Author: mikeladano

Metal, hard rock, rock and roll! Record Store Tales & Reviews! Grab A Stack of Rock and more. Poking the bear since 2010.

REVIEW: KISS – Psycho Circus (1998, Japanese and Australian versions)

PartΒ 38 of my series of Kiss reviews, leading up to the release of Monster!Β 

 

PSYCHOKISS – Psycho Circus (1998)

I have a really hard time rating Psycho-Circus.Β  I played itΒ every dayΒ when it came out,Β but I like it a lot less now than I did in 1998.Β Once I got over the novelty of “finally, a new album by the original Kiss,” I stopped listening to it.Β  I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that Gene and Paul are essentially the only members of the original Kiss on most of it.Β  That’s the biggest problem.

On all but one song, drums are by Kevin Valentine (ex-Cinderella), a good studio drummer.Β Β Guitars are handled by Tommy Thayer (who fits into the story later) on all but two songs.

The other problem is it’s way too overproduced and I lay that blame at the feet of Bruce Fairbairn, rest his soul.

Fairbairn was a great producer for Bon Jovi and especially Aerosmith in the 80’s, but he wasΒ the wrong guy to produce Kiss. I think he wanted to make a dense, lush album as if it were 1998’s version of Destroyer, and he failed miserably. Paul wanted Bob Ezrin to produce…oh, the album that might have been.Β  Paul and Fairbairn clashed in the studio regularly over the direction of the album.

The title track, thoughΒ is amazing!Β Β Β Vintage, anthemicΒ Paul Stanley. The solo is great,Β also very vintage…but it’s Tommy. I don’t mind Fairbairn’s production here, the circus noises suit the song, however the drums sound way too plastic.Β  This is the case with almost the entire album.Β  The drums sound like samples throughout.

Gene’s “Within” follows, which I believe was a Carnival Of Souls outtake. (Two other COS/Psycho-Circus outtakes, “Sweet & Dirty Love” and “Carnival Of Souls” itself ended up on Gene’s solo album.)Β “Within” isΒ a slow dirgey ditty.Β  It’s a good song with lots of atmosphere, but it has nothing to do sound-wise with the rest of this album.Β  It would have been more suited to Creatures or Carnival, but not so much this album.

The cumbersome Paul title, “I Pledge Allegiance To The State Of Rock & Roll” is next. I hate this song. It’s a fast one, nothing special, a little stock, and to me is nothing but pure filler.

Then there’s finally a real Kiss song with all four members playing: Ace’s “Into the Void”. It is definitely one of the best songs on the album, with a riff that only Ace could play and the drums sound a lot better here.Β  It’s quintessential Kiss.Β  When I think of Kiss, I thik of songs that sound like “Into the Void”.

“We Are One” is a Gene song, and it sounds a lot like hisΒ 1978 solo album. It’s a nice song, I think it’s a tad slow, but it’s got that late 70’s vibe.Β  Maybe like a “Great Expectations” too.

The secondΒ side of the album starts with “You Wanted The Best” which was clearly written by Gene as a Kiss “comeback” song. It’s neat in that all four members sing lead for the first time ever, but really that’s its only selling point. Fairbairn overproduced once again, and the guitars sound a lot more processed than they should. The solo is definitely Ace, though. I think “You Wanted The Best” is another one of those Gene songs that had been presented to the band and rejected from previous albums like “Within” was.

Paul Stanley takes the next track with “Raise Your Glasses”, which is yet again overproduced and also a bit too pop sounding. It sounds like something from Hot In the Shade or that general era.Β  Paul sings some nice harmonies with himself in the middle, but the demo version of this is better (from the “Psycho Circus” CDΒ single pictured below).

Since Peter Criss’ material was allegedly deemed too poor for this album, Paul and Ezrin wrote I “Finally Found My Way” for him to sing. It was meant to be the next “Beth” but I don’t need to tell you what happened there (nothing). It’s a piano ballad (that’s Ezrin on Fender Rhodes) and it’s a nice song, maybe it is was for Neil Diamond to sing. It’s just too darn soft, and Peter’s voice lacks the rasp.Β  The rasp would have given it some edge like Kiss ballads of yore.Β Β He sounds great harmonizing with Paul on the bridge though.

Paul and Bruce Kulick wrote the next song, “Dreamin'”, which was ripped offΒ of “I’m Eighteen” by Alice Cooper. It is basically the same song, and I believe Alice beat them in court too.

