ROCK STAR – Music from the Motion Picture (2001 Warner)
I remember dragging my long-suffering girlfriend at the time out to see this movie. She had every right to complain. The movie was a stinker, absolutely. Not to mention, it had no idea when it is taking place. Vaguely, the 80’s, but then after this guy (Marky Mark) leaves the band (Steel Dragon), he goes and becomes the founder of grunge? The movie sucked! It was very, very loosely inspired by the story of Ripper Owens being discovered by Judas Priest, by being in a Judas Priest cover band. In the movie, Marky Mark becomes the singer of Steel Dragon after their original singer (who also happens to be gay, hmmm?) quits. It was supposed to be a really inspiring story of the everyman with talent who succeeded, but it ended up being just a normal everyday turd.
But listen, we’re not talking about the movie. We’re looking strictly at the soundtrack CD. I ask you one simple question: If you were to pick one band to write and play the title anthem for a movie about a heavy metal band in the 80’s, who would it be? Obviously the answer is Everclear. (I say “obviously”, because a whole bunch of suits who get paid a whole lot more than I do picked it, so they must be right.) Actually, their tune “Rock Star” isn’t bad. It sounds a bit like an old Canadian rock band called Deadline, actually.
It’s astounding, but Zakk shaved his beard to get that 80’s look back!
The main attraction of the CD is actually the original tunage by the fictional band Steel Dragon. On record, the lineup was:
Zakk Wylde – lead guitar
Jason Bonham – drums
Jeff Pilson – bass
Nick Cantonese – guitar
Mike Matijevic – lead vocals
Jeff Scott Soto – lead vocals
See why I dragged that poor girlfriend out to see this movie? Zakk, Jason and Jeff were in even the movie, as the band Steel Dragon.
They had two lead singers, while Marky Mark mimed. Jeff Scott Soto sings the raspy, mid-rangey stuff such as “Livin’ the Life”. This isn’t a bad rock tune, but it’s Zakk’s guitar that makes it perk up a bit. Mike Matijevic (Steelheart) sings the smooth and screamy stuff, with his impeccable range. “We All Die Young” is a bonafide great songs. Matijevic’s stunning vocals meeting Zakk Wylde’s leads is probably a wet dream for some folks! The only problem with it is that it doesn’t sound accurate to the period. The movie is supposed to take place in the early 80’s (I think) but “We All Die Young” sounds early 90’s. But wait…we’re supposed to be talking about the CD, not the movie. Fuck the movie!
“Blood Pollution” (written by Twiggy Ramirez, interestingly) has Matijevic singing, but as with “Livin’ the Life” the song isn’t that special. It sounds like Motley Crue, except with Zakk Wylde on guitar and a better Vince Neil. Jeff Scott Soto helms “Stand Up”, which is way heavier than you’d expect considering Sammy Hagar wrote it! This version actually came out before Sammy’s, on 2002’s Not 4 Sale and has different lyrics. “Stand Up” kicks ass, and along with “We All Die Young” is one of the soundtrack highlights. Just listen to Zakk killing it in that fast part! It’s also one of the few tunes with that patented, genetic Bonham Stomp.
Another track right up Motley Crue’s alley is “Wasted Generation”, and with its Desmond Child co-write it’s a lot heavier than expected. Jeff Scott kicks ass on the anthemic punchy chorus, and Zakk’s shredding is tasty. The final Steel Dragon tune on the disc is a Rainbow cover — “Long Live Rock and Roll” with Matijevic singing. I never understood why the band Steel Dragon would be playing a Rainbow cover, since it is implied that Steel Dragon were active in the 70’s too, contemporaries with Rainbow. But we’re here to talk about the CD, not that piece of shit movie. “Long Live Rock and Roll” with Zakk Wylde on guitar…it’s not what you’d hope it would be. Bonham’s awesome though, and remarkably Ian Paice-like.
The rest of the disc contains various hits from various bands from various years. The Verve Pipe – “Colorful” (2001), check! INXS – “The Devil Inside” (1987), check! Why? Who the fuck knows. I like some INXS, it’s completely out of place. I suppose that a soundtrack for you. More suiting to the tone of the CD are Kiss’ “Lick It Up” (1983), Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ On A Prayer” (1986), Ted Nugent’s “Stranglehold” (1975), and Motley Crue’s “Wild Side” (1987). I do wonder why “Stranglehold” seems to be the only Nugent that ever shows up on movie soundtracks. At least Marky Mark doesn’t have any songs.
