Paul Stanley

RE-REVIEW: KISS – Destroyer (1976)

The KISS RE-REVIEW SERIES Part 7:  

scan_20170301kiss-logo – Destroyer (1976 Casablanca, 1997 Mercury remastered edition)

Kiss had “made it”.  Alive! put them where they wanted to be:  on the charts and headlining concert stages coast to coast.  The financial pressure was off and they didn’t have to simply crank out new albums to keep the band afloat.  They could now take their time and make something that was more thought out; a statement.

The first issue to deal with was Kiss’ past sonic inadequacy in the studio.  Prior albums produced by Kenny Kerner & Richie Wise, and Neil Bogart did not capture the full-on Kiss thunder.  They failed to shred the speakers.  They needed somebody “big time”, to give them the punch they desperately needed.  That somebody was Canadian producer extraordinaire Bob Ezrin.  Ezrin had been an instrumental guiding force for Alice Cooper.  Now it was Kiss’ turn to receive the platinum Ezrin magic touch.

Ezrin agreed to work with Kiss, reportedly influenced by a neighbor kid who liked to discuss music.  “The kids from school love Kiss,” the boy told Ezrin.  “The problem is, their records sound so shitty.  But the band is so good we buy the records anyway.”  Working with Kiss wasn’t much different from working with Cooper.  These were not schooled musicians.  Ezrin had to take them to boot camp.  Keeping the drums in time was a challenge.  Peter Criss had difficulty maintaining a steady tempo, so Ezrin would beat a briefcase to keep him in time.  He wore a conductor’s coat and tails, and pushed the rest of the band like a drill sergeant.  Even the mighty demon Gene Simmons was chastised, for finishing a take before the producer instructed him to stop.  And when Ace Frehley didn’t show up because he had a card game?  Shenanigans were not tolerated.  When Ace wasn’t available when he should have been, Ezrin’s buddy Dick Wagner (Alice Cooper) was there.  For the first time, a Kiss member was replaced on album by an outside uncredited musician.

kiss-and-ezrin-in-tails

One innovative technique that Ezrin brought in to thicken up Kiss’ sound was using a grand piano to back up the big guitars.  The end result doesn’t sound like piano and guitars, but one solid wall of rock, like Phil Spector channelled through Bob Ezrin.  Where Kiss used to rely on rag-tag recordings they now had a big glossy sound to play with.  Ezrin was also fond of sound effects and orchestration, and he brought both to Kiss.

The opening track “Detroit Rock City” was a slam-dunk intro to the new Kiss sound.  After an extended start with the sound of a fan driving to a Kiss concert, the band thundered into focus.  That trademark riff chainsaws through, before Paul Stanley’s powerful pipes take command.  What a song.  The new Kiss had arrived, shiny and sleek, souped up and fueled, as if they were a brand new band.

detroit_rock_city“Detroit” faded out into “King of the Night Time World”, an outside song brought in for completion by Ezrin and Paul Stanley.  They turned it into something that worked for a Kiss album, albeit very different from their past.  As for Paul, he contributed a fast hard rocker called “God of Thunder”.  Though reports sometime differ in the details, ultimately the song fit Gene Simmons’ demon persona better and the song was given to him to sing.  It was slowed to a monster plod, and a few lines were changed to suit.  (“Make love ’til we bleed” was changed to “Hear my words and take heed”.)  And those little demonic voices?  Bob Ezrin’s kids, playing with walkie-talkies.

“Great Expectations” (based on Beethoven) has to be the most bizarre song on the album and one of the weirdest that Kiss have attempted.  A lush ballad with strings and choirs and Gene Simmons in crooner mode, it is definitely different.  Even one of the rockers, “Flaming Youth” written by Frehley/Stanley/Simmons/Ezrin, is different for Kiss.  It’s a rock song…with calliope.  (Picture circus music.)  Gene’s “Sweet Pain” had female backing vocals like an old Motown single.  These are all interesting experiments, but none of those three songs have become live concert classics.

Bob Ezrin tricked the band into writing “Shout it Out Loud”.  He realized they needed one more song, so he told the band that they had lost the masters to “Great Expectations” and needed a replacement.  Gene and Paul hurriedly wrote “Shout it Out Loud” with the producer and had another instant classic.  Like “Rock and Roll all Nite” before it, “Shout” was an anthemic rallying cry that a concert audience could get behind.

The album closer was a track called “Do You Love Me”, another tune brought in by outsiders (Kim Fowley) to be finished by Kiss.  Though on the surface “Do You Love Me” is a bit repetitive and dull, it was later covered by Nirvana.  There must be something to it that struck a chord.

There was still one more song on the album, a throwaway.  It was used as a B-side to “Detroit Rock City”, as the band didn’t have much faith in it.  Peter Criss had brought forward a love song called “Beck”, named for a girl named Becky, written by Stan Penridge for their old band Chelsea.  The song needed work, including a new title.  Ezrin revamped it completely, and the result was one of Kiss’ all time biggest hits:  “Beth”.  Tender and accessible, the only Kiss member on “Beth” was Peter Criss himself.  Dick Wagner played acoustic and Bob Ezrin played piano.  The orchestra finished it off.  Eventually, radio stations started flipping the “Detroit” single and playing “Beth”.  This led to Casablanca reissuing “Beth” as a single A-side, Kiss’ highest charting ever.


With the help of “Beth”, Destroyer maintained Kiss’ stardom and opened up the doors for any future musical experiments they could fathom.  Its cover showed Kiss in an apocalyptic landscape, in full super hero mode for the first time.  Artist Ken Kelly created something that helped define Kiss as larger than life…and larger than life they did become.

That wasn’t the end of the story for Destroyer.  For years it became the benchmark that Kiss albums were measured against.  In 2012, Bob Ezrin revisited the backing tapes and produced an alternate mix called Destroyer: Resurrected.  This featured some previously unheard music such as an alternate Ace Frehley guitar solo for “Sweet Pain” (Dick Wagner played the original solo).

Destroyer is far from the definitive Kiss album.  In fact, it is more like a one-off, an experiment that was never fully revisited.  Some of its songs are less than classic.  Others are so classic that you can’t imagine the world without them.  The bottom line for Kiss was that Destroyer propelled them further towards their goal of becoming the hottest band in the world.

Today’s rating:

3.5/5 stars

Uncle Meat’s rating:

4/5 steaks 

Meat’s Slice:  The general consensus of casual Kiss fans is that this is their greatest studio album.  Let’s examine this.  I’ll start with the iconic.

“SHOUT  IT OUT LOUD” – On May 22, 1976, this song went number one in Canada, the band’s first ever number one song.  40 years later and “Shout it Out Loud” might be the Kiss song with the longest shelf life.  One of two perfect “live concert” songs on Destroyer.  The other?

“DETROIT ROCK CITY” –  Thin Lizzy-esque two-guitar rock fest.   Sitting on the same shelf as “Shout it Out Loud”.  Iconic indeed.   Unperishable.   Even has a movie named after it. I have never seen  it.   Maybe it’s finally time to do so.

“BETH” – If any other member sang “Beth” it wouldn’t have been the same song, or had the same success.  Peter Criss has a special rasp in his voice that can both rock and schmaltz it up.  Like Rod Stewart, or that goof that sings for Slaughter.   I personally wish “Beth” would “fly to the angels” up in the sky, but this song did do one good thing for me.  My grandmother refused to get me anything Kiss related until I pointed out to her that “Beth”, on the radio in the car at the time, was actually Kiss.  So thanks for that at least.

“DO YOU LOVE ME” –  Perhaps this song is more iconic in my own mind specifically, since it is in my Top Five Kiss songs.  Classic Paul Stanley stuff here.