The most interesting song was saved for last, Gene Simmons’ epic “Journey Of 1,000 Years”. I don’t know what this could be compared to.Β  Although itΒ wasn’t popular with the Kiss fans I know, I think it’s the best song here. Overproducing worked on this song. It is loaded with strings and who-knows-what, and Gene’s chorus is just mindblowing. “Can you hear me calling, can you hear the sound? Can you hear me calling, or is the voice of the crowd?” If this song was on The Elder, it would have fit in better.Β  It’s majestic and I think a good example of what Gene is capable of when he sets his mind to it.

Japan got a bonus track written by Gene called “In Your Face”. He wrote it forΒ Ace to sing, so it has become a little bit of special song, a lost Kiss gem. The production is a little more sparse and though it is not a great Kiss song, Ace’s vocal sets it apart a bit. Worth having.

I have a couple versions of this album.Β  I bought the Japanese version first, for the bonus track, and it was not cheap!Β  The packaging here is cumbersome, but superior to the fragile lenticularΒ jewel case that North America got. It is a digipack whose front cover opens like doors to reveal the Psycho Circus “clown” inside in 3D. Typical gradiose Kiss and I love it.

Australia got a 1999 reissue with a 6 song bonus disc called Kiss Live.Β  It contains 3 classics and 3 newbies.Β  So, in other words, you can get versions of these songs played by the original lineup.Β  This is worth having.Β  Track list:Β  “Psycho Circus”, “Let Me Go, Rock and Roll”, “Into the Void” (with guitar solo), “Within” (with drum solo), “100,000 Years”, and “Black Diamond”.

When you hear Psycho Circus, you can’t help but think that Kiss blew a monumental opportunity to create history. In the end, it’s “just another Kiss album”, and not a particularly great one. It certainly inferior to the first 7 studio albums at best.Β  It has a leg up on some of the 80’s records, but it just doesn’t rock hard enough!Β  The right producer could have made this sound like Kiss, not Aerojovi.

3/5 stars

Part 95: Pierced and Scarred

RECORD STORE TALES Part 95: Pierced and Scarred

When you walk into a CD store today, you might see all sorts of colourful characters. Β Maybe you’ll see a mohawk, purple hair, piercings and tattoos. Β Something about the music scene attracts that sort of style, and young folks in CD stores often emulate their rock star heroes.

Well, not in our store!

When I first started in ’94, the rules were clear:Β  No weird hair colours, no piercings (not even ears, on men), no visible tattoos. Β In a music store.

The rationale behind this was that we were a mall music store – we catered to mall rats who listened to Nine Inch Nails, but also to grannies looking for the new Anne Murray. Β We couldn’t scare off the old ladies with an earring.Β  It all came down to personality really.Β  The man who called the shots and paid the bills as well as the paycheques didn’t like earrings on men. Β He was a pretty clean cut, physically fit, unpierced chap and earrings on men were the opposite of his vision for a record store.

I know.Β  I know how weird that sounds, for a music store, but rules are rules are rules.

Then in ’95, we hired a girl with a visible back tattoo, so the tattoo rule quietly went out the window. Β Guys were still not allowed to have earrings.

In ’97, one of our guys spent the summer in England. Β He returned in the fall with a nose ring. Β He knew the policy and didn’t care.Β  The boss decided to bend the rule, since he had β€œalready spent the money” to have the piercing done. This opened the door a crack.Β  Before too long we had girls with nose rings, guys with eyebrow rings and visible tattoos, and I decided to get my ears pierced.Β  I put up with a little grief over it (β€œWhy would you want to do that to yourself?”) but the policy was no longer in effect.Β  We were finally starting to catch up with the rest of the world in general, and music stores specifically!Β  Our new policy stated that facial piercings were allowed as long as they were not β€œexcessive”. Β β€œExcessive” was never defined, but it was understood that a couple were OK.

I decided I wanted a lip piercing, and later on a nose piercing. Β I became very active in the body modification community, making friends in tattoo shops. Β (Some of those friends are LeBrain readers today.)Β  I never went hog wild.Β  To date I only have two tattoos, and one earring left.Β  However as I went from my 20’s to my 30’s, working in a music store, I was able to explore different looks.

By 2004,Β there was a rollback of the piercing policy.Β  Sales had been slumping thanks to downloading, and changes were made.