The final song, Trevor Rabin’s “Gotta Have It” sounds like end credits music, but I’m not going to watch that crummy movie to find out. Rabin’s track is excellent, as should be expected. It sounds like Rabin, which is all I can really say to describe it!
So: Rock Star, a shit movie, gave us a pretty OK soundtrack. Considering I (and probably you) already had the Nugent, Kiss, Bon Jovi and Motley Crue songs, I salvaged seven tracks from the album as keepers: the six Steel Dragon tunes, and Trevor Rabin. There are 14 songs, so this time the math is easy.
RECORD STORE TAKES MkII: Getting More Tale #414: Get the Firehouse!
Initially, I wanted to do a post called “Miscellaneous Mailings”, with all sorts of fan club and fanzine paraphernalia. Once I started digging through said bags and boxes of postal paraphernalia, I realized I had enough Kiss curiosities here just to do a post on them alone.
Canada’s Firehouse Magazine’s claim to fame was being the longest running Kiss fan club in world. Based out of Surrey BC, I first became aware of Firehouse via Len, a customer of mine at the Record Store. They had an actual mail order service where you could buy Kiss bootlegs, both audio and video. That must have really chapped Gene’s ass. We all know how much Gene likes fansites and fanzines….
Len gave me the Firehouse catalogue which I used to buy a live tape and some back issues. There are plenty of cool things inside these books to drool over. News about concert dates, new releases, chart positions and set lists were regular. There are even exclusive interviews! The Sept./Oct. 1996 issue features the Ace man himself! I really like the personals ads in the back. “Hey Kissexy female Kiss fans of all ages! I will answer all!”
Other neat things I found in the bag o’ mail: bumper stickers, an official Kiss catalogue, and the sales chart from Canada’s The Record magazine, showing Kiss’ Psycho-Circus debuting at #2 on the top retail albums! The only thing that held it back was the Armageddon soundtrack, which jumped to #1 after 16 weeks on the charts. Take a look for yourself, and bask in the nostalgia of a period that boasted such luminaries as Spice Girls and Backstreet Boys on the charts.
Lastly, and certainly not least: an unsigned letter from “Gene Simmons” to my mom, who put the Kisstory II book on her credit card. Gene was apologizing for a manufacturing delay that had caused the book to be several months late. He assured my mom that her credit card would not be charged until the book shipped. How kind of him! I thought this was amusing, so I kept the letter! I’m sure my mom appreciated hearing it from Gene personally.
RECORD STORE TALES MkII: Getting More Tale #411: Stop Playing ‘Beth’ – The Post-Sausagefest Countdown
Perhaps the only bigger production than going to Sausagefest is coming home from Sausagefest. At least when you’re travelling with Uncle Meat.
As we have previous years, Uncle Meat rode up with me. This time he slept in my car too. This pretty much left me responsible for him. I roused bright and early from a restful slumber on Saturday morning to evacuate my bladder. Imagine my surprise when I found, at 6:30 in the morning, Uncle Meat, Bucky and Matt still up from the night before. They were just starting to fall asleep when I took my morning shit. I then went back to sleep in my tent for a few more hours.
Our Saturday morning tradition is to hit up the Flying Spatula in Flesherton for our breakfast fill-up. Sebastien, driving his 4×4, stopped by my tent and asked if I was riding up with him. Ready for some bacon and eggs, I hopped on board with Seb, while Meat snoozed away in my car’s passenger side seat.
My first controversy of the weekend was not waking Meat up for breakfast. Being that he had only gone to bed a couple hours before, I thought I was doing him a favour. Apparently not. “Breakfast before sleep!” he said. Apparently that’s the Meat priorities.
Saturday went off without a hitch, breakfast arrangements aside. I will post the full 78 song countdown (plus a couple odds n’ ends) in the days ahead. Saturday night was loaded with long bombers, such as “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” (13 minutes), the live “Child in Time” from Made In Japan (12 minutes), and “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” (25 minutes). The excellent countdown (dubbed “the greatest songs of all time”) ended after midnight.
Sunday morning, I found I had the most difficult job of all. It took me an hour and a half (close to two hours) to wake Uncle Meat from his slumber. As the others were packing up their tents and heading off into the sunrise, I found I had a passenger unwilling or unable to rouse himself. “If you let him sleep in your car again next year, then there will be nobody to blame but you,” said Troy.