“GOD OF THUNDER” – Unique in every way for the time.  A lot of Ezrin tricks in this track including backwards drumming.  I still have not heard the great cover of this song I always thought I would from some Metal band.  There’s still time….

No wonder the casual Kiss fan believes this is the best of all of the Kiss studio albums.  It is a great collection of songs that are still loved today.  But everything else on Destroyer not listed above is average at best,  or much worse than that.  Maybe it’s because Kiss was too busy getting music lessons from Bob Ezrin while in the studio.  Maybe it’s simply that Kiss was tired of being looked at as a “joke” and wanted to get more serious, hence getting some more respect from the mainstream press.  Now again, this is my opinion and I’m sure that some might vehemently disagree with me about some of the deeper Destroyer tracks.  The best of which I think is “Flaming Youth”.   “King of the Night Time World” is pretty good, but borrowed from another song.  “Great Expectations” is blah stuff except for the melody stolen from Beethoven.  “Sweet Pain” sucks.  And “Rock and Roll Party” is just unnecessary filler, very much like “Inside”, the ending track on 5150.  Might as well take the needle off the record as soon as the song starts and put on something else immediately.

Let’s use this analogy. 

A couple raises 10 children.   Three of their children become world leaders.  Two others become successful doctors.  But half of their kids are in jail, some for unspeakable crimes against humanity.  Can you call them the best family overall because half of them are special?   Destroyer is definitely not the greatest Kiss album. 

Agreed?  Discuss….

 

To be continued…

Original mikeladano.com review:  2012/07/06

RE-REVIEW: KISS – Alive! (1975)

The KISS RE-REVIEW SERIES Part 6:  

img_20170228_171256kiss-logo – Alive! (1975 Casablanca, 2006 remastered edition from Alive! 1975-2000)

Music fans consider it one of the greatest live albums of all time.  Its name is spoken in the same breath as Frampton Comes Alive, Cheap Trick At Budokan, and Deep Purple Made in Japan.  It spawned thousands of young new guitar players (particularly of the grunge era), eager to emulate the six string heroism of Ace Frehley.  There is really only one miniscule issue:  Kiss Alive! is not really live.

Oh sure, Kiss and producer Eddie Kramer did record live shows.  When they listened back to the tapes, there were no performances that satisfied them.  Kiss were too rambunctious live.  They were busy jumping around, entertaining the crowd, not paying attention to each and every note.  For the live album, they weren’t looking for perfection, just performances without glaring mistakes or noise.  They realized they didn’t capture that with the shows they recorded.   So they did what most bands do:  went back into the studio and try to fix it.  Lead singer and guitarist Paul Stanley explained it in his book: “Yes, we enhanced it – not to hide anything, not to fool anyone.  But who wanted to hear a mistake repeated endlessly? Who wanted to hear an out-of-tune guitar? For what? Authenticity?”

Authenticity is an important part of great rock music, but not the only important part.  If you can’t tell the difference, then does it matter?  Fans listened to Kiss Alive! for decades, blindly enjoying every detail, from Ace Frehley’s extended “Rock and Roll all Nite” guitar solo, to Paul Stanley’s unforgettable stage raps.  Few suspected anything was out of the ordinary, unless they heard original bootleg recordings of the same Kiss gigs.  Eddie Kramer and the band re-recorded approximately 70% of the album.  The only thing they didn’t have to touch were Peter Criss’ drums, which were already pretty solid.  Bass, vocals, and even lead guitar was touched up and fixed, all but seamlessly.

img_20170228_171207

The reason Kiss Alive! was and is considered great is that you can’t tell the difference.  Unlike a double live Poison album (or even Kiss Alive II), you cannot hear obvious fixes and overdubs.  Kiss Alive! might not be authentic, but certainly sounds it.

With 16 scorching tracks all sourced from the first three Kiss albums, Alive! is all killer and no filler.  Even the typical “slow” moments, such as a long Paul Stanley rap backed by a Peter Criss drum solo (“100,000 Years”) is an unforgettable highlight.  Importantly, the new live version of “Rock and Roll all Nite” became the definitive one.  Today, it’s not the studio original version that still gets ready airplay.  It’s the Kiss Alive! version.  Many of these tracks usurp the originals as the superior versions:  “Firehouse”, “Cold Gin”, “Watchin’ You”, “Nothin’ to Lose”, and just about everything from Hotter Than Hell.  For the first time, all the warmth and energy are captured on Kiss vinyl.  If any of their studio material sounded sleepy, then this was a shot of caffeine.  Any sonic issues with the first Kiss studio albums are quickly forgotten by these volcanic recordings, finally capturing Kiss’ full power…in a roundabout way.

Kiss Alive! saved the band, and saved their record label Casablanca records.  Casablanca were on the verge of bankruptcy, and manager Bill Aucoin had to put the band on the road using his American Express card for currency.  Alive! put everybody back in the black.  It also put Kiss on the map as a rock and roll band to be reckoned with.  The two LP set was decked out with a gatefold sleeve, photos, a booklet, and even written notes from the band members.  For the first time, it felt like Kiss had released an album that lived up not only to their show, but their larger than life image.

Whether you decide to pick up Kiss Alive! on CD or LP, you will be in for a “rock and roll party” as per Paul Stanley.  Our recommended edition:  The four disc 2006 box set Alive! 1975-2000.  The set contains four volumes of Kiss Alive, deliciously remastered, with each album fit onto a single CD without losing any songs.  Fire away.

Today’s rating:

5/5 stars

Uncle Meat’s rating:

4.5/5 steaks 

Meat’s slice:   I would approximate that it was probably somewhere around 1978 when I first heard this record at a friend’s place.  I sat there and stared at the inner booklet and the album artwork, and I just wanted to be there.  I actually did get there many years later, but since I was like nine years old at this time and had not seen any sort of concert, it was all I knew of what a rock show was.  The picture on the back of the album taken at Detroit’s Cobo Hall is an unforgettable one, and makes you almost feel like you are there.  You get the scope of what it’s like to be on the floor for an arena show.  Tracks like “She”, “100,000 Years” and “Cold Gin” shine on this record specifically because of the banter of Paul Stanley.  I think it’s what truly makes the album special.  It wouldn’t surprise me to hear that Bruce Dickinson may have learned a thing or two from the Starchild on how to connect with an audience.  Alive! is the most important album of Kiss’ career, and is especially significant for those who were lucky to be a Kiss fan at a young age, while their unstoppable takeover of the Earth was building and building.

Following the release of Kiss Alive! in September of 1975, the second half of the 70s became known as the “Live Album Era” of Rock and Roll. Not only were a lot of bands doing it, but they were having massive successes with them (At Budokan…Frampton Comes Alive...Unleashed in the East…If You Want Blood etc).  This pioneering album was able to make the listener feel like they were actually at a rock concert, better than almost any live record has since.  Kiss Alive! was truly the birth of what is now known as The Kiss Army.

However with all this good comes some bad.  It was revealed years ago what everyone had already suspected: Most of the record is overdubbed and even most of the crowd noise is dubbed in.  For this reason and this reason alone I didn’t give this album 5 steaks.  But I refuse to go lower than 4 ½ .

Favorite Tracks:   All of it.

Forgettable Tracks:  None

To be continued…

Original mikeladano.com review:  2012/07/03

RE-REVIEW: KISS – Dressed to Kill (1975)

The KISS RE-REVIEW SERIES Part 5:  

scan_20170224kiss-logo – Dressed to Kill (1975 Casablanca, 1997 Mercury remastered edition)

The band was expected to be huge, so what was going wrong?  They had the look and they had the stage show. They had two albums and both underperformed.  Casablanca label head Neil Bogart wasn’t about to give up, and took matters in his own hands. He brought the band back to Electric Lady in New York and economically produced the third album himself.

