Category Archives: Music Review

Gone Solo or: Many Kisses (Part 2)

18 Tuesday Sep 2018

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Salutations™!!

The month of September is a huge month for KISS fans, even if they don’t know it. Why you may ask? Because the month of September is the anniversary month for the releases of TEN KISS albums. I’ve talked about Alive!, Animalize and Asylum.

20090517004510!Solo_inner_sleeve

©Casablanca Records

Now, today, September 18th is a doozie. In 1978, all four solo albums were released on this day. Three other KISS albums were released on this day as well, we’ll get to those.

Today is the 40th anniversary of the release of all four KISS solo albums. When I got into KISS, I was 7 going on 8 and that’s about when the whole Love Gun, Alive II, Double Platinum era was going on and then these were just coming out. Because of my newness to the band, I didn’t understand what was going on. I thought it was just 4 albums, one featuring songs by each member. I thought that was cool. And, in a way, it was. In other ways, it wasn’t. In many ways, actually.

While I pride myself on knowing my KISStory, at that time I had no such knowledge. I didn’t realize that Peter and Ace were both becoming victims of their own demons and weren’t pulling their own weight. They were constantly being pitted against Gene and Paul and were coming out on the losing side. As would be the case in any partnership/band/biz, that led to dissension. Ace and Peter were becoming more and more disillusioned with the “other side.” Gene and Paul were becoming less and less patient with Ace and Peter. Ace and Peter, whether right or wrong, felt that Gene and Paul were abusing their power and not allowing the others their creative freedom. Peter was threatening to quit as was Ace.  This is not just Gene’s and Paul’s long-heard version of the story, Sean Delaney backed this up when I talked with him several years ago. More on Sean later.

To keep the semblance of the band together, Gene and Paul, along with manager Bill Aucoin proposed that the individual members release their own album under the KISS moniker and let each showcase their influences, skills, desires, etc. Eraldo Carugati did the cover art of each and they looked cohesive, as they were supposed to. To the fans, including the newbies like me, it was to look like a cool thing they did in the name of creativity. I guess it was in some strange instances. They each dedicated their individual albums to each other, except Peter who added a dedication to Michael Benvenga who was in Chelsea and Lips with him, pre-KISS.

Ace’s album was all about the rock. Not, any pop or fluff really, even in the Russ Ballard tune, “New York Groove.” His guest list was not really extensive when you look at the other members’ tracks. He did recruit Anton Fig and Will Lee to play on his album, both of which would go on to be part of The World’s Most Dangerous Band from David Letterman. Fig would go on to be the drummer on the next two KISS studio albums (Dynasty and Unmasked) and when Ace finally blew the joint, he was part of Frehley’s Comet. Ace, being Ace decided he would do most of the other instruments himself, including most of the bass duties (Lee played on “Ozone,” “I’m in Need of Love” and “Wiped-Out”). There’s nothing wrong with that, he did it for the next few KISS albums, at least on his songs. Ace had Eddie Kramer produce his album (Ace co-produced it). Kramer was associated with Jimi Hendrix, David Bowie, the Rolling Stones, Beatles, and the list goes on. He also produced Alive! and Alive II. “New York Groove” was the only tune from this album that charted (#13). Ace’s was the only album to chart (#26) and was the highest selling.

Peter’s album was about soul, R&B, jazz, and rock and roll. kind of stuff. Peter’s background was in jazz drumming, not necessarily the hard rock that he was known for. His influences were older. Diverse. Most of the tracks on this record were written by Stan Penridge. The credits go to Penridge and Peter, but I’m suspicious of how much Peter actually wrote. He may have done some lyrics, I guess. Peter’s cover of Bobby Lewis’ “Tossin’ and Turnin'” was pretty good. KISS did it on the Dynasty tour, at least for a few shows. It was pretty awful from what I’ve heard of it. But, Sean Delaney wrote two songs on the album (“Rock Me Baby” and “I Can’t Stop the Rain”). What is remarkable about this is Sean actually produced Gene’s solo album but was asked to write for Peter. He did both. Peter had many guest musicians including Steve Lukather of Toto fame, Neil Jason (who also played all the bass on Gene’s album), Penridge, Allan Schwartzberg (who also played on Gene’s album and was credited as “additional drum overdubs” on several of the 80s-era KISS albums) and more. The album was produced by Vini Poncia who produced Dynasty and Unmasked. Incidentally, it’s the only one of the four that had a “credits insert” and the only one that released two singles, even though neither song charted.

Paul’s album has been touted as the “most KISS-like” and I disagree. I think that would be Ace’s (which could be one reason why I like it less). Now, Paul’s has KISS qualities but it sounds like Paul’s KISS songs. The addition of outside musicians changes the feel than that of a KISS album. I think Paul’s has the best-written tunes. A little bit of “Starchild” and a little bit of the “lover” is how I’d describe the album. Ballads, power-ballads, hard rocking tunes and some pop aspects. There’s not a song on this album that I don’t dig. While there are three songs (“Move On,” “Ain’t Quite Right” and “Take Me Away (Together as One)”) that were co-written by Mikel Japp, this is the only one of the four solo albums not to feature a cover tune. Paul had some notable guests on this album. Carmine Appice and Craig Krampf (co-writer of “Oh Sherrie” and session drummer for many big-named artists) on drums, and of course, Bob Kulick on guitar. Steve Buslowe played bass on side one and Eric Nelson on side two. I wonder if that was by design? I find it odd. The album was produced by Jeff Glixman who has worked with Kansas, Yngwie Malmsteen, Black Sabbath and more.

Gene’s album seems, to me, like a huge party. It’s like he gathered all of his friends, girlfriends, a previously-released KISS tune, bits of horror, hard rock, The Beatles and his favorite Disney films and threw himself a shindig. If I knew he wasn’t so straight-edged, that could be the case, but other than a few impromptu orgies, I don’t see the party happening. The album opens with something that reminds one of The Omen and is hellish before hitting the hard rock “Radioactive” which has a very cool (complete with choreographed dissonant passing notes) classical guitar interlude into “Burning Up With Fever” which on the original CD versions put both of those songs together and you had to either just listen through or fast forward to get to the latter. This is the only one of the four that re-recorded a KISS song (“See You In Your Dreams”) because he wasn’t happy with the original that was on Rock and Roll Over. Gene has always maintained that he learned English from watching Disney films. So, while it sticks out like a sore thumb on the album, it makes perfect sense that he’d cover “When You Wish Upon a Star” because hey, it gives him an extra tune and you love what you love, especially when it fits your story. Now, his guest list is incredible. He plays no bass on this album, just acoustic and electric guitar. He leaves the bass work to Neil Jason, who along with Allan Schwartzberg on drums, also played on Peter’s album. Elliot Randall, who is probably best known for his guitar solo on “Reelin’ in the Years” from Steely Dan handles most of the main guitar work but also, Rick Neilsen, Joe Perry, Jeff “Skunk” Baxter and Richie Ranno of Starz do guest spots. And back up singers? Bob Seger, Helen Reddy, Donna Summer, Cher, Janis Ian, Michael Des Barres and a then-unknown young lady by the name of Kate Sagal (yes, Peggy Bundy) all lent their voices. Sean Delaney, as I said, produced the album. Sean claimed, to me, that he never got paid for that job and that Gene cheated him. Again, that’s an allegation and not necessarily a fact. But, the fact that he and Gene had a falling out about this time and as far as I know never really reconciled, I can see it. It wasn’t my business and I hope they talked before Sean passed away in 2003.

