sonic boom

#1174: Big Feelings & Why I’m Upset With the Arkells

RECORD STORE TALES #1174:  Big Feelings & Why I’m Upset With the Arkells

I bought my first Arkells album High Noon back in 2017, but I really fell hard for the band in 2023.  The Canadian pop rock quintet hadn’t put out any songs I disliked, but in 2023 a combination of personal drama and a need for Canadian tunes led me to dive into the band all the way.  It was May, and in less than a year I had acquired all the albums.  That is a short period of time to absorb so much new music, but I did, and I loved virtually all of it.  There are actually few bands I love as much as the Arkells, and only a handful that I fell for so quickly.

I love their lyrics, from everyman tales of not being able to pay the rent, to social discourse and critique.  Singer Max Kerman was a Poli-Sci major, and also has his finger on the pulse of the youth.  This results in some pretty cool lyrics.  As for the band, their musicianship is top notch.  Drummer Tim Oxford is in my top Canadian drummers of all time, and you know that’s an elite list.  I’m also a big fan of bassist Nick Dika, who always has deep tones and fabulous bass melodies.

Shortly after I went all-in, the band released a new album called Laundry Pile, an acoustic affair with melancholy feelings.  A bit of a slow burner, but a brilliant album.  This was followed by the 2024 all-covers LP, Disco Loadout.  I enthusiastically went bonkers for it, and got it on CD and signed vinyl.  Their eclectic set of tunes, from Abba to Whitney interpreted by the rock band, satisfied deeply.  They threw in a couple rock tunes by Springsteen and Hall & Oates, and I just liked the whole album.  Could I fall in love any more with the Arkells?

Full stop to the summer of 2024.  So soon after the Disco Loadout album, Arkells announced the release of a new single called “Big Feelings”.   “It came together quickly,” said the band. “It started with a bold drum loop that Tim made, and was quickly arranged when the band assembled for a session in February.”

A few weeks after Aaron and I visited Sonic Boom records in Toronto, the Arkells announced an appearance at the store.  They brought with them 150 copies of “Big Feelings” on 180g clear vinyl, hand cut by Red Spade Records in Calgary, Alberta.

150 copies were all that were made.  And they sold out that day.  No copies have ever shown up on Discogs.

And this is why I’m upset with the Arkells.  I had just been to Sonic Boom a few weeks earlier, and there was no way I could make it down for that store release.  Trying to get there early enough to get one of the 150 copies…being in a crowd like that…no, no thanks.

I guess you could say, “Why are you upset, Mike?  It’s on you that you didn’t go.”

Sure, that’s true.  However, I think I’m on record for despising these kinds of releases that I’ll never get my hands on physically.  Maybe I’m not mad at the band; maybe I’m mad at the practice.  However it is the band that I have taken it out on.  “Big Feelings” remains the only Arkells song I don’t have, because I refused to buy it on iTunes.  I haven’t even put a “like” on the music video. Oh sure, I’ll probably give in eventually.  It just really bugs me that a band of Arkells’ stature, with thousands of fans who value physical media, would only release 150 copies in such an exclusive way.  Some might see that as indi-cool.  I don’t.  Arkells aren’t some garage band.  They have fans, and I feel a real disservice by this release.

Call me a curmudgeon, but that’s how I feel.

PHOTO GALLERY: Vinyl, CDs, DVDs, and Cassettes! Mike and Aaron (and Aaron’s Dad) Return to Toronto 2024! (RST #1134-B)

RECORD STORE TALES #1134-B:  Vinyl, CDs, DVDs, and cassettes! Mike and Aaron (and Aaron’s Dad) Return to Toronto 2024!

 

To read about our Toronto trip, click here.

Here is the full photo gallery of every picture I took, hunting for records in Toronto.  For all our scores, you will have to watch the video at bottom.  Here are the still shots.  Enjoy!

(There’s one awesome photo of Aaron as the 9th Bosstone that he will not let me post!)

Thank you Aaron & Wayne for this awesome trip.

VIDEO: Vinyl, CDs, DVDs, and Cassettes! Mike and Aaron (and Aaron’s Dad) Return to Toronto 2024! (RST #1134)

RECORD STORE TALES #1134:  Vinyl, CDs, DVDs, and cassettes! Mike and Aaron (and Aaron’s Dad) Return to Toronto 2024!

 

For the first time since 2018, we returned to Toronto.

Aaron and his dad picked me up in Kitchener around 10:00 AM.  Of course, I made them pose for a drone photo before we left!  BMV in Toronto opened at noon, so we had plenty of time, and conversation was good.  The weather was cool, breezy and sunny.  It was the perfect day.  In fact it may have been the most perfect weather we ever had for a Toronto excursion.