I cranked “I Stole Your Love” at max volume. No reaction. Tom threw a 12-pack of socks at his head (photo above). No reaction. I played Kiss’ “Beth”, followed by the 1988 Eric Carr re-recording. Still nothing. Only when I put the car in drive and started moving it around did Meat finally decide to wake himself. I took him on a drousy “drive of shame” to visit all the people who had no trouble waking up. “I have a boner” he announced. Yes, it’s true — Uncle Meat woke up with wood.
After telling us all about his boner, he kept shouting “Stop playing ‘Beth’!” even though the song was no longer playing. This continued when we pulled into our first stop, Top of the Rock, for him to get his first coffee. “Stop playing ‘Beth’!” he shouted in a barely-there voice, any time somebody was in his vicinity.
“Stop playing ‘Beth’!” he shouted, when his roomate Zack also pulled into Top of the Rock. Zack informed us, “That’s just him. He’ll just keep repeating it unless he gets something new in his head.” Zack paused and said, “Watch. Rododendron!”
“Rhododendron!” shouted Meat, parroting his roomate. “Rhododendron! Stop playing ‘Beth’!”
And that was it pretty much the rest of the ride home. A selection of brief statements, repeated ad nauseum: “Rhododendron!” “Stop playing ‘Beth’!” “Coffee!” Repeat.
The weekend more than made up for the ride home. Sebastien and I shot lots of footage, including underwater stuff with his GoPro. For the first time ever, we will be combining footage and doing the annual videos together. Be patient, this will be worth it.
Three albums I must own, after this year’s Sausagefest:
From the Gene Simmons Song Factory, heeeeere’s Keel!
Like many Gene Simmons productions, Keel’s The Right to Rock bears his name on a few writing credits. The rest of the songs are basically reworkings of tracks from Keel’s first album Lay Down the Law. That album, like Ron Keel’s debut with Steeler (featuring one Yngwie J. Malmsteen) were on Shrapnel. For the A&M Records debut, they pulled out the big guns. They got Gene Simmons in all his wig-ness, and put out a very corny but tremendously fun music video.
It is “America 1989”, and rock and roll is outlawed. “Those who are apprehended suffer severe consequences.” Can our young teenage Keel lookalike get away from the rock police? Quiet Riot did something similar with their “The Wild and the Young” video a year later. It’s corny fun.
The song too is corny fun. I guess it’s a classic now. It has that stock heavy metal riff that you need: something Motley Crue or the Scorpions would be comfortable with. It has that rebellious rock theme that was so prominent in the 80’s. It has a shoutalong chorus. “You got it! The Right to Rock!” Hey, I grew up in a Catholic school. I know what this is about. “Don’t let anyone tell you how to live your life!” I had a teacher call me out on the first day of school for wearing a Judas Priest T-shirt. I could relate to this song in a big way when I was 13.
It should be noted that Gene Simmons, as a producer, is not known for his sonics. The Right to Rock sounds pretty good for the period, but the drums ring shallow and weak. There’s not much presence for the bass guitar, and the backing vocals are the typical rock mush. That’s what you get with Gene behind the console.
“Back to the City” has a good Priest-like chug to it. I think Keel were going for something middle of the road with their music, like Priest-meets-Scorps-meets-Crue-meets-Kiss. If so, this hit the mark. Ron’s vocals are overwrought but that’s his style. If you don’t like that kind of vocal, you won’t like Keel.
Kinda stinky is “Let’s Spend the Night Together”. You know, I still gotta give the guys credit. They have made this into a pretty fine pop metal song. If you didn’t know the song, you’d assume it’s an original, in the pop metal genre. So from that perspective, I think it’s kinda cool. Stinky and cool — like good gorgonzola.
“Easier Said Than Done” was written by Simmons/Weissman, the same team responsible for much of the Animalize album. The lyrics even reference “Russian Roulette”, a song title Gene had been toying with for years. (A song called “Russian Roulette” was finally release on Sonic Boom.) So, guess who “Easier Said Than Done” sounds like? That’s right — it is a dead ringer for Simmons-style Kiss. And it’s actually a pretty good song. The problem is Ron’s Gene impression. I can’t help but chuckle at his dead-on Gene vocals. I dare you to refrain from a giggle yourself. Same deal with “So Many Girls, So Little Time”. Kiss fans will recognize that’s a line recycled from the Kiss song “Burn Bitch Burn”.