You’ll notice the order in which I talked about the albums. This order is important because it is in reverse order my favorite/preferred list. Gene, Paul, Peter and Ace. I get looks and furrowed brows when I say Ace’s is my least favorite. There are several reasons for this. One, I just am not a huge fan of Ace’s. I feel he squandered an opportunity and let KISS fans down in general. Yes, Peter flaked first and was a little byotch about it. But, I felt we got the better deal because Eric Carr was a much better drummer and a rock drummer at that. Ace’s also is just boring to me. Don’t get me wrong, I like it, it’s just my least favorite. I felt the reason for the solo projects was to show a bit of freedom and influence and step out of the KISS box. If you’re going to sound like KISS, record a KISS album and don’t be a byotch. Peter, Paul and Gene all got experimental and showed range, for better or for worse. Don’t argue, you have your favorites and I have mine!

All four had cool posters that you pieced together and the ones I have on 180g vinyl (from Underdog Records, of course) are pretty good. I had to buy my Paul Stanley used and it is missing the poster. I never had all the posters as a kid, either, so I’m looking for a replacement. I talked earlier about the good and bad of the solo albums. I love them for what they are, in varying degrees. The bad, however, was that no matter how crappy Peter’s performed, he still thought he was better and needed more from KISS. They showed him the door. Ace, on the other hand, got bolder as his album did the best and it proved, at least in his head, that he was more important. I feel he was, but disagree with how he dealt with it. Plus, he and Peter’s demons really got in their way beyond “just ego.” What are your thoughts on the solo albums, Dear Reader? I know you’ll disagree on the Ace placement but it is how I see it.

This got a lot more overly verbose than I expected, so I’ll continue the others either in a separate post for today or just do it tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Until tomorrow (or later today), stay in the Useless Things Groove!
Scorp out!

—
“You were standin’ and I was thinkin’ ff all the time that I spend hangin’ around. Situation could only get better. I got closer to see what I found. In the mornin’, movin’ easy. Everything seems so right. But when the night comes, I’ve been dreamin’… Dreamin’ ’bout leavin’ you one more time. Girl, you gave me good love but it ain’t quite right.” – “Ain’t Quite Right” (Stanley/Japp)

Asylum Et Al or: Many Kisses (Part 1)

17 Monday Sep 2018

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Salutations™!!

The month of September is a huge month for KISS fans, even if they don’t know it. Why you may ask? Because the month of September is the anniversary month for the releases of TEN KISS albums.

Asylum_album_cover

©Mercury Records

Alive! (click the link to see what I said about it) was released on September 10, 1975. That’s the album that broke them free of obscurity. The live version of “Rock and Roll All Nite” was finally the light in the clouds and radio stations ate that up. Now, it may be sacrilege to some KISS fans and may be concurred by others but I don’t care to ever hear it again. It is one of my top 10 least favorite KISS songs. Now, I say that but if I didn’t hear it at KISS concerts, I’d be totally ticked. It led the way for more KISS albums, as I feel it was the make-it-or-break-it time for the band and for Casablanca Records. And, it was #159 on the RS List.

Last week I talked about Animalize which came out on September 13. You can click that link to see what I said.

I didn’t post this yesterday because I knew I was going to write a big post today. But, September 16, 1985, was the release of Asylum. As with most 80s-era KISS albums, fans either love it or hate it. Non-fans know the big hit, “Tears Are Falling” and nothing else. They generally don’t even know it exists. Once again, Gene is mostly absent, although he somehow convinces Paul to include his name on the “produced by” line. We all know that’s BS. He was still acting. He was still producing and managing. He was still…

For my buck, once again, Paul was “the Man” on this album. While I wouldn’t classify the Gene tunes as “clunkers,” I can’t say they’re great.  Gene’s songs had no “umph” and mostly without testicular fortitude. Now, if you know me, or have read much on this blog in the last several years, you know I’m a huge Gene fan (literally and figuratively) and he is the reason I’m a musician, how I am a musician and how I am on stage. But, even I know you can only pull off so many things before you totally start losing control. Now that KISS tours here-and-there, he can focus on 10,000 business ventures, but that that time Paul operated like KISS was still his full-time gig. As was the case on Animalize, Jean Beauvoir came in to fulfill some bass duties on two of the songs he co-wrote with Paul.

Let’s dig in a little. “Any Way You Slice It” was co-written by someone named Howard Rice. I can’t find anything on him. It’s not a bad start for Gene, really. “Trial By Fire” has some cool moments and the chorus is catchy, but I hate the verses. It’s also the first collaboration of Gene and Bruce Kulick, now the full-time guitarist of the band. “Love’s a Deadly Weapon” was co-written by Paul and two other members of the Plasmatics, Ron Swenson and Wes Beech. So, add in the stuff Paul did with Jean Beauvoir, there’s a shload of Plasmatics on this album. “Love’s a Deadly Weapon” has some cool, but cheesy lyrics, but it’s definitely not my favorite tune, I’d say it’s my least favorite on this album. “Secretly Cruel” is okay. Nothing of Gene’s really catches me, though.

Not that all of Paul’s songs were wonderful, either. Don’t hear that. While I do like the songs, they could have been from some band named K-R-A-F-T instead of K-I-S-S. The last two, especially. “Radar For Love” and “Uh! All Night” are silly but call me crazy, I love them. My least favorite Paul song is “I’m Alive.” It’s unnecessary and mundane. It was a co-write with both Bruce Kulick and Desmond Child, as was “King of the Mountain” which is one of my highlights of the album. Eric Carr’s drums are amazing on it. Paul’s voice is really strong, too.

So, my faves are definitely “Tears Are Falling” along with “Who Wants to Be Lonely” and “King of the Mountain.” There are some really good tunes across this album, it’s just not their best. Even Gene and Paul kind of pan it today, except of course, for “Tears…”

The cover features the faces of the four then-current members drawn with their lips colored in the classic solo album color schemes. Gene’s lips are red, Paul’s purple, Bruce’s are blue (to represent Ace) and Eric’s are green (to represent Peter). The back cover showed the band looking like Billy Squier’s band or early SNL intros.

I think Paul (and whatever Gene did) could have made the album a little meatier and heavier but that’s not the case. Bruce’s guitar work on this album is really good and it fit the time. It wasn’t KISS to most, but to me, it still was KISS. Eric’s drumming was solid but again, could have used a little more treatment on the sound, in my opinion. The videos for “Tears are Falling,” “Who Wants to be Lonely” and even “Uh! All Night” are pretty cool for that era.

It had come out and “Tears Are Falling” was being played (where there was real rock radio) and on MTV, but it was 1985 and prior to my move to WSNC. I read about the song in Hit Parader and Circus but it wasn’t until I could convince Ma Mère to let me have it could I actually listen to the song. I thought it was someone other than Paul singing at first. He was extra breathy and un-Paul-like. I still love the song, though. One of my favorite KISS songs, not just non-makeup era KISS but overall.