Kiss’ Dressed to Kill was their third LP in 12 months.  It was not a drastic change of direction. It offered the same basic rock and roll that Kiss presented on the first two.  Bogart provided a clean production, a better sound but not too dissimilar from the first Kiss.  It was miles away better than the sludge of Hotter Than Hell, and it was a shorty (just half an hour).  Like the first two albums, it recycled some old Wicked Lester songs and Kiss-ified them.

Kiss was touring relentlessly so it was no surprise to hear songs like “Room Service” among the new tracks.

I’m feelin’ low, no place to go,
And I’m a-thinking that I’m gonna scream,
Because a hotel all alone is not a
Rock and roll star’s dream.

But just when I’m about to shut the light and go to bed,
A lady calls and asks if I’m too tired or if I’m just to dead for…

Room service, baby I could use a meal,
Room service, you do what you feel,
Room service, I take the pleasure with the pain,
I can’t say no.

An upbeat workmanlike Kiss song about sex on the road?  Just what Dr. Rock ordered.  The jangly rock and roll of early Kiss is omnipresent, and so are the cat-like pitter-patter drum rolls of Peter Criss.  Ace Frehley’s solo is multitracked for extra harmonic punch.  Then the album goes for a slow groove on “Two Timer”, a Gene stomp powered by his melodic basslines.  Kiss’ voices blend consummately for a nice memorable monster chorus.  The “Ladies in Waiting” arrive next, and according to the lyrics, “You’ve been to the market, and the meat looks good tonight.”  He’s not singing about Porterhouse steaks (or Uncle Meat).  The groove has kick, and plenty of Ace’s guitar fireworks.

Peter Criss had only one lead vocal on Dressed to Kill: “Getaway”, written by Ace.  The guitarist hadn’t started singing lead himself, and he knew that Peter needed more material to sing.  “Getaway” is a traditional rock n’ roll lick with Pete’s rasp and smooth style.  There is nothing wrong with an enjoyably simple Kiss song, especially when it’s one of Ace’s.  That goes double if Peter Criss is singing on it.  “Getaway” might not be a classic but it’s a deeply enjoyable album cut.

Dressed to Kill‘s first side had a brilliant closer in “Rock Bottom”, a song in two parts.   In the years since, Ace Frehley has quite competently come up with some beautiful acoustic songs.  On his solo and Frehley’s Comet albums of more recent years, he usually has an acoustic instrumental in his “Fractured” series.  The “Rock Bottom” intro might be considered a prequel to the “Fractured” series.  A piece like this came out of left field on a Kiss album.  He and Paul Stanley created a lovely blend of acoustics, and Neil Bogart captured it warm and clean.  As long as the intro is “Rock Bottom” itself, another one in a series of classic Paul Stanley rockers.  Paul has a knack for punchy and memorable rock and roll guitar songs, and “Rock Bottom” gets you right between the eyes.

It’s actually two Paul songs in a row that deserve the “classic” tag.  Not just “Rock Bottom”, but the side two opener “C’Mon and Love Me” is as brilliant as a 100 watt bulb right in the face.  Paul is probably not recognized enough for his riff writing.  Iommi, Page and Young are icons of riff, but Paul has really written some corkers over the years.  “C’Mon and Love Me” remains so awesome today because of that biting riff.  Not quite so with the pop rocker “Anything For My Baby”.  It’s too similar to the forthcoming (and superior) “Rock and Roll all Nite”.  However side two is quickly redeemed by the heavy-as-fuck “She”.  Yes, “She”, the same “She” that sounded like Jethro Tull on acid when recorded for Wicked Lester (1973).  Kiss transformed a corny hippie experiment into Sabbathy metal shrapnel.  Instead of a wanky falsetto, Gene employed his deep monster voice on “She”.  Combined with Peter Criss’ tribal drums, “She” slams you to the wall so turn it right up.

“Love Her All I Can” is goofy filler, another old Wicked Lester remake.  Not one of their finest moments, but important to the history of the band.  It is notable as being another fine example of Gene and Paul blending their voices for a nice thick chorus.  Frehley’s solo smokes so hot it’ll set off your fire alarm, but the song itself ranks low.  This matters not, because “Rock and Roll all Nite” was held back as the final track.  When Gene and Paul wrote together, they created magic.  But it’s not just Simmons and Stanley that can take all the credit.  Peter Criss’ cat-groove is unmistakably integral to the song.  Neil Bogart did a better job of capturing the band than Kerner and Wise did.  He also pushed the band into writing an anthem for themselves, and write it they did.  Notably, for the first time outsiders were brought into the studio to appear on a Kiss album.  In this case it was just friends and roadies, but it was also the first Kiss “gang vocal”.

There we go.  Hit written.  Or was it?

“Rock and Roll all Nite” failed to scorch the charts as it was designed to do.  Bogart and Casablanca Records were in dire straits now.  They had unwisely banked on a Johnny Carson comedy album to sell millions, and were sitting on all that unsold product.  (It would not be the last time Casablanca got cocky and made that mistake.)  If the record label were in trouble, by extension, so was Kiss.

Dressed to Kill will always be fondly remembered for rocking and rolling us all nite, for the very first time.  It’s also a beautiful record jacket to look at.  The black and white photo of Kiss in ill-fitting suits, surrounded by embossed Kiss logos, was quite striking.  Simmons looks particularly demented, only deepening his Demon image.  It’s a good Kiss album, but if they were to survive they had to make a serious statement.  Most importantly, they had to capture that thunderous sound at its full potential, something every producer thus far had failed to do. It was time to come Alive!

Today’s rating:

4/5 stars

Uncle Meat’s rating:

5/5 steaks 

Meat’s slice:  Almost exactly half an hour of perfect Rock and Roll.  The shortest Kiss album is the best Kiss album in Uncle Meat’s opinion.   After a sophomore slide, Kiss’ third album somehow improved the sound by getting the president of their record company to produce?  What shouldn’t have worked, worked perfectly with Kiss under the gun and writing, recording and releasing Dressed to Kill in a ridiculous five months after Hotter Than Hell.  Why does it take Metallica 45 years to make a fucking album again?  Don’t say ego…because we are talking about the Donald Trump of egos in Gene Simmons by himself here.  Fuck Metallica’s bullshit!!!  (* I apologize…this is for another time to be determined *)    Anyway,  Kiss became tighter as a band and better musicians through constant touring.  This prepared them to brave these unlikely circumstances and produce not only some of my favorite all-time songs of theirs, but undoubtedly the song that would live on as the very flagpole the Kiss Army flag is attached to, “Rock and Roll all Nite”.

Short but sweet has never been so apropos to describe a record. The chorus of “C’mon and Love Me”. The cowbell in “Room Service”.  Then “She” takes off her clothes and I’m sold.  Best album of their career. Another interesting Kiss note…Only twice have Paul Stanley and Ace Frehley shared writing credits alone on a song together:  “Comin’ Home” and “Rock Bottom”.  The former being a song I have already mentioned I don’t really like much, and the latter being a Top 3 Kiss song for me.  Ironically a song titled “Rock Bottom” is the exactly the antithesis of that.  Top shelf Rock and Roll from the band that got me into Rock and Roll.  Also in my Top 3 album covers of all time.  Scared the shit out of me when I was a kid.

Favorite Tracks:  “Rock Bottom”, “Love Her All I Can”, “She”, “C’mon and Love Me”, “Room Service”

Forgettable Tracks:  None

To be continued…

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Original mikeladano.com review:  2012/07/04

 

REVIEW: KISS – Agora Ballroom 1974 (Cleveland broadcast plus bonus cuts)

The KISS RE-REVIEW SERIES Part 4:  A brand new BONUS review!

