The Vault

REVIEW: Gene Simmons – The Vault (2018) Final Score, Best Tracks, Worst Tracks & Summary

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
Disk 8 Review
Disk 9 Review
Disk 10 Review
Bonus Disk Review

 

 

 

 

 

 

What are the best tracks of the 165 included?  What about the “action figure” and coin?  What’s the final score?

GENE SIMMONS – The Vault (2018) Final Score

Part One:  The Best Songs

Every song that was scored 4/5 or higher is listed below, in disc order.

Disk 1

    • “Are You Ready”   5/5
    • “I Confess”  4/5
    • “Legends Never Die”  4/5
    • “In My Head”  4/5
    • “I Wait” 4/5

Disk 2

    • “Hate”  4/5
    • “Within”   4/5
    • “In Your Face with Ace”   5/5
    • “I Wanna Live”  4/5
    • “If It’s Too Hot, You’re Too Cold”  4/5
    • “Rain Keeps Fallin’”   4/5
    • “Bells of Freedom”   4/5

Disk 3

    • “Christine Sixteen”  5/5
    • “Tunnel of Love”   5/5
    • “Got Love For Sale”  4.5/5
    • “Hell Or High Water”  4/5
    • “Domino”  4/5
    • “Only You”  5/5
    • “True Confessions #2”  4/5

Disk 4

    • “Plaster Caster”  4/5
    • “X-Ray Eyes”  4/5
    • “Charisma”  5/5
    • “Radioactive”  4.5/5
    • “Calling Dr. Love”   4/5
    • “It’s My Life”  5/5

Disk 5

    • “See You Tonite”   4/5
    •  “Once More Chance”   4/5

Disk 6

    • “Whatever Turns You On”  4/5
    • “Hold On”   4/5

Disk 7

    • “Suspicious”  4/5
    • “Everybody Wants”  4/5
    • “Promise The Moon”   5/5
    • “Pride”  5/5
    • “Mirage”  4/5

Disk 8

    • “We Rocked It All Night”  4/5
    • “She’s Rotten to the Core”  4/5
    • “S&M Love”  4/5
    • “Bad Bad Lovin’”   4.5/5
    • “Chrome Heart”  4/5

Disk 9

    • “It’s Gonna Be Alright #2”  4/5
    • “Everybody Knows #1”  4/5
    • “You’re All That I Want”   4/5
    • “Damn, I’m Good”   4.5/5

Disk 10

(none)

Disk 11

    • “Obnoxious”  4/5
    • “Just Begun to Fight”  4.5/5
    • “Dorothy Lamour”  4/5
    • “My Uncle Is A Raft”  4/5

Part Two:  The Worst Songs

Because there are so many songs in the two star range, every song score under 2/5 is list here in track order.

Disk 1

    • “Something Wicked This Way Comes”  1/5

Disk 2

(none)

Disk 3

(none)

Disk 4

(none)

Disk 5

    • “Dreamer”   1/5

Disk 6

    • “Beautiful”   1/5
    •  “I Dream 1000 Dreams”  1/5
    • “First Love”   1/5

Disk 7

    • “Dog”  1.5/5
    • “Never Gonna Leave You #1”  1/5
    • “I Ain’t Comin’ Back”   1.5/5

Disk 8

(none)

Disk 9

(none)

Disk 10

    • “Granny Takes A Trip”  1/5

Bonus Disk

    • “Feel Like Heaven   1.5/5
    • “It’s Funny, But It Ain’t No Joke”   1/5
    • “Love By Invitation”    1.5/5
    • “Queen of Hearts”   0.5/5
    • “Leeta”   1.5/5
    • “Put on Your Slippers”  1.5/5
    • “Nancy”   1/5

Part Three:  Action Figure, Coin, and Book

The much-ballyhooed Gene Simmons “action figure” is…a statue.  It’s a very nice statue, but there are no moving parts.  You can’t pose Gene with your other Kiss action figures.  Even the MacFarlanes were slightly poseable.  It’s quite large and heavy.  Very solid.  Though mine is sealed and hard to examine up close, You can see the sculpt is excellent.  It’s a very high-end likeness.  The paint details on the face appear to be quite nice, and you can even see a silver zipper going up Gene’s black leather jacket.

The coin is just a hunk of metal.  Drill a hole in it and hang it around your neck for fun.

The book is loaded with info, but not as much as you’d like.  Gene sometimes repeats stories, especially when it comes to Ace Frehley and Peter Criss misbehavin’.  Though Gene usually tries to highlight who is playing on which songs, it’s not always clear.  In some cases this information is lost, but it would nice to see credit breakdowns in the notes.  It’s loaded with sketches, lyrics, unreleased photos, and other assorted curiosities.

Though heavy, and housing all 11 discs within, the book does feel flimsy along the spine.  It is also a dust magnet.  It is a shame it didn’t come with some kind of slipcase.  Fans are going to have to improvise their own storage methods.  I’ll probably put mine inside a tote bag.  It is also a shame that the CDs themselves slip in and out of cardboard sleeves, but that was expected.

Part Four:  Average Score

This isn’t to say there isn’t a lot of filler on the Vault.  It only looks like there isn’t because I chose to list songs under two stars only.  There are simply too many 2 star songs.  It would get tedious.  However, there is a surprising amount of good stuff on this set too, and otherwise perfectly listenable tracks.  “Mongoloid Man” may be offensive, but it does rock.

One cannot overstate the importance of finally have the three historic Van Halen recordings.  This is something that never seemed particularly likely until the Vault.  Other demos of value include “Only You” and the Bob Dylan sessions.  There is clearly enough good material here to justify buying.  The amount of repeat songs under different titles is irritating, but that’s how Gene writes.  He re-uses ideas until they either make an album, or don’t!  For better or for worse, you’re getting a lot of those unreleased tapes right here.  Most of them involve material for his two solo albums.

Let’s face it:  Kiss die-hards want these collectible demos, for a number of reason.  One is that we’ve been reading about some of these song titles for decades.  Second is that many of them feature Kiss members in addition to Gene, such as Eric Singer, Eric Carr, Tommy Thayer, Bruce Kulick, Ace Frehley and Paul Stanley.  They also include almost-members such as Bob Kulick and Anton Fig.  For all intents and purposes, many of these tracks can be considered Kiss demos, released under the Gene Simmons name.

The disc with the best score was Disk 3 at 3.83/5, with its Van Halen demos elevating it.  The lowest scoring disc was Bonus Disk at 2.16/5.

The average score for all 11 discs:

3.04/5 stars

However, here’s something important to note.  The final score doesn’t matter.  Not at all.  Gene Simmons throws everything at the wall.  He writes, and he re-writes, and he keeps going until he has 165 songs jammed onto a box set.  The value here isn’t simple.  It’s not something you can break down into numbers.  The joy of hearing Eddie Van Halen doing whammy dives on “Tunnel of Love” cannot be quantified.  The value of certain demos like “Only You” overshines mere numbers.  This box set’s value will continue to pay musical dividends as we listen and listen again for years to come.

Thanks for joining us for this journey through the Vault!

 

 

REVIEW: Gene Simmons – The Vault – Bonus Disk (Disk 11) (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
Disk 8 Review
Disk 9 Review
Disk 10 Review

 

 

 

 

 

 

For those keeping score at home, this bonus CD contains tracks 151-165 in the Vault box set, 15 more than originally promised!