I know this sounds like I’m panning the album and that certainly isn’t the case. It was amazing for its time but as I got older, I realized it wasn’t quite the best, certainly not as good as the 70s stuff and really wasn’t near the top on the 80s stuff, which you’ll find out more about later, like tomorrow or Wednesday. It’s not in the bottom 5 of KISSdom for me nor is it in the top 5. It’s middle-of-the-road, to me. Give it a listen, with an open mind, and tell me what you think.

Tune in tomorrow to find out more about this WEEK in KISStory.

Until tomorrow, KISS it!
Scorp out!

—
“Open yourself to me, let me show you what it can be like. Baby, giving it all that you’ve got. Nothing can hold you back. Some things can stand alone. A mountain can feel no desire, but a heart isn’t made out of stone. Wake up in the middle of the night. Nobody’s gonna make it alright. Who wants to be lonely, who wants to be with you tonight? Who wants to be lonely, who wants to be holding you tight?” – “Who Wants to be Lonely?” (Stanley/Child/Beauvoir)

Heavens on Fire or: Animal Eyes?

13 Thursday Sep 2018

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Salutations™!!

34 years ago today, one of KISS’ best-selling 80s albums was released. That would be Animalize. It’s not my favorite of that era, but it isn’t my least favorite, either. It has some good songs that carried over to the live concert video they put out on this tour.

By the time KISS was putting this out, Gene was pretty much a ghost in the band. He was still very much a member because, hey, it’s Gene Simmons. But, he had gotten really into other projects that he was afforded both because he now had money and he wasn’t restricted by keeping his identity cloaked. During the recording of this album, he was starring in Runaway (1984) and producing or managing bands like House of Lords and Black N Blue (which, incidentally had future KISS member, Tommy Thayer). So, being the loyalist, perhaps sometimes to a fault, that he is to the KISS brand, Paul Stanley took over the whole deal and produced this album. I think he did a pretty good job.

Animalize.jpg

©Mercury Records

It had been two years since an album was released as a “makeup” album and only a year (almost to the day) of the unmasking of the band on MTV, which also was the release date for Lick It Up. KISS fans were still riding the high that was the return of the hard rock KISS that they had loved as a kid before the disco-ing down and artification of the band. Don’t hear me wrong, I loved that stuff, too. But, they lost a big part of their “Army” with those things. I recognize that. This album came out and it was still punchy, still heavy and still cool.

The song “Heavens on Fire” was a huge hit for the band and was on heavy rotation on MTV. For anyone under the age of 30, MTV was a channel that played music videos 24/7. I don’t know if you’ve heard of it or not. There’s some other channel now that calls itself MTV but it’s nothing like that MTV. Anywhat! They debuted new videos at 5-minutes past each hour. The “world-wide” debut of “Heavens on Fire” was at 1:05am on a Saturday night. In 1984, I lived in WV and we had 7 channels, MTV wasn’t one of them. However, for whatever reason, I was staying at my grandmother’s house in a larger town that did have REAL cable television and had MTV. I fought dozing off and once the video came on, I was jarred up and ready to fight someone. I loved it. One of the funniest parts is when Eric Carr runs up behind Paul and sings a line with him. That wasn’t planned and Paul’s reaction was genuine. It’s cool.

This was the only album that “featured” Mark St. John on guitar. He replaced Vinnie Vincent who had replaced Ace Frehley. Mark was a talented player but really unreMARKable (see what I did there?). I remember looking at the album cover (on LP) and thinking who the heck is that guy? Of course, because I read all the rags and stuff, I knew his name but he looked like a big block of a guy, broad-shouldered and stiff. Looking at it now, it looks like he took Peter Criss’ Dynasty costume, painted it all black from the green it was and was wearing that. He wasn’t really, but he seemed like a piece of stone. And, in the video, he looked uncomfortable. He also used Rockman gear to record the album, which we know is the invention of Boston guitarist, Tom Sholtz. Paul had to do a lot of EQing to get that Boston out of it. St. John left the band just after the tour started because of Reiter’s syndrome, now called reactive arthritis. He was replaced by Bruce Kulick. Who you’ll hear about in a few days and next week.

Eric Carr’s drumming on this album was great! I loved it. Solid and heavy.

Paul’s songs were the best on the album, bar none. Three of the songs, “I’ve Had Enough (Into the Fire),” “Under the Gun” (co-written with Eric Carr), and “Heavens on Fire” were co-written with recurring collaborator, Desmond Child. “Thrills in the Night” was co-written by ex-Plasmatics bassist, Jean Beauvoir who also played bass on this album for “Get All You Can Take”, “Thrills In The Night” and “Under the Gun.”

Gene, while mostly absent, was there for some of it. He wrote “Burn Bitch Burn” and “Lonely is the Hunter” solo and co-wrote “While the City Sleeps” and “Murder in High Heels” with Paul McCartney look-alike Mitch Weissman, who co-wrote “Get All You Can Take” with Paul. Gene’s songs are cool for the fact that he’s a little tongue-in-cheek but Paul wins this album.

The story I always tell about this album is this: In 1984, the PMRC and its ridiculousness were in full-force (and no, I don’t mean Lisa-Lisa & Cult Jam with…) and Ma Mère fell for it hook, line, and sinker. She didn’t want me listening to “that rock and roll devil’s music.” Which, she herself did when she was younger. Anti-authority, satan, drugs, alcohol, etc. That’s what we kids were getting too much of. Anyhow, I wanted this album, really, really badly. I stood in front of the cassette case, you know, the old kind with holes in the plexiglass so you could hold the tapes and look at them but couldn’t get them out and steal them?  I stood there and begged to get both this album and Prince’s Purple Rain. She made me promise that I wouldn’t worship the devil if I got them. It didn’t help that one of the songs was called “Heavens on Fire” and another one “Burn Bitch Burn.” I promised. I did her one better. Not only do I not believe in or worship the devil, I don’t go the other way either. I’m non-Prophet when it comes to my religion. But, I got them and wore them both out!

I still love the album to this day. Both, of them, as I’ve mentioned before.

I do want to also wish my two great pals, Clay Howard and Jon Lowder a very happy birthday. I love you guys! You mean a lot to me and my family.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“My eggs in one basket, but she threw me a bone. She was dealt a full deck, but she likes to live alone. Ain’t just talkin’ to myself, need a reason to stop (oh yeah). With a flower in her teeth, she drained the last drop. I said girls love money like bees the honey. But lonely is the hunter, you’re my one and only, and lonely is the hunter.” – “Lonely is the Hunter” (Simmons)

They’re Building Empires or: 28

21 Tuesday Aug 2018

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Salutations™!!

Yesterday was the 28th anniversary of a very influential album for me. 28 Years ago yesterday, Empire was released by Queensryche.

Queensryche_-_Empire_cover

©EMI America

It was the follow up to my #2 album of all time, Operation: Mindcrime and really was the first time I really got to hear what this band could do. I was big into “mind metal” at the time and this was a good break from the thrash stuff I had to listen to in order to get that. Empire was a completely different path for the band, especially given its direct predecessor and the previous few. It was definitely more commercial.