I gifted Aaron a copy of Tim Durling’s Y&T book, Down For the Count, and Aaron gifted me two T-shirts, two CDs, and one Hot Wheels.  You will see these in the video that I spent the day filming.

“I’ve never seen somebody so excited for video editing!” remarked Aaron.  Of course!  When you had a day like we had, you can’t help but be eager to show it to the world!  I spent 2.5 editing it on Monday night.  The video tells the whole story.  We strolled the streets of Kensington Market, and we sifted through the aisles and aisles of CDs.  We only planned on hitting two stores:  our regulars, BMV and Sonic Boom.  We had a bonus stop at Paradisc Bound (first visit since 2012).  We scored at every single store!

“We’re going to do best at BMV,” predicted Aaron, who was correct, but we didn’t do poorly anywhere.  BMV won for prices and used CD selection.  Sonic Boom, unfortunately, has started pricing certain discs according to Discogs highs.  An old copy of Iron Maiden’s No Prayer for the Dying was jacked up because the cover art changed on the remastered editions.  An out of print Helix Get Up! EP was going for a ridiculous $40 on CD, even though all the songs are duplicated on the Power of Rock and Roll album.  Used cassettes, the kind that people used to dump in Thunder Bay landfills, were sometimes $10 each — same as they sold for when they were brand new.  A Razor album was $200 on used CD.  These are things they never jacked up back in 2018 when I was last there.  Something has changed, and it wasn’t cool.  Ultimately I did pay a lot of money for two used CDs at Sonic Boom.  Ultimately I decided I wanted them, even though I was paying way too much.

BMV was just awesome.  I scored eleven CDs and four records there, for a total of $107.  Some were things I was trying for the first time, others were albums I needed to help complete some collections of certain bands.  (One record was a gift that shall not be appearing here, for obvious reasons.)  We lost track of time easily.  I have no idea how long we were in BMV, but long enough to find what we wanted and then some.  Of note:  Their old 3-for$10 bin has changed.  It is now simple $2.99 each.  Perfect!

Aaron’s dad was exploring Toronto on his own, but was waiting for us when we met up for lunch at Pauper’s Pub.  There are so many great places to eat in our little area of Toronto, but we hit the Pauper’s Pub every single year.  That’s an endorsement.  Service was great and so was the food.  I had some blackened salmon, and unlike many places, it wasn’t dry and tasteless.  It was tender and loaded with flavourful roasted veggies.

We made our way through the sights and smells of Kensington on our way to Sonic Boom.  There, a giant Arkells display took up the front window.  The band played there two weeks prior, selling copies of their new 7″ single “Big Feelings”, which was sold out in one day and not in stock.  In fact they only had one Arkells left in stock, period.

We did well enough at Sonic Boom, though the store is becoming more…corporate?  “Like a bigger Sunrise Records,” said Aaron.  Lots of Reaction figures, Funko Pops, socks, and other assorted accessories.  We were not there for those things.  Reaction figures are $30 a pop now and prohibitively expensive, even though they had Phil Lynott, Cliff Burton, Lemmy, the Beastie Boys and more.  When we come to Toronto, we focus on the real deal:  the music.  I bought two “holy grail” items albeit overpriced, that I was hoping to find in Toronto but didn’t expect to.

I grabbed a Mango Pepsi to wet the whistle as we walked back to the car, meeting up with Aaron’s dad along the way.  He was a little bit behind so we had to kill 15 minutes.  Paradisc Bound was right there, and they had a record that I had been wanting since I first started in music retail back in 1994.  It was right there in front of me.  It was meant to be!  For $15, I added one final score to my tally.  The funny thing was, I had just been talking about this record with Jex Russell last week…and there it was.  Elvis truly is everywhere.  (That’s a clue, though you will see the record in the video.)

The drive home was a little stoppy-starty, as Toronto traffic is.  It took us one hour to get back up to Highway 401, and another hour back to Kitchener.  Aaron and his dad drove two more hours back to Owen Sound…and they wouldn’t let me pay for lunch!  Nice guys, those two.  Aaron had to work Monday morning, too!

If you want to see every single thing we scored, check out the video.  Can’t wait to return!

#1133: Mike and Aaron Return to Toronto – Today!

RECORD STORE TALES #1133: Mike and Aaron Return to Toronto – Today!

It has been a long, strange last few years, hasn’t it?

Aaron and I went record hunting in Toronto almost annually, for years, ever since 2012.  The goal was to buy music.  Lots, and lots of music.  Records, CDs, whatever.  We always did very well, and I began documenting everything for YouTube.  The video series has proven to be very popular.  But Aaron and I haven’t been to Toronto since 2018.  Why?