GENE SIMMONS – The Vault – Bonus Disk (Disk 11) (2018 Rhino)

As Gene notes in the book, there are many different versions of “Feel Like Heaven”…the most notorious of which is not on this box set.  The “Vulgar Version” as we’ll call it is still just a bootleg.  If you don’t know what it is, don’t ask.  This demo of “Feel Like Heaven” is the most primitive, with Gene singing and playing bass over the sound of a vintage drum machine.  This song is getting a bit repetitive, but this version definitely belongs only on a bonus disc.  1.5/5

“Obnoxious” is a surprise.  It has a punky quality, but it also shares a chorus with “Reputation” which is an unreleased Kiss song from the 70s.  “Obnoxious” is pretty good, daresay I prefer it to “Reputation”.  The low-fi arrangement of bass and harmony vocals, with minimal guitar and no drums is really cool.   Clearly it wasn’t intended to be released as-is, but I wouldn’t really change much.  It sounds like Kiss.  Sometimes things are best left primitive.  Who knows?  4/5

Remember when the Kiss 40 compilations came out?  They featured a brand new Kiss song called “Samurai Son”, featuring a Japanese girl group called Momoiro Clover Z.  Although Kiss praised them at the time of the compilation album, in the liner notes here, Gene called them “basically dancers”.  Ouch!  Gene’s song submitted for the Kiss 40 compilation was “Mina-San, Mina-San”.  Though ultimately, “Samurai Son” works better, “Mina-San, Mina-San” has a vintage Kiss vibe that the other song lacks.  Really, the only thing wrong with this version is that Gene had to do all the vocals himself including the female backing vocals.  So, it’s not perfect, it’s a little cringe when the backing vocals come in.  Again, this is a demo – for demonstration!  The song was not chosen and therefore never properly finished.  3/5

“Just Begun to Fight” is a title long mentioned in collector’s circles.  Unbelievably, it’s really good.  Gene notes it uses the same chords as “Dr. Love”, which is something that comes up frequently in this box set.  The chorus shares commonality with “Burning Up With Fever”.  Strangely, this might be the best use of them!  “Just Begun to Fight” is vintage Kiss.  Slow, powerful groove and a killer upbeat chorus.  You can hear where Ace Frehley would lay down his solo.  Gene recorded this song in 1978 with forgotten studio musicians.  I would have liked to hear this song finished.  Solid!  4.5/5

“It’s Funny, But It Ain’t No Joke” sounds like a low quality early 80s Kiss song.  It’s fast and is fully written with lyrics and backing vocals, but it ain’t no good.  Pun intended.  There’s a pretty dreadful bridge to enjoy, and a caveman guitar solo to burn your ears out.  1/5

The song “Love By Invitation” was entirely written around one jazz chord that Gene liked.  That chord repeats a lot.  Gene doesn’t think this song was ever presented to Kiss.  It doesn’t matter.  Same results.  Sounds like Unmasked era.  Cool sax solo at least.  1.5/5

“Dorothy Lamour” also goes back to the Unmasked era, with Anton Fig on drums and Holly Knight on keyboards.  This has an oldies rock and roll feel, but heavier.  It has that 1950s sound with the bopping piano.  Anton provides a solid backbeat.  You can instantly hear a huge rise in quality over the previous drum parts on this disc.  This doesn’t sound at all like a demo.  This sounds like a finished album track with a great chorus accentuated by backing vocals.  A song like this could have worked with Kiss, had they wanted to go back to that sound.  Reminds me a bit of a toned-down “Bloody Luxury” by Whitesnake.  4/5

“Queen of Hearts” is not the Hot in the Shade song.  This is a keyboard demo written with Pepy Castro around the time of Unmasked.  It is truly dreadful, sounding like a lullaby for your nightmares.  If it were a song by Jan Terri, it would be her best track, but it could be Gene’s worst.  0.5/5

Written in 1966, but recorded in 1980, “My Lorraine” is…something.  Gene strums some pretty chords on acoustic and then breaks into a bad falsetto.  For the second verse, he goes back to his normal voice.  It’s a fine little folky song, but easily and justifiably forgotten.  2/5

“Leeta” is marginally better.  This bad Beatles-y ballad was previously released on the Kiss Box Set.  This old recording by Gene’s band Bullfrog Bheer reveals that Simmons had diverse tastes, but really hadn’t decided what he wanted to do.  He was, and still is, willing to throw anything at the wall and see what sticks.  However, if “Leeta” was a Beatles song, they would have given it to Ringo.  1.5/5

“Put on Your Slippers” originates in 1969, and Gene talks of the “folly of youth” in the liner notes.  He wanted to be like Paul McCartney, and write and play all the instruments himself.  He describes “Put on Your Slippers” as inspired by the Beatles’ “She Came In Through the Bathroom Window”.  See above note about Ringo.  1.5/5

 

Back to 1978, drum machines and keyboards!  “Gypsy Nights” is so corny it’s hilarious!  It sounds like an AM radio song from the era.  It is fine, up until the bridge, which is just from another song altogether.  The smooth guitar solo is nice, but…wow.  Just wow.  2/5

Back in 1987 on the Kiss eXposed video, Paul Stanley teased Gene about writing songs such as “I Love Eskimos”.  Gene responded by saying, “That’s not too far off.”  And here we have “Eskimo Sun”…also known as “Only You!”  The melody is familiar, but the song is otherwise very different, and not very good.  It’s interesting to finally hear the “Eskimo” song that Paul was joking about, and it’s fascinating that it’s actually “Only You”, but wow, this is really not enjoyable listening.  2/5

Mercifully coming closer to the end, “Nancy” is another Bullfrog Bheer song.  You can imagine Gene writing this stuff, taking it so seriously, thinking he is the McCartney of the next generation.  Meanwhile, the song he wrote is utter crap.  1/5

And finally, written for Gene’s late uncle George comes one of the most surprising songs of all.  “My Uncle Is A Raft” goes back to the 10th grade, performed with friends.  It’s a delightful little folky jig that sounds like something from the 1930s.  It’s hard to say it’s a great song, because part of its appeal is its low-fi authenticity which lends of a comedic vintage quality.  It ain’t bad though.  The “yee-haw!” in the middle of the song says it all.  This is an upbeat little number that sounds like it’s from another era entirely.  Fascinating and delightful.  4/5

What a weird disc this was!

Average score by song:   2.16/5 stars, the lowest of the set.

Next time, we will sum up the box set and look at the extras.  The Vault isn’t finished yet.

Bonus Disk 11 Track length and songwriters (from Wikipedia)

1. Feel Like Heaven (3:07) Simmons
2. Obnoxious (2:37) Simmons
3. Mina’San, Mina’San (2:13) Simmons
4. Just Begun to Fight (3:27) Simmons
5. It’s Funny, But It Ain’t No Joke (2:32) Simmons
6. Love by Invitation (3:21) Simmons
7. Dorothy Lamour (2:31) Simmons
8. Queen of Hearts (3:14) Simmons / Castro
9. My Lorraine (1:58) Simmons
10. Leeta (2:25) Simmons
11. Put on Your Slippers (2:24) Simmons
12. Gypsy Nights (2:55) Simmons
13. Eskimo Sun (3:08) Simmons
14. Nancy (1:27) Simmons
15. My Uncle Is a Raft (1:16) Simmons

REVIEW: Gene Simmons – The Vault – Disk 10 (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
Disk 8 Review
Disk 9 Review

 

 

 

 

 

 

For those keeping score at home, this CD contains tracks 136-150 in the Vault box set.  This time we foray into genres far and wide, from disco to reggae.

GENE SIMMONS – The Vault – Disk 10 (2018 Rhino)

“Take It Like a Man #2” originated with a riff written on bass, and then intended for Psycho-Circus.  Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer play on this demo.  It was intended that Ace, Peter, Paul and Gene each take a line, and Gene does his little imitations of the members where he wanted them to sing.  This song may have had been better than “You Wanted the Best” which had the same idea.  It’s heavier and sounds pretty good in this demo form.  Though it came later, it has a Creatures vibe.  3.5/5

“Take It Like a Man #1” is the original bass lick from which the song was later written.  This is included to show how Gene would “hear” a full song in his head when coming up with the riff on bass.  It also demonstrates he’s a better bassist than he gets credit for.  This unfinished idea is just that: unfinished.  Yet you can hear he was onto something, as demonstrated by “#2”.  2.5/5

“Have Mercy, Baby” is a Simmon / Kulick composition with Bruce playing guitar.  This is a fully-fleshed out demo, at first recorded to four-track and then upgraded to 24-track for overdubs.  It sounds like a Crazy Nights or Hot in the Shade era tune.  That said, it wouldn’t have been album worthy.  Though Bruce Kulick always offers intelligent and tasteful solo work, the song itself only has one or two solid hooks.  2.5/5

Gene gushes over Eric Carr as a human being in the liner notes.  “We Won’t Take It Anymore” is a song that originated in the same session as “My Babe”, next on the box set.  Written by Gene and Eric, this is a hard rocker with a cool chorus.  It really is a shame that Eric wasn’t nurtured as a songwriter in Kiss the way he could have been.  This has a strong “All Hell’s Breakin’ Loose” kind of vibe, and the chorus really would have worked well with Kiss.  3.5/5

“My Babe” is completely different!  This fast, almost pop-punk!  It almost throws back to Dressed to Kill-era Kiss, with that kind of simplicity and basic rock and roll arrangement.  What it is, is a hybrid of many things and all of them sound good to me.  It’s understandable why Kiss didn’t want to do this kind of song in the Carr era, but they really should have.  3.5/5