This was probably due to the fact that Mindcrime was such a hit. It gave them a boost that let them experiment and evolve their sound and focus. While still somewhat present, gone was the focus on political statements and social issues and more on life and dreams. Sure, “Best I Can,” “Resistance,” “Empire,” “Della Brown” were all social statements, but songs like “The Thin Line,” “Another Rainy Night (Without You),” “Anybody Listening?” “Jet City Woman,” and “Hand on Heart” are more romantic or loss thereof.

The album’s signature song (and probably the best known among non-Queensryche fans) is “Silent Lucidity.” It’s not my favorite on the album, by any means, but it certainly isn’t the least. I think it is still a fantastic song that still holds up. It is well-written and well-versed in the whole “lucid dreaming” phenomenon. Lucid dreaming is where the dreamer is aware that they’re dreaming. I still shudder when I hear the woman’s voice say, “Help me.” Did you know that was sampled from Hellraiser II? It was. And, Michael Kamen’s orchestration adds a lot of depth to the entire song, but especially the end which is from Johannes Brahms’ “Lullaby” which you’d certainly know as soon as you heard it. There’s just a lot of cool things about the song. It reminds me of having my Sony Discman® in freshman Algebra I in college, listening to it while the professor went on about a bunch of numbers and letters in which I had no clue what she was talking about, before or after listening to the CD.

My faves on this album are “The Thin Line,” “Jet City Woman” (I am a bass player, ya know?), “Empire,” “Anybody Listening?” and “Silent Lucidity.” The production on this album is amazing and Peter Collins, who also produced Mindcrime is a great producer.

The tour for this, “The Building Empires Tour,” was the first time I had seen them live and it was the first time that they had performed Mindcrime in its entirety. We were front row on the second level right over the stage and it was so much fun watching them. For a “mind metal” band, they put on a great, and at times theatrical, show. Suicidal Tendencies opened for them.

The dual guitar force of Michael Wilton and Chris DeGarmo (who was the main music-writer of this album and most of Queensryche’s earlier stuff) was unmatched at the time. Sure there were metal bands that did the same thing, but to me, there was no matching the smooth velvet leads of DeGarmo with Wilton’s blazing riffs. It was like adding spicy Ro-Tel to Velveeta only better (and better for you).

Scott Rockenfield is still one of my all-time favorite drummers. What he does with a set both large (then) and small (now) is just fun to watch. He’s technical but with feeling and he bashes the crap out of those skins. I’m always amazed by his hi-hat work, too, which is one of my favorite things from drummers who know what they’re doing.

Eddie Jackson is one of the steadiest, most solid and in-pocket bass players around. He now handles most of the backup vocals since DeGarmo left the band and even though I’m not a big fan of bass players who play with their fingers as opposed to a pick, generally, he does both very, very well. Plus, he’s got some seriously awesome hair.

Then, there’s Geoff Tate. I think this album was the start of a transition for him. Yes, he’s demonstrating his multi-octave virtuosity but he also started to go low a little bit. Not as much as he did on the next album, Promised Land and especially Now in the Hear Frontier on, but some. He’s still my favorite lead vocalist in rock. I should clarify that he’s my favorite lead vocalist in rock from this era of the band and before. After Promised Land, he started losing me, at least from the newer songs. He was still hitting the good notes live; mostly.

Some say this was the band’s last great album. Again, I go with Promised Land on that, but even PL isn’t this and neither are Mindcrime. And, I must say if you’ve not heard the last two Queensryche albums with Todd La Torre, you’re missing out. La Torre sounds like younger Tate but he also brings his own personality to the songs. His versions of the older ‘Ryche stuff is really good, too.

So, happy anniversary Empire. You mean a lot to me and darn it! I hope to have you on vinyl, soon. There’s so much awesomeness on this album. I think I’m going to go give it a spin, now (or stream it, as the case probably is).

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“In the fiscal year 1986 to ’87, local, state and federal governments spent a combined total of $60.6M on law enforcement. Federal law enforcement expenditures ranked last in absolute dollars and accounted for only 6% of all federal spending. By way of comparison, the federal government spent $24M more on space exploration and 43 times more on national defense and international relations than the law enforcement.” – “Empire” (Tate/Wilton)

Sure Know Something or: The “End” of a Dynasty?

23 Wednesday May 2018

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Salutations™!!

Usually, I’d do a post about The Less Desirables Beer of the Week (brought to you by our “Official Beer Sponsor,” Bull’s Tavern), but today I’m going to talk about a KISS album. You know how I feel about me some KISS albums.

Dynasty_(album)_cover

©Casablanca

 

So, 39 years ago today, KISS released what is probably one of the two most polarizing albums in their Katalog, Dynasty.

First, let me tell the story of how I obtained my first copy of the album. I was 8 years old when the album came out in May of 1979. I was very much burdened with the worst case of allergies that many people had seen when I was a child. I had to go through allergy testing (around 80 shots) three different times and that included the scrape tests on the back (at least two of those times). I had been there so many times and been marked by that red oil pencil so much that my doctor called me “chief” (referencing war paint on Native Americans). It was as painful as you’d think and yes, it sucked.

I had saved some money from my allowance, which at the time was about a quarter a week. Yeah, I thought it was perfect. But, we had gone to Welch a bit before and I had spent many of my quarters on something, I’m sure. I don’t remember what, but I know I needed a “loan” on my allowance to purchase the newest KISS record. We picked it up in Beckley when we went that morning as my appointment wasn’t until later in the day. As I was lying on the table, weeping but not full out crying (essentially, being a “good boy”) Ma Mère told me that if I got through the tests, I wouldn’t have to repay for the record, it would be her treat. I was crying on the inside but biting my bottom lip, I pushed through it.

Okay, well, Ma Mère had plans that evening at a friend’s house and I took the record there and I, along with my friend Anjel and a cousin of hers, proceeded to listen to it. The first tune was familiar to me, “I Was Made for Lovin’ You.” Yeah. Then, “2000 Man” came on and I was like, what is this Beach Boys crap? I had no idea that it was Rolling Stones until later. I wasn’t familiar with the Stones at all. I had heard of them but other than “It’s Only Rock ‘N’ Roll (But I Like It),” which my parents inexplicably had on 45, didn’t know any tunes. I didn’t like that.

But, the wispy sound around “Sure Know Something,” “Magic Touch” and two of Ace’s other tunes, “Hard Times” and “Save Your Love,” those really intrigued me. I loved that. I didn’t immediately put together that Gene, one of the two main guys in the band (yeah, that’s just me at the time, get off my back) only had two songs. I loved “Charisma” (still do!) and thought “X-Ray Eyes” was cool.

Now, a little on the album itself.

The times were a-changin’. Peter’s and Ace’s need for importance, along with their substance abuse, led to the solo albums in 1978. The whole music scene was in a turn at the time. Disco was hitting its peak and punk was just starting to make an aboveground impact. The four members all did their solo albums, each taking a different route in their own journey. Gene went singer-songwriter and experimental. Peter went old-school rock and roll and pop. Paul was pretty much his KISS-writing self, with what I think was more along the lines of the KISS sound than any of them. Ace just did his thing which was kind of KISS-like, too, but because he didn’t get as much writing credits on the current Katalog of KISS albums, it may or may not have been prevalent.