Onto side two, “Electric Love” is a Keel original, but you immediately notice that the song isn’t as immediate as the two previous Simmons tunes. “Speed Demon”, another original, sounds exactly as the title implies. Quality-wise, it’s only at “Priest outtake” level (Defenders of the Faith era). Then it’s back to Simmons outtakes, with “Get Down”, the weakest of the Simmons songs by a long shot. “You’re the Victim (I’m the Crime)” is a Gene-like title, but this too is a Keel tune. It’s in the same vein as “Speed Demon”, and the same level of quality.
It’s fun to revisit The Right To Rock periodically…but sparingly.
This is an incredibly difficult, but very important story to write. I did a draft back in November…put it in a drawer and didn’t want to see it again. Even now I don’t want to look at it.
There’s stuff in here that people don’t know, because I haven’t discussed it.
It’s clear to me now thatfinishingthe original Record Store Tales without this chapter was a big mistake. It should have been in there, to explain how things went from “point A” to “point B”. Any questions left lingering after that ending should now be answered.
RECORD STORE TALES MkII: Getting More Tale #403: Bully
Bullying is a huge issue today. Every week it seems we’re seeing kids kill themselves, because their bullies are everywhere. They don’t disappear. They’re online, they’re in the classroom, and they’re on the job. I tend to think that everybody has been bullied somewhat, so my story is no more important than yours. I’ve been criticized for talking about some of my experiences publicly. One or two people might not even believe me that these events happened.
Tough.
The experiences are mine. I don’t want them buried. I want somebody to draw some kind of strength or inspiration from them. That’s how I have chosen to turn a negative into a positive. If you don’t like it, I invite you to read something else today.
Grade school was tough. Teachers turned a blind eye. One teacher specifically teamed me up with my bully in gym class. This kid had been picking on me straight from grade 2. I don’t remember anymore what started it. I probably tattled on him for talking in class, but who knows now. He focused on me like a laser beam, right from grade 2 up. I could not shake this kid. He was always there, picking on me, through grade school. My 7th grade teacher, knowing all this, decided to team us up in gym. God knows what she was thinking. Did she assume that because we had to throw a ball back and forth, we’d suddenly become friends? Bonding over ball throwing? I hated that teacher. I hated that bully. That guy was so persistent, that once we hit highschool, he skipped his own gym class and attended mine, just to continue. My highschool gym teacher was so out of it he didn’t even realize he had an extra student.
What got me through these things? Music.
I saw a guy like Dee Snider take a stand against his own bullies. They called him a “sick mother fucker”. He turned it around and showed them he didn’t care. “Yes, I am a sick mother fucker. Thank you very much.” Later on, Twisted Sister even named their fan club the Sick Mother Fuckin’ Friends of Twisted Sister. SMF’s for short. He took something negative, robbed it of its power, and created something positive from it.
Twisted Sister, Motley Crue, and especially Kiss had lyrics about not letting these guys bother you. I took them to heart, and listened to the music day and night. The fact that not one kid in my school liked Kiss, Twisted Sister, or Motley Crue only made me that much more fanatic. “If the others don’t like these groups, and I don’t want to be like them, then this music is meant for me.”
Around grade 9, the bullying finally stopped. I made it through the rest of my school life without incident. The bullies had dropped out of school. Or switched schools. The truth is I don’t know what happened to them, I was just glad to be rid of them.
My love for my music never died. It grew stronger as I became more obsessed. Music eventually lead me to the Record Store where, unfortunately, after time, bullying began again.
It happened again in 2000. I remember 2000 quite clearly. There were two or three separate incidents in 2000. One event is permanently emblazoned in my memory, never fading, always vivid as it was 15 years ago.
One person in the organization, who happened to also be my supervisor, had been working for weeks and months on our master CD pricing catalogue. [Some of us refer to this person as “She Who Shall Not Be Named”.] Shortly after the CD master had been completed, I was buying some CDs from a customer. I will never forget they were Roch Voisine discs. For some reason Roch was not in our CD master catalogue. I couldn’t find him under “V” or even “R”. The owner was in my store that day, so I asked him.
“Hey, I can’t find Roch Voisine in the CD master. It’s supposed to be done now right?”
“I’m not sure,” he responded. “Why don’t you phone her [She Who Shall Not Be Named] and find out?”
I called and asked the question to her, my direct supervisor. She somehow took this as an insult and me trying to undermine her seniority. “You’re just mad that your precious Steve Vai isn’t in the CD master!” she shouted at me. I’ll never forget the words, “your precious Steve Vai.” It underlined things that were wrong about this person being in authority: she was making it personal.