“Eat Your Heart Out” is not the same song that was later used on Monster (though the chorus really is similar).  This is a late 70s demo of an idea that originated with “Rotten to the Core”.  It’s a tangled web since so many ideas appear in multiple forms on this box set.  This is a menacing little rock song that would have worked on any Kiss album from that period, but probably just wasn’t good enough.  There are some cool melodies on the pre-chorus especially.  3/5  

“Nine Lives” is a cool late-80s idea with Bruce Kulick on guitar.  Again, not quite good enough to replace one of the album songs, but there is promise here too.  It has a slow, slinky vibe.  Kulick shows of some cool whammy work, followed by two-handed tapping.  His technique seems to date it to Crazy Nights.  3/5

Back to the 70s, “Howling for Your Love” has Katey Sagal and the girls on backing vocals.  It’s very similar to “Bad Bad Lovin'”, also known as “Dr. Love”, and the tangled web of songs becomes even more so.  It’s pretty good and, once again, had Kiss made more albums, this would have been on one of them.  3/5

“I Ain’t Coming Back” is the song that “Never Gonna Leave You” from Disk 7 became.  This is a four track demo with a dancey beat, but it’s no better than the other version.  One of the poorer tracks on this set, with a chorus that should have never hit the recycle bin.  Just trash it.  1/5

The riff to…ahem…“Granny Takes A Trip” sounds similar to “Weapons of Mass Destruction”.  The title here was taken from a store in New York that sold platform boots.  It’s very metal, but not very good.  It’s very alterna-grunge.  Probably intended for Carnival.  Very noisy.  Not worth exploring further.  1/5

Former Journey and Vinnie Vincent Invasion singer Robert Fleichmann co-wrote “Piece of the Rock” (not the King Kobra/Kick Axe song).  This has a dark 80s vibe but sounds unfinished.  There’s a compelling guitar part with good verses and a decent chorus, but the bridge that connects them should be excised.  The song just needed something else to go in that section, and it would be pretty good.  2.5/5

Gene says “Rock It” was inspired by Fine Young Cannibals.  I also hear Love and Rockets.  Judging by the vocal track, this sounds like it was recorded much later.  It’s not bad.  There’s something cool going on here, especially with those 80s drum programs.  3/5

“Sticky Goo” is a cool reggae-based idea.  It also has a “New York Groove” vibe.  It could be finished into something cool.  Cool, but different.  There’s no denying that some of these songs would simply not work with Kiss and would have to go on solo albums.  But, then again, they did do “Torpedo Girl”, so who’s to say what’s ultimately outside the Kiss wheelhouse?  Gene is sure to lay down crunchy rhythm guitars here to ground it in rock.  Still hearing lots of “New York Groove” though.  3/5

“Love Came To Me” is Gene’s answer to “I Was Made For Lovin’ You”, but it also re-uses certain melodies from “Love Is Blind”.  (This is not mentioned in the book, but I’m telling you with my ears.)  Gene concedes that he doesn’t know as much about dance music as Paul Stanley, but this isn’t a bad stab at the genre.  It’s not as fast and infectious, but the bassline is a lot of fun, as is the beat.  You could dance to it.  3/5

“Roar of the Greasepaint” is the original idea that later became “Journey of 1,000 Years” on Psycho-Circus.  He later added chords from the earlier “You’re My Reason for Living 4 Track” (Disk 4) to create the final version.  That version is superior for many reasons, including the heavy orchestration and progressive vibes.  “Roar of the Greasepaint” has a cooler title though.  It really ties into the Kiss image and should have been left as-is.  This was the closing song on Psycho-Circus, and would have been the closing song on this 150 song box set…if Gene didn’t include an 11th bonus disc!  3.5/5

Average score by song:   2.76/5 stars

 

Disk 10 Track length and songwriters (from Wikipedia)

1. Take It Like a Man #2 (2:38) Simmons
2. Take It Like a Man #1 (2:44) Simmons
3. Have Mercy, Baby (4:04) Simmons / Kulick
4. We Won’t Take It Anymore (3:03) Simmons / Carr
5. My Babe (1:51) Simmons / Carr
6. Eat Your Heart Out (2:22) Simmons
7. Nine Lives (3:33) Simmons / Sigerson
8. Howling for Your Love (2:47) Simmons
9. I Ain’t Coming Back (3:02) Simmons
10. Granny Takes a Trip (1:55) Simmons
11. Piece of the Rock (3:48) Simmons / Fleischman
12. Rock It (2:23) Simmons
13. Sticky Goo (3:05) Simmons
14. Love Came to Me (3:25) Simmons
15. Roar of the Greasepaint (3:07) Simmons

REVIEW: Gene Simmons – The Vault – Disk 9 (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
Disk 8 Review

 

 

 

 

 

 

Welcome back, creatures of the night.  For those keeping score at home, this CD contains tracks 121-135 in the Vault box set.

GENE SIMMONS – The Vault – Disk 9 (2018 Rhino)

Gene wrote “It’s Gonna Be Alright” with Mikel Japp, who was a Paul Stanley co-writer.  This was written for Creatures, and this 4:29 version appears on that box set.  Japp came up with the opening lick while the rest came from Gene.  It’s a good song, though too upbeat and pop for Creatures.  The drum machine is just a placeholder, but even with the drum machine, it’s a good song already.  The guitar part is catchy and Kiss-like.  It would have fit into that Kiss Killers sound.  3.5/5

“It’s Gonna Be Alright #2” was re-done with Bruce Kulick in the mid-80s.  This is more fleshed out, with solos and harder-edged guitars.  The drum program is more sophisticated and it’s more suitable for an album like Asylum.  A real shame that songs like this were not chosen in favour of weaker compositions.  Some songs might not have fit the direction of the album, but perhaps the direction of the album was at fault.  4/5

“Everybody Knows #1” is performed with Tommy Thayer, who plays a very similar acoustic guitar part inspired by “Rock Bottom” from Dressed to Kill.  The electric guitars kick in, along with a massive chorus.  This would date back to the Hot in the Shade era and absolutely should have been on that album.  The answering vocals are killer and it makes you wonder what Paul Stanley could have done with those backing vocals.    According to Wikipedia, the Japanese version of Asshole contained “Everybody Knows” as a bonus track, but it is unknown which one.  4/5

“Everybody Knows #2” is a very different version.  This one is more 90s and alterna-rock.  It could have worked on an album like Carnival of Souls or Psycho-Circus.  While it is still a good song, the previous one is superior, though that might just be a matter of taste.  The chorus is intact but a lot of the hooks I liked are not.  3.5/5

A very special demo is ahead.  “You’re All That I Want” was of course the closing song on Kiss Unmasked.  Gene says this is the only demo he has with Paul Stanley assisting.  Therefore this is the Starchild’s only appearance in this box set, and perhaps therefore the only “true” Kiss demo.  It’s like a shock to the system to finally hear Paul singing, nine discs in.  This demo doesn’t have the pep of the final version, but they were going for something harder edged.  The acoustic guitars are very crisp and unlike anything on the Unmasked album.  This demo just proves that Gene and Paul are better together than apart.  4/5

“Kids With Painted Faces” is the third version of “I Am Yours”, here re-written with new lyrics including one about playing air guitar to Ace.  The Beatles influence still comes through.  This is the song Gene compared to “All the Young Dudes” due to its anthemic guitar melody.  One lyric is pretty poignant:  “There is no Kiss without you.”  True, Gene.  True.  3.5/5 

“I Wanna Rule the World” is another variation of the “Now That You’re Gone” / “Mirage” idea.  It sounds as if the Beatles moved to Seattle in 1992.  It’s quite intriguing.  There was a certain simplicity that was happening with melody in the 1990s, and this demo shares that quality.  It is not bad, but the rough and distorted recording does it no favours.  It is important to remember that “demo” means “demonstration”.  You would literally record an idea to relay or demonstrate the idea to another person, either for them to perform it themselves, or see if they are interested in it.  3/5

“Rule the World #2” is a completely different idea with a similar title.  In the liner notes, Gene explains he does this to make box sets harder for reviewers to write about (kidding!).  This is a very grungey, alternative song with droning guitars and a distinctly 90s sound.  This is one of the songs Gene wrote with Scott Van Zen.  It’s pretty good, and if Kiss had just made more albums instead of drying up creatively after the reunion, this might have come out on one of them.  3/5