2018 was our annus horibilis.  Jen was sick.  Cancer.  She survived.  Her mother did not.  The only reason I went to Toronto with Aaron that summer was because “Mum” insisted.  “Go with your friend,” she told me.  Within six months of Jen beating cancer, we lost “Mum”.  I loved her mom.  I don’t say that lightly.  We were very close.  Because Jen is the kind of person who can sleep in until noon given the chance, her mom and I would patiently sit together, drinking coffee and watching old movies.  Our favourite topic to discuss was, of course, Jen!  Jen didn’t like this too much.  She hated when we talked about her!  God, I miss her mom.

2019 was the summer we spoiled ourselves, and I elected not to go to Toronto that year.  Jen and I celebrated our 11th anniversary, since we missed our 10th in a hospital waiting room.  In 2019 I got fat, grew my hair long, and spent as much time at the cottage as I could.  Since 2018 was the year without a summer, I vowed to take advantage of every minute from that moment on.

We all know was happened in 2020, which dragged on into 2021…

I became something of a hermit during this time.  Most of my friends would tell you they don’t see me often.  The one I’ve seen the most is Rob Daniels.  (Watch this space for a video!)  I haven’t seen Meat in over two years…Scott Peddle I saw last year…same with Max the Axe.  What friends have I seen?  Not many.  I’m an introvert by nature, and if the pandemic did any damage to me, it was to give me an excuse to burrow into my little hole and not come out.  And so I haven’t gone to Toronto with Aaron since then.  I did have lunch with him in Port Elgin last summer, but our record shopping excursions remained on hold.

It takes a lot of mental energy for me to force myself out the door and to be social, but Aaron really makes this easy.  He does all the driving.  He’s pleasant company.  So is his dad, Wayne, who also comes with us to Toronto.

So, today, Aaron and I return to Toronto with Wayne.  We’ll be hitting up BMV first in the morning.  Then Pauper’s Pub in the afternoon, followed by the finale at Sonic Boom.  I am not bringing a list.  I’m winging it.  I am waiting to be surprised and ready to be spontaneous.

Wish us luck.  Mike and Aaron are returning to Toronto!

 

REVIEW: Gene Simmons – The Vault – Disk 8 (2018)

Previous Reading: 

Record Store Tales #600:  The Vault
Disk 1 Review
Disk 2 Review
Disk 3 Review
Disk 4 Review
Disk 5 Review
Disk 6 Review
Disk 7 Review

 

 

 

 

 

 

Onto Sonic Boom and some other albums.  For those keeping score at home, this CD contains tracks 106-120 in the Vault box set.

GENE SIMMONS – The Vault – Disk 8 (2018 Rhino)

“We Rocked It All Night” is an autobiographical song written for the Sonic Boom album.  Though modern sounding, it also has a throwback vibe.  It would have fit well on Sonic Boom and you could make an argument for its inclusion.  It has a cool old-time rock and roll vibe while remaining modern Kiss.  Gene can’t help referencing back to “Rock and Roll all Nite” in the lyrics, and it’s alright by me.  4/5

“She’s Rotten to the Core” is a Gene Simmons / Bruce Kulick composition not to be confused with “Rotten to the Core”.  They are two different songs.  It can get very confusing going through these demos!  Gene likes to re-use titles and lyrics.  This also has a vintage Kiss sound to it.  Catchy chorus, circa Rock and Roll Over.   “She’s rotten to the core, and I don’t care!”  Really good tune that would have worked well on a number of Kiss albums.  4/5

“S&M Love” is the same musical idea as “Sweet & Dirty Love”, recorded with Tommy Thayer.  These originate with an old Gene song called “Jelly Roll”.  This version of the song has lots of tasty slide guitar action and sounds pretty much ready for an album.  It’s better than the version on Asshole.  It’s more rock and roll.  4/5

“Sweet & Dirty Love #2” with Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer is a dirtier demo of the same song.  It’s a lot rougher sonically but with just as much slide.  Good, fast & heavy.  Too much it doesn’t sound as good.  3.5/5

“Jelly Roll” is the original idea.  You can hear the riff there, and suddenly a younger Gene Simmons is singing the same melody that we just heard.  There’s a certain AC/DC vibe here without the slide guitar.  Perhaps it was too fast and straight-ahead for Kiss, who knows?  A song like this easily could have been on Love Gun.  3.5/5