During this rant, I was told that I was trying to sabotage her position in front of the big owner. When this person eventually arrived at my store, she walked past me at the counter, scowled and told me that I was “so dead for this.”
What? So dead for what? What did I do? I noticed Roch Voisine was not in our master list. My boss asked me to find out why. So I did. I was accused of this “sabotage”, and had the Steve Vai comment thrown at me, and then told I was “so dead”? I was absolutely floored.
She stopped speaking to me for two weeks straight. My direct supervisor, working almost daily in the same location as me, completely ignoring me, for two weeks. The tension could be cut with a knife. One customer, witnessing the tension and action of my supervisor one day, said “I can’t believe they treat you like that at work.” I developed a nervous twitch in my left eye that would not go away for months. My sleep was disturbed nightly. I was a tense, stressed out disaster on a daily basis at work. Then two weeks later it blew over, as if nothing had happened. The supervisor was once again friendly as pie. I think that is one reason why some don’t believe me that these events happened. Not everybody got to see that side of her. Some did. I remember them. Lyne, who couldn’t hack it anymore and bailed to work at HMV. They knew what I was going through, because they went through something similar with the same person.
Another thing about being bullied – victims sometimes protect their bullies. Sometimes they don’t tattle. They pretend everything is fine. They do this to avoid more retribution, to regain favour of the bully, and to hide embarrassment at being bullied in the first place. I know because that’s what I did. I did bring it up to the owner once, and he asked me if I wanted him to speak to her about it. I reacted in terror. “No! Then I’m afraid it will get worse!” So nothing happened.
Then it happened again…and again. Repeating the same pattern of bullying at work. The worst was not being spoken to for weeks on end by my supervisor. The next time it happened, it lasted three weeks. I’d be asked by the owner, “Mike, why didn’t you get this done?” Because nobody told me to do it.
The second time was worse because it was personal. It had nothing at all to do with work. This supervisor had an acrimonious split with her fiancé, who also worked within the company. I knew them both. I won’t go into any details on this, because the people involved probably don’t want to be reminded of this epic shitstorm. In fact one of my bully’s friends emailed me three years ago when I first started publishing Record Store Tales, hoping I had no plans for writing about that very shitstorm. He said he was losing sleep over the thought. I told him I was not going to talk about it, because it had nothing to do with me, and I still have respect for some of the people involved. Suffice to say – there was a relationship that ended within the store, and even though it shouldn’t have, it affected the store. And me.
There was a show in town that I had attended one Saturday night. My supervisor also attended it, along with several staff members. After the gig, I said goodnight and told everyone that I was heading home, see you all Monday.
On the way home, I realized that it was her ex-fiance’s birthday, and that he was celebrating at a bar that was on my way. So I stopped in to wish him a happy birthday, and resumed my trek home.
On Monday, my supervisor confronted me about it! “You told me you were going home, but you lied to me! I found out you went to see him after the show! I don’t care if you see him! Don’t ever lie to me! If you ever lie to me again you are dead!”
I denied having lied to anyone, but she was on a roll. I was in tears when she was done. I knew that I was going to be treated to more weeks of silence and bullying, and it had nothing to do with work at all. It had to do with someone who was in a position of power, who was not able to keep her work and personal lives separate. Although the first bullying incident nearly destroyed me, the second one was worse, and I knew that there was no way I was ever going to shake this person as long as we both worked for the same company. I tried to out-last her, but she out-lasted me and I quit first. I broke the cycle by removing myself from it.
Someone once asked me, “Was it bullying, or just somebody being an asshole repeatedly?” It sure felt like bullying to me, although it took me years to admit it to myself. The pattern of protecting the bully and pretending everything was normal continued for six years, out of fear. It was like grade school all over again. It felt exactly the same. I consider myself a survivor. I made it through. I had to quit the store to do it, but I did it.
After leaving, I began to put the pieces together. That what I had experienced wasn’t “normal” like some seemed to think it was. Calling it something else didn’t change the fact that this person was a total bully. My bully. And like most bullies, she was good at wearing two faces. That’s why, I guess, some of her friends today choose not to believe me that it sucked as bad as it did. Just because she was nice 50% of the time didn’t negate the stuff they didn’t see. A bully can still be mean to you part of the time, even if they bring chocolates to work and act nice the rest of the time. It was an experience that drove me close to the point of nervous breakdown (or beyond), and nobody is going to tell me that it didn’t happen, or that it wasn’t as bad as it was.