“Damn, I’m Good” starts with Gene coming up with the CCR-inspired chord ideas on acoustic.  It then fades into a funky electric demo with Eric Singer.  Gene notes that he re-used some of the lyrics in this song in multiple other songs in the box set, including opener “Are You Ready”.  Now, you don’t often associate Gene Simmons with funky rock, but “Damn, I’m Good” cooks.  Kiss could not have done a song this funky without Ace Frehley, which is to say, though it is only mildly funky, it would benefit from the guy who wrote “Torpedo Girl”.  In short:  this is a different song and it may turn off some listeners.  I think it’s great.  4.5/5

An instrumental version of “Dial L For Love” appeared on Eric Carr’s posthumous Unfinished Business album.  Now here is a full version with drums, lyrics and Gene Simmons singing.  Bruce Kulick also appears, and Adam Mitchell helped finish.  It has a cool 80s riff with the harmonics that were currently in vogue.  Had it been included, Gene says it would have been on Animalize or Asylum, but I think his memory is a bit faulty.  This sounds more like Crazy Nights era.  It should have had Eric Carr singing.  The chorus sounds up his alley.  3.5/5

“Just Like the Movies #1” is the only song Gene wrote with singer / songwriter Stephen Bishop.  This might be a good thing.  It’s hard to hear what Gene was going for.  It sounds like something circa Unmasked, with complex pre-recorded drums and a dancey sound.  In fact some of it did end up in “She’s So European” if you listen carefully.  You won’t read that in the liner notes.   Gene liked the title as a chorus idea:  “Just like the movies, I feel like Romeo.”  The idea seems like it has something usable, but this recording wouldn’t have been it.  2/5

“I Know Who You Are” ended up on Gene’s first solo album as “Living In Sin”.  This early demo features Joe X. Dube of Starz on drums.  Though this version still features prominent piano beats, it’s more rock n’ roll, and Kiss-like, than his solo counterpart.  You can almost hear where Gene would want Ace to lay down a fat solo.  Gene says all this is based on an old song idea called “Drive Me Wild”.  3.5/5

“Sweet Temptation”, or part of it anyway, was used in “Only You” on The Elder.  It becomes the “I can’t believe this is true, why do I listen to you?” part.  The rest was discarded.  Which is fine.  The chorus is not memorable.  It’s fascinating how these songs come to be.  Of course, as we have discussed, perhaps the older demo of “Only You” is better than the final, but here’s the missing element that was needed to created the Elder version.  2/5

“Are You Always This Hot” is a late-80s shredder song featuring Bruce Kulick and co-written by Adam Mitchell.  The solo is all whammy and tricks, and the tempo is that uptempo plod that Gene was good at on albums like Animalize.  “Are You Always This Hot” is a song title we’ve seen printed in magazines and books for years, but I always thought with a title like that, it was a Paul song.  Nope!  All Gene.  2.5/5

“Fourever” goes back to the same sessions as “Bad Bad Lovin'” aka “Dr. Love”, so you know how old it is, though this version sounds newer.  It features prominent sax, and was inspired by the Dave Clark Five.  It’s basically Gene singing about himself and Kiss, but it’s certainly not the first time.  It’s pretty good, mostly because of the saxophone and cool shouted backing vocals.  It could have worked with Kiss, who did eventually incorporate sax into some of their music.  3.5/5

Average score by song:   3.3/5 stars

 

Disk 9 Track length and songwriters (from Wikipedia)

1. It’s Gonna Be Alright (4:30) Simmons / Japp
2. It’s Gonna Be Alright #2 (3:15) Simmons / Japp
3. Everybody Knows #1 (3:55) Simmons
4. Everybody Knows #2 (3:45) Simmons
5. You’re All That I Want (4:06) Simmons
6. Kids With Painted Faces (3:15) Leader / Simmons
7. I Wanna Rule the World (5:01) Simmons
8. Rule the World #2 (4:08) Simmons / Van Zen
9. Damn, I’m Good (3:29) Simmons
10. Dial L for Love (3:42) Simmons / Mitchell / Carr
11. Just Like the Movies #1 (2:45) Simmons / Bishop
12. I Know Who You Are (3:28) Simmons
13. Sweet Temptation (2:48) Simmons
14. Are You Always This Hot (3:01) Simmons / Mitchell
15. Fourever (3:05) Simmons

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 7 (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

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some good and bad songs ahead.  For those keeping score at home, this CD contains tracks 91-105 in the Vault box set.

GENE SIMMONS – The Vault – Disk 7 (2018 Rhino)

“No Conscience” comes with a Vinnie Poncia co-writing credit, which probably dates it back to the Hot in the Shade era.  Not much else is said about its genesis.  It’s an interesting hard rocker with what sound like drum machines.   It’s very much in the mould of that late 80s Kiss sound and could have been a B-side.  In the case of Hot in the Shade, a lot of the demos were polished up for the final album.  This needs some polishing, but it’s a little like finding a lost gem.  3/5 

Gene talks about writing “Suspicious” with Black ‘N Blue for In Heat, which dates this track back to about 1988.  There’s a clear “Stayin’ Alive” reference with the “Ah, ah, ah” in the chorus.   It’s not bad and would have fit very well on Hot in the Shade better than some of the songs that made it.  There’s a cool solo (must be Thayer) and the hooks eventually bore their way into your head.  Sounds a little like Trash-era Alice Cooper too.  4/5

“Everybody Wants” is a great song.  This is another of the Silent Rage demos.  The vocals aren’t recorded well enough to really make out the words, but the chorus has hooks.  It has a bit of a Dokken vibe, in a good way.  As we go through the Vault we keep running across songs that should have made onto Kiss albums.  Here’s another.  Which one would it fit on?  That’s the trick.  Maybe Kiss should have just made more albums.  4/5

“Promise The Moon” is interesting.  The chords go back to a song called “Sentimental Fool” written with Bob Kulick.  However, an instrumental (with prominent bass) was bootlegged as “The Unknown Force”.  On the Creatures of the Night box set, another version is titled “Tell It To A Fool”.  This isn’t information you’ll find in the liner notes.  This is coming from me using my ears.  Long have I loved that “Unknown Force”, demo and wished for a better version.  Here it is, with full lyrics, guitar solos, and everything else.  This song is stellar.  There were plenty of albums this could have fit on.  Gene reveals that he wanted Black ‘N Blue to do the song.  That would have been a waste.  This should have been Kiss.   I am overjoyed to have this song in my collection at last.  5/5

“All You Want Is a Piece of My Heart” is an Adam Mitchell song featuring Tommy Thayer.  It’s a bass groove, with some unexpected acoustic guitar overtop the metal riff.  It needed to be properly fleshed out, but there is definitely the skeleton of an idea here that had potential.  Sounds very Hot in the Shade with that acoustic.  It’s difficult to rate because there’s a terrific chorus and some cool guitar work, but also some sections that sound unfinished.  3.5/5

“Pride” is an early 2000s song, but unlike the other Asshole material, this one is really good!  Unbelievable!  How does stuff like this end up buried on a box set?  There’s a soulful chorus and a joyful arrangement.  It’s hard to describe.  It’s pop, not rock, with piano and a knack for a hook.  It’s criminal for a great song like this to sit unnoticed on an 11 CD box set that very few people have.  5/5

“Through the Night” and “Sweetheart of the Radio” are two earlier Simmons songs that eventually transformed into “Mirage” during the early 90s.  This Thayer demo has a strong beat and numerous hooks.  Once again, how does stuff like this get left off albums?  This song is all but finished, with “woah-oh-oh” vocals and some serious Thayer pyrotechnics.  For those who love that 80s Kiss sound, this song is right up their alley.  Gene says the bridge was later used in “Now That You’re Gone” and “I Wanna Rule the World”, but I didn’t notice.  That’s five songs all connected together!  4/5

Gene’s Simmons Records protege Bag (just Bag) was responsible for “Dog”.  It ended up on the Asshole album, unfortunately, because it’s garbage.  I don’t know what Gene was thinking on that album.  The only good thing about it is this big giant Jimmy Page-like guitar part that isn’t in the song enough.  1.5/5

“If I Had a Gun” is one of the few good songs on Asshole, and it’s another Bag song.  This demo is a lot like the finished version, just less adorned with all the accoutrements.  Some may like it, some hate it.  I like the “Uh-oh, uh-oh” falsetto vocal hook.  I think it’s a good song.  3.5/5

Onto Carnival of Souls.  One of the most remarkable songs on that album was a Bruce Kulick / Gene Simmons song called “I Walk Alone”.  Why remarkable?  Because it was Bruce Kulick’s debut on lead vocals.  This is an earlier version with a different chorus, and Gene on lead vocals.  Sounds like Eric Singer on drums.  It has ballady elements, but also slams quite hard on the chorus.  It’s hard to rank compared to the album version.  There are things to like about both.  3.5/5