– Agora Ballroom 1974 – The Cleveland Broadcast – Plus bonus cuts (2015 Go Faster)

Radio broadcast CDs are common and cheap today.  They are a great way to get rare live recordings from bands you love, at a good price, with acceptable sound quality.  When this set was recorded at the Agora Ballroom in Cleveland (April 1, 1974) Kiss only had one album out.  It’s a rare early glimpse at the band when they were just beginning to stretch their road legs.  Already, the performances on this CD were far more fiery than that on their studio albums — and that’s without Gene breathing fire.

The Agora set was a mere eight songs, and a strong representation of Kiss’ best early material.  Almost everything is from the first LP; nothing from the second that would be released a mere six months later.  The oddity is “She”, an old Wicked Lester holdover that wouldn’t come out as a Kiss song until 1975.  Also fascinating is that Gene Simmons even does some talking between songs, and you can see why he lets Paul do all the talking now.  “How many are you, a hundred?  Are you ready to rock?  Rock?”  Paul Stanley was clearly better at stage raps, and this CD offers a reason why Gene doesn’t do them anymore.

As with any radio broadcast CD, do not expect flawless audio.  This isn’t the greatest recording.  There’s hardly any bass.  What it is though is a great performance captured at the very beginning.  Tracks like “100,000 Years”, “Nothin’ to Lose” and “Cold Gin” have so much reckless energy that they make the originals sound sterile.   Kiss were a very active band on stage, and all that jumping around means bad chords, missed notes and vocals that drop in and out as Paul moves to and fro.  You wanted authenticity?  You got authenticity.  The most consistent member is Ace Frehley whose solos were often highlights of any Kiss song.

Best track:  “Black Diamond”.

But wait, there’s more!  From ABC In Concert (03/29/74) comes additional versions of “Nothin’ to Lose”, “Firehouse” and “Black Diamond”.  These are not flawless either, but they have more beef and a lot more bass.  The performances are just as ragged.  Then from their legendary appearance on the Mike Douglas Show (04/29/74) is the Gene Simmons interview and “Firehouse” once more.  “Let me spread my wings”, says an awkward Gene, not quite the character he’d become later, but quite the ham.  The audience (and guests) had no idea what to make of him. These are tapes that fans have had and loved for years, but to have them on a commercial CD is pretty cool.  Besides, these really are bonus tracks.  They’re not on other versions of Agora, such as the 4 CD Radio Waves 1974-1988 which only has the first eight songs.

Any Kiss fan needs the Agora show in some form. This CD may as well be your choice, since it’s affordably priced and has those lovely bonus cuts. Kiss is a band that evolved, year by year, from sheer touring experience. The early performances have a raw un-schooled edge, and that’s what makes them special.

3.5/5 stars

RE-REVIEW: KISS – Hotter Than Hell (1974)

The KISS RE-REVIEW SERIES Part 3:  

scan_20170223kiss-logo – Hotter Than Hell (1974 Casablanca, 1997 Mercury remastered edition)

Sunny California awaited Kiss, and producers Kenny Kerner and Richie Wise.  Hotter Than Hell was an apt title for the album they were set to record, but nobody was happy.  Maybe it was homesickness, but Hotter Than Hell is sonically perhaps the very worst Kiss album ever released.  Brittle, thin and tinny are three appropriate words to describe its sonic flatness.  What are supposed to be drums sound more like wooden planks.  It sounds less like an human drummer and more like a clanking machine flailing away in a deep cave.

Production issues keep Hotter Than Hell off the tops of many lists, but the songs were all there.  It remains a favourite for many, a reminder of times both good and bad, as nostalgia helps wipe clean the lingering audio disappointment.  Kiss had little problem coming up with 10 great songs, mere months after their debut album Kiss (also 1974).  Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley had the usual goods, and Ace Frehley provided co-writes on three songs.  And what songs they were.

The slow riff for “Got to Choose” is a perfect opener, chunky yet melodic.  Paul sings lead, Gene harmonizes, and a Kiss classic is born.  “Ooh ooh ooh, got to choose who’s your baby!” they sing, and who doesn’t love “ooo ooo ooo’s” in their choruses?  They contrast well with the heavy Kiss guitars, much edgier than the jangle of Kiss. Yet that’s nothing compared to the machine gun tactics of “Parasite”, a Frehley signature track as sung by Gene Simmons.  When Ace does contribute his own material, it sounds like idiosyncratic Frehley.  “Parasite” powers its way through the sonic haze, forcing its way above the sludgy sound.  Ace’s solo remains a trademark, a stuttering classic you can hum in your sleep.  Guitarists the world over got their start trying to play “Parasite”.

This makes way for the first Kiss “ballad” if you want to call it that:  “Goin’ Blind”.  It’s really too heavy to be a ballad, but it’s also too slow and mournful to be a rocker.  This track goes back years, as Gene wrote it with his Wicked Lester bandmate Stephen Coronel as “Little Lady”.  Though the lyrics may not appeal to all (“I’m 93, you’re 16”), “Goin’ Blind” is one of Gene’s finest songs.  Ace’s solo just cries (loudly).

Paul Stanley’s title track is a favourite.  The groove is what Kiss call their “monster plod”, and you know it when you hear it.  It stomps, it rolls, and it takes its time.  “Hotter Than Hell” has not one but two amazing riffs, and some of Ace Frehley’s coolest wailing.  Frehley’s outro solo is multitracked, surely one of the earliest examples of this in Kiss.  Then Frehley burns it all to the ground on “Let Me Go, Rock ‘n’ Roll”.  Lightning licks and turbo charged rock n’ roll get the sweat pouring.  Anyone who wants to know what the fuss about Kiss is all about just need to play “Let Me Go, Rock ‘n’ Roll”.  Get past the sonics and focus on the adrenaline.

Dig that cowbell on “All the Way”, a Simmons rock and roll celebration.  Though it wasn’t on Kiss Alive!, and hasn’t become a Kiss mainstay, that is not a reflection on its quality.  Hotter Than Hell is often heavy and oppressive.  “All the Way” is just fun, blowing off steam, and having a good time.  “Watching You”, on the other hand, is one of those heavy Kiss grooves that Gene does so well.  Listen to his bass playing, too.  Cream were one of his big influences, and though Gene is no Jack Bruce, he composes melodic rolling bass lines.  Because of his persona, and because it is more about the act than the musicianship, Gene’s skills on the four string are often overlooked.  “Watchin’ You” places them front and center.  And just listen to Paul Stanley coming in screamin’ at about 1:35!  What a voice.  There were no slouches in Kiss.  Even hampered by the tinny drum sound, Peter Criss is ferocious, almost tribal.  (And with tasteful use of cowbell.)

Paul Stanley has come up with some very cool, simple and classic rock and roll riffs over the years.  Tracks like “Mr. Speed”, “C’mon and Love Me”, and more recently “All For the Love of Rock & Roll”.  Add “Mainline” to that list of great Paul Stanley guitar parts.  This song is given to Peter Criss to apply his rasp to.  Compared to the more aggressive material elsewhere, “Mainline” almost slips between the cracks.  It has become a favourite in fan circles.  So has “Coming Home”, a rare Stanley/Frehley co-write.  It is unfortunate that you cannot clearly hear the nuances of the rhythm guitars, because Paul and Ace blend their parts very well.  “Coming Home” is so upbeat and energetic that you just keep trying to hear it a little better.