While girls were still allowed to keep their nose rings, guys were not. Β I was given direct instructions to remove my lip and nose piercings, immediately. Β I protested.Β  β€œWhat about our policy? Β The policy states that facial piercings are allowed as long as we don’t go into excess, and I only have two, which is less than others.”

The response was, β€œI know. Β The policy was a mistake. Β We’re changing the policy back, effective immediately.”

Our Niagara Falls store owner, Lemon Kurri Klopek, was very active in his local tattoo community, and even a tattoo shop overseas, which enabled him to tour there with his band, the Legendary Klopeks.Β  He sent some reading material written by Shannon LarrattΒ my way, on why allowing piercings in the work place is good for morale and good for a unique store image. Β I left these reading materials for my boss, who β€œfiled” them. Β I don’t know if he read them or not.Β  My piercings grew in.

In the long run, this policy change was a good thing. Β Don’t get me wrong – it did nothing to fix sales slumps. Β It did nothing to herd in old ladies by the gaggle, to purchase Anne Murray discs. Β It did succeed inΒ making me ask questions.Β  One question was, “Since I can’t have the piercings anymore, why don’tΒ I just look for a normal 9-5 job?”Β The piercings were already out, it only made sense to make a new resume and make some serious life changes.

REVIEW: KISS – Carnival Of Souls (The Final Sessions) (1997)

PartΒ 38 of my series of Kiss reviews, leading up to the release of Monster!Β 

KISS – Carnival of Souls (The Final Sessions) (1997, recorded 1994-95)

Finally!Β  Five years since Revenge, a studio album!

But not the studio album that the general public had been expecting.Β  The average person on the street would have expected an album by the original Kiss, since they’d just finished a long worldwide smash hit reunion tour.Β  Carnival of Souls was an album by Paul, Gene, Bruce Kulick and Eric Singer; the album they had finished just before the reunion tour was announced.

Prior to the reunion tour, Gene hyped the new material:Β  “Very much a brother record to Revenge,” was a quote he gave to M.E.A.T Magazine.Β  “Head music” was another phrase he used to describe the new album, which was then still called HeadΒ (original artwork from Bruce’s website below).

COSartworkFlameHeadjpg

With 20/20 hindsight, I think it’s obvious that Kiss were choosing to evolve by jumping on the grunge bandwagon.Β  The producer was Toby Wright, best known for cutting two records with Alice In Chains.Β  The riffs were downtuned, heavy, and obviously not from the streets of New York like classic Kiss.Β  These sounded like riffs from Seattle.

The thing is, I like Carnival of Souls, quite a bit.Β  I absolutely loved it back then.Β  I paid $30 for a bootleg copy (at one point, this was the most heavily bootlegged album ever) back in 1996.Β  I like almost every song, and this record was historic for Bruce Kulick.Β  Not only did he have a whoppingΒ 9 writing credits out of 12 songs, but he also had his first lead vocal:Β  “I Walk Alone”.Β  (Today, Bruce sings lead vocals on his excellent solo albums — check out the BK3 album featuring Gene & Nick Simmons.)

Ironic that Bruce would indeed walk alone in early ’96, having been a driving force of this record.

Kicking off with a lot of noise, feeback, and Paul’s backwards distored vocals, “Hate” opens Carnival of Souls.Β  Anchored by a complex drum & cymbol pattern by Eric Singer, “Hate” is probably the heaviest song Kiss has ever recorded.Β  It is a relentlessΒ Soundgarden-ish assault with a drum pattern straight out of the Matt Cameron book of tricks.

Paul’s “Rain” is another good, grungy song, but it is nothing compared with “Master & Slave”.Β  Also known as “Tell Me” on some bootlegs, this is a bass-drivenΒ number, with an actual chorus that can be sung along to.Β  Kiss fans latched onto this one as an early favourite.

“Childhood’s End” is the first epic ballady type song on the album, a Gene title stolen from an Arthur C. Clarke classic.Β  Lyrically unrelated, this song features a children’s choir and probably could have been on an album like Revenge had Bob Ezrin produced.

Perhaps unwisely, this is followed by a true ballad, Paul’s “I Will Be There”, a song written for his son.Β  It is a beautiful, sparse, strictly acoustic piece with a soaring vocal.Β  Bruce’s intricate solo sends this one into the net for a goal.

Closing this “side” of the album is “Jungle”, the only single from Carnival.Β  Clocking in at almost 7 minutes, this is the album’s standout song.Β  It is a powerful bass-driven groove, with the kind of anthemic Paul chorus that keeps me coming back.Β  I love this song, and when I played it in the store, people loved it too.