To many folks chagrin, Ace’s is my least favorite and Gene’s is my most favorite. That goes for my favoritism in the actual members, too. Again, to most people’s chagrin. But, yeah, Ace and Peter weren’t thrilled with their positions and Peter was the most unhappy. While he had little writing credit, he at least got vocals on all the previous albums. But, don’t discount Ace’s gripe, either.

Well, it was time to reconvene and record. Who did they get to produce it? Ringo Starr’s co-writing partner, Vini Poncia. By chance do you know who produced Peter’s solo album? Yep, you guessed it, Vini Poncia. I believe it was an appeasement to Peter. Plus, he knew the disco sound and that was the (perceived) state of the music biz at the time. But, surprise, Vini thought that Peter’s drumming was subpar. And, being the power duo they were, Gene and Paul, not only agreed but also agreed to have a session player come in and do the drums. Say, Ace… what was that cat’s (pun) name that you had playing drums on your solo album? Oh yeah, that guy that will go on to play for David Letterman and Paul Shaffer later, Anton Fig. Let’s get him in to play on this album. So, they tried to appease Peter and now here’s one of Ace’s “boys.” To Peter’s credit, other than being a pompous arse, he was dealing with injuries from a car accident at the time. But, still…

Peter does sing “Dirty Livin'” and it is the only song he played drums on, too. I didn’t notice the difference when I was a kid and was blinded, again, by the KISS mystique. I thought it was all Peter. I can tell the difference now, even though I think Anton did a good job “imitating” Peter.

Lots of other things were going on at this time, too. Gene had apparently gotten the acting bug after being in the beautifully terrible film KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park the year before (I still love that crappy movie). He was pursuing things but since KISS was still incognito with the makeup, it wasn’t until they unmasked in 1983 that he got to really pursue it. Also, he was bouncing from Cher to Diana Ross around this time. He wasn’t “all in.” In fact, he was barely in. Of the nine songs on the album, he didn’t play on four of them. As he would do with the follow-up albums, Unmasked (released 362 days later) and Music from “The Elder,” Ace played the bass on his three songs. Yes, he got three. Gene only two. And, Ace’s songs were better written. I think Ace had a point to make.

Paul, being the trouper that he is, was the one that held most of the band together. But, it was hard.  His tunes were the most solid and, I think, the best three on the entire album.

This album was the last one to chart for a while. Its biggest hit, “I Was Made for Lovin’ You,” made it to #11 on the charts. The tour was huge and Peter played even though he didn’t do much in the band, but he didn’t play nice. He and Paul got into some argument on stage and Peter slowed the tempo to a near halt in the middle of a song. The tour also saw one song from each of the four solo albums played, but that only lasted a little bit as they dropped most of them. “New York Groove” was the only one that ultimately survived. This was the end of it all for Peter, though. He was gone after the tour. Whether he was fired or he quit, that depends on which interview you read by which member.

The costumes for this album were out of sight! Where they garish? Oh heck yeah. I loved it though. They had reached their costume pinnacle and there was nowhere else for that train to rail.

One thing I remember about the album, too, that added to its poppier sound was that unlike the earlier KISS albums, this wasn’t tuned down a half step. That half step makes the sound a little heavier. It just does. This album and Unmasked (also produced by Vini Poncia) were both at standard tuning. So, that’s my reasoning for the sound at least.

All-in-all, it wasn’t KISS’ finest hour, and they admitted that they listened to the wrong people at the wrong time. It was a trend they stuck with for the next two albums. However, I still love this album. Is it different? Yes, I realized that much later, though. I think Ace’s version of “2000 Man” is better than the Stones version and I grew to like it. Paul’s voice is fantastic in all three of his songs. I had the poster on my wall from 1979 until 1986 when I moved to WSNC. I did once trade this album for one of those Ronco records that had a KISS song on it. But, I eventually traded it back.

Most folks wouldn’t even consider this in their “top” anything KISS albums. I don’t know that it’s “top” but I do listen to this more than Dressed to Kill and Destroyer. I don’t think it’s better than Destroyer but I like it better than DTK. It could be what this album meant to me as a kid. It was the first “new release” KISS album I owned. By the time I was into or knew who KISS was, Alive II was out. I didn’t get solo albums until right before this and they weren’t new releases. Newest but not new. I was just really digging into my KISS journey and this was one of my first stops. I love this album and it holds a place in my heart. I have listened to the vinyl version of it twice whilst writing this post. Happy 39th, Dynasty.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“I’ve been up and down, I’ve been all around. I was mystified, almost terrified. But, late at night I still hear you call my name. I’ve been on my own, I’ve been all alone. I was hypnotized. I felt paralyzed. But, late at night I still want you just the same. I’ve been a gambler, but I’m nobody’s fool. And, I sure know something, sure know something. You showed me things they never taught me in school. And, I sure know something, sure know something. No one can make me feel the way that you do. And, I sure know something.” – “Sure Know Something” (Stanley/Poncia)

Facebook Friends Must Hears or: Dale Cole

19 Thursday Apr 2018

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Salutations™!!

So, I’m doing this new thing. Yes, I gave out on the lists that I was going to listen to and I am still going to do vinyl albums that I’m listening to but I’ve called on my Facebook friends to give me five or six of their “must hear” albums. I’ve gotten quite a few entries, too. I figure I’ll do them by whoever sent them to me. I’m only reviewing things that weren’t on the RS list when I went through that.

The first one to give me a list was my buddy, Dale. So, here ya go, Dale. My take on your list (these are in no particular order):

  • The Dirty Boogie by Brian Setzer Orchestra. I love Brian Setzer. I didn’t always. I
    1SetzerDirtyBoogie

    ©Interscope

    liked some Stray Cats stuff, definitely. It took me a while to get into his rockabilly stuff. But as I progressed I got more into the big band/swing music, not just him but the whole genre. I love, too that he can take the blues aspect of stuff that I generally don’t care for and hide it, seamlessly in the swing grooves. Yes, I understand that blues is the basis of a lot of the stuff that I listen to. I can recognize it and acknowledge it and even like it. I think Brian Setzer stands above his swing contemporaries, Squirrel Nut Zippers (I know that’s sacrilege around here) and Cherry Poppin’ Daddies, even though I do enjoy them, too. My least favorite song on the album is still a song that I like. That would be “Jump Jive an’ Wail” originally done by the late, great Louis Prima. I really dig the duet with Gwen Stefani, “You’re the Boss.” And, I like the revamp of “Rock this Town” but I like the Stray Cats version better. Overall, I really liked hearing this album and would welcome more Setzer into my listening life.

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    ©Chrysalis
  • Force It by UFO. Eugene introduced me to some UFO during his “Eugeology” list. A 20-year old Michael Schenker on this, writing good rocking songs and wailing on the guitar. Eddie Trunk gets on my nerves a lot but I know why he slobbers all over Mr. Schenker. Is the best? Nah, but he rocks and at so young an age. The album cover from Hipgnosis would be enough for my younger self to do nothing but stare. There are great rocking tunes and ballads as well. “High Flyer” is a really great song as is the opening tune, “Let It Roll” and “Love Lost Love.” Nothing bad to say about this record at all. I love Phil Mogg’s voice, too. Pete Way is a great bass player and as I said in the review for Strangers in the Night, his runs have a presence and are tasteful. I liked it a lot and I think Eugene would be proud of me for saying so, eh, Eug?