In this Vault, we often hear later versions before we hear the originals.  “Just Gimme Love #2” is a Thayer & Singer update of a song we’ll hear later on.  It has a cool “Kickstart My Heart” beat and tempo.  Lo and behold, this song later became “You Wanted the Best” on Psycho-Circus.  The chorus is different, and maybe a little more Kiss-like.  Thayer’s solo is in the Ace ballpark.  Regardless, it’s not quite the song that the final version would be, though it’s pretty good.  3.5/5

“You Wanted the Best” is of course the re-written version considered for Psycho-Circus.  Gene explains in the liner notes that Ace and Peter were largely absent from the sessions not because they were underskilled as we were told before.  Now Gene says it’s because the two wanted to renegotiate their contracts last minute, so they were forced to start working with Thayer on the album.  This song was intended to be sung by all four members and ultimately that’s exactly what happened when Ace and Peter “came to their senses”.   There are some cool lines here that didn’t make it into the final version here such as “Yeah, we’re back baby!”  3.5/5

“Just Gimme Love #1” is now, finally the original 1970s version of everything we’ve just heard.  It is from the same recording session that yielded “Love Is Blind” and other songs.  It’s kind of crazy how Gene wrote this music for his band and they didn’t get around to it for 20 years.  This original idea is less breakneck and more in the vibe of old school Kiss, but the chorus doesn’t have the right vibe yet.  It’s a little clunky, but Kiss obviously would have made more more their style.  Since the idea here is a little more primitive, the rating is lower.  3/5

You gotta love Gene’s titles sometimes.  “Hit the Ground (Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is)” is a Singer / Thayer demo with improvised lyrics just to get the musical idea down.  It originally came to Gene while in a car so he sang into into a cell phone to record it.  There’s something cool here, but it’s just a fragment of a song, not a complete idea.  2.5/5

Pete Townsend inspired the big chords on “Who Said So”.  It definitely sounds like a Who outtake, and Eric Singer sounds like he’s going for a Keith Moon vibe on some of his fills.  Tommy Thayer is on guitar as Gene counts out the sections to the band.  “Bridge, two, four!”  They are literally hashing out the song live in the studio.  There could have been something here.  As it is, it’s just the basis of an idea.  2.5/5

“Bad Bad Lovin'” is crazy.  We already heard another version of “Bad Bad Lovin'” that became “Dr. Love” on Disk 4.  Now Gene revisits the idea in 1978 and sounds more like Alice Cooper or Lou Reed in a sing-talk voice.  There’s a saxophone.  This is cool.  Some of the words later became “Good Girl Gone Bad” on Crazy Nights, but largely this sounds like “Charisma” on Dynasty.  Gene doesn’t say so, but this can be considered a prototype for “Charisma”.  4.5/5

Jumping ahead to Revenge, “I’m Paralyzed” eventually ended up on that album.  Bob Ezrin has a writing credit and joins on the chorus.  It’s a very cool demo, but the chorus is not the final one.  It doesn’t quite fit, but of course they would fix that later.  Drums are programmed and Gene played the guitar with a coin a-la Brian May, to a get a certain chug chug sound.  Not bad stuff.  3/5

“Chrome Heart” is a Bruce Kulick / Gene Simmons demo from a post-Crazy Nights era where Kiss needed to rock a little more.  This song smokes!  Bruce Kulick always brings a certain level of quality.  This is better than most of Gene’s songs that made it onto Hot in the Shade.  How do songs like this get lost?   Yet another song that should have been released on an album.  It does sound like some parts turned up elsewhere.  4/5

Gene really likes these big Mountain chords that inspired “Goin’ Blind”.  “‘Til the End of Time” is a similar idea, mostly instrumental with Gene scatting improvised lyrics.  There was potential here to create a similar slow, determined and emotional song of heavy construction.  3.5/5

This disc closes on a pretty clean demo of “Thou Shalt Not” from the Revenge album.  All the music is there, but none of the lyrics aside from the title.  There are empty spots that Gene intended to fill with words.  It’s kind of funny to hear that.  Good idea with a final song that was album-worthy.  3/5

Average score by song:   3.46/5 stars

 

Disk 8 Track length and songwriters (from Wikipedia)

1. We Rocked It All Night (3:25) Simmons
2. She’s Rotten to the Core (3:33) Simmons / Kulick
3. S&M Love (2:40) Simmons
4. Sweet & Dirty Love #2 (3:24) Simmons
5. Jelly Roll (1:54) Simmons
6. Just Gimme Love #2 (3:40) Simmons
7. You Wanted the Best (3:41) Simmons
8. Just Gimme Love #1 (3:34) Simmons
9. Hit the Ground (2:10) Simmons
10. Who Said So (1:55) Simmons
11. Bad Bad Lovin’ (3:15) Simmons
12. I’m Paralyzed (3:40) Simmons / Ezrin
13. Chrome Heart (3:36) Simmons / Kulick
14. Till the End of Time (3:15) Simmons
15. Thou Shalt Not (3:07) Simmons / Damon

REVIEW: Gene Simmons – The Vault – Disk 2 (2018)

Previous Reading: 

Record Store Tales #600:  The Vault
Disk 1 Review

 

 

 

 

 

Another disc, another 15 songs!