It did happen. It made me a stronger person today.
I’m grateful that artists such as Paul Stanley and Dee Snider went through something like what I went through, and survived to sing about it. Now it’s my turn to tell you about it. Somewhere out there, I hope there’s a kid who decides not to take any more shit from their bully. Break the cycle.
I have disabled comments for this chapter. I want the story to stand on its own, and I don’t want to talk about “She Who Shall Not Be Named” any more. Thank you.
KISS – Unholy Kisses(Audience recorded bootleg, 1992 Flashback)
“You know who we are, let’s kick some ass!”
That’s how Paul Stanley introduced the legendary Kiss on their stripped-down 1992 club tour, April 23 1992 in San Francisco. The Revenge album was a “reboot” of sorts, out of necessity. New drummer, new attitude, and a return to the producer (Bob Ezrin) who helped make them huge. A return to the clubs without the lights, stage show, and costumes helped Kiss transition into the 90’s. If this one bootleg CD is any indication, then the club tour was a huge success.
Eschewing their normal opening routine, the band entered to the sound of “Love Gun”, but heavier than ever. Many fans consider the Simmons/Stanley/Kulick/Singer lineup to be among their best, and this live bootleg proves why. In fantastic voice, Paul leads this devastating lineup to demolish the clubs in their wake. Full of adrenaline, “Love Gun” is faster than its studio counterpart, and Bruce Kulick creates his own individual guitar solo that fits the track.
Gene’s next on “Deuce”, the new lineup infusing it with menace. The CD, though obviously a bootleg, sounds great. Even though the drums are a bit distant you can hear that Eric Singer has come into the band paying homage to the drum parts he inherited. Then Paul takes a moment to tell the audience that they’ve been so fired up about the way Kiss have been sounding, that they just got to come down to San Fransisco and play. A rough opening to “Heaven’s On Fire” is a mere hiccup after they get going on the hit single. For the first time you can clearly hear new guy Eric Singer singing background vocals.
“You ready to hear something old? One of those Kiss klassics? Bruce – let ’em have a taste.” Then the shocked audience picked up their jaws as Kiss slammed through “Parasite” for the first time since 1976. Returning to songs like this was critical for a band who spent the 80’s largely ignoring the deep cuts.
One thing I love about bootleg CDs is the chance to overhear some audience chatter. “Shout it Out Loud” however is marred by one nearby fan who keeps singing “You got to have a party,” even when that’s not the current part of the song! Minor beef, as “Shout it Out Loud” rocks and is another song that was tragically ignored during most of the 80’s.
“How many of you people have Kiss Alive? Gene must know this one. Gene’s got Kiss Alive. Goes like this!” There begins “Strutter” (also from the first Kiss album) and the crowd goes nuts. “Dr. Love” follows, with Eric Singer showing off some fancy footwork on the double bass drums.
Fans who were shocked by these old tunes must really have lost their minds when “I Was Made For Loving You”, heavy as hell, tore through the club. “I Was Made For Loving You” was re-imagined as a chugging metal track and in the club environment, it’s only more raw and aggressive. Then Paul lets another bomb drop when he introduces “100,000 years” from the first album. “Oh my God! I don’t fucking believe it! I do not fucking believe it!” says one nearby fan, obviously excited by this rarity. It’s incredible how well Bruce and Eric adapted to the sound of old raunchy Kiss.
But what of new Kiss? The band weren’t ready to start unveiling all the new songs, as Revenge hadn’t even come out yet. They did roll out two: the first single “Unholy”, and album cut “Take it Off”.
“We got a new album about to come out,” begins Paul. “And I’ll tell you something, this album is the shit. I’ll tell you, this album is our fuckin’ Revenge and when you hear the album you’ll know what I’m talking about.” Indeed, as promised the new songs kick ass, though “Unholy” is kind of awkward in the live setting. “Take it Off” is more like Kiss.
It’s all oldies from here. Aside from the new Revenge songs, the most recent track that Kiss played here was “Heaven’s On Fire” from 1984! (Note: this CD is not the full concert and 1985’s “Tears are Falling” was also played that night.) I think it’s safe to say that Paul and Gene understand some of the errors in direction they made over the last 10 years, and successfully steered the ship back on track. “Firehouse” and “Cold Gin” from the first album are present. “I Stole Your Love”, “Detroit Rock City”, and “I Want You” close the CD. “I Stole Your Love” with the backing vocals of Eric Singer is top-notch!
