shocker

Part 91: Pull the Trigger

There were some discs that we were never short of.  We always had them.  Cheap.  Add your staff discount to that, and you could get a lot of stuff dirt cheap.  But the discs themselves were so common, they were always in stock.  Therefore they never were a priority for me at the time.  Soundtracks and compilations were a great example of this.  Last Action Hero, Super Mario Bros, these could be had for super cheap, any time, and they all contained exclusive music by cool bands like Megadeth, Anthrax, Extreme, and so on.

One disc that I never picked up before was the soundtrack to a bad horror movie called Shocker, by Wes Craven.  The soundtrack had numerous stars on it – members of Kiss, Motley Crue, Alice Cooper, Whitesnake, Van Halen, and more.  The title song was a Paul Stanley rocker performed by Paul and Desmond Child in an all-star band called The Dudes of Wrath, and it wasn’t a bad song.  There was also another Paul tune on here called “Sword and Stone”, recorded by a band called Bonfire.

(Now, here’s the interesting thing about “Shocker”, the song.  Desmond Child wrote the guitar lick, a very Platinum Blonde-esque part that is almost identical to the one in a Kiss song released at the same time, called “King of Hearts”.  And who wrote that?  Paul and Desmond Child.  It’s the same freakin’ thing.)

Anyway, long story short:  I never pulled the trigger while I was at the store.  I’m still today in the process of replacing my cassettes on CD, and this is one.  The CD was just too common, it was always in stock and I always had better things to spend my money on.  I could have got it for $4 at any point over the years.  I should have.

Look at this one, that I paid $12 for from Amazon Marketplaces.  The spine is cut as a promo.  The front is scuffed.  The CD has some scratches on it.  This is all stuff that wouldn’t have happened in my store.  Even if it was a cut promo, every case was replaced if not already like new.  Not to mention I had complete control to be picky about quality before I bought.  Not to mention that in the past, I had numerous chances to get Shocker uncut. Now, unfortunately, the disc is less common.

I wished I’d pulled the trigger back then!

REVIEW: KISS – Crazy Nights (1987)

Part 25 of my series of Kiss reviews, leading up to the release of Monster! 

KISS – Crazy Nights (1987)

Gene Simmons, still off in la-la land ($immons Records, managing Liza Minelli), was about as far removed from the demon as you could get.  Looking quite womanly, and no longer singing in his “monster voice”, Gene had lost it by 1987.  Paul Stanley was writing songs on keyboards (not a good sign) although Bruce and Eric both made strong songwriting contributions.  The result is Crazy Nights, a record that Bon Jovi could have made, but Kiss?  It didn’t sound like Kiss to me.

Still, I will always have a soft spot in my heart for Crazy Nights because it came out when I was in highschool, and I played it nonstop then, even though I questioned Kiss’ direction. (Over)produced by Ron Nevison, Kiss were trying way too hard for radio and video hits. The rock was all but gone. At the same time, the songs are actually pretty well written for the most part. Better, on average, than some songs on Animalize. It’s the gloss and production that sinks Crazy Nights.

Originally titled Who Dares Wins, the album does indeed feature too many keyboards.  I remember being so disheartened by the video for “Reason to Live”, and seeing Bruce Kulick playing keys instead of guitar. Stanley himself didn’t play guitar in the videos either — he wore one, and danced around with it. This didn’t seem like rock and roll anymore.

Here’s my song breakdown.  I just wish there was more oomph to them.

Good to great songs:

“Hell Or High Water”
“Good Girl Gone Bad”
“Turn On The Night”
“No, No, No”

OK songs:

“Crazy, Crazy Nights”
“Reason To Live”
“I’ll Fight Hell To Hold You”
“My Way”

Bad songs:

“When Your Walls Come Down”
“Thief In The Night” (a song written earlier and recorded by Wendy O. Williams first)

So, not bad. Not enough Gene though. That was a problem on a lot of albums from Dynasty to Crazy Nights, there just wasn’t enough Gene. He had become a sideman, not a frontman. Gene’s singing here is smooth, no rasp and no guts.  Paul’s singing is very high and something shrill. It was the 1980’s.

Only one song (“Crazy Crazy Nights”) has been played live since this tour.

Pick it up if you love 80’s rock. Avoid if you don’t.

2/5 stars

There are also several outtakes from this album that were later released:  “Time Traveler” is a Paul Stanley keyboard song that found its way onto The Box Set.  “Boomerang”, a speedy thrash-like number, was re-recorded for the next studio album, Hot In The Shade. “Dial L For Love”, an Eric Carr demo, was released on his posthumous Unfinished Business CD.  Finally, one of the better Paul Stanley songs called “Sword and Stone”, was recorded by Bonfire and released on the soundtrack to the movie Shocker.

I have a couple bootlegs from this tour, seen below.  (Yes, they put Vinnie on the cover of one by mistake!)