The second “side” of the album opens with “In My Head”, probably the weirdest Gene song on the album.Β  Heavy, angry, weird.Β  I love this song, but it’s pretty different.Β  Lyrically, musically, this is unlike anything Kiss have done before and I’m at a loss to compare it to something by somebody else.

“It Never Goes Away” follows “In My Head”, another slow one, this one very powerful and perhaps like something thatΒ would have been on an album like Superunknown.Β Β Β “Seduction of the Innocent” continues the slow song pattern.Β  It sounds a little like heavy Beatles.Β  I can hear some of that psychedelicΒ “Tomorrow Never Knows” vibe, but in a heavy context.Β  Gene’s chorus tops the cake.

An epicΒ is up next:Β  Gene’s “I Confess”.Β  The verses sound much like outtakes from The Elder, with strings and a dark vibe.Β  Then Gene’s chorus nails the foot back to the gas pedal.Β  The song alternates between heavy choruses and quiet verses, much like the popular music of the time….

Paul’s final song of the album, “In The Mirror”, is a scorcher.Β  It has a killer riff and could have fit on any number of Kiss albums.Β  Imagine it recorded by the original lineup.Β Β If you can picture it in a “I Stole You Love” vibe, suddenly it sounds like something that could have beenΒ on Love Gun.Β  As it is, the guitars are very 90’s in their sound and the drums very dry.Β  It was the fashion.

Carnival of Souls ends with what ended up being Bruce Kulick’s swan song, his first and last lead vocal:Β  “I Walk Alone”.Β  This fan favourite has a very tentative leadΒ vocal, he’s noticeably improved in the years since.Β  Still, it’s a nice ballad, and when Gene joins him singing the end, it’s perfect.Β  Strangely enough, this song never made any of the bootleg discs out there.Β  Perhaps it was never meant to be on the album?Β  I don’t know the answer to why.

Carnival has two obvious weaknesses:Β  the trendy grungy sound, and the fact that so many songs are slow or ballads.Β  I feel that the ballads are more than made up for by the heaviness of songs like “Hate” and “In My Head”.Β  I think that Paul’s best two songs, “Jungle” and “Master & Slave” make up for any dull moments.Β  As for the sudden defection from rock n’ roll to grunge?

Well, keep in mind that this is the band who went disco in ’79.

There was one outtake from this album, which is on the Kiss Box Set:Β  “Outromental”, which made it onto promo cassettes but was cut from the album itself.

The biggest disappointment with this album was the packaging.Β  The band decided against the original cover art, and to avoid confusion put the bare-faced lineup on the cover.Β  But there’s no booklet, no lyrics, and only a couple pictures.

4/5 stars

REVIEW: Sloan – The Double Cross (2011)

SLOAN – The Double Cross (2011 CD and iTunes editions)

This is an album that grew on me.Β  The last number of Sloan albums (everything since Between the Bridges basically) failed to grow on me.Β  Or, I failed to devote the time necessary to them.Β  Whomever is at fault…I never got into them.

Then, I got stuck in traffic one night on the way home from work.Β  There’s a certain “sweet spot” in the tri-cities.Β  If there’s an accident right where the 401 meets highway 8, it has the potential to tie up traffic in the tri-city area.Β  So, I took the long way home and listened to Sloan’s The Double Cross all the way through.Β  Twice.

The album grew from a 3.5/5 to a 5/5 in those two listens.

Two tracks stand out immediately: Chris’ “Follow he Leader” and Patrick’s “Unkind”. Both are incredible songs. Both remind me of what made me go nuts for Sloan a long time ago. Both have really immediate choruses, but both also really capture a vibe. You’ll know what I mean when you hear them.

I also quite like “Shadow Of Love” which sounds new wavy to me, like something Elvis Costello would have written. Little bit of moog on there. I also quite like Patrick’s “I Gotta Know”, a melodic punk-like rocker. Jay’s “Beverly Terrace” is like a disco song, no kidding, and it’s great. I also like Jay’s “The Answer Was You”. The closer “Laying So Low” is quite good as well, a slower one which ends the album on a bittersweet note.

There are two bonus tracks worth grabbing: iTunes had “Then Again”.Β  ItΒ is my third favourite song on the record overall, a Chris song with a dark almost heavy metal vibe (although the song is not a metal song). The iTunes pre-order only track, “Jesus Loves Me”, is a Patrick rocker with a heavy distorted riff like something Weezer might have done.

