I didn’t know Marky Ramone was the drummer!

      Yup this is brand new, the second brand new review so far for this series, and there will be more. Hopefully lots more. This CD didn’t exist in 2012 so I didn’t have a chance to review then!

      Like

      Reply

Rock a Reply