The songs played that night that aren’t on this CD are “God of Thunder”, “Lick It Up”, “Got Gave Rock and Roll to You II” (its live debut), “Rock and Roll all Nite” and the aforementioned “Tears Are Falling”. Too bad this is only a single CD bootleg, but bootlegs were so expensive that a double would have cost at least $60-80. If it was a double, I never would have bought it and heard what I have of this awesome show!
RECORD STORE TALES MkII: Getting More Tale #391.5: Mail from Cataraqui
I got mail!
The only thing sweeter than the arrival of an Amazon order, or that of imported Transformers toys from China, is surprise mail from a fellow music lover. This time that music lover is Geoff over at the 1001 Albums in 10 Years blog. Geoff sent me a cryptic email a few weeks ago about some things he found that I might be interested in having for my collection:
“Mike, I picked up a couple practically-free musical treasures at our local Value Village this week. I’m not sure if they’ll actually play, but when I saw them I thought they’d be neat assets in the LeBrain collection!”
What a guy! I love surprises!
There are a few major audio formats that have no representation in my music collection. If I can’t play it, as a collector I generally don’t seek it out. As a music geek however, I love odd formats and releases. There are certain bands that I would collect just about anything from, and the big one is Kiss. Geoff knew this. Now I can add 8-track to the formats I own of Kiss Alive! This is definitely getting a place of honour in LeBrain’s displays of treasure. Probably right next to that weird Def Leppard Pyromania cassette that Aaron found for me at Sonic Boom.
Also in the package, and presumed worthless by Geoff, are two 45’s. According to Geoff’s accompanying letter, the records “you would be able to play, but are too damaged to do so!”
Fooey. My USB turntable only cost $50. Let’s give it a shot.
Both singles are records I didn’t have before. Twisted Sister’s “We’re Not Gonna Take It” / “You Can’t Stop Rock ‘N’ Roll” has a different B-side from the 12″ single that I do have. The 7″ has the studio version of “You Can’t Stop Rock ‘N’ Roll” instead of the live. And it played fine! It was dusty but cleaned up fine. Score!
The Kiss single, for “I Was Made For Lovin’ You” / “Hard Times”, was not as fortunate. It is massively warped. I measured the warp at 1/4 inch at its largest point. But get this…it played! It didn’t sound the greatest, but it played!
In his letter, Geoff says “Thought they still work as collectibles or conversation starting coasters.” Well, Twisted Sister and Kiss Alive! are officially entering the LeBrain Library. As for “I Was Made For Lovin’ You”? Though it plays, I don’t think I will play it again. I think this might make an excellent wall decoration, however!
Thanks Geoff! I’ll find something funky and cool to send in return.
RECORD STORE TALES MkII: Getting More Tales #372: Top Five Reasons Why I Love Kiss
A while ago I recorded this segment for a proposed podcast over at KingCrimsonProg. The podcast hasn’t come together yet, for the moment anyway, but I’ve decided to use my segment right here because it’s a subject of interest. Listen to the embedded video below to hear my Top Five Reasons Why I Love Kiss!
RECORD STORE TALES MkII: Getting More Tale #367: Greatest Hits 2 A sequel to#364: Greatest Hits
The last time we talked about greatest hits albums, I listed seven reasons that die-hard fans usually shun them. Readers came up with some of their own, and also arguments to defend greatest hits albums. I usually advise fans to buy key studio albums rather than compilations, depending on the person. Yet I still own a few hundred greatest hits albums. There have to be good reasons.
And what about you? How many do you own? What are your favourites? Why did you buy them? I asked myself those three questions too. #1. I don’t know. #2. There are many, but Double Platinum and Killers by Kiss are up there. #3. Let’s talk about that in depth…I broke it down into seven points:
1. There are some artists that I barely know. Neil Diamond or Kenny Rogers, for example. There might be a handful of songs I like, but not enough that I have heard to take the plunge and buy an actual album. Or, I know it’s an artist that I don’t want many albums from. I have a feeling that I only want one or two CDs, so one of them is usually a greatest hits. I collect a lot of music, but I can’t collect everybody. Sometimes I’ve done the research to know that I need one or two CDs and nothing more.
2. Exclusive tracks are often dangled as bait. But sometimes greatest hits albums are stuffed with exclusive radio edits and remixes that aren’t obviously credited. Kiss’ Double Platinum is one such album. Aerosmith’s Greatest Hits had a number of special edits of songs. Collectors like myself often look for such versions. They make for an enjoyable way to hear a familiar song with a slightly different slant.