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    ©Rhino

  • The Very Best of Otis Redding, Vol. 1 by Otis Redding. In the RS list, I left out the compilations. As long as they don’t get out of hand, I’ll allow them on this list. Otis has a great voice and there are some great songs on here. And, as I talked about in the RS list, a lot, song-length can be important. I don’t like a lot of long songs, especially those that are long for the sake of being long. I think that’s my biggest problem with some prog rock. But, these songs are mostly under three minutes long and they get their point across. Lots of soul and expression, here. And, another beautiful thing is that he wrote or co-wrote most of the tunes himself. Some of my faves are his version of “Satisfaction,” “Mr. Pitiful,” “Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song).”
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    ©Columbia

    Good stuff, here.

  • Still Alive and Well by Johnny Winter. Yeah, right off the bat, I’m getting that bluesy thing that I really don’t like. Don’t get me wrong, I think he’s very good at what he’s doing, I just don’t care about it. There’s a couple of Stones songs on there but that doesn’t really help. Then again, I’m not much on the Stones anyway. Produced by Rick Derringer and does have Todd Rundgren on it, too. Plus, it has a tune written by Dan Hartman. I’m just not much on it. Sorry, Dale.
  • Rampant by Nazareth. I had to go looking for this one. None of my streaming services had it so I had to go to YouTube. The first two
    1Rampant_album

    ©A&M, et al

    songs are good, but I really, really like “Loved and Lost” and “Shanghai’d in Shanghai.” Dan McCafferty’s voice is awesome on the soulful “Loved and Lost” and the whole song has a bit of a mystique to it that whisps you away as you listen. And “Shanghai’d” has Sweet-like qualities in its harmonies. I dig it. “Jet Lag,” however, loses me. I hate that boogie blues stuff. The rest of the album is okay but it doesn’t really move me. But, those two songs were really good. Great work from the bass player, Pete Agnew, who is the only remaining founding member and is the father of the current drummer for the band. I’d go with “meh.”

  • Making Movies by Dire Straits. I have gotten to where I can just sit and listen to Dire Straits, no matter the album. I love the “Rollergirl” story. I hear there’s a video but I think it was before my MTV days. I’ll go back and watch the video on YouTube or something. Usually, when I say that an album became background noise I mean
    1makingmoviescover

    ©Warner Bros

    it in a bad way. But, for this album and really any Dire Straits album, it’s actually what I’d look for to play in the background for stuff that I’m doing otherwise. There’s enough story to really bring you in when you pay attention but the music is ethereal and genuine enough to be a soundtrack for a good writing session or meditation. This is a really good collection from Mark Knopfler. “Expresso Love” is pretty righteous, too. The keyboard/piano work of Roy Bittan is sprinkled all over this album. He’s really great with tasteful ivory work. He’s really good. The whole thing is solid and I hate that it took me so long to really, really get into Dire Straits. I really dug this.

  • Dale also included Kick Out the Jams by MC5, but I had already listened to that on the RS List. If you’d like to revisit what I wrote you can do that HERE.

So, now, a month or three since I asked for suggestions, I finally got through one. I started right away, but it’s just taken a while with my vinyl listening, podcasting, personal appearances, and cooking. None of which I’d trade, but I am glad to finally get one of these out.

And, I want to thank Dale for the list. I’m proud of myself in the fact that I gave it all a true shot and that I actually found some stuff that I liked and reaffirmed some stuff that I thought I would. Overall, a good list Dale. All this from my very warped sense of “good…” but I digress! Thanks again.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Well, this cat’s on a hot tin roof. Drinkin’ that whiskey, 96 proof. Don’t need no doctor, don’t feel no pain. My legs are just two steps ahead of my brain.” – “This Cat’s on a Hot Tin Roof” (Setzer)

Sounds Like Saturday or: Electric

07 Saturday Apr 2018

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Salutations™!!

Since Clay Howard is so into this album and I’m a huge fan of Clay Howard and considering that yesterday was the 31st anniversary of its release, Here is The Cult’s “Love Removal Machine” from Electric (1987). Enjoy!

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Baby baby baby baby baby I fell from the sky. Yesterday you blew my mind oh yeah. Having trouble with my direction; upside down psychotic reaction. Love removal love removal machine.” – “Love Removal Machine” (Astbury/Duffy)

JC Superstar or: Dixon Does It

05 Thursday Apr 2018

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Salutations™!!

This past Sunday was Easter and NBC presented a live version of the Andrew Lloyd Webber/Tim Rice masterpiece, Jesus Christ Superstar. And, I must say that I thought it was brilliant. In many ways, at least to me, it was superior to other versions. Not in all but there were several ways.

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Norm Lewis as Caiaphas (©NBC)

 

John Legend has a great voice and I think he did a fine job singing. His acting was suspect, but he’s never been known as an actor. Some questioned casting him. Not me, I think it was an admirable job. Now, it is totally my belief that this story, despite its name, isn’t about Jesus. I think it’s about Judas. In all the versions I have heard and/or seen, Judas always outdoes Jesus. But, back to Jesus, John Legend did great but he comes in third in my rating behind Ted Neeley and Ian Gillan in that order, although Ted and Ian can alternate depending on my mood.

Like I said, the true star of this show was Judas and in such, Brandon Victor Dixon played a fantastic Judas. His voice was powerful and his range wide. There was a time toward the end that he was seemingly struggling to hit some notes but he still hit them. I’ve only seen the film and heard the Original UK Recording so those folk had time between performances. This was all in one. Dixon killed. He had emotion, passion (pun!), discourse, regret and power in the part. I’m rating him tied for first with both Carl Anderson and Murray Head. Judas is my favorite character and I have really loved each performance, each for different reasons.

Another of my favorite characters in the story is Caiaphas, played by Norm Lewis in this production. I think Lewis had the best voice of the three (Victor Brox in the UK and Bob Bingham in the film). He kept the low growly parts rough and the higher baritone parts smooth. And, dang! I want those cloaks the Pharisees/Sanhedrin wore. Those looked cool as heck. Lewis’ hairstyle was soooo the part, too. He made the part cool, for sure. Again, he wins as best.

Another star of this show that didn’t get enough respect in the reviews that I read was Jin Ha who played Annas another of the Sanhedrin. His register was spot on and he really captured the spirit of the part. I think his voice is better than both Brian Keith (UK) and Kurt Yaghjian (film). He, too, looked cool in the Sanhedrin cloak.

I don’t think the performances of John Gustafson (UK) and Larry Marshall (film) were all in your face, but the portrayal of Simon Zealotes by Erik Grönwall is quite memorable. It could be the half-shaved head with the geometric tattoos or the over-the-top performance or that strong high-pitched voice. Who knows, but Grönwall knocks it out of the park. Grönwall won the 2009 Swedish Idol contest. He’s also in a hard rock band over in Sweden. Interesting dude and a great high voice.