“Seduction of the Innocent” is another Carnival demo.  It’s quite remarkable, but the melody idea is the oldest on the box set.  It dates back to 1964.  Gene wrote it when he was 13 years old and called it “My Girl Brought Me Chocolate Ice Cream”.  He finished it decades later with Scott Van Zen.  In the liner notes, Gene spends a good amount of time talking about growing up as a poor immigrant.  Not being able to speak English, and then gradually being able to understand Beatles songs.  Using a broken TV speaker and cabinet as a makeshift amplifier.  You can hear the Beatles in the song, but that may just be what Gene refers to as a “Middle Eastern” melody, a style familiar to him from his youth in Israel.  Fascinating history, but also a pretty good song that made it to the final album much like this demo.  3.5/5

Suddenly we jump to Animalize.  “Lonely Is the Hunter” should be familiar, but Gene takes a bit of a shot at Paul Stanley in the notes.  He says he prefers the greasy feel of the demo, and says he wasn’t there in the studio when Kiss recorded their version, saying it was Paul’s project.  Gene, of course, was busy filming Runaway with Tom Selleck.  This demo does have a sleazier groove, and hits in a way that might have more vintage Kiss in style.  Gene may have a point about Animalize, but it was his fault for not being there.  3.5/5 

The next few songs go back to 1977 and a Motown influence.  “Never Gonna Leave You #1” was recorded in a closet on a 4-track recorder.  You can hear what Gene was trying to achieve.  He didn’t.  Perhaps some of it wound on Gene’s solo album.  There’s a certain way he sings “Yeah” that is similar.  1/5

“I Ain’t Comin’ Back” is a better attempt from 1977 at the above sound.  Marginally better.  The beats are better.  The chorus is something pretty smelly.  Limburger.  1.5/5

“Never Gonna Leave You #2” is an update with Bruce Kulick and Eric Singer.  Finally he got it right.  This is a rock version.  Gene seems to prefer the Motown version.  I don’t.  This could have been a solid Kiss B-side.  3/5

Average score by song:   3.06/5 stars

 

Disk 7 Track length and songwriters (from Wikipedia)

1. No Conscience (3:35) Simmons / Poncia
2. Suspicious (3:22) Thayer / St. James / Regan
3. Everybody Wants (2:24) Simmons / Damon
4. Promise the Moon (4:00) Simmons / Kulick / Thayer / St. James
5. All You Want Is a Piece of My Heart (3:53) Mitchell
6. Pride (3:11) McCormack / Simmons
7. Mirage (3:30) Simmons
8. Dog (3:32) Chuaqui / Simmons
9. If I Had a Gun (3:27) Chuaqui
10. I Walk Alone (3:27) Simmons / Kulick
11. Seduction of the Innocent (5:09) Simmons / Van Zen
12. Lonely Is the Hunter (3:02) Simmons
13. Never Gonna Leave You #1 (2:22) Simmons
14. I Ain’t Comin’ Back (2:57) Simmons
15. Never Gonna Leave You #2 (3:19) Simmons

REVIEW: Gene Simmons – The Vault – Disk 6 (2018)

Previous Reading: 

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rough waters ahead, as more demos for the Asshole album are up.  For those keeping score at home, this CD contains tracks 76-90 in the Vault box set.

GENE SIMMONS – The Vault – Disk 6 (2018 Rhino)

As if we didn’t get enough on the last disc, we’re back on Disk 6 with another version of “Waiting For the Morning Light” by Dylan/Simmons.   This is close to final.  The instruments were played by Gene’s protege called “Bag” (just Bag) who somehow never became the next big thing.  Gene says he beefed up this demo for the final album.  That’s exactly what it sounds like.  The keyboards are a little more prominent, and it goes on a bit longer.  Gene notes in the book that he wanted Bob Dylan to write the lyrics, but Bob told him to finish the song.  I can’t help but get the impression that Bob was disinterested.  3.5/5

“Is It Real” is one of the newer songs, recorded in 2009 with Gene on acoustic guitar.  The lyrics were inspired by dreams.  Gene calls out the chords as he records, doubtless to help him remember how to play the song.  There are similarities to “See You Tonite” from his solo album.  This is just a quick one-minute idea.  2/5 

“Is It Real” goes directly into the demo for “Are You Real”, the completed song with Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer.  Is the similarity to “See You Tonite” intentional?  Gene doesn’t say, but it doesn’t sound accidental.  This could never have been a Kiss song, but as a solo track, it’s not bad.  Once again it is very Beatles-esque.  Gene is very good at writing those kinds of songs.  It’s also fun to hear Tommy Thayer play more like himself.  3.5/5

“Something Seems to Happen at Night” is a song written and played by Adam Mitchell and sung by Gene.  Simmons was so enamoured with the demo, that he didn’t want anything added or subtracted from it.  He liked the mood and atmosphere.  It sounds very early-80s, so it might date back to 1981 or 82 given Mitchell’s role.  It doesn’t have the fidelity of a final song, and would not have fit on a Kiss album as-is.  That’s why we’re hearing these songs now, and it’s not because they’re bad songs.  3.5/5

Simmons cites Lennon as an influence on “I Believe”, performed with Erich Lenning of Nick Simmons’ band.  There are scratch lyrics and scatting, but melody and song structure hints at something pretty good in the making.  If only these songs were more complete!  If Gene ever puts out another solo album, he should consider finishing some of these songs.  3/5

The electronic “Beautiful”, which ended up on Gene’s solo album, is written and performed by some guys who submitted their music to Simmons Records looking for a deal.  For whatever reason, “Beautiful” jumped out at Gene and he recorded it with the guys.  One wonders why, since it’s crap.  1/5

“Guilty Pleasures” was written on a Martin acoustic guitar at Shannon Tweed’s place in Whistler, BC.  The included demo is electric, with Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer.  Now this is cool.  It’s Gene in a Neil Young state of mind, with these big huge chords and a roomy arrangement.  It’s a slow epic kind of song, similar to “Goin’ Blind”.  Eric’s drums are huge.  He adds so much to a song.  Tommy adds in another solo that shows he’s not just a Frehley clone.  One could hope this will get finished one day.  There’s something here.  3/5

Gene gushes over “I Dream 1000 Dreams”, a song which ended up on his solo album.  He describes how the song came to him, fully formed, and he just had to record it.  This demo is the template on which the final version was based.  And it’s crap mish-mash of this, that and the other thing.  1/5

“I Am Yours #1” is one of Gene’s demos with Silent Rage as his backing band.  That dates it back to the early 90s.  He compares this to “All The Young Dudes”, and you can hear the exact guitar melody he’s referring to when he says that.  There is a little bit of “God Gave Rock And Roll To You” in it as well.  This is a pretty good song, but it would not have fit on Revenge.  Though it is heavy, you can hear the Beatles influences coming through.  Beatles influences work so well in heavier songs!  3.5/5

“I Am Yours #2” is a second version, but Gene doesn’t have too much to say about its origins in the notes.  Could be Eric Singer on drums, hard to say.  It is rougher sonically speaking.   It’s less compelling.  3/5

Gene says “Love Is Blind #1” is a little like the Eagles.  It could be, but to me it’s more like Gene’s first solo album in 1978.  This demo is just Gene with acoustic guitar and bass.  It’s a pretty song and actually sounds pretty good as-is.  Gene overdubbed nice harmony vocals to beef it up.  All it needs is some percussion instead of a click track.  3.5/5

The fully-formed “Love Is Blind #2” might be less appealing because it lacks that folksy sound.  On the other hand, it’s a pretty cool pop rock song like this.  The acoustic version might be a little more special.  3/5

I actually liked “Whatever Turns You On” from the Asshole album.  The song was a submission that Gene made some additions and edits to.  It’s definitely different, and features the Tweed sisters on laughs and backing vocals.  This demo is rougher, has more emphasis on the organ, and is generally more authentic than the album version.  A few demos are like that.  This is the best version.  4/5

The funny story about “Hold On” is why it was written.  Gene was up in freezing cold Saskatoon with Shannon Tweed, and everyone was outside having fun in the snow.  Not being the winter type, Gene stayed in and wrote “Hold On”.  This is another 90’s Silent Rage demo.  Again, its acoustic nature really hearkens back to Gene’s 1978 solo album, and that’s not a bad thing.  That “Beatles” word seems to recur when discussing many of these demos.  Gene is good at those kinds of songs.  Interestingly, there are similarities in the chorus to the unrelated “Waiting For the Morning Light”.  4/5