A Sabbathy closer called “Strange Ways” was written by Ace and given to Peter Criss to sing.  This is an early example of Frehley’s loyalty to Criss.  Ace knew that Peter could use another vocal on the album more than Paul and Gene did.  Peter nailed it, and with Gene Simmons joining on the chorus, Kiss just flattened everything.  Kiss rarely got as heavy as “Strange Ways”, and “Parasite” too…both Frehley songs.

Hotter Than Hell could easily score a 5/5 stars, but the sonics are impossible to simply ignore.  Every time you listen to it, there are things that sound irritating.  Instruments that don’t sound like themselves.  Notes and beats you struggle to hear.  It’s unfortunate that such a potentially lethal album was neutered by the lack of magic in the studio.  But it was OK.  Casablanca Records weren’t about to give up.  A third album would be needed, pronto.

Today’s rating:

4/5 stars

Uncle Meat’s rating:

3  ¾/5  steaks 

Meat’s slice:  Some of the party/sex/sex/sex etc. songs Kiss  filled the first album with were replaced by songs with darker lyrical themes.  The sound on this album is, well…shit.  This seems fitting considering all the bad experiences the band had while making this record (Ace’s face was mangled in a car accident). There are some great songs here, especially on side one. But side two is murked up a bit with a some clunkers. 

Not only the first Kiss album I ever owned, but the very first rock record as well.  I think my second record was The Bay City Rollers Greatest Hits.

Favorite Tracks:  “Parasite”, “Got to Choose”, “Strange Ways”

Forgettable Tracks:  “Mainline”, “Comin’ Home”

To be continued…

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Original mikeladano.com review:  2012/06/29

RE-REVIEW: KISS – Kiss (1974)

The KISS RE-REVIEW SERIES Part 2:  

scan_20170222kiss-logo – Kiss (1974 Casablanca, 1997 Mercury remastered edition)

The recording contract was signed with Casablanca Records.  Management was retained with Bill Aucoin.  The live gigs were quickly becoming legendary.  All Kiss needed was an album.

They band convened at Bell Sound studios in New York with Kenny Kerner and Richie Wise (ex-Dust) producing.  They selected nine of their best originals and got down to the job of recording.  Within a few weeks, they had a fully mixed album in their hands.

Kiss’ 1974 self-titled debut was simple and to the point.  No ballads, no frills, no fluff, very little filler and all rock.  It was a lean debut that lacked the thunder of their live performances.  Guitar-based, yes, but restrained and underpowered.  There was more Keith Richards rock and roll jangle than heavy metal distortion.  Yet these songs have formed the backbone of Kiss’ live set for decades.

Peter Criss has the honour of having the first sounds on the first Kiss album – a drum roll to introduce Paul Stanley’s “Strutter”.  The jangling Stones-y rhythm guitars of Paul and Ace Frehley are intertwined to create the “Strutter” riff, while Paul sings of a girl that he knows “a thing or two” about.  She gets her way just like a child, but there is no bitterness in the song.  It’s simply a rock and roll celebration, timeless and perfect as it is.  When Ace Frehley arrives with his first guitar solo, it’s clear that he was always a talent to watch.  His licks are fluid and precise.

One of Kiss’ biggest musical strengths was the fact that they had three (later on, four) capable lead singers.  Gene, Peter and Paul take turns on “Nothin’ to Lose”, a simple rock and roller made perfect by Peter Criss’ raspy scat.  The lyrics have nothing to say except that some lucky young lady has nothing to lose.  Following this, Paul Stanley calls the “Firehouse”, a live favourite that loses a lot of its bite on album.  The fire truck sirens are intact, but the recording is under powered — it needed more crunch and a little caffeine.  Much tougher is Frehley’s “Cold Gin”, sung by Gene Simmons.  The tempo is a little sluggish but it really came to life in the live arena.  This classic was kept in the set long after Ace left the band, proving its mettle.  Hard party rock doesn’t get much better than this.  “My heater’s broke and I’m so tired, I need some fuel to build the fire.”  It’s rare to hear Kiss singing about booze, which usually wasn’t their forte.

“Let Me Know” was one of the first songs Paul Stanley wrote, under the name “Sunday Driver”.  It’s right there in the lyrics, “Let me be your Sunday driver, let me be your Monday man…”  There are some songs that should get more recognition, and “Let Me Know” is absolutely one of them.  Gene and Peter join Peter for an irresistible group effort.  It gleefully continues the jangly rock of the first Kiss album, although there is also a heavy closing outro riff.  This powerful riff has been recycled live over the years to end other songs.   “Let Me Know” closed the first side with this memorable piece of Kiss guitar thunder.

Gene Simmons’ “Deuce” has become one of the most identifiable trademark Kiss songs.  “You know your man’s been working hard, he’s worth a deuce.”  Gene says the words are meaningless, but lines like “Get up and get your grandma out of here,” had the attitude he wanted.  Still one of Kiss’ hardest rockers, and with a riff that kills (ripped off from the Stones, according to Gene), “Deuce” will likely be played live until the end of time itself.  You can see Gene up there on stage, tonguing himself for all eternity.

A bit of filler called “Love Theme From Kiss” (formerly: “Acrobat”) is one of their few instrumental tracks.  It doesn’t have much meat, and was dropped from the set before too long.  Live, “Acrobat” used to feature a fast and heavy part called “You’re Much Too Young” that is far better than “Love Theme From Kiss”.  The lollygagging guitars of “Love Theme” just don’t cut it.

“100,000 Years” is driven by a wicked Simmons bass lick, and Paul Stanley’s wailing vocals.  Its groove has kept it in the live set on and off for decades, a fan favourite often extended for concerts with a long Paul rap and drum solo.  Then finally there is “Black Diamond”, the biggest sounding and most dramatic of these early tracks.  It utilizes a sweet Paul Stanley acoustic intro, before it goes full electric and Peter Criss takes the lead vocals.  His sandpaper rasp kills it: “Black Diamond” is another Kiss classic that has stood the test of time (and even different singers) over the years.  The original album version is hard to beat.

Casablanca weren’t happy with how the album was selling.  Label head Neil Bogart rushed Kiss into the studio to record a “hit single”.  They decided on covering “Kissin’ Time” and promoting it with a “kissing contest”.  Attention achieved, although the single performed only moderately.  The track was added to the reissued album, as the first song on side two.  The band were never particularly happy with it, and even though it showcases lead vocals from Paul, Gene and Peter, it does not sound much like Kiss.  It sounds more like compromise.

Promoting Kiss meant keeping a constant stream of product on the shelves.  A few months later, they were off to Los Angeles with Kerner and Wise to record a followup.  Kiss would have two studio albums in 1974, mere months apart.  Fortunately they had plenty of old Wicked Lester material to dust off.  The Kiss debut remains a quaint sounding beginning.  While their songwriting was intact and has proven to stand the test of the ages, their knowledge of the recording studio was just beginning.  Kiss could have used a heavier edge, but it is what it is:  a start.

Today’s rating:

4/5 stars

Uncle Meat’s rating:

4 ¾/5 steaks  4-34-steaks

Meat’s Slice:  One of the best debut albums in rock history; there is not a bad track on the album.  You could potentially hear more than half this album at any Kiss concert.  Easily a Top 3 Kiss album for Meat.  Certainly the production could be better, but the songs are great and even the minimalistic sound makes it feel even more like a great Rock and Roll record.  Which is what most of 70s Kiss really is.  Classic Rock and Roll.  Even “Love Theme From Kiss” has aged well.

Favorite Tracks:  “Nothin’ to Lose”, “Black Diamond”, “Cold Gin”

Forgettable Tracks:  “Kissin’ Time” (Nitpicking here.  Wasn’t even really on the original album in the first place.)

