Brief explanation: After the #200wordchallenge, I was inspired to come up with an even more daunting task. Could I do a review in 0 words — without using any words at all? I invite you to the #0wordchallenge! Mine is below, but use your imagination and come up with something uniquely you! This review is a part of…
I may complain a lot, but I do actually love this town. I was born in Kitchener. I don’t want to live anywhere else. It’s certainly not the greatest town in the world, but it’s mine. Kitchener isn’t known worldwide for its burning hot music scene (polka music at Oktoberfest time excluded). That said we have produced a few local legends:
Helix (formed 1974) was based out of Kitchener for many years.
Errol Blackwood and Messenjah are our claim to fame in the reggae community.
Singer/songwriters Paul MacLeod, Danny Michel, Rob Szabo and Steve Strongman all hailed from here. You also may have heard of one of the greatest bass clarinetists in the world, Kathryn Ladano.
Bluesman Mel Brown wasn’t born here, but he made it home.
Not a lot to boast about, but better than a kick in the pants.
Kitchener also is not known for its arts (that would be Waterloo) or its education (also Waterloo) or sciences (Waterloo again). What it does seem to have in plenty is a number of distinct smells.
Driving up Victoria street, you can smell the Weston’s bread bakery cooking up lots of delicious scents. My dad has a song he used to like to sing when driving by:
“Weston’s bread, Is full of lead, If you eat too much, You’ll surely be dead.”
That was a nice smell, but I remember a far worse smell in the Record Store days.
I spent the majority of my years in the Fairway Road area of town. I remember taking the garbage out on many, many nights and smelling the same unexplainable smell. It only happened during the summer. I don’t even know how to describe it properly. I used to call it “grape flavoured urine” smell. It was a weird mix of grape and pee, and in the evenings taking out the garbage, it was everywhere! What the hell was it? Nobody knew. I haven’t smelled grape flavoured urine in a long time…but I remember it clearly any time I take out the garbage on a warm summer night.
There was an even worse smell when I was transferred to “the wrong side of the tracks”. The garbage bin there was behind a diner. Back there it always smelled of dirty cooking grease.
I hope your town smells better than “grape flavoured urine”, although you don’t have Messenjah or Helix….
Oh and that red poo-shaped sculpture? Nobody has a clue what it is!
MASTODON – “White Walker” (2016 Warner 10″ picture disc single)
Disclaimer: I’ve never seen a single episode of Game of Thrones, although I will admit a crush on Emilia Clarke, and a man-crush on Kit Harington. And I don’t really know a lot about Mastodon. I know they rock — and that’s enough.
Since Sunrise Records in Kitchener opened up again back in April, I’ve been doing my best to support them. Taking a chance on something I haven’t heard before, and finding the artwork badass as hell, I plopped down for Mastodon’s “White Watcher” single. There is nothing typical about this song. The war drums opening the track sound as if from battle. The lyrics certainly paint a picture: a cold and desolate land full of despair. There is little musical backing, just some spare acoustic guitars and a few atmospheric electric licks until the haunting guitar solo kicks in. It’s atypical of any Mastodon I’ve heard.
The B-side is the A Cappella version of “White Walker”, with just one voice. I love how it reveals the imperfections of the human voice. It sounds like something a character on the show might be singing, before battle. The mourning feeling is there in the grooves of the record.
And speaking of the record, what artwork! The A-side is a brilliant painting of a White Walker, while the B-side is a still from the show. The snowy landscape and ragged people huddled around fires certainly illustrate what the song feels like. Incredible single.
Bought somewhere in Taranna in a forgotten sale bin.
DUFF McKAGAN’S LOADED – The Taking (2011 Armoury)
Duff McKagan is one of those guys who is always doing something. He is not predictable except to be always active, usually in the context of a band. Loaded is one such band, featuring three of Duff’s Seattle buds. This is their third LP, a tight and focused affair with short and heavy songs. Duff’s sloppy punk roots come forth, crossed with a healthy slab of heavy-as-fuck riffin’. Duff’s shout-singing has never been more apropos, and there are even a few moments of guitar solo nirvana.