Finally, “First Love” was written on piano in the late 70s.  It’s the first song Gene ever wrote on piano.  Unfortunately, it’s pretty dreadful.  A Beatles-y misfire this time.  They wouldn’t have even given this song to Ringo to sing.  1/5

Average score by song:  2.83/5 stars

 

 

Disk 6 Track length and songwriters (from Wikipedia)

1. Waiting for the Morning Light (3:56) Dylan / Simmons
2. Is It Real (0:59) Simmons
3. Are You Real (2:56) Simmons
4. Something Seems to Happen at Night (2:37) Mitchell
5. I Believe (2:36) Simmons
6. Beautiful (4:06) Addison / Singh
7. Guilty Pleasures (2:56) Simmons
8. I Dream 1000 Dreams (3:40) Simmons
9. I Am Yours #1 (4:32) Simmons
10. I Am Yours #2 (2:57) Simmons
11. Love is Blind #1 (2:57) Simmons
12. Love is Blind #2 (2:53) Simmons
13. Whatever Turns You On (3:03) Williams / Simmons
14. Hold On (2:53) Simmons
15. First Love (2:14) Simmons

REVIEW: Gene Simmons – The Vault – Disk 5 (2018)

Previous Reading: 

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another “Holy Grail” for Kiss collectors:  the famous (or infamous) Bob Dylan writing sessions.  Let’s take a dive!  For those keeping score at home, this CD contains tracks 61-75 in the Vault box set.

GENE SIMMONS – The Vault – Disk 5 (2018 Rhino)

With these Vault songs, sometimes the liner notes can be revealing, and sometimes less so.  The notes for one of Gene’s prettiest songs, “See You Tonite” answers an age-old question:  “What exactly is the “it” that Gene is singing about?  “I know it’s around.”  “I’ll see you get it tonight”.  “It” means nothing.  It’s whatever you want it to mean.  Inspired by the Beatles, Gene felt like the lyrics didn’t have to be anything specific.  Who is the “Walrus?”  That kind of idea.  This old demo is more Beatles-y than his solo album version.  The tune dates back to the Wicked Lester days and was written in half an hour.  Unfortunately the notes don’t offer much information about who is playing on the track or when it was recorded.  The guitar work is very Byrds/Beatles.  Time to get Julian Gill’s Vault book.  4/5 

According to a scribble in the book, 1976’s “You’re My Reason #2” was previously released on the Japanese version of Asshole as a bonus track.  Gene plays everything on the demo:  bass, acoustic and electric guitars, and piano.  It’s a very pretty song and Gene is proud of it.  He sounds disappointed in the liner notes that Kiss didn’t find it appropriate for the band.    It could have been something.  3.5/5 

“Always Near You” was, of course, completed on Gene’s solo album with an additional title, “Nowhere to Hide”, tacked on.  This early demo is just Gene on guitar, piano and drums.  No bass!  Like “See You Tonite”, it is very Beatles-y.  It needed all the drama that the album version has with all that pompousness of the full arrangement.  This is a pretty good rough outline.  3/5

When Gene said that he arranged this box set according to “feel”, he was not lying.  “Once More Chance” is another very Beatles-esque song that wound up on Gene’s solo album.  (The Beatles influence is repeatedly acknowledged in the notes.)  This song ended up as “Mr. Make Believe”, yet another pretty Gene ballad that needed more orchestration.  The album version is impeccable, but this earlier version is about 75% of the way there.  There’s a nice section of Gene harmonizing with himself that gets lost on the album, so it has its own appeal.  It’s a little more electric.  4/5

“Now That You’re Gone #2 Synth”  originated in the late 1970s, and working with Bob Kulick.  This song should be familiar to those who own the Asshole album.  It’s remarkable similar.  Unfortunately it never was one of Gene’s best songs, though he seems to like it a lot.  It has a lot of personal meaning, regarding his absentee father.  This is not the last we’ll hear of “Now That You’re Gone” in this Vault.  2/5

“You’re My Reason for Living Synth” is a version of the song with Silent Rage.  Gene changed a verse and some chords, and the synth is a haunting touch.  In this guise, it reminds of some of David Coverdale’s keyboard-oriented ballads.  It gets heavier as it goes.  Each version of this song has different flavours.  That’s what makes this box an interesting listen, for those interested in the art of songwriting and arranging.  3.5/5

According to Gene, “Dreamer” was written into 1975 and eventually morphed into multiple songs.  It’s not particularly good.  It’s based on acoustic, with some piano highlights.  Whatever came from this song was doubtless better.  1/5

And now, we get to the Bob Dylan music.  “Na, Na, Na, Na” is an early version of “Waiting For the Morning Light”, as Gene played around with the chords that Dylan wrote.  The singing is improvised, but the song was starting to come together.  This version might better highlight how nice the music actually is.  Gene sings some nice falsetto.  It’s a very well recorded demo with some really nice organ coming through loud and clear.  It just needed words.  3/5

“Mr. Make Believe” is an electric demo of the song, recorded on a day off in 1977.  The verse melody is completely different, and uninspiring.  It’s crazy that a great song came from this crap.  It’s meandering sub-Beatles pablum until the chorus comes in.  2/5

Not content and continuing to beat a dead horse, “Now That You’re Gone #3” was recorded with Tommy Thayer and Kevin Valentine, which might place it in the Psycho-Circus writing sessions.  It’s more grungey but still doesn’t really go anywhere.  It’s a completely different delivery, but the problem is the song might not be good enough.  2.5/5

Of course, we can’t be complete without the original “Now That You’re Gone #1” demo, recorded in 2000 with (I kid you not) some guys he heard on the radio doing a “Garth Brooks does Kiss” spoof.  Though Gene re-wrote some lyrics to be more personal, the horse is dead.  How can a demo recorded in 2000 sound so crappy?  2/5

Gene reveals that “You’re My Reason for Living 4 Track” eventually evolved into “Journey of 1,000 Years” on Psycho-Circus, and other songs as well.  I would never have picked up on that.  This is a very basic demo without drums, just a programmed beat.   It’s underwhelming for that reason.  There are some cool twangy sounds on the chorus, but otherwise there are better versions of this song.  2.5/5

“We Are One” has always been one of the more unusual songs on Psycho-Circus.  This is a Silent Rage demo that Kiss (or, Simmons Stanley Thayer & Valentine) re-recorded in the studio.  This version has folksy 10,000 Maniacs verses and a bombastic Kiss chorus.  Gene cites Lennon as an influence and you can hear that.  Pretty decent demo.  The words aren’t all the way there yet.  “We Are One” was released as a Kiss single in 1998.  3/5 

“Everybody Wants Somebody” is another rendition of “Na, Na, Na, Na” and what would become “Waiting for the Morning Light”.  This was recorded with Tommy Thayer.  It is largely its own song, but you can hear some of the same guitar and vocal melody in its construction.  The lyrics are improvised.  We’re still not there yet; the song still needed a lot more work.  3/5

The 15 minute “Bob Dylan and Gene Simmons Writing Session” is the holy grail.  Imagine being a fly on the wall as the two talk and jam.  Bob advises Gene not to go “too outside” the Kiss thing with this session.  This is just a snippet of a six hour session.  Bob is inquisitive, asking Gene about how he writes songs.  Gene reciprocates and wants to know how Bob works.  I repeat:  You will get to hear, in Bob Dylan’s own words, how he writes songs.  Bob’s picking is delectable, and he coaches Gene a bit with trying to find a lyric.  Eventually, Bob wrings out the chords that Gene responds to, and a song is begun.  Because this 15 minute track is mostly spoken word, I will not give is a grade, and instead we will calculate the disc average with only the previous 14 songs.  Rest assured, this is a fasctinating treasure for music geeks.

Average score by song:   2.78/5 stars

 

Disk 5 Track length and songwriters (from Wikipedia)

1. See You Tonite (2:31) Simmons
2. You’re My Reason #2 (3:28) Simmons
3. Always Near You (2:32) Simmons
4. One More Chance (3:14) Simmons
5. Now That You’re Gone #2 Synth (3:38) Simmons / Kulick
6. You’re My Reason for Living Synth (4:20) Simmons
7. Dreamer (3:04) Simmons
8. Na, Na, Na, Na (2:48) Dylan / Simmons
9. Mr. Make Believe (2:28) Simmons
10. Now That You’re Gone #3 (3:54) Simmons / Kulick
11. Now That You’re Gone #1 (3:51) Simmons / Kulick
12. You’re My Reason for Living 4 Track (3:47) Simmons
13. We Are One (3:03) Simmons
14. Everybody Wants Somebody (3:28) Dylan / Simmons
15. Bob Dylan and Gene Simmons Writing Session (15:48)

REVIEW: Gene Simmons – The Vault – Disk 4 (2018)

Previous Reading: 

Record Store Tales #600:  The Vault
Disk 1 Review
Disk 2 Review
Disk 3 Review

 

 

 

 

 

For those keeping score at home, this CD contains tracks 46-60 in the Vault box set.