For best results, play loud. In traffic.

(Don’t like the cover art though. I love a lot of Sloan covers like One Chord and Navy Blues, and you can see they’re going for that two-colour-portrait look here, but the gold and purple are kinda putrid. Not really a cover that jumps out at you at the record store. But then again, who browses record stores anymore? Sigh.)

5/5stars

Part 94: Staffing

Everybody and their little brother wanted to work in a record store. Β Why not?Β It’s the Dream Job.

For most record stores, I imagine staffing is not an issue. Β Anybody who can Google can tell you where to buy β€œCall Me Maybe”, today.Β  For us though, we were buying and selling used.Β  We could buy 200 discs in one averageΒ day, and might have to look at 600 just to find 200 good ones to buy, plus all our staff were required to be qualified buyers. Β It was what set us apart from other stores – you didn’t have to wait for a specific person to sell your stuff. Β It would usually take up to 3 months to get a new inexperienced staff member fully trained on everything, including buying.Β  Someone with experience in a record store might get there in a month or two.

Everybody was always shocked when they heard that.Β  3 months?Β  What the hell did it take 3 months to teach people?Β  A lot.Β  A lot of kids were looking for a summer job, but there’d be no point hiring a kid for the summer. Β If we didn’t get a year out of an employee, it wasn’t worth the training involved! Β That was a disappointment for many many kids who wanted to work with us for the summer. Β Some just lied and said they would stick around, but bailed at the end of the summer anyway.

Here’s a brief list of things we had to tackle before we even got into buying:

  • Simple things like, how you approach a customer to see if they want help without being annoying.
  • Getting an idea of our quality standards (the highest in town)Β and policies.
  • Replacing cases – when and how?Β  You don’t want to waste fresh cases for no reason, and we replaced hundreds a day.
  • Checking and cleaning the CD before selling it – then double checking again to make sure you put the right disc in the case!
  • Looking stuff up inventory, in multiple ways – artist, soundtrack, etc.Β  This was challenging to those who could not spell/type.Β  I remember training one guy who could not type “Polyphonic Spree”.Β  Nope, he typed everything but.Β  “Polyphonic Speer” was one memorable variation
  • Looking up stuff online for more information. (We had to use Allmusic but I found Google and Wiki more useful – shame that use of Google was blocked on our system for fear of “mis-use”!)
  • Finding that stuff on the shelves once you know it’s in stock.
  • Filing CD’s away in the correct sections.
  • How to handle overstock.
  • How to do the data entry of entering new titles.
  • How to check other stores in the chain for inventory.
  • How to do cash, credit and debit transactions.
  • How to count change properly (if you wanted to balance at night, you had to teach it)!
  • What to clean, when to clean it.
  • Cashing out – how to do it, and how to balance.

Doing all this stuff took about 3 weeks. Β There was a lot to remember without hammering them with buying CDs and all the different pricing schemes involved. When we taught our kids how to price discs and what to offer, we had a pretty good layout, but our pricing lookup in our computer system was limited in its usefulness. Β Any time a CD got reissued, it got another listing in our catalogue. Some of these reissues might have been physically identical, so for kids to figure out which discs they were looking at was very tricky.

Our computer system had no pictures and no track lists and only a limited amount of info available. Β When you get multiple versions of a disc coming in, it could get confusing. Β A listing could look like this (but without the helpful but hilarious cover art):

  • Ladano, Mike – LeBrain’s Greatest Hits (1995 1 CD remaster Capitol Records)
  • Ladano, Mike – LeBrain’s Greatest Hits (remaster reissued)
  • Ladano, Mike – LeBrain’s Greatest Hits (14 tracks)
  • Ladano, Mike – LeBrain’s Greatest Hits (2002 remaster)
  • Ladano, Mike – LeBrain’s Greatest Hits (bonus DVD)
  • Ladano, Mike – LeBrain’s Greatest Hits (original)

So imagine some guy coming in with a box of CDs, and every second or third disc you look up had that kind of info for you to sift through – all different prices too!Β  And God help you if the CD was not listed in the computer and you had to make a “manual” decision!Β  And lots (lots!) of great music was not in our computers.

You can’t just teach this stuff – it has to come from experience and seeing the same thing come in over and over again.