The music is all well and good; nothing in particular will rival Guns N’ Roses or even Velvet Revolver, but some tunes are pretty cool. “We Win” has a simple anthemic quality, Leppard-like, that endears it well in the memory. Better still is “Dead Skin”, a scorching punk rocker that would have set well with another of Duff’s bands, Neurotic Outsiders. “Lords of Abaddon” and “Follow Me to Hell” which open and close the CD are fierce numbers that could cause speaker damage if cranked loud enough.
You really can’t throw enough praise at Duff McKagan, but The Taking is not one of his must-have efforts. Save for a look in the cheapie bin.
2.5/5 stars
This was a 200 word review in the tradition of the #200wordchallenge.
Gratitude to James Kalyn of the KMAfor acquiring this treasure.
JIMMY PAGE & THE BLACK CROWES – Live at Jones Beach (2017 The Orchard Record Store Day EP)
Aficionados of Led Zeppelin and the Black Crowes rejoice! It has been a long time since the fantastic concert collaboration, Jimmy Page & The Black Crowes Live at the Greek (2000). That double CD delivered a surprisingly bang-on dose of legendary Zeppelin cuts and blues covers. Here, it’s a seven piece band consisting of Page, Rich Robinson and Audley Freed in a lethal triple guitar lineup. The band was completed by vocalist Chris Robinson, drummer Steve Gorman, bassist Greg Rzab and keyboard player Eddie Harsch. Now you can hear three more tracks, from an additional concert at Jones Beach.
As expected, Pagey and the Crowes are whipped up into a blues jam rock frenzy loaded with atomic playing. Off to Middle Earth with “Misty Mountain Hop”, a song easily conquered by Chris Robinson. You may be surprised by how comfortably it fits the Crowes. “Bring it on Home” seems more their style, and with Jimmy they turn it into a loud rocking assault. The three guitarists are really able to bring to life “In the Light”, giving it the kind of depth it has in the studio. Chris and Rich double the vocals to emulate the production on the Physical Grafitti original.
4.5/5 stars
This was a 200 word review in the tradition of the#200wordchallenge.
PETER CRISS – Out of Control(1980 Casablanca, 1998 Mercury CD reissue)
The ex- kitty-cat landed on his feet rather swiftly. A few short months after his departure was announced, Criss released the first solo album ever by an ex-Kiss member. Unfortunately for the Catman, fans were already scared off by his 1978 album. Anyone who was flabbergasted or confuddled by Peter’s penchant for light rock steered far clear of Out of Control. They were correct to do so. Out of Control is a virtual carbon copy of the 1978 album.
At least Peter didn’t mislead anyone into thinking this was a rock album. The very opening, “By Myself”, is one of the softest songs Peter’s ever recorded. Not a bad one, mind you, but not a song with mass appeal. Peter Criss wasn’t about to become the next Rod Stewart. His control over notes is not as strong…they are “out of control” so to speak, and his voice wavers.
“In Trouble Again” is far better. Peter played all the drums on this album, and there’s some cool stuff happening on “In Trouble Again”. It’s the most rocking tune on the album. It’s back to ballad town on “Where Will They Run?”. It’s dominated by the synthesizer, and it has a cool and light breezy rock vibe. It even has a sax solo by George Young (not the one that’s Angus’ brother). By track four, Peter is eager to tell us “I’ve Found Love”. You’re in for a fun and upbeat number…but Peter just can’t hold onto a note! He returns to rock and roll on “There’s Nothing Better”, which sounds like an old R&B classic even though it’s a Criss/Penridge original. Well done on that one.
There’s a very corny title track here, which has a pseudo-disco beat: “Out of Control” is cheesy and fun all at once. It’s the string cheese of danceable rock. Is that such a bad thing? Not unless you’re lactose intolerant, or allergic to cats in general. Sadly, “Words” is pretty horrid. Peter also turned in a pretty lacklustre cover of The Young Rascals’ “You Better Run”, also famously covered by Pat Benatar and some guy named Robert Plant. That’s tough competition. “You Better Run”? More like “Don’t Even Bother”.
The closing track “Feel Like Letting Go” is one of the best tracks. It feels like a followup to Peter’s album closing epic “I Can’t Stop the Rain”. The strings and piano make them spiritual brothers. Did the lyrics have anything to do with Kiss? “I feel like letting go…but my heart keeps saying no.” Maybe, maybe not. Peter seemed to be trying to separate himself from his former band, in order to establish himself. The artwork and songs don’t offer clues as to Peter’s previous job. Paul, Gene and Ace are thanked in the fine print.