GENE SIMMONS – The Vault – Disk 2 (2018 Rhino)

One of the fastest and heaviest songs from Gene’s solo album Asshole was “Weapons of Mass Destruction”.  It was originally written for Psycho-Circus, but deemed insufficient.  The demo version just called “Weapons” features Gene calling out what instruments go where, and a much rougher recording.  The final album version was not a remarkable song and neither is this demo.  The song was pretty much in place at this stage.  2.5/5

“Weapons (Power to Raise the Dead)” is another demo version, this one with Ace Frehley on lead vocals.  Gene hoped for him to sing it on the Kiss album, and let Ace write new lyrics.  It also features Bruce Kulick and Eric Singer.  It sounds like Gene wrote the entire song around a bass lick.  This is why it’s better than Gene’s original idea:  Ace’s presence also brings much needed variety to this box set after 16 songs with Gene singing lead.  Ace was in good voice back then, and it would have been awesome to hear a final version.  Psycho-Circus could have and should have been a longer album to accommodate more band contributions.  3.5/5

“Hate” made it onto Carnival of Souls.  Gene openly admits he was inspired by Seattle and that angry style of music.  Written with Bruce Kulick and Scott Van Zen, “Hate” would be improved upon immensely when it was recorded for good.  What’s missing is Bruce’s wah-wah drenched lead guitar acrobatics and drones that normally run through the track.  Otherwise, this is the same arrangement, complete with lyrics and only minor differences.  There’s a neat tape edit trick at the end; see if you can spot it.  4/5

“Hate” goes immediately without break into “Carnival of Souls #2”.  This a four-track demo of the same song included on disc one.  This is performed with Scott Van Zen, and the lyrics are not fully written yet.  As stated earlier, this was never one of Gene’s better songs.  It does feature some cool guitar stuff in the middle breakdown, but otherwise this is a forgettable demo of a song that was never really up to snuff.  2/5

“Master of Flesh” is an interesting song because it’s a cover of a New York band called Street Punk.  Gene bought the publishing rights for cash from writer Jon Montgomery.  Regardless of the name “Street Punk”, that’s not what this is.  An acoustic ballad with spoken word verses, Gene compares it to David Bowie and Lou Reed.  There’s also a bit of John Lennon in the falsetto of the chorus.  Gene recorded the undated demo on a Tascam and plays the lead guitar solo himself.  Really not bad and had potential.  It wasn’t where Kiss was headed over their next few albums, but could have perhaps fit in somewhere.  3.5/5

“Heavy Rain” is a demo with Bruce Kulick of a recurring song called “Rain Keeps Fallin'”, previously released on a Gene Simmons Family Jewels Season One bonus CD.  This heavy-as-hell riff really pops.  Very much akin to Carnival of Souls kind of heavy, with rolling bass, this is the kind of material that is worth coming back to.  There’s some tape dropout issues but that is not unexpected on a collection of demos, often originally recorded on cassettes.  Eric Singer can easily be identified on drums by style and sound.  3.5/5

“Within” from Psycho-Circus was one of Gene’s more ambitious stompers.  Featuring backwards guitars and Lennon-inspired lyrics, there was some psychedelia involved.  Taking that further, the overall song was inspired by Doctor Strange from Marvel comics.  Gene envisioned Strange facing off against a character like Nightmare, and somehow, that led to “Within” featuring Bruce and Eric once again.  The backwards guitar on this demo was used in the final album version later on.  This lengthy demo is far more dramatic and heavy, and really allows certain riffs and bass parts to come out more.  If only the lyrics were complete!  If this were properly recorded, it could surpass the overproduced album version.  4/5

The first version of “In Your Face” included on this box set is a Gene demo before bringing it into Kiss for Ace Frehley to sing.  You may recall this track was a B-side or bonus track for Psycho-Circus, with Frehley singing.  The early version is a bit different with a lot of different lyrics.  It sort of hangs together but is a fairly loose idea that sounds thrown against the wall.  2.5/5

“In Your Face with Ace” is much closer to album version, partly re-written by Ace and much better recorded.  It’s barely different from the final version, except the lead guitar may sound more naturally Ace.  Another Frehley vocal is also very welcome.  This is a fantastic demo that again shows that Psycho-Circus could have rocked a lot more like Kiss.  The producer may have been an issue.  5/5