And none of that even touches on quality.Β  When we looked at disc quality, we were probably the most anal store in town. Β The stuff other stores would sell as β€œgood condition” wouldn’t even make our shelves. Β This was a good thing at the point of sale, but very difficult for staff members to deal with when purchasing discs from customers.Β  They had to look at:

  • Scratches – very carefully.Β  Anything visible? Β How deep?Β  Can they be buffed out?
  • Can you feel the scratch with a fingernail? Β If so, it cannot be buffed out without taking the chance of destroying the CD.
  • Top scratches – the most deadly of all scratches. Β They are on the thin top of the CD and actually cut into the aluminum.Β  Cannot be fixed, but can be seen shining through bright light.
  • Pinholes – don’t usually effect sound quality unless massive. Β Can also be seen shining through with a bright light.
  • Packaging – are all elements present? Β Front cover, back cover?Β  Any water damage or rips?
  • Is anything missing? Β For example, was it supposed to be a two CD set, but a disc is missing and case changed?
example of pinholes

example of pinholes

And that doesn’t even factor in such things as, β€œHow many copies do we have? Β How many copies do our other stores have?Β  Do we really need to spend time buffing scratches off a Spin Doctors disc, when another store has 4 copies? Β None of this stuff can be taught overnight.

So, when kids used to ask me for a summer job, and I would say no – this is why!Β  I’m sorry I let you down back then, but there was no way I was training you on all this shit for 3 months for you to onlyΒ stay 3 months!

REVIEW: KISS – Greatest Hits (European import 1997)

PartΒ 37 of my series of Kiss reviews, leading up to the release of Monster!Β 

KISS – Greatest Hits (1997, Europe only)

Wait a minute — wasn’t the last review I did a Kiss compilation from 1997 called Greatest Kiss?Β  Yup!Β  Welcome to Kiss – the compilation years.Β  This is why fans such as me were losing their patience.

Yet, I paid $40 to order this from Europe, wanting my Kiss collection to be as complete as possible.Β Β  My employers wondered what the hell was wrong with me, spending $40 for 20 songs that I already had.Β  I guess it’s hard to understand if you’re not from the Kiss Army!

Greatest Hits was released in Europe hot on the heels of Greatest Kiss. For the fifth time in a row, Kiss had released a non-original, non-studio album. This had never happened before. (For the record, the four before this one were Alive III, MTV Unplugged, You Wanted The Best, and Greatest Kiss.Β  And this doesn’t include Kiss My Ass.)

The tracklisting is actually a little interesting. Greatest Kiss only had one non-makeup song (“God Gave Rock And Roll To You II”) and this one has three: “Crazy Crazy Nights”, “Lick It Up”, and “God Gave”. That alone was unexpected and I remember listening to this CD, glad that Kiss weren’t totally disregarding the 80’s.

Aside from this,Β it’s a pretty ordinary compilation and covers a lot of ground already on Greatest Kiss. I did detect one bad edit between tracks, where a fade did not end completely. This was dissapointing to me, and combined with the lack of any sort of liner notes in the packaging, smacked of a rush-job and cash-in.

Thankfully, Kiss were listening, and finally released a studio album next.Β  Puzzling the general public even more, the next album didn’t have the original lineup.Β  TO BE CONTINUED…

2/5 stars

QUEENSRYCHE UPDATE: Things Are Gonna Get Messy…

First there’s this.Β  Queensryche make Tate sound like a total douche, but the future of their music is exciting.Β  And that 2013 “Return to History” tour sounds totally cool.Β  Read it:

http://www.billboard.com/features/q-a-queensryche-talks-lawsuit-plans-return-1007826952.story

Then, there’s this news!

http://www.bravewords.com/news/188719

2013 QUEENSRΕΈCHE Anniversary Tour featuring an All-Star lineup, starring Geoff Tate, “the longtime creative and driving force behind the band, whose vocals can be heard on every Queensryche song ever released!” [NOTE:Β  Didn’t DeGarmo sing on “All I Want”?]

Yeah, this is definitely going to get messy.Β  2013 will be an interesting year as two entities seemingly calling themselves Queensryche attempt to do an anniversary tour.Β  Can’t imagine who the hell is in Geoff’s “all star lineup” though.