In fact there is only one real wink to Kiss fans, and it was on a hidden track right after “Feel Like Letting Go”. Paraphrasing a line from “As Time Goes By” (1931), he sings quietly “You must remember this…a Kiss is still a Kiss…”
GETTING MORE TALE #563: ID3 Request Error – Check File
Ever seen one of these errors on your media player of choice?
Let’s start by talking about what an ID3 tag is, in case you didn’t know. If you play music files, then you use ID3 tags. These tags contain the metadata about your song files. You know that info that automatically pops up on your player? Artist, album, cover art…that’s from your ID3 tags. There is free software out there to edit your songs’ tags, although such features are bafflingly not standard in Windows. I use a combination of two: Audio Shell, and Mp3tag. They have different user interfaces, but more or less have all the features you need.
Sometimes my Sony Walkman mp3 player can’t pick up the cover art, but that is rare. The tracks will still play. The error that has caused me problems for years comes from my factory installed GM car stereo. Otherwise, it’s a great player, but sometimes it hits an ID3 tag it doesn’t like and I get an error message. It reads:
ID3 Tag Request Error Check File
When I get this message, the songs will not play. I first ran into that issue about four years ago. When it does happen, it’s usually on something that I recorded with Audacity, like vinyl or cassettes. Audacity can write the ID tags for you when you export the files to mp3. The error message here doesn’t give much detail. It’s not the cover art; that was the first variable I checked. I’ll get this error message with or without cover art. It’s frustrating when you can’t play an album in the car, and only the car.
This baffled me for years. “Check File”, eh? I did – many times. Changing this, changing that. Writing the ID3 tags with different software. Nothing worked. Googling solutions wasn’t very helpful.
I recently came across the solution, and it was so obvious I don’t know why I didn’t think of it earlier. Probably because I was looking for something easier.
Just erase all the ID3 tags – all of them – and start from scratch. Both Mp3tag and Audio Shell have easy features to do exactly this. Most ID3 editing programs will allow you to completely clean all tags from the file. Once that is done, start over, manually. By hand, enter the song titles, artist, album title, artwork and (very importantly) the track sequence. You’ll want to make sure you get that right. Once you’ve done that the mp3 file will play just fine, as seen below.
I found this crate, pictured below, at work amongst a pile of old tools. I thought I worked in a steel mill?! What the heck kind of work do we do around here anyway?!
“I think Unmasked is a pretty crappy album. It’s wimpy” – Paul Stanley, KISS Behind the Mask
Here we are at Unmasked, the very album that inspired the Kiss Re-Review series in the first place. It’s a polarizing platter. The band often trash it and shun it in concert. Meanwhile, some fans have grown to appreciate it, particularly in Europe and Australia. There is even a tribute CD on a German label with covers of the entire album. Indeed, Unmasked is not without strengths. Ace Frehley contributed another three songs of his own, continuing the growth he demonstrated on his solo album and Dynasty.
On the other side of the ledger, there were factors that fans see as a diluting of the Kiss sound. Co-writers were now the norm. Returning producer Vini Poncia had eight co-writes. They used a track by songwriter Gerard McMahon. Even ghost guitarist Bob Kulick had a co-write on Gene’s “Naked City”. Most importantly, but publicly unknown at the time, was that Kiss had effectively become a trio. Peter Criss’ substance issues had come to a head and he was not involved with the album at all. He was on the cover, and in the credits, but all Peter did was mime some drums for the “Shandi” music video. When that shoot was done, Peter was gone. Anton Fig (Dynasty, Ace Frehley) returned again to fill the gap behind the scenes.
The album demonstrated a slick turn towards pop rock. Not disco so much, although the compression on the drums and guitars gives it a disco sound. The keyboards and slick production sweetened the album to the point that the thunder of Alive! or Love Gun was completely absent. Kiss were becoming caricatures in pursuit of megahits.
The Gerard McMahon song “Is That You?” was selected to open Unmasked. This sexy grind is one of the best tracks, with Paul in peak voice showing off what he can do. The slow and dirty pop rock number gets the job done, with minimal loss of integrity. That’s Paul on lead guitar too, one of several songs on which he solos, though it is hard to tell. In fact Unmasked is one of those Kiss albums on which you can’t be sure who played what.