GENE SIMMONS – The Vault – Disk 4 (2018 Rhino)

“Plaster Caster” is one of the most memorable songs from Love Gun.  This Simmons demo features the Demon on all instruments, including drums!  Since he’s not a drummer, he played the kick and snare in one pass and and everything else in a second take.  He seems to take great relish in explaining the story of the real “plaster caster” in the liner notes, but there’s no need for it here.  Just listen to this interesting demo and hear Gene’s reasonable attempts at guitar solos.  Not bad for just one guy.  Love Gun ended up one of the classic Kiss albums that folks bicker about this song or that song being the weakest.   You often see “Plaster Caster” on some of those “weakest” lists.  Lyrically, sure but this song is indeed a master blaster.  4/5

Dynasty‘s “X-Ray Eyes” is another demo with Gene playing everything.  It’s a lot more rock and roll than the final album version with is creepier and more atmospheric.  This is more vintage early Alice Cooper.  Fascinating again to hear how songs evolve.  Also important to note the really good guitar solo work here, all done by Simmons.  Here is a song that eventually made it onto a Kiss album, with Gene writing and recording everything on the demo itself.  And people will still tell you he has no musical talent.  4/5

Another Dynasty track, “Charisma” is way heavier than the final.  Gene plays everything but drums (and doesn’t tell us who plays drums).  Gene says that “Charisma” is based around the chords of the old 1973 Wicked Lester song “Simple Type”.  I’d never have guessed that if he didn’t tell us.  This version of “Charisma” is more metal.  It has a metallic chug, a metal guitar solo, and a heavier beat.  Imagine if Kiss had gone with a different producer and overall direction on Dynasty!  They were already evolving into a heavier band.  5/5

“Rockin’ In the USA” has a more Beach Boys vibe than the final Alive II version.  Gene seems to relish explaining that Bob Kulick played lead guitar on the final version because Ace didn’t show up.  “He could explain to you why,” says Gene with snark, though claiming he doesn’t want to “beat a dead horse”.  OK then.  He says this is him playing everything on this demo.  He even did the very surf-y backing falsettos.  It’s OK enough but it needed to be heavier as on the album.  I will say this: the demo delivers some of the lyrics more clearly, and I was finally able to understand some of the lines for the first time.  3/5 

“Radioactive” is a demo for a great little number that wound up on Gene’s solo album.  Probably a superior demo to the final overproduced version that made it onto the album.  The backing vocals here are way more rock and roll, and infectious.  Sonic defects built into the demo concept aside, a lot of these tracks are actually better than the final versions, and may become my preferred listening experience in the future.  4.5/5

“See You In Your Dreams” is the Rock and Roll Over song that was later re-recorded on Simmons’ solo album.  This demo includes Katey Sagal and other female backing singers, lending the demo a real Motown kind of feel.  You can now understand why Gene wanted to re-record the song since Kiss turned it into a punked-up rocker without that Motown influence at all.  3/5

“Man of 1,000 Faces” is one of Gene’s most dramatic rockers on his solo album.  There are two versions here.  “Man of 1,000 Faces #1” is a heavier, stompier rocker.  There is no hint whatsoever of the orchestration you’d later get.  As a quaint little rocker, it’s not that bad.  In the end, the majestic orchestral song is unique, and it’s hard to believe that it started like this.  3/5

“Man of 1,000 Faces #2” is a demo with Ace Frehley and J.R. Smalling, who played on quite a few Kiss demos including some of Paul’s such as “God of Thunder” and “Detroit Rock City”.  Gene throws shade at Peter Criss for not being available for these demo sessions.  This version is largely the same as the previous but with the Space Ace throwing in some leads.  3/5 

“Calling Dr. Love” has Gene on most instruments except drums (uncredited).  As we all know, the title was inspired by the Three Stooges.  As you’ll learn from the liner notes, song titles are very important to Gene’s writing process.  He says that this version is “re-created” by Kiss on the album and that is pretty close.  The lyrics are not entire the same, but vocally and arrangement-wise, this is a finished song.  4/5

Those who have been collecting Kiss box sets and deluxe editions all these years know that “Bad Bad Lovin'” was an early version of “Dr. Love” before the right title struck.  This demo should be familiar.  It’s good, but the other demo version is where it needed to go.  Gene says this is with Ace and J.R. Smalling.  3/5

“Almost Human” is a demo that Gene says Kiss captured definitively.  This version is pretty close, with the high harmony guitars, all played by Gene.  Some of Ace’s final fills are copied from this demo.  This version could be even slower than the album take, and it really needed Ace’s touch.  3/5

“Burning Up With Fever #1” features Gene on all instruments, and is much rougher than “#2” on the prior CD.  This is a pretty good skeleton of the song.  It’s just more rock and roll than what we got on Gene’s solo album.  It just goes to show you how the same song can go through many metamorphoses.  3/5

Katey Sagal and the Group With No Name (actual name!) are back on “True Confessions #1”, a rough demo of a song that wound up Gene’s solo album.  The “#2” demo on the previous CD is the one to go with.  This is interesting as are all the demos, but the good listening experience is the “#2” which had a better vocal by Gene.  This one verges too much into the monster voice with an echo effect.  2.5

“Goin’ Blind/Little Lady” is a song I have waited years to hear.  I always wanted to know why Gene sang that line in the Unplugged version, “Little lady from the land beneath the sea.”  Then I remembered, “Goin’ Blind” used to be called “Little Lady”.  I have been wanting to hear this demo since 1996.  This demo dates back to Wicked Lester and has Gene with Brooke Ostrander.  It is vastly different.  A weird organ backs Gene up, and the chorus is a little different, though the guitar hook is intact.  It is such an odd experience to hear this song, one of my favourite songs of all time, in this form.  Hearing the quaint backing vocals, the very rough guitar solo, and just a very different direction overall…and then confessing that the early version just wasn’t very good.  The final version may be a 5/5, but it took some doing (and heavy-ing up) to get there.  Let’s be fair here.  This is like Gene trying to re-write The Book of Taliesyn by Deep Purple, without Blackmore, Lord, or Paice.  2/5

“Larger Than Life” was re-recorded for Kiss Alive II and is one of the better songs of a batch that some fans find sub-standard.  Others wish there were more songs in that direction.  Gene’s demo has him playing everything but drums (uncredited).  The final version is better, being heavier with a catchier bassline.  This demo is more nocturnal and creepy.  To use an analogy, since we all know what Gene is referring to here when he says “larger than life”…bear with me here.  The final Kiss version is like Gene hitting you in the face with it, while here on the demo he’s just waving it around.  I’m sorry.  I do apologise.  Back to this demo, it’s cool to hear Gene overdubbed on the backing vocals, but the final version needed Peter Criss and Bob Kulick to get where it had to be.  2.5/5 

Finally we get to “It’s My Life”, an ancient Kiss song (Simmons/Stanley) that was released by Wendy O. Williams before Kiss finally re-recorded it and threw it on their Box Set.  This has been a song that fans wanted for many years, though now you can get it on the Creatures of the Night box set.  But how is it a Simmons/Stanley composition?  Gene and Paul were not writing together very much at that time.  Gene stole the chords from a Paul Stanley song called “Every Little Bit Of My Heart” that was rejected for The Elder!  Paul didn’t like what Gene did with it.  “It’s My Life” always should have been a Kiss song.  It’s great that Gene released this version.  It’s hard to tell who is playing the lead solo, but it’s great!  5/5

Average score by song:  3.43/5 stars

 

Disk 4 Track length and songwriters (from Wikipedia)

1. Plaster Caster (3:39) Simmons
2. X-Ray Eyes (3:44) Simmons
3. Charisma (3:18) Simmons / Marks
4. Rockin’ in the USA (2:57) Simmons
5. Radioactive (3:08) Simmons
6. See You in Your Dreams Tonight (2:20) Simmons
7. Man of 1000 Faces #1 (3:09) Simmons
8. Man of 1000 Faces #2 (3:32) Simmons
9. Calling Dr. Love (2:56) Simmons
10. Bad Bad Lovin’ (3:09) Simmons
11. Almost Human (3:26) Simmons
12. Burning Up With Fever #1 (3:08) Simmons
13. True Confessions #1 (3:34) Simmons
14. Goin’ Blind/Little Lady (3:06) Simmons / Coronel
15. Larger Than Life (4:06) Simmons
16. It’s My Life (3:51) Simmons / Stanley

REVIEW: Gene Simmons – The Vault – Disk 3 (2018)

Previous Reading: 

Record Store Tales #600:  The Vault
Disk 1 Review
Disk 2 Review

 

 

 

 

 

Three discs in, and now we hit the holy grail of Kiss rarities, finally available in the Vault.