3. Artwork. Younger folks might not understand why this matters, but I come from the age of physical product. With some bands, you don’t want just the music. You want all the album covers too; they are sometimes as important as any other aspect of the music. Iron Maiden is the first, obvious example. I own several Iron Maiden greatest hits discs simply because I wanted to own all the Eddies. There is a certain satisfaction in viewing them all lined up in order.
4. Historical importance. Some greatest hits albums are just historically important. Best of Van Halen Volume I for example – even if I didn’t buy it for the two new songs, I would have wanted it for the significant role it played in breaking up Van Hagar! You might want to own Their Greatest Hits by the Eagles for the fact it’s the top selling hits album of all time.
5. Sometimes, I actually do listen to greatest hits! Sure, not often by comparison. But if I’m in the car with the Mrs., she might prefer a Deep Purple greatest hits set to a 5 disc version of Made in Japan. I own ‘em, so if they’re good I may as well play ‘em. Also, If I’m going somewhere and I only have an hour or so to listen to music, a greatest hits album often scratches whatever itch I have.
6. Gateway music. My entrance into the world of Thin Lizzy was one CD (Dedication: The Very Best of).
That point is the most important one. Using a greatest hits album to delve further in the discography is such an excellent experience. My first two Deep Purple’s were greatest hits. Now my Purple collection is of a prodigious size. I don’t even know how many I have. 100 maybe? More? And it keeps growing!
My first Floyd? Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd. My first Rush? Chronicles. First ZZ Top? Greatest Hits. See where I’m going with this? These are bands that, today, I am still collecting. I still buy whatever’s coming out. Which brings me to my last point.
7. Personal history. I’ve developed a relationship with some of those greatest hits albums over the years, even if they have been superseded by better ones. Something about the familiarity, I suppose. But even though all my first greatest hits albums were on cassette, I still went and bought CD copies of them all. In some cases, vinyl too!
What are your favourites? Does it bother you to own multiple copies of the same songs? If your favourite band came out with a greatest hits album tomorrow, would you consider buying it? Let me know!
PETER CRISS – One For All (2007 Silvercat Records)
I decided to be lazy tonight, and write an easy review on a shitty album. It’s easier to tear something down than to build it up. I dove into my Peter Criss folder, and grinned as I selected his 2007 post-Kiss reunion solo album, One For All. Peter re-teamed with his Criss bandmates, Mark Montague and Mike McLaughlin. He also called in some favors from the Letterman Show’s Will Lee and Paul Shaffer.
And then everyone took a giant shit, recorded it, and they called it an album. A long, drawn out and painfully slow and tuneless album. One For All consists entirely of slow, slow numbers. Call ’em ballads, call ’em whatever you want. It’s 100% schlock, 0% rock. Peter: I am telling you right now man, and I’m sorry to have to be the one to say this, but your voice is gone. It’s done. It’s not pleasant to listen to anymore, especially when you try to reach notes so far out of your range that you’re whispering. Note accuracy is also a problem. It seems to be that if Peter didn’t hit the notes, but was in the general vicinity of them, that was a take. I am guessing at the quality control standards; I wasn’t there in the studio with Peter, who self-produced this bad boy. Not a good idea there, Pete m’boy.
The best tune is the title track and opener, “One for All”, on which Peter is backed by the mighty All Boys Choir from the Church of Transfiguration. Their voices (which unfortunately don’t come in until close to the end) save this song and make it something a little more special. It makes you wish they were singing on more of the album! Also, any time backup singer Jen Johnson is audible, then everything’s fine.
Worst tunes: A tie between “Send in the Clowns” (yes, that “Send in the Clowns”) and “Space Ace”. I’m not going to insult your intelligence and tell you what “Space Ace” is about. Now that Peter has written songs about himself (“The Cat” from his EP) and Ace, I’m waiting for him to come up with “Star Child” and “The Demon”. Milk it Peter, for all its worth. May as well, since everybody else is too.
Quality control beef from the lyric sheet: the song “Doesn’t Get Better Than This”.
Remember George, and his guitar, John and Paul, and Ringo Star.
Seriously, they spelled Ringo Starr’s name wrong in a song about the Beatles!
Sorry Peter. This album gets the dreaded LeBrain Shit-Bomb.
ROCK STAR – Music from the Motion Picture (2001 Warner)
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