To be continued…

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Original mikeladano.com Kiss review:  2012/06/12

RE-REVIEW: KISS – Wicked Lester & Eddie Kramer demos (1972 & 1973)

The KISS RE-REVIEW SERIES Part 1:  

For once, it did not all start with a kiss-logo.

scan_20170220-4Wicked Lester (1972 unreleased album) & the Eddie Kramer demos (1973) (CD bootleg “promo” with “Epic” logo)

Stanley Eisen and Chaim Witz were two young New York musicians who didn’t particularly care for one another.  They met via guitarist Stephen Coronel, a mutual friend and bandmate of Witz.  Chaim, who came to the United States from Israel at the age of eight, changed his name to Gene Klein.  Stephen Coronel told Gene that young Stanley wrote songs too.  Unimpressed, Gene commanded, “Oh yeah?  Play one.”  Stanley played a prototype called “Sunday Driver”, but the encounter left a foul taste in his mouth.

Coronel eventually succeeded in bringing his two friends together, when Stanley Eisen joined their band Rainbow.  In was 1971, and Ritchie Blackmore had yet to form the most famous Rainbow of them all, but even so they needed a more unique name.  They already knew of one other band using the name Rainbow.  Both Paul and Gene had their sights set on bigger things than just New York City.  They wanted something original, and settled upon Wicked Lester.  They’d also drop their “ethnic sounding” real names in favour of the handles “Paul Stanley” and “Gene Simmons”.  They collected together some material they’d written and focused on their originals.  The lineup consisted of Stanley and Coronel on guitars, Simmons on bass, Brooke Ostrander (RIP, FYC) on piano and horns, and Tony Zarella on drums.

Wicked Lester performed only two gigs before an opportunity was offered by Ron Johnsen, a resident sound engineer at Electric Lady studios.  He saw something in the band, and put up the funds for some demo recordings.  Eventually, Epic had their curiosity piqued enough to buy the demos and agree to do make an album.  They had only one condition:  Get rid of Stephen Coronel.  Thus, the man that brought Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley together was fired from the band he shared with them.

Coronel was replaced by a player named Ron Leejack, and recording of the album commenced.  The majority of tracks were Simmons/Stanley (and sometimes Coronel) originals, with a handful of covers.  To cut a long story short, upon completion, Epic shelved the album and deemed it not good enough to release.

They were right to do so.

Only three tracks have ever been released officially, on the 2001 Kiss Box Set:  “Keep Me Waiting”, “She”, and “Love Her All I Can”.  The rest are only available on very poor sounding bootleg discs.  Even without the full fidelity of a proper release, one can tell from the available bootlegs that the album Wicked Lester was best left in the shadows.  When Kiss seemed to emerge fully-formed in 1974, nobody had witnessed their growing pains.

The running order of various bootlegs differ.  The red-packaged “Epic promo CD” (surely not) begins with the familiar “Love Her All I Can”, best known as one of Kiss’ early classics from 1975’s Dressed To Kill.  The unfocused Wicked Lester original sounds like a hippie commune on speed. Simmons today describes their sound as “like a cross between Three Dog Night and the Doobie Brothers.”  Throw in a healthy dose of acid.  Who knows where that came from, Simmons being so proudly anti-drug.

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An obscure cover “Sweet Ophelia” (Barry Mann/Gerry Goffin) really demonstrates how far out in left field everybody was.  It’s mildly disconcerting how well Paul Stanley fits the hippie vibe, far removed from his future Starchild persona.  A Stanley original “Keep Me Waiting” bears little resemblance to the style his is known for.  Though one could imagine the guitar solo section as part of a Kiss song, “Keep Me Waiting” is a delirious concoction of congas and horns.  Simmons’ “Simple Type” is more straightforward.  No annoying extra accoutrements.  No hooks either, or any balls, but it’s one of the earliest examples of Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley sharing lead vocals on a song.  Even at this early stage, it was clear that Paul Stanley possessed a mighty throat.

“Simple Type” merges with the flutes and tambourines of “She”.  Flutes and tambourines, on “She”?!  Yes, this future Kiss grinder is set to the sultry sounds of more hippie instrumentation, to go with the organ and shakers.  As the song fades out, you can just hear the potential it had.  This potential is nowhere to be found on “Too Many Mondays” (Barry Mann/Cynthia Weil), light and flaky.  “What Happens in the Darkness” (Tamy Lester Smith) is all but indescribable.  Deep Purple Mk I gone terribly wrong,  but with Paul Stanley leading the choir instead of Rod Evans going it alone.  Tougher and better is “When the Bell Rings” (Austin Roberts/Christopher Welch) which again features Paul and Gene singing together.  This time, Gene utilizes his early high rasp, also heard on Kiss tracks like “Goin’ Blind” and “Let Me Go, Rock and Roll”.  Sounding a bit more like our beloved demon, “When the Bell Rings” is actually listenable.  Paul Stanley’s dainty “Molly” brings the flutes back into the picture, and the sooner it’s over the better.  A cover of The Hollies’ “(We Want To) Shout it Out Loud” is not bad.  And it lent its title to something much better later on.

The “Epic promo” CD has terrible tape bleed-through.  It’s clearly a copy of a copy, generations down.  The cheap paper cover belies its actual bootleg manufacture.  It’s also missing a song called “Long, Long Road”, a soft country track that was recorded but perhaps cut from the intended album. That’s right — soft country.

Epic passed on the Wicked Lester album, which was mixed and even had cover art selected.  The boy was their mascot, “Wicked Lester”.  The cover art was originally intended for another band called Laughing Dogs.  Now that the album was shelved (and since Simmons and Stanley were the clear leaders of the group) the fates of the others were pre-determined.  Paul and Gene began looking for new members, and experimenting with makeup.  They wanted a strong, singular image, not five guys who looked like the line at the local soup kitchen.  They also wanted a focused direction, and that was to be hard rock a-la The Who, Cream and Led Zeppelin.

An experienced drummer (his band Lips had an album) named Peter Criscoula was first to heed the call.  The new Wicked Lester was a power trio consisting of Peter, Gene and Paul, who rehearsed in a loft located at 10 East 23rd Street in Manhattan.  The sound was incomplete:  a lead guitarist was needed.  Auditions were held at the same loft.  Legend has it that Bob Kulick (who features into the story much later) was about to get the gig, when they were rudely interrupted.  A spaced out guy with one red and one orange sneaker had plugged in and started wailing away.  Paul Frehley snatched the gig at the last minute, and Kiss was born.

The loft where Kiss was born.   10 East 23rd Street, photos by Mike Lukas.

The new focus became apparent when the re-named band entered Electric Lady one more time, in March of 1973, with legendary producer Eddie Kramer.  The band cut five new originals:  “Deuce” (Simmons), “Strutter” (Stanley/Simmons), “Cold Gin” (Frehley), “Watching You” (Simmons), “Black Diamond” (Stanley).  Each of these songs later made it onto Kiss albums in 1974.  They had the goods.

The Kramer demos sound better on this CD than the Wicked Lester tracks.  A different, younger tape generation would be the probable source.  Only two of these demos (“Strutter” and “Deuce”) have been released officially, on the Kiss Box Set.  These ferocious tracks are almost completely faithful to the final album arrangements.  A few extended solos here, and some longer bits there.  Tracks such as “Deuce” are faster than they were later recorded, and more akin to what Kiss sounded like live.  Playing to their strengths, keeping things simple, and with Eddie goddamn Kramer at the boards, the band laid down one hell of a demo.  This is something that bands today would release officially as their first EP, to build buzz for an album.  That wasn’t the strategy in 1973, so the band instead stuck to a regular regimen of songwriting, rehearsals and unforgettable club gigs.