 

If you like Queensryche, check these out:

Mike Ladano: Exclusive EDDIE JACKSON interview, part I

Mike Ladano: Exclusive EDDIE JACKSON interview, part II

Mike Ladano: Exclusive EDDIE JACKSON interview, part III

Mike Ladano: Exclusive EDDIE JACKSON interview, part IV

Part 93.5: Recognition

Missed part 1?Β  Click here.

Part 2

Even though half a decade has passed, sometimes I still get recognized from the CD store today. Just two weeks ago, I was at a lunch with some friends of my wife. One guy recognized me. β€œDo you still work at the CD store?” he asked as I said hello to everyone. He was an old regular. Not all regulars still recognize me. An older gentleman, Charles, my best classical customer, didn’t recognize me when he bought classical discs from my garage sale last summer.

Today, I tend to get recognized not for my face but for my name. Rather, my nickname: LeBrain.

I never mentioned how that handle came to be. After winning my umpteenth 4 O’clock 4-play on 107.5 Dave FM, Craig Fee dubbed me with that name. β€œMike Ladano and his massive brain…his massive LeBrain!” The nickname stuck, and that is how I became LeBrain. Next thing you know it, we had an entire “Stump LeBrain” week where I guested at the station for a week, and a full month (“LeBrainuary”) of my own 4-play quizzes.

I was first recognized in person by the owner of the local UPS store, while picking up a parcel. β€œAre you that guy from the radio?” he asked me. Turns out he was a fan. He’d listened to all of LeBrainuary in his store.

I was also recognized by some of the younger chaps at Sausagefest, who thought my voice was familiar. β€œI know that voice…is that LeBrain?” they said.

I buy a lot of stuff off eBay (you’ve seen much of it here on the blog!), and the girl at my local post office now knows me as LeBrain. She is always excited when my parcels come in. β€œWhat’s in this one?” she’ll ask.

β€œOh, that one is a rare Maiden 12” single,” I’d say.

β€œCool! That’s awesome!” One time, she knew one of my parcels had arrived immediately, because the seller had put a Kiss sticker on the box. I walked into the post office, and she said, β€œI know which parcel is yours!” with an excited tone in her voice. She explained that she heard me on radio earlier as LeBrain.

So, to Post Office Girl: Sorry, I don’t even know your name. I would like to dedicate this blog to you, and my 15 minutes of fame!

REVIEW: KISS – Greatest Kiss (1997 European, Japanese, North American versions)

PartΒ 36 of my series of Kiss reviews, leading up to the release of Monster!Β 

KISS – Greatest Kiss (1997 European, Japanese, North American versions)

The Reunion Tour was a tremendous ongoing success.Β  As Kiss hit different markets, different releases were prepared.Β  Europe got Greatest Kiss first,and I paid almost $30 for it with tax on import from an HMV store in early ’97.

While we, the fans, were not happy that it had been five years since the last studio album, we still bought this new compilation for one “new” track:Β  A live version of “Shout It Out Loud” from the Reunion Tour.Β  I’ve heard though that the song was recorded in the studio or at rehearsal, not the live Detroit concert as claimed.Β  Either way, this song was released as a promotional video, so it was nice to have a CD version of it.

Also, much as You Wanted the Best, You Got the Best!! was a taster for the remastered live albums, Greatest Kiss was a taster for the remastered studio albums, about to be released through 1997 in groups of three.

The CD is otherwise made up of your standard original era hits.Β  Both North America and Japan had their own track listings, and I ended up getting all three:

Here’s the most familiar around here, the North American version:

1. Detroit Rock City
2. Hard Luck Woman
3. Sure Know Something
4. Deuce
5. Do You Love Me
6. I Was Made For Lovin’ You
7. Calling Dr. Love
8. Christine Sixteen
9. Beth
10. Strutter
11. Cold Gin
12. Plaster Caster (yes! nice to see this on a compilation)
13. Rock And Roll All Nite
14. Flaming Youth
15. Two Sides Of The Coin
16. Shout It Out Loud (Live ’96)

Europe had 20 tracks, adding “Black Diamond”, “God of Thunder”, Β “She”, “Love Gun”, “Goin’ Blind”, “”Shock Me”, and puzzlingly “God Gave Rock ‘N’ Roll To You II” which was not by the original band.Β  Europe lacked “Flaming Youth”, “Two Sides of the Coin”, Β and “Christine Sixteen”, however.

Japan also had 20 tracks.Β  Their CD is almost identical to the European one, withΒ Β “Flaming Youth”, “Two Sides of the Coin”, Β and “Christine Sixteen” missing.Β  They subbed in “C’mon And Love Me” and “Rock Bottom” instead of “Cold Gin” and “Plaster Caster”.