“Rain #2” is the second (but not last) version of “Rain Keeps Fallin'” that we will hear on this disc.  This version features Simmons proteges Silent Rage on instruments, with a drum machine.  It’s a bit different from the first version we heard called “Heavy Rain” and doesn’t seem to punch as hard.  Only now do a realize there is a line about “keep sippin’ my Diet Coke.”  Why not?  Dare I say why not?  3/5

It’s almost a cheat to call “Carnival Intro” a full track among the 15 here.  This 32 second track is the intro that was later used on Psycho-Circus, though it was originally intended for “Carnival of Souls”.  A cool little intro, but more like a bonus.  Historically valuable for the eventual use by Kiss.  2/5 

It was only a matter of time before Vinnie Vincent (née Cusano) appeared in this set.  Kiss began writing with the future Ankh Warrior in 1982 for what became Creatures of the Night.   Gene says “I Wanna Live” is among the songs they wrote, and has never been recorded or heard before.  It has a cool synth part that goes through the song and sounds like an idea with potential.  This demo sounds pretty decent and the chorus is good enough for rock and roll.  Catchy hard rock with a tough vibe.  4/5

“If It’s Too Hot, You’re Too Cold” later became “Hot and Cold” on Sonic Boom.  This demo with Silent Rage is based on an old song called “Rotten to the Core” from 1977.  Gene says it’s also related to “Eat Your Heart Out”, but the liner notes are a little confused here.  Either way, this is pretty good stuff and does have a 70s Kiss vibe, which is why it worked swimmingly on the Sonic Boom album.  4/5

Finally, “Rain Keeps Fallin'” appears in its third version!  This is still not the same one as the Family Jewels set, which is 3:53 in length.  This version sounds the most 80s, of the songs, circa Crazy Nights if Gene’s smooth vocal delivery is to go by.  It is very hard rock, with focus on the chorus.  You can really hear the evolution of a song by listening to this disc.  An interesting trip.  4/5

“Bells of Freedom” closes this disc, with a Who-inspired song.  Tommy Thayer is on guitar, but from a time before he was in Kiss.  You can hear the Pete Townsend influence in those big chords.  It’s a pretty good song idea and and it sounds like it could really have become something.  There is a great solo included.  It is hard to judge demos like this because often the concept is to get the idea down quickly.  We’ll err on the high side, because there are some serious possibilities with these hooks!  This could have been an 80s rock anthem!  4/5

Averaging out the score for the 15 songs, disc two rates:  3.16/5 stars

Disk 2 Track length and songwriters (from Wikipedia)

1. Weapons (4:16) Simmons
2. Weapons (Power to Raise the Dead) (4:13) Simmons / Frehley
3. Hate (Demo) (4:02) Simmons / Van Zen / Kulick
4. Carnival of Souls #2 (Demo) (3:15) Simmons / Van Zen
5. Master Of Flash (Street Punk) [1980?] (3:38) Montgomery
6. Heavy Rain (3:22) Simmons / Kulick
7. Within (Demo) (5:58) Simmons
8. In Your Face (Gene Demo) (1:51) Simmons
9. In Your Face (Ace Re-write Demo) (3:20) Simmons / Frehley
10. Rain #2 (3:35) Simmons
11. Carnival Intro (0:32) Simmons
12. I Wanna Live (Demo) (4:33) Simmons / Cusano
13. If It’s Too Hot, You’re Too Cold (3:42) Simmons
14. Rain Keeps Fallin’ (3:22) Simmons
15. Bells of Freedom (4:37) Simmons

REVIEW: Gene Simmons – The Vault – Disk 1 (2018)

Previous Reading:  Record Store Tales #600:  The Vault

 

I knew — I knew!! — that if I held out long enough, there was a chance this could happen.  When a bare-bones versions of the Gene Simmons Vault finally went on sale for a reasonable price, I had to have it.  All 11 CDs, plus the coin and the statue, for $100 was too great a deal to pass up.  All you don’t get is the actual vault and gift from Gene.  In this 12 part series, we will take a good look at my new Vault.

This box set was first announced about two decades ago, originally titled Gene Simmons 100.  Then it was going to be called Monster, though that title was re-used on something else instead (Gene blames Paul for “borrowing” that name).  As implied from 100 title, it was supposed to be a set of 100 unreleased songs from Gene vaults.  Kiss demos, solo demos, pre-Kiss music, everything.  Obviously things grew and grew, and so did the price tag!  In the end, there were 165 songs and a much more reasonable valuation.  This will only become more collectible.

In the liner notes, Gene says he tried to split up the songs by “mood”.  Please enjoy this series as we go through each and every song, disc by disc, in this massive collection.