Only one Kiss member appears on the big single, “Shandi”, and that’s Paul Stanley. On bass was Tom Harper, and Holly Knight on keyboards. There is little doubt that “Shandi” is a fantastic song, and it worked particularly well live in the acoustic setting. While Unmasked blurred the lines between rock and pop, “Shandi” is pure pop joy — almost adult contemporary!
Frehley’s first track was a favourite called “Talk to Me”, a song many Kiss fans easily embraced. These first three songs were performed on the Unmasked tour, which demonstrates their worth. “Talk to Me” has a cool guitar riff and one of Ace’s most infectious choruses – an instant classic. Ace had really grown as a singer by this point.
The waters get murkier after the first three tracks. Gene’s “Naked City” is a grower. It possesses hooks and great verses, but the main guitar riff doesn’t hit the spot. Gene’s falsetto voice is employed to great effect. It takes a few spins, but “Naked City” has a cool darkness to it and a strange kind of class. That is followed by the very pop “What Makes the World Go ‘Round”, a keyboard-heavy Paul Stanley tune. It sounds very little like Kiss, but Paul’s performance (guitar solo included) is stellar. Falsetto must have been very popular at the time. Bee Gees, anyone?
Paul’s side two opener “Tomorrow” is just as pop as “What Makes the World Go ‘Round”. These would be great songs for somebody else’s album. Perhaps Rick Astley. Fortunately the side is quickly redeemed by Ace’s excellent “Two Sides of the Coin”. Notably, this song inspired the title of Michael Brandvold’s Kiss podcast, “Three Sides of the Coin“. Ace’s track is a fan favourite, upbeat and melodic with just enough guitar bite. If the production was meatier, as on Ace’s solo album, it would be an absolute killer.
Gene continues chasing the ladies on “She’s So European”, a filler track with familiar themes. “She makes love on a brass bed, because her parents are still awake.” Not Gene’s finest moment. “Easy As It Seems” is a Paul track, and also not one of his finest, but the bouncy bass (by Paul) is quite great. But is that a bloody keyboard solo that I detect?
One of the most interesting tracks, and most instrumentally impressive, is Ace’s surf rock classic “Torpedo Girl”. This is just a fun summertime track with infectious ooh-ahh vocal hooks. His role within Kiss resulted in some of their more unique songs, and “Torpedo Girl” is unorthodox. Ace’s picking is enviable, and the lyrics are just pure fun. “Come on, get your feet wet.”
Album closer “You’re All That I Want” is one of Gene’s tunes, but Paul’s vocals on the outro sell it. It’s a little on the light side, as is much of Unmasked, but it remains a good song.
On a personal note, I have one very strong memory of Unmasked. I first heard it by taping it off a friend, my late neighbor George. George dropped the needle on the record, hit record on my tape, and then got out his bass and played bass along to every song. Unbeknownst to him, his bass playing bled onto the tape. From that point until I finally got a store-bought cassette copy, I always heard George’s bass on the fade-outs of every song. I can still hear it in my head. I suppose that’s one way that George is still alive, in my memory.
Unmasked was released on May 20, 1980, with a bright cartoony cover including Peter Criss. Meanwhile the band were already preparing for their first of many lineup changes, something that was kept quiet until the right moment.
In July, Kiss were ready to unveil the new member. Paul Caravello, from Brooklyn, impressed Kiss with his audition and humble personality. The story that everybody remembers is that Caravello asked the guys for their autographs in case he never saw them again. No worries there; the job was destined to be his. But Kiss couldn’t have another guy named Paul, and his last name was too “ethnic” (obviously Italian), so his name was changed to Eric Carr. (Fortunately, Gene’s suggestion of “Rusty Blades” was discarded.) The newly dubbed Eric was an energetic mighty-mite of rock, and the band quickly grew to love him. Everything was new to him.
“The Hawk”
A new makeup design was required. This was a big deal — a new challenge. A hawk concept was tried, but in the costume Carr looked more like Big Bird than a rock star. He drew up an inspired fox design which immediately clicked. The new character was born!