Ben Daniels’ Pontius Pilate was a cool character. His costume was top-notch and his performance went along with that. I don’t know if it was just out of his range or he was just playing the part but at the end of his trial (and the 39 lashes) his voice gets disheveled, shaky and “weak.” I would like to think that the character’s urgent circumstance led to the frazzled sounds coming from his mouth. Both the UK and film versions were played by Barry Dennen. I think Daniels was the best of the two, although I do dig his version of “Pilate and Christ.”

King Herod and “King Herod’s Song” are one of my favorite character/song combos in this story. The incomparable Alice Cooper played Herod in this production. Former lead singer of Manfred Mann, Mike d’Abo played the part in the UK version and Josh Mostel (son of famous Broadway/film actor, Zero Mostel) is in the film. I loved Alice’s performance, but he takes the passenger seat compared to Mostel’s. His floaty/flighty performance in the film was so much fun.

I’ve saved Mary Magdalene for last. As much as I loved what Yvonne Elliman did in both the UK and film versions, Sara Bareilles tore them up. I think she looked the part, played the part and sounded the part, each by 1000. Mary isn’t one of my favorite characters in the story but she plays the “innocent resignation” quite well. “Everything’s Alright” has been stuck in my head since Sunday. Bareilles’s version in particular. It was great.

The chorus and extras were all where they needed to be and the story was updated for 2018 as opposed to 33 CE/AD/etc. It was more street and less ancient. The orchestra was great. The young guitarist that started the show was quite awesome. The costumes and some of the set design/work was done in part by UNCSA alumni. It was visually stunning.

Now, not everything was great. I loved that they had the audience but the audience was a bit overly enthusiastic. Every time someone would sing, they’d go crazy. It was great but every breath didn’t need to be applauded. The sound mixing was a bit off, at least in the beginning. You could hear a lot of the music but not so much of the singing; it was spotty and patchy. Later in the show that straightened itself out.

I did like the “during the commercial” spycam of backstage and even front of the house while the commercial breaks happened. That was good.

All in all, I loved this version. I have watched it twice. I have recently watched the film again and I’ve listened to the film soundtrack no less than four times since Sunday (including once today). I think this set the standard for the live musicals if NBC is going to continue to do it. They teased Wicked which is my favorite Musical Theatre show during this, I wonder if that’s next? We’ll see. I think most of the reviews were positive and I definitely give this a 4.5 out of 5 on it. I hope they do more of it. I miss going to Charlotte for the Broadway Lights series. Great stuff. Now, where’s the remote? I have another watch in me.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“So, you are the Christ, you’re the great Jesus Christ? Prove to me that you’re divine; change my water into wine. That’s all you need do, then I’ll know it’s all true. Come on, King of the Jews.” – “King Herod’s Song (Try It and See)” (Webber/Rice)

Double Platinum or: The Best of My Younger Days

02 Monday Apr 2018

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Salutations™!!

I know I was going to write about Jesus Christ Superstar today but, I put it off for another day or two because there’s another KISS album that is celebrating a milestone today that I need to talk about.

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©Casablanca

 

Usually, I don’t get excited about “greatest hits” or “compilation” albums. I mean, I like them, but they don’t really get me going. For KISS’ Double Platinum, however, it certainly did get me going. You see, as an eight-year-old, getting this album was the greatest thing ever. It had the “hits” or what we called hits. It had the blockbuster songs. It was in a shiny silver (platinum) cover and had KISS’ stylized logo all over it in big embossed letters.

It was a gatefold album sleeve that opened up to show all four characters in embossed portraits. I spent many a day tracing those four larger-than-life pictures and did so much on my original copy that you could see the traced lines over the regular embossment.

When I was this young, I didn’t have all of the albums from KISS up to that point. It included songs from the first six studio albums. With the exception of “Do You Love Me?” all were also included on one of the two “live” albums. So, without having all the albums, I needed this to have studio versions of those songs that I didn’t have on albums. My uncle Ricky gave me my copy, right after I got into KISS. He also gave me my copy of Rock and Roll Over as well.

KISS was at their tipping point at this point. This came out in 1978, the same year as the solo albums (they came out in September, all on the same day), which came about to appease Ace and Peter who wanted to taste more stardom and they thought they could make it on their own. However, KISS was the biggest act in the world so the record company threw together a “greatest hits” compilation that would be a fairly good representation of the band. This included some remixing, and in some cases, rerecordings.

In a successful effort to entice consumers into buying an album full of tunes that they probably already owned (I didn’t at the time), Casablanca had KISS remake the song “Strutter” from the debut album. This time, though (remember it’s 1978), from Sean Delaney, a long time friend of KISS in the early days and producer of Gene’s solo album and co-writer of some other tunes, they added some rapid-fire hi-hat work that made “Strutter ’78” a bit more disco. There are also shorter solos in that song.

There are passages of “Hard Luck Woman” left out and there’s some weird remix at the beginning of “Calling Dr. Love” that, my pal Eugene says takes out the intro that made that song cool. “C’mon and Love Me,” “Detroit Rock City,” “100,000 Years” and “Deuce” were all remixed, too. The end of “Black Diamond” on the debut album had a slowing tape effect of bombs that sounded apocalyptic. However, for this comp, they took that out and copied and pasted the intro – even into the meat of the song – back into the ending.

I never had Dressed to Kill growing up so I was confused later when I purchased it on cassette and the intro to “Rock Bottom” wasn’t at the beginning of “She.” I know it’s on the Alive version where it belongs but it was so low I never knew what was going on with it. I do now, but not back then.

I think a “greatest hits” album should have had “Shock Me” on it, that way all four were represented in the lead vocal sense. Peter had three songs that he sang lead on, but Ace had none. Still, I think it was a strong representation but not “definitive.”

So, Double Platinum came out on April 2, 1978, so yep, that’s 40 years. My copy is somewhere at Ma Mère’s house. The copy that I have at home now I got from my pal, Clay Howard. That was nice of him. So, for those looking for an intro experience into KISS’ first six albums, even now, 40 years past, grab this album if you can find it and get some learning. Actually, I’d really suggest you just buy those albums but still…

Happy birthday DP!

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“I just hate when the girl says wait. I really want her by my side, don’t hesitate. I really want her by my side the whole night through. We do all the things that we wanna do. Well, come on baby, don’t leave me sad. Cause you’re good lookin’, the best I’ve had. Makin’ love.” – “Makin’ Love” (Stanley/Delaney)

Forty-Two On or: Destroyer

15 Thursday Mar 2018

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Salutations™!!

Forty-two years ago today, March 15, 1976, the fourth KISS studio album, Destroyer was released. Destroyer was the immediate follow-up to Alive which, thanks to “Rock and Roll All Nite,” really broke KISS into popularity.

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©Casablanca

 

Their first three studio albums did absolutely nothing and were released within 13 months. They tried one after the other and no luck. This album was released two years after the first album.

People had heard rumors that this band KISS put on makeup and were rocking so hard that their live shows were going great. But, bands (and record labels) want to sell records. The release of Alive brought them to the radio. Fans then went back and bought up the first three albums, which made up the contents of Alive.