GENE SIMMONS – The Vault – Disk 3 (2018 Rhino)

In 1977, Kiss were in California and Gene Simmons went into the studio with Eddie and Alex Van Halen to record three new demos.  Van Halen were once his proteges of course, and were eager to help.  The Van Halen demo of “Christine Sixteen” has a noticeably different vibe on the drums, and Eddie’s solo was the template by which Ace Frehley’s was recorded.  There is also a bridge that was later dropped on the final Kiss version.  The outro Eddie guitars are overdubbed in a way unlike anything he’d do with Van Halen.  5/5

“Tunnel of Love” has the early embryo of the things Van Halen would later be known for.  The technique is all there, but not the tone.  These demos are as rough sounding as they come, and there was no effort put into getting Eddie a good guitar sound.  But there he is, shredding his way into Kisstory.  Alex is also immediately identifiable.  Unfortunately, the lacking element here is in the liner notes.  Gene spends more time talking about schmoozing than he does the song.  He does relay the story of signing Van Halen and tearing up the contract, again!  “Tunnel of Love” eventually made it onto Gene’s solo album, but the Van Halen demo is cooler.  5/5

“Got Love For Sale” almost starts like a Van Halen original.  Gene’s heavy-handed approach on the bass is a contrast that the VH vibe.  Still, this little three piece could have made for an interesting side gig.  Of course, Eddie’s solo is the highlight, whammying and doing his thang.  Shame his tone is so thin on these demos.  It is amazing that these songs spent decades locked in the vault (literally), and we never got to hear them until this box set came out.  Pretty cool.  4.5/5

Onto the 1980s and the Crazy Nights era.  Bruce Kulick wrote “Hell Or High Water” with Gene, and this demo shows the song was a little tougher sounding in its demo form.  Guitars were just a tad more prominent.  The song is otherwise more or less intact.  Sounds like Eric Carr on drums, but the liner notes rarely say for sure.  Gene describes the direction as “meandering”, but with hindsight, a good song is a good song.  4/5

Gene prefers the Revenge era.  “Domino” is the demo recorded with Silent Rage.  Gene describes it with comparisons to ZZ Top, and you can hear that influence in the verses.  The arrangement wasn’t final here, but the idea was a keeper.  There are some cool differences, such as the “Kisses like the kiss of death!” line repeating three times at the end.  I think Gene has performed it live that way before.  4/5

“Mad Dog” should be familiar to Kiss collectors.  The demo was also included in Kiss’ Box Set.  The main riff was later used in “Flaming Youth” on Destroyer, a better song.  Ace Frehley on guitars, J.R. Smalling on drums.  This raises an interesting question.  How many of the songs in this box set should be considered Gene Simmons demos, and how many should be considered Kiss?  This demo has appeared under both names now.  Some songs in this box set have more Kiss members on them than some Kiss songs.  It’s a fine line.  3.5/5 

“Only You” is a box set highlight.  This pre-Elder version has the lyrics that Doro Pesche would one day record in her cover.  This is the best version of “Only You” there is.  It is completely different after the first few verses, turning into a bopping groove with a piano lick anchoring it!  This is the version Kiss should have recorded, though perhaps for Kiss Killers.  In the liner notes, Gene explains that this was based on an earlier song called “Eskimo Sun” that we will eventually get to.  Gene says the chords were built from an appreciation for George Harrison.  Sounds like Ace Frehley on guitar, though Gene suggests in the liner notes that he recorded it without other members of Kiss.  He goes out of his way to say that they rarely accepted his requests to play on his demos.  There are sour grapes throughout the liner notes, which is unfortunate.  Great song.  5/5

“True Confessions #2” has Katey Sagal among the backup singers.  Some of these early demos have elements to them that should have carried over to the final versions.  Gene’s more natural singing on this is one such example.  It’s better this way than with the “monster” voice.  The truth of the matter is Gene’s not a bad singer, OK?  The monster voice is a bit much sometimes, and “True Confessions” proves it.  Gene’s just more expressive and sounds more like a lead singer than a character with his natural voice.  And that says it all.  In the end, character was chosen over authenticity.  4/5

“Childhood’s End” is a very rough recording of the song that later ended up on Carnival of Souls.  Though the title was lifted from Arthur C. Clarke’s groundbreaking novel, the lyrics are about a friend who committed suicide.  This idea was also used in “Legends Never Die” from Disk 1.  This particular version of “Childhood’s End” is unfinished and not nearly as compelling.  It does include a breakdown that is not in the final version, but sounds similar to “Outromental”.  This song needed a lot of work, and this demo is also really hard on the ears.  2.5/5 

“Burning Up With Fever #2” is another demo with Ace and J.R. Smalling.  It later ended up on Gene’s solo album.  This version rocks harder with less funk. The funkiness of Gene’s solo album was sometimes a little off-putting, so this demo may be more your speed.  3.5/5

“Good Girl Gone Bad” later ended up on Crazy Nights, but this early version has Bruce Kulick and what sounds like a drum machine.  It’s harder edged.  Though the final song is one of the better tunes on the album, this earlier arrangement shows it could have been a more Kiss-like rocker.  When they talk about compromises made to make Crazy Nights more commercial, this demo shows what was cut.  Guitars!  Shame the demo is so rough sonically, but keep in mind, nobody was saving these for eventual release on a box set.  3.5/5

“Trial By Fire” was one of Gene’s songs from the Asylum era, therefore this is one of the earliest things he recorded with Bruce Kulick.  This was always one of Gene’s better songs from an era when he wasn’t writing a lot of great songs.  This one has a different chorus of “Live fast, die young!”  This wasn’t on an old bootleg tape I used to have of Gene’s Asylum demos.  I would think this song was actually called “Live Fast Die Young” at this stage of composition.  3.5/5

A little more bass-heavy is the similar demo for “Secretly Cruel”, the other really good song that Gene did for Asylum.  This one did need a little more work in the guitar hook department, which it did eventually get.  Decent demo inclusion, though in this case the album version is the good one.  3/5

“Love ‘Em and Leave ‘Em Yeah”, also known and “Rock and Rolls Royce” is a demo idea written around Destroyer, and eventually released on Rock and Roll Over.  It’s different from the 3:02 demo on the Destroyer box set.  It’s unclear who is playing on this demo, but there’s an early guitar solo and full drums.  3.5/5

“Am I Losing My Mind” is another stab at the song that would become “Only You”.  This demo is more “new wave” sounding, with programmed drums that sound somewhat dance-y.  Then it goes into a completely different chorus that is kind of funky, and doesn’t particularly match.  It is fascinating to hear how these songs evolve.  And we’re not finished yet, because there are more branches on this musical tree to come later on in this box set.  3/5

Average score for this CD:  A respectable 3.83/5

Disk 3 Track length and songwriters (from Wikipedia)

1. Christine Sixteen (VH Bros. Demo) (2:39) Simmons
2. Tunnel of Love (VH Bros. Demo) (3:32) Simmons
3. Got Love for Sale (VH Bros. Demo) (3:10) Simmons
4. Hell or High Water (Demo) (3:08) Simmons / Kulick
5. Domino (Demo) (3:46) Simmons
6. Mad Dog (Demo) (2:27) Simmons
7. Only You (Demo) (4:35) Simmons
8. True Confessions #2 (3:33) Simmons
9. Childhood’s End (Demo) (3:30) Simmons / Kulick / Thayer
10. Burning Up With Fever #2 (3:06) Simmons
11. Good Girl Gone Bad (Demo) (4:04) Simmons / Sigerson
12. Trial by Fire (Demo) (3:31) Simmons / Kulick
13. Secretly Cruel (Demo) (3:46) Simmons
14. Love ‘Em and Leave ‘Em Yeah (Demo) (2:18) Simmons
15. Am I Losing My Mind (2:52) Simmons