GENE SIMMONS – The Vault – Disk 1 (2018 Rhino)

Rather than start with his earliest material, Simmons chose to sequence this box set starting with a 2011 recording called “Are You Ready”.  It is, for all intents and purposes, a Kiss song without Paul Stanley.  It features Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer on guitar and drums (and backing vocals).  This song was written after Kiss had essentially given up on recording albums, though one lyric was used previously on Monster:  “Give me [a] kiss,  bite your lips”.  This is a Kiss rocker, pure and simple, and had they ever recorded it, it could have been one of their best latter day songs.  The chorus is right out of 1977, and the boys do a great job on it for a demo.  A simple riff, and a fist-pumping beat, and you’re hooked.  Great song.  5/5

“I Turn To Stone” is a hotel demo by Gene and Tommy Thayer.  The title was inspired by the Biblical “pillar of salt” story, but there’s nothing holy about these lyrics.  It’s all about Gene’s inability to resist the fairer sex.  It’s a pretty good song that sounds very early 80s, somewhere around the Killers-Creatures era.  Gene talk-sings some of the lyrics but the song is otherwise pretty melodic.  There are some of “ah-ah-ah” bits in the outro that sound very Hot In the Shade.  Pretty cool, and doubtless would have been polished up for an album.  Great potential.  3.5/5

“Juliet” starts immediately with a riff like “Custard Pie”.  Co-written by Ken Tamplin for the Revenge album, it did not make the cut.  It’s a little herky-jerky sounding, and the clunky primitive drum machine used doesn’t translate it well.  Again, there’s a lyric here that was used later on “Russian Roulette” from Sonic Boom.  This song was probably rejected for being too close to Led Zeppelin.  2.5/5 

“Hey You” is the second Tamplin co-write.  It has a really cool dark vibe, but doesn’t hold together as a song.  It’s more just some components stuck together that don’t necessarily fit.  One guitar bit sounds like it made it onto Revenge in another song.  It’s upbeat, and sounds like something that was hoped to would be a fist pumper in concert.  Close but no cigar.  2/5 

The Carnival of Souls album contained a lot of stuff that was written for Revenge.  “I Confess” is one such song.  It’s one of Gene’s more serious lyrics, regarding religion and hypocrisy.  If you confess to the priest, who does the priest confess to?  This demo is not very different from the final version; just as dark and with the same vocal delivery.  The main differences are in the guitar parts, which Bruce Kulick later put his own stamp on.  4/5

Continuing on with things that ended up on Carnival, “Legends Never Die” was inspired by events that also inspired “Childhood’s End” later on.  Co-written by Micki Free and Adam Mitchell in 1982, this power ballad could have been on an album had Paul Stanley not been the ballad guy in Kiss.  When Gene went on to produce Wendy O. Williams, she recorded this song almost identically to the demo.  Her vocals are more extreme, going from soft to growl, but a Kiss version sung by Gene certainly would have been interesting.  This is as close as we get.  Gene considers it a very personal song.  4/5 

“Something Wicked This Way Comes” is a familiar song title that we have heard about for years.  Gene says he recorded several versions including some with Bruce Kulick on guitar.  It sounds very much like Carnival of Souls material, but not up to standards.  The outro guitar stuff is great.  There is potential to some of the individual parts, but as a whole there’s not much of a song here.   The title was inspired by Ray Bradbury, but is otherwise unrelated.  1/5

“Hand of Fate” with Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer was considered for Sonic Boom.  It’s a song Gene likes, and is a prime example of the “monster plod” groove that he is known for.  There are some nice layers of backing vocals on the bridge (all overdubbed by Gene), but the song would have been one of the weakest on Sonic Boom.  We already have a lot of Gene songs with this kind of groove and theme.  Next!  2/5

“Hunger” is a sex song, written in the late 80s and recorded on New Year’s Eve with Bruce Kulick and Eric Carr.  It’s nice to hear Carr; he has such an identifiable song.  This is an unremarkable song.  It’s a simple riff without a lot of melody to back it.  It sounds like a Whitesnake outtake more than Kiss, but Gene wasn’t beyond being “inspired” by other bands who were having hits.  2/5  

Gene prefers this demo of “In My Head” from Carnival of Souls.  His idea was to do “Beatles-y” things like recording backwards cymbals, but layering them over a heavy thumping groove.  The song idea is inspired by people to hear voices in their heads, and the result is a very chilling song and lyric.  It’s angry, heavy and slightly psychedelic.  The main differences are that Bruce hadn’t added all his layers of genius to the guitars yet.  4/5