So, here they were recording a follow-up album. The record company brought in Bob Ezrin, best known at the time, for producing Alice Cooper. Ezrin brought string arrangements, choirs, and special effects. KISS was just straightforward Gibsons and Marshalls at that time. Fans were expecting the same hard rock pizzazz that KISS, Hotter Than Hell and Dressed To Kill had. They got that, kind of…

The strings and acoustic guitars, pianos and choirs kind of threw people off. Not in a bad way, mind you, just perplexingly. It wasn’t expected. And, really, that wasn’t something that happened on a full-blown KISS album again until 1981. The solo albums had some hints of it but, again, full-blown KISS albums.

The album starts off with someone washing dishes and listening to or watching a news report about someone dying in an auto accident. It was the intro to “Detroit Rock City,” which was based on a true story about someone who died on their way to a KISS concert in Charlotte. But, Charlotte Rock City doesn’t have the same ring to it. DRC was a song that I got really tired of really quickly. I got to where it turned my stomach to hear it. It was just overdone and I didn’t really care much about it. I will say the solo was awesome, which was arranged by Ezrin. I have come back around and now don’t mind hearing it again. I don’t know why.

The crash then goes into “King of the Night Time World,” a song about a youth having troubles at home and wanting to make it with his girl (“… and the dirty things that we do”). That song grew on me later, as well. I really didn’t pay much attention to it until the band I was in, Heavens Sake, learned it and played it live.

Third, is my favorite song from the album and one of my all-time KISS songs all around – “God of Thunder.” It is Gene Simmons, even though he didn’t write the song. Paul Stanley did. But, Ezrin thought the theme and progression were better suited for Gene’s darker character, so he slowed it down and turned it over to Gene. Starting off with Ezrin’s kids playing in the studio, they were wearing some space helmets with walkie-talkies in them. What they actually say has been debated for 42 years and even David and Josh Ezrin don’t know what they said. I’ve always thought they said, “okay… talk sexy.” Who knows? Anywhat! I have always loved singing this, which I did for the VSS show a few years back and playing it with Heavens Sake. The darkness of the song is amazing. Lots of crackles, feedback, screaming, moaning and wasteland effects. I love the song. Gene usually does his blood spitting at the beginning of this tune.

All that was well and good. Great hard-rocking tunes. Then it happened. The strings. The acoustic guitar. The odd lyrics and (gasp!!!) the Brooklyn Boys Chorus singing about getting a girl horny. “Great Expectations” was a drastic turn of events. Part of the compositional theme of the song was based on Beethoven’s “Sonata Pathétique,” and I find that pretty cool. Now, I dig the song; like it, in fact. But, it threw people for sure. After a few listens, it grows on you and it’s a pretty cool song. Odd… but cool. End Side 1.

Side Two starts with some rock and roll rebellion going on. Paul wrote two songs about breaking out and being free of the parental grasp on this album. Well, three really. I know that rock and roll was about rebellion and they took this to heart in the song, “Flaming Youth.” I mean, could it be more obvious? “My parents think I’m crazy and they hate the things I do. I’m stupid and I’m lazy, man, if they only knew. How flaming youth will set the world on fire. Flaming youth, our flag is flying higher and higher and higher.” Yeah, rebellion. The song was an amalgamation of ideas from Gene, Paul and Ace Frehley, with Ezrin taking them and embellishing them. I really dig this tune.

“Sweet Pain” is up next and it’s quintessential Gene and his horndog-laden love god persona. Ain’t no one can love you like me and my BDSM loving arse is basically the theme. I’ll love you so much it will hurt. And, he’ll do it while wearing leather and using whips. Isn’t that sweet? Yeah, sweet pain, from what I hear. I didn’t understand most of that when I was a kid but I find it funny now. Gene was what? 26 when they released this? Yeah. Horndog. And, I love it.

The third “break out and be something/do something song” was a bit of a smash from the album and a live staple for many years to come. “Shout It Out Loud” was co-written by  Stanley, Simmons and Ezrin. If it’s too loud they’re too old. Shouting it out loud is basically the cheerleading call-to-action of the rockin’ world. That’s what they want you to do. They took the title from the Hollies tune “We Want to Shout It Out Loud.” Wicked Lester recorded that when Gene and Paul were in that band. I got to do the Gene lines with my pal Reid Mansell at the VSS show.

“Beth” was a surprise. It was filler. It was a throw-away. They recorded it to appease Peter’s itch to have a song with his name on it. That may not be the official story but from what I’ve read between the lines over the years, yeah… It was the B-side of “Detroit Rock City” and was left to its (presumed) fate of filler. But, something happened. Something that I don’t know what really common at the time, DJs started flipping the record over and playing “Beth” instead of “DRC.” It still sits as the highest charting song in KISStory, at #7, one place higher than “Forever” which came 14 years later. I like the tune. I prefer the Eric Carr version on the greatest hits album, Smashes Thrashes and Hits in 1988, but this is classic.

The album closes with “Do You Love Me.” It’s a tune about the glitzy lifestyle of the rockstar and the potential gold-digging girlfriend who may or may not really like the singer; she may just be using him to get the status, attend the parties, get the backstage passes, limousine rides and so on. It’s sad really. That is unless Paul’s character in the song was getting what he wanted out of it. But, if he was, would he need to ask if she loves him? Probably not. That song became a concert staple. It then fades into some weird effected thing where you hear Paul doing banter from Dressed to Kill/Alive tour about a “rock and roll party.” I never felt it was necessary but I didn’t hate it.

I wasn’t into KISS or even know about them, until around 1977/78 and I never had this on vinyl as a kid. I did get it on cassette when I moved to WSNC and I definitely got it on CD and then the remastered CDs. I got it the vinyl remasters on 180g black vinyl that has all the original packaging and all.

I do have the remixed copy of Destroyer: Resurrected that Ezrin remixed and re-EQed the songs while adding some elements that had been left out. The original Ace solos (which were originally Dick Wagner of Alice Cooper’s band in the release) for a couple of songs and added some additional vocals to a few songs. Ace was part of stuff from this album but he was starting to flake a bit. That’s why Wagner did his thing.

The cover was painted by sci-fi/fantasy artist Ken Kelly (who also did the Love Gun cover) and it depicts a true wasteland with burning buildings and barren, burning land. It showed the band as larger-than-life characters that were destroying the world around them.

I don’t know why the album was called Destroyer other than it goes with the God of Thunder theme. I don’t know and I don’t care. It’s a great album. To me, there’s not a filler on there. It is #489 on the RS list I’m always talking about. It isn’t my favorite KISS album but I’d say it’s in the top 10. One day I really need to rank them. I’ll do a post on that when I do.

Have you listened to this album, Dear Reader? What did you think? Tell me about it, I’m truly interested. If you haven’t check it out on your favorite streaming service and if you like it, consider purchasing it. It sounds great on vinyl, but I’m biased. Rock on, Destroyer!

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“I’m the lord of the wastelands. A modern day man of steel. I gather darkness to please me and I command you to kneel before the… God of Thunder and Rock and Roll. The spell you’re under will slowly rob you of your virgin soul.” – “God of Thunder” (Stanley)