Carr’s first appearance with the band was at their only US date on this tour: New York on July 25 1980. The rest of the tour took place in Europe and Australia where “Shandi” became a hit. There were only 41 shows in total. Despite their best efforts, Kiss’ fortunes were shifting. Opening acts on the tour included Iron Maiden, which must have been quite the mismatch. Given Maiden’s reputation for blowing away headliners (much like Kiss when they started out), you must wonder how this went down. Girl, featuring future Def Leppard guitarist Phil Collen and future L.A. Guns singer Phil Lewis, also opened a handful of gigs.
Unfortunately for fans, especially in North America, this was the last tour for a long time. It was also the only tour featuring this lineup. While Kiss had endured their first lineup change, that was only just the beginning of the problems to solve.
Today’s rating:
3.5/5 stars
Uncle Meat’s rating:
4.5/5 steaks
Meat’s slice:Unmasked was released in May of 1980. A couple of months later I had heard that Kiss was going to introduce their new drummer on a show called Kids Are People Too. Seeing Kiss in the Phantom movie on TV was one thing. But knowing they were being interviewed, and introducing their newest member…Eric “The Fox” Carr. I watch it today on YouTube, and it’s so…umm…not what I remember. But it was monumental at the time for me. At this point, I had heard Unmasked once at a friend’s place and was underwhelmed. But I loved the album cover and still think it is probably their best. My take on Unmasked is much different now, and was how LeBrain’s Re-Reviews started in the first place. First of all I will address this. Mike referred in the beginning of this series to the two “Disco” era Kiss albums of Dynasty and Unmasked. Dynasty has one Disco song. Unmasked does not have anything close to a Disco song. Some would say “Shandi”, but that is Kiss capitalizing on the Soft Rock success of the day. Unmasked may not be a typical Kiss album, but thanks to Vini Poncia it’s a great album of Rock tunes and one of my favorite Kiss albums.
The drumming on this album is a major high point. Anton Fig shines all over this disc. Ace also continues his consistent roll with great rock songs like “Talk To Me”. He has such a great Rock and Roll voice. The background vocals are great too. “Two Sides of the Coin” is another song with incredible drumming, and a single writing credit. Both this song and “Talk To Me” are the only two songs on the album that don’t have an outside writing credit. Subsequently these songs sound more like classic Kiss than the rest of the album. However “Torpedo Girl” is another story. This might be the shining moment of Ace’s career in Meat’s opinion. Unbelievable guitar riff and funky drum beat. I have had it in my head for days now.
It seems that the addition of Vini Poncia to the Kiss machine inspired Gene Simmons as well. Unlike Dynasty where his songs were mostly forgettable, a couple of his songs on this album shine here. “She’s So European” is “completely ridiculous” but a “great fucking tune” (according to my longtime Kiss-mate Scott) . That about says it all. “Naked City” sees the falsetto of Gene Simmons on display here in another catchy song. There are great hooks within this song, which is indicative of the whole album really. However the album closer, “You’re All That I Want” might be the weakest track on the album. I do though love the ending, which you hear Stanley screaming in his typical live-show style.
Paul Stanley’s contributions on this album are good as well, with a few curveballs thrown in. “Shandi” was a massive Australian hit, and even though the song is about as limp as it can be, I still love the song. Reminds me of the Little River Band and Ambrosia songs of the Soft Rock era that I still dig. “What Makes the World Go ‘Round” is a solid song, with some of the greatest solo guitar playing Paul Stanley has put to record. “Tomorrow” sounds a lot like .38 Special to me and is just OK. “Easy As it Seems” is a solid song that incorporates keyboards in an interesting way, and might be the best Stanley song on Unmasked.
Overall Unmasked is a misunderstood, understated classic. I am curious to see if time has changed LeBrain’s take on this album. All I can say is…this may be Kiss’s last truly great album. From here on in, the “Meat’s Slice” section will start to get a lot shorter, with a couple exceptions.
Favorite Tracks: “Torpedo Girl”, “Shandi”, “Is That You”, “Talk To Me”, “She’s so European”
Forgettable Tracks: “You’re All That I Want”, “Tomorrow” (both borderline)
– Best of Solo Albums (1979 Phonogram)
kitty-cat landed on his feet rather swiftly. A few short months after his departure was announced, Criss released the first solo album ever by an ex-Kiss member. Unfortunately for the Catman, fans were already scared off by his 
mikeladano.com 