Personally I’m not partial to this CD.Β  The one “new” song is now available on the Kiss Box Set so there’s nothing exclusive.Β  Today the novelty of the Kiss remasters project is old hat, so there’s not much here to entice a buyer.Β  There are other compilations on the market, and I’m going to discuss them all.Β  If you only want original Kiss, then this one works as well as any.

2/5stars

REVIEW: KISS – You Wanted the Best, You Got the Best!! (1996 vinyl, Japanese import CD)

Part 35 of my series of Kiss reviews, leading up to the release of Monster!
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KISS – You Wanted the Best, You Got the Best!! (1996, Japanese import, bonus track)

When this compilationΒ album came out, it was the first and only time we had two Kiss albums on our store’sΒ front rack simultaneously!Β  It followed hot on the heels of MTV Unplugged,Β only aboutΒ 3 months prior.

Kiss had just announced their big reunion tour and this album was tied in to promote that. It is a milestone in a few ways. It was the first musical product released by the reunited original lineup Kiss. It was also the third (or fourth depending if you count Kiss My Ass) consecutive non-studio album release in a rowΒ by the band, which had never happened before. It would also not be the last, with Greatest Kiss and the UK-only Greatest Hits soon to follow.

It was a dark time for the Kiss army craving new music.

You Wanted The Best, You Got The Best!! (one comma and two exclamation marks: punctuation is important) was a live compilation of:

  • 8 hits from KISS Alive! and KISS Alive II
  • 5 previously unreleased live versions (including the bonus track “New York Groove”)
  • 1 interview with the entire band by Jay Leno, 17 minutes long

The previously releasedΒ songs were all remastered for the first time, a sneak preview of the Kiss remasters to start coming in 1997. Β New liner notes were provided by Robert V. Conte, who would later do all the liner notes for the Kiss Remasters series. Β Judging by his use of certain adjectives, I’m guessing he was pretty much told what he could and could not write!

It’s hard to argue with the selection of hits. “Rock Bottom”, “Parasite”, “Firehouse”, and “Rock And Roll All Nite” (the definitiveΒ version)Β from the first Alive! were definitely highlights of that album, but then again you couldn’t have gone wrong with any selections fromΒ Alive!Β  From Alive II it’s “I Stole Your Love”, “Shout It Out Loud”, “Beth” (really? ugh), and “Calling Dr. Love”. (Interesting: no “Detroit Rock City”.) All are pretty monumental Kiss songs that the band were playing live that summer.

The unreleased material was interesting. They purport to be from the same concerts that Alive! and Alive II were taken from, but it is clear that at least the lead vocals were recorded in 1996. Since the voice changes naturally with age, you can tell it’s not Paul Stanley 1975 singing. Having said that, even though I’m bitter that KissΒ tried to pass these off as vintage live songs, they are really good versions. I’ve always liked both “Room Service” and “Two Timer” as deep album songs from Dressed To Kill. I especially like “Let Me Know”, one of the earliest Kiss songs ever, and one of my personal favourites.

Exclusive to vinyl and Japanese import, is a live version of “New York Groove” from Australia 1980 and with Eric Carr on drums. This is the same version of the song as the Kissology 2 DVD. Since KISS could have gone with “Shock Me” from Alive II if they were trying to include an Ace vocal track, I choose to think of this inclusion as a little nod to Eric Carr and thanking him for keeping the band going during the 80’s. I think this version was also released in Australian markets so, I am sure this was also aΒ nod to the fans there for patiently waiting for Kiss to come back. Kiss would of course play “New York Groove” live on the 1996 tour as well.

SAM_2212The 17 minute interview with Jay Leno is interesting and fun, though I have to be honest, its inclusion here makes this album one that I don’t listen to often. Jay’s a funny guy and there are lots of laughs here (almost all at Gene’s expense!) but don’t expect any revelations you’ve never heard before.

In addition to containing “vintage” songs that weren’t exactly that, You Wanted theΒ Best was to includeΒ “photos from the Kiss vaults” inside according to the sticker on the front.Β  There’s nothing inside apart from a skimpy booklet. Β The CD did have a neat-o coloured jewel case, as you can see from the photo gallery.

Essential only to the diehards. Everyone else pick up Alive! and Alive II, or even better…the 4 CD Alive box!

2/5 stars