Nine months after their debut gig as Kiss at the Coventry, they signed with Neil Bogart’s Casablanca Records.  They had built up a repertoire of roughly 18 originals, including some holdovers from the shelved Wicked Lester: “She”, “Simple Type”, “Keep Me Waiting”, and “Love Her All I Can”.  These four songs were whittled out again in the process of coming up with the tracks to record for their first LP.

The Eddie Kramer demos and Wicked Lester album alike are important historical documents.  They are pieces of the puzzle coming together, and by the time they got with Kramer, the outline was in place.  The only way to go was up.

Today’s rating:

Wicked Lester – 1/5 stars
Eddie Kramer demos – 3.25/5 stars

 

Original mikeladano.com Wicked Lester review:  2012/08/14

 

REVIEW: KISS – Monster (Japan Tour Edition bonus CD)

This review is for reader Juan, from Spain — thank you for reading!

KISS – Monster (Japan Tour Edition, 2013 Universal Japan)

In my 32 years of collecting music, I have learned a number of immutable laws of the hobby.  The Three Laws of Collecting are:

The First Law:  Japan shall always get the best stuff.
The Second Law:  Anything worth releasing is worth re-releasing.
The Third Law:  Kiss fans shall buy anything, often more than once.

The Three Laws of Collecting are why I now have purchased my fifth copy of Kiss Monster.  The album came out in 2012, meaning I have bought more than one copy per year since its release:  Original CD, vinyl, iTunes, Japanese CD, and now this 2 CD Japan Tour Edition, which has all the tracks from all the versions, and then some.

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This is not a review of Monster; we have reviewed that album twice now (once by Mike Ladano and once by Tommy Morais).  Rather this is a review of the Tour Edition’s second disc, which is a pretty cool “best of” collection covering a very nice chunk of Kisstory.  What can another greatest hits possibly offer?  Believe it or not, the Monster Tour Edition has a slightly different slant that might be interesting to die-hards.

This is the first time “Psycho Circus” has opened a Kiss compilation.  It was their tour opener in 1998-99 and so naturally fits this slot.  It was one of the stronger tracks from Psycho-Circus itself, which was otherwise a pretty disappointing reunion album.  Mainly because Peter and Ace barely played on it.  Indeed, on this track you will get Kevin Valentine on drums and Tommy Thayer on guitar, uncredited.  That said, the track still kicks ass and has proven to be the only song from that album that still gets played now and then.

I’m always happy to hear oldies like “Let Me Go, Rock ‘N’ Roll” on a hits CD.  The same goes for “Black Diamond”, one of the more epic Kiss tracks.  These old album cuts might not be as well known to casual fans and might surprise even Kiss haters.  However, no casual fan or Kiss hater is going to be hearing the Monster Tour Edition.  So the die-hards again will be hearing “Shout it Out Loud”, “Rock and Roll all Nite”, “Detroit Rock City”, “God of Thunder”, “Love Gun” and “I Was Made For Lovin’ You” for the umpteenth time.  Mixed in among these are some of the second-tier hits from the 80’s:  “I Love it Loud”, “Lick It Up”, “Heaven’s On Fire”.  The exact mixture of ingredients is different, but these songs have been on best-of CDs by Kiss before.

The one unique inclusion is “Say Yeah” from 2009’s Sonic Boom, its first appearance on a hits disc.  Its place here is deserved.  Sonic Boom represented a strong return to the studio for Kiss after a decade long absence.  “Say Yeah” was one of three songs played live in concert, and sounds the most like a timeless Kiss anthem.  (Sonic Boom was represented on the last greatest hits compilation, Kiss 40, by “Modern Day Delilah”.)

Finally there is the riffy “Right Here Right Now” which was previously the iTunes bonus track for Monster.  A physical copy is always better, and a Japanese high quality HMCD is even better than that.  And don’t worry — the original Japanese bonus track, a live version of “King of the Night Time World” from the Rock the Nation tour, is still intact on disc one.  (More on that in the video below.)

This version of Monster is finally the definitive one with all the tracks in one place.  The bonus hits disc is some pretty awesome icing.  When you have as many hits discs as Kiss do, you may just wonder “what’s the difference”?  Each one is different in its own often minor ways, and fans who appreciate this stuff will enjoy hearing a couple unique tunes for a change.

The only flaw with this HMCD reissue is that it lacks the original 3D lenticular cover. That is a bummer. I simply kept my original cover (it is a separate piece you can take out) from a prior version of Monster which I later gifted to a friend.  In fact that friend reviewed the single disc Japanese Monster!

I must add another law to my Three Laws of Collecting:

The Zeroth Law*:  You shall always have some buyer’s regret.

It is true.  I had all these songs before.  The only one I didn’t have physically was the iTunes download “Right Here Right Now”.  But I “had” to have it.  I could question that.  “You could have put that money towards some new tires”.  The CD could have paid for a week of lunches at Harvey’s.    A fool and their money?

I’m fine with that.

$/5 stars

*I didn’t make that word up.  Isaac Asimov added the Zeroth Law of Robotics to his Three Laws in 1985.  

REVIEW: KISS – Kiss Rocks Vegas (3 CD/1 Blu-ray Japanese import)

 

NEW RELEASE

KISS – Kiss Rocks Vegas (3 CD/1 Blu-ray Japanese import, 2016 Eagle Rock)

Kiss put on a hell of a show for their nine gig run in Las Vegas.  You could argue that spectacle is 50% of the Kiss experience.  That said, the audio has to hold up, and it does.  I gave it two spins before review: one at home and one in the car, and only after that did I put on the Blu-ray.  As expected, Paul Stanley’s voice is the chink in the armour.  But it is the only one.  This is one of the most musically capable versions of Kiss ever, and vocally they can’t be touched.  When Tommy Thayer, Eric Singer, and Gene Simmons start to harmonize together, it becomes a far stronger beast.  This is how Kiss have adapted to Paul’s current vocal shortcomings, and on a whole it works.  Check out “Tears Are Falling” for a version of a song that gets a serious boost thanks to these guys singing backup.  Now get ready to rock for the next 80 minutes.  Of note, some of Paul’s stage raps are trimmed for time on the CD version, as is Gene’s “bass solo”/blood spitting/flying.  The video has the whole enchilada.

The audio is clear; Gene’s bass nicely audible and in the pocket.  With the 5.1 surround sound cranked, let’s dive into the Kiss Blu-ray, a fine shining example of hi-def rock video.  You can try to count the sparkles on Paul’s guitar, when they open with “Detroit Rock City”.  Their stage looks like a cross between the Creatures-era tank stage and a Dalek.  Giant screens ensure everybody gets a good view, which is a good thing since there is so much going on.  From “Detroit” into “Creatures” itself,  and then “Psycho Circus”, Kiss started the show with three of their classic openers from three different eras!  On screen it’s clear Paul Stanley is still in excellent physical shape.  He doesn’t look like someone who’s had a double hip replacement.   He hops around a bit, plays guitar between his legs, and dances up a storm as always.

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Kudos must be given to Tommy Thayer, who takes many of the flashier solos from 80’s Kiss and adapts them to the style of the 70’s that Kiss tend to ply most.  Tommy’s re-imagining of guitar solos and giving them a Frehley-like vibe is one reason to check out new live versions of these Kiss classics.  Never to be underrated is Eric Singer, a talent to be reckoned with in this band.  His beats are always perfect, but so is his voice.  As usual, he sings “Black Diamond” towards the end of the show, with respect and class.