Speaking of Carnival, one of the songs that didn’t make that album was “Carnival of Souls”.  It later came out on Gene solo album called (ahem) Asshole.  It was never a good enough song.  Demo #1 is pretty intact.  The issue is mostly the chorus, which just isn’t very good, nor fitting for the fast, almost thrashy verses.  Written with Scott Van Zen, Gene says he was going to a psychedelic vibe similar to the band Love.  A miss.  2/5

“Are You A Boy, or Are You A Girl” is a phrase Gene heard a lot growing up in New York, growing his hair long.  People would stop him on the street and ask that question.  “Are you a long haired creature from another world?”  This song has Eric Carr and Tommy Thayer, which would date it back to the Hot in the Shade era.  There are some musical ideas that later turned up in a Kiss song called “Hot and Cold”.  What is most interesting about this song is that Gene takes a brief bass solo at 1:25 into the song.  Gene’s an underrated bass player; just listen to those walking basslines on the first three albums.  Too bad Kiss never did anything like that on an album.  3/5

“Say You Don’t Want It” dates back to 1979, with a problematic song Gene had called “Mongoloid Man”.  This a is a re-write from 2001 with Tommy Thayer and without the troublesome lyrics.  Some of these words would resurface on “Spit” from the Revenge album.  “Spit” is a far better song.  Just not good enough, and monotonous to boot.  2/5

If that wasn’t enough, the original version of “Mongoloid Man” with Joe Perry on guitar follows.  Musically, this demo actually sounds better.  It has a cool vintage vibe not unlike Gene’s first solo album (which Joe also played on).   It was never going to be an amazing song, but this vintage version is definitely marginally better, despite the lyrics.  Perry smokes!  2.5/5 

Written by Darren Leader of Steel Panther with Gene, “I Wait” ends this disc on a powerful note.  You could call it a ballad, in sort of a late 90s altera-rock way.  It’s actually a great song and though not suitable for Kiss, would have made an excellent solo track.  It definitely sounds a lot more like a 90s alternative band than a classic rock band, but a good song is a good song.  “I Wait” is a good song with potential to be great.  Re-record this one, Gene, and release it as a single.  4/5

When we tally up the 15 individual song scores, this is how Disk 1 averages out:  2.63/5 stars.

We’ll be keeping track of these scores so we can get an accurate average for the box set.  This score is not surprising.  Gene is known for a quantity-over-quality style of creation.  At least his batting average here is over 50 (barely).

 

 

Disk 1 track length and songwriters (from Wikipedia)

1. Are You Ready [2011] (3:13) Simmons
2. I Turn to Stone (3:58) Simmons
3. Juliet (2:52) Simmons / Tamplin
4. Hey You (3:44) Simmons / Tamplin
5. I Confess (3:40) Simmons / Tamplin
6. Legends Never Die [1982] (4:24) Simmons / Mitchell / Free
7. Something Wicked This Way Comes [1988] (3:44) Simmons
8. Hand of Fate (3:15) Simmons
9. Hunger (4:14) Simmons
10. In My Head [1994] (3:30) Simmons / Van Zen / St. James
11. Carnival of Souls #1 [1994] (3:44) Simmons / Van Zen
12. Are You a Boy, or Are You a Girl (2:49) Simmons
13. Say You Don’t Want It (3:29) Simmons
14. Mongoloid Man [1976] (4:06) Simmons (with Joe Perry of Aerosmith)
15. I Wait (4:04) Leader / Simmons)

Mike and Aaron go to Toronto: The Complete Series + More

If you weren’t following back from 2012 to 2019, you may have missed all the Mike and Aaron Go to Toronto excursions!

From 2012 to 2015, Aaron and I went to “Taranna” every year to go hunting for CDs, records, books and more.  We always made our regular stops:  Sonic Boom, BMV and Pauper’s Pub.  Some years, we hit up shops like Kops Records, Paradisc Bound, and Moonbean for coffee.  I missed 2016 and 2017 to go to TF Con in Toronto instead.  There are only so many dollars!  Aaron and I returned in 2018, at the behest of my late mother-in-law, who was dying of cancer.  “Go with your friend,” she insisted.

After her passing, Jen and I decided to spend the summer of 2019 at the cottage.  We were not able to go at all in 2018.  We made up for lost time, but in 2020 the pandemic hit!  Aaron and I were not able to return to Toronto together since.

I always documented and edited these trips into videos.  I recently compiled all these videos (and some bonus stuff) into two live streams that you are able to watch below!  Both streams have bonus footage!  The first has a musical unboxing from Aaron.  The second stream has a brand new chat with Aaron that you have never seen before!

Aaron and I will be returning to “Taranna” in 2024.  Watch this space…