Other setlist highlights:

Gene’s “War Machine” from Creatures (Gene blows fire at the end).  Paul’s “Tears are Falling” from Asylum (“Some of you weren’t born in 1985!” says Paul, accurately observing his audience).   “Lick It Up”, featuring Kiss’ sometimes-segue into “Won’t Get Fooled Again”.  “Hell or Hallelujah”, from Monster.  “God of Thunder” with its flying Gene, and playing way up high on a tiny little platform.  Paul running out to sing on a catwalk suspended over the crowd on “Love Gun”.  All of this is served up with lights, lasers, explosions, levitating platforms and larger-than-life sparkle.  Kiss still deliver it.

Admittedly, when there is so much great live Kiss from the past out there, it’s hard to get excited about a new one.  (Why watch a 2016 live version of “War Machine” when you can watch one from 1983, 1984, 1988 or 2004?)  The added bonus that makes the whole thing hard to say no to is a seven song acoustic set.  This is a makeup-free event in a packed conference room.  A few more rarities are served up here, such as “Love Her All I Can”.  The loose atmosphere is refreshing.  They goof around a bit on “Christine Sixteen” (in harmony!) and Paul helps with some forgotten words on “Goin’ Blind”.  Just don’t go and compare these with the acoustic ones on MTV Unplugged.  That was 20 years ago.  Controversially, Eric sings “Beth”.  The mitigating factor is that this is a small event for fans and not part of the main Vegas concert.  It’s worthwhile to get a version of this release that contains the acoustic portion on the bonus CD.

The Japanese release is an interesting one.  Instead of one CD, the Vegas concert is split over two.  This is probably because the concert is close to the 80 minimum maximum that a CD can hold, and the Japanese usually adhere to a higher manufacturing standard.  They also included a nice T-shirt in a shiny, embossed box.

As usual, any time Kiss release new product, fans will bitch that they’re over the hill.  They’ll complain that there are only two original members left, and that Paul’s voice is but a shadow of what it once was.  While these things are indeed true, Kiss have found a way to continue on with two talented members helping Paul out with the vocal burden.  If you don’t like it, fair play.  But let the rest of us continue to enjoy Kiss without your negativity.

3.5/5 stars

CD 1
1. “Detroit Rock City”
2. “Creatures of the Night”
3. “Psycho Circus”
4. “Parasite”
5. “War Machine”
6. “Tears are Falling”
7. “Deuce”
8. “Lick it Up”
9. “I Love it Loud”

CD 2
1. “Hell or Hallelujah”
2. Tommy guitar solo
3. “God of Thunder”
4. “Do You Love Me?”
5. “Love Gun”
6. “Black Diamond”
7. “Shout it Out Loud”
8. “Rock and Roll All Night”

CD 3 – Kiss Acoustic
1. “Comin’ Home”
2. “Plaster Caster”
3. “Hard Luck Woman”
4. “Christine Sixteen”
5. “Goin’ Blind”
6. “Love Her All I Can”
7. “Beth”

 

REVIEW: KISS – Deadly Demos (1995 bootleg)

First of a Kiss two-fer.
Scan_20160808KISS – Deadly Demos (1995 Firehouse Records bootleg)

Some Kiss fans are willing to pay money for every burp and fart that Gene or Paul have committed to tape.  Deadly Demos (or Deadly Kisses according to the CD itself) definitely has some material that is difficult to listen to quality-wise.  It also has some decent versions of rare tracks that Kiss fans are seeking.  When it comes to collecting Kiss, the band occasionally cough up official versions of heavily bootlegged rarities.  The Kiss Box Set gave us a number of these tracks, as did Kiss 40 and the Love Gun deluxe edition.  That may sound generous, but there are so many more Kiss demos out there that the band could easily compile onto a few CDs worth of decent tracks.  Gene has always said “don’t worry, they’re coming”.  Impatient fans have had to settle for shoddy unofficial discs like Deadly Demos to get their fix.

“Nowhere to Run”, originally from Kiss Killers, is an early version of the song, but the demo is unfortunately hampered by the too-fast tape speed.  This can easily be fixed digitally, but the track suffers from high static and low clarity.  It’s too bad because the demo version sounds fiery.  “Secretly Cruel” (Asylum) is better and rocks harder than the album version.  Because these are demos, you have to expect a certain lack of clarity, but it’s cool hearing slightly different arrangements and lyrics.  “Nobody’s Perfect” is a great little song that didn’t appear officially until 2009’s Sonic Boom, heavily re-written, but the chorus was intact a long time ago.  Another Gene demo “It’s Gonna Be Alright” just has a drum machine and simple guitar part, but it would be one of Kiss’s pop rock classics if they ever decide to commit it to album.

A Paul demo (“Get All You Can Take” from Animalize) breaks up the Gene party, but it is an instrumental version.  It has a heavy Zeppelin sound without the vocals, but the sound quality is pretty poor.  When these guys were recording demos like this, it was mostly just to get the idea down onto tape so you could show the others what your idea was.  Fidelity was not considered essential, and a lot of these tapes had been copied many many times before they were finally digitized onto CD.  “Thrills in the Night” is probably from the same source.  You can hear other music leaking through too.  The sound is atrocious, but what is cool here is that it gives you an idea how Paul Stanley writes.  The music and melody are all but complete, but the lyrics are not, so Paul sings it in “doo doo doo” vocals.  It’s incredible how intact the song already was at this stage, including a guitar solo that is clearly by Mark St. John.  An earlier song, Paul’s “Deadly Weapons” from the Kiss Killers period would have been a fun hard rocking addition to that LP.  Some of the lyrics were used on Gene’s “Love’s A Deadly Weapon” from Asylum, which is the reason it has a Stanley/Simmons/Swenson/Beech writing credit.  Paul and Gene weren’t writing together for pretty much all of the 80’s, but Gene lifted some words from “Deadly Weapons”.

Populating the demos from the late 80’s, “Hide Your Heart” is outstanding, very close to the album cut, and has decent audio.  However the real holy grail is “Sword and Stone”, the track Paul wrote but was recorded by Bonfire for the Shocker soundtrack.  Having it on bootleg is not as good as having an official quality release, but this will have to do for now.  Kiss really should have put out this version on something back when it was recorded.  They shouldn’t have given it away.  As such it’s become a fan favourite over the years.  (Maybe Kiss should considering re-recording some of these old songs and releasing an album like Van Halen did.)

Other interesting tracks include “Let’s Put the X in Sex”, which isn’t even a demo.  This sounds flat out like a bad remix of the album version.  There are three “Let’s Put the X in Sex” remixes on this disc.  These are supposed to be promotional dance-y remixes done to get the song some club play.  While it’s nice to get tracks like this, the disc is called Deadly Demos, not Deadly Misc. Rarities.  Come on people.  The sound quality isn’t even a vinyl rip, so the origin of these remixes is questionable.  A much better (though still not a demo) inclusion is “Hard Luck Woman” performed on Leno by Kiss and Garth Brooks in 1994, to promote the Kiss My Ass tribute album.  From the same period, it’s Gin Blossoms and Kiss doing “Christine Sixteen”, on Letterman.  There are a few other live tracks, from unknown (broadcast) origins, but you can tell it’s Eric Singer on drums, so it must have been the 90’s.

The most infamous Kiss outtake of all time is the song “Feels Like Heaven”, which Peter Criss actually recorded himself on his second solo album, Let Me Rock You.  It’s an urban funk/soul combo but what exists on tape is just a snip of the song.  The reason it is so infamous is that Gene ends the song with a pretty crude statement that I won’t even reproduce here!  (And I’m a guy who’s written multiple articles about poop and pee!)   Oh Gene, you smooth talker you.

In order to rate a disc like this, you have to remember that it doesn’t simply boil down to numbers.  There are some valued tracks here, such as “Sword and Stone” and “Deadly Weapons”.  There is also a lot of material that will strain you just to listen to it.  As always, spend your money appropriately.

2/5 stars