Category: Album Review

Kiss – ‘Crazy Nights’ (1987) – Album Review (The Kiss Review Series

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We are now in 1987 in the Kiss timeline and something odd has happened. For the first time in Kisstory, Kiss did not release an album in a given year. 1986 did not see a Kiss studio album release. For a band that started out doing 2 a year and then one a year, it is a huge surprise that 1986 saw nothing. Not even a greatest hits package. After the Asylum Tour ended, Kiss took a break as they had been going strong for 12 years non-stop. Gene went off and produced other albums such as Black N’ Blue and Paul, well Paul was left trying to keep Kiss alive (no pun intended).

By this time, Paul was pretty sick of Gene’s lack of commitment and confronted Gene about. He told Gene that it wasn’t fair that he was off doing all these side projects while reaping the benefits of Kiss thanks to Paul doing all the work and heavy lifting and you know, Paul is right. Paul was the one to save Kiss and keep the wheel’s turning. I don’t know how much that worked, because Gene’s input on this album is still pretty minimal with only 4 of the 11 songs on the album. Heck, Bruce had 4 writing credits on this album and Eric had one. Paul brought in some of the same people to help write the album including Adam Mitchell, Desmond Child and even Diane Warren. The band took on a more pop, radio-friendly sound with this one and saw them use synthesizers a great deal more with Paul, Bruce and Phil Ashley helping out on that instrument. The one cool thing about the album is that the line-up is unchanged from ‘Asylum’. Kiss saw no turnover this time around and this band would stay together for at least one more album.

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Whitesnake – ‘Love Songs MMXX’ (2020 Remix) – Album Review (The David Coverdale Series)

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In the last few years, David Coverdale has been quite busy rehashing old material, but in a good way.  He has brought us deluxe box sets for albums such as ‘Slide It In’, ‘1987’, ‘Slip of the Tongue’ and even ‘Unzipped’ the all acoustic box set.  And next year in 2021, we will get ‘Restless Heart’.  But for now, he is rehashing old material yet again.

This time it is a series called ‘Red, White & Blue’ Trilogy.  The Rock Album (White) was up first and now we are on Love Songs (Red) and I believe The Blues Album (Blue, duh) will come in early 2021 (February was last I heard but that has not been confirmed yet).  Each album is really a glorified greatest hits albums each with its own theme and the titles give you those themes quite nicely.

The big difference on these albums is more than just a remastering.  The songs have been tinkered with and given a little touch-up with some re-mixing and even a little touch-up on arrangements and other little surprises.  The songs aren’t completely re-imagined, thankfully it is no Bon Jovi “This Left Feels Right”.  The songs are still very much recognizable, just enhanced ever so slightly.

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Ace Frehley – ‘Frehley’s Comet’ (1987) – Album Review (The Kiss Review Series)

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After Ace Frehley left Kiss in 1982, it took him awhile to get going on a solo project. Where Peter had a solo album out within a year of leaving Kiss (if not sooner), it took Ace 5 years before his first bit of music was released. There was a reason for that. When Ace left Kiss, he still maintained a 1/4 share in the band and was not able to release anything until at least 1985. He basically had a non-compete contract for a limited time. However, around 1984, he did start piecing together a band and of course he started with drummer Anton Fig. Anton had played on Ace’s 1978 solo album and had done a few things with Kiss as well on some of their records. After Anton, he recruited John Regan on bass and Richie Scarlett on guitar and vocals. Ace now had a band.

The band recorded some demos in 1984-85 with famed producer Eddie Kramer, who had produced Ace’s 1978 solo album as well as other Kiss album, and actually played their first live show on November 30, 1984. He wasn’t releasing any music yet, so not breaking his contract. The band played some more in 1985, but in the end, Richie Scarlett wanted to pursue his own solo career and left the band. Not a good start so far.

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You Picked It! – AC/DC – ‘Power Up’ (2020) – Album Review

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Alright…You Picked It! And here it is. The one you picked was AC/DC’s Power Up.  The votes were as follows:

  1. AC/DC – ‘Power Up’ – 8 votes
  2. Janet Jackson – ‘Rhythm Nation 1814’ – 4 votes
  3. The White Stripes – ‘Elephant’ – 3 votes
  4. The Stooges – ‘The Stooges – 2 vote
  5. Oasis – ‘(What’s The Story) Morning Glory’ – 1 Vote

Thanks to all for participating.  The January choices will be up on Saturday!

AC/DC – ‘POWER UP’:

For a couple of years now, we have been teased with a brand new AC/DC album ever since those pictures leaked in 2018 of Brian Johnson, Phil Rudd and Cliff Williams surfaced. Everyone was been crazy hoping for a new album with the core guys. Of course Angus is on it and Stevie Young holding his own on rhythm, but it was the fact that Brian and Phil and Cliff were back in the fold ready to play that had everyone excited. Me included which is strange because I hadn’t listened to much AC/DC past Razor’s Edge with maybe the exception of 2000’s Stiff Upper Lip, but it really has been 20-30 years since I really paid attention. Why was I so excited? I think it was 2020 that had me excited. As a surprise to know one, 2020 has been a strange and difficult year with lots of change and the fact we could get an iconic band with an iconic line-up to bring us a new album, AC/DC was just what we all needed.

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Black ‘N Blue – ‘Nasty Nasty’ (1986) – Album Review (The Kiss Review Series)

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You are probably wondering why I’m doing a Black ‘N Blue album in the middle of a Kiss Review Series. What does this band have to do with Kiss? There are several reasons why, but first and foremost is who is a member of this band. Current Kiss guitarist, Tommy Thayer, is the guitarist in Black ‘N Blue. Since Tommy is still in the band, I can’t do his first release after his time in the band as that hasn’t happened yet. Instead, I decided to find an album of his work prior to his time in Kiss and I picked an album with some major Kiss connections. The album is actually the band’s third studio album and this one was produced by Kiss member, Gene Simmons. This is where the relationship between Gene and Tommy blossomed as they had met previously in 1985 when they opened for Kiss. It would lead to Tommy’s eventual membership in Kiss.

If you’ve paid attention to the last few Kiss reviews, you will notice I mentioned that Gene wasn’t always completely committed to Kiss during this time of Kiss and this was one reason why. He was busy finding new bands and producing other albums. Gene came across the band and really liked their sound, he was brought on as the producer of this album as well as the follow-up and took the band back to a more raw sound. The album, ‘Nasty Nasty’, came out in August of 1986.

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Vinnie Vincent Invasion – ‘Vinnie Vincent Invasion’ (1986) – Album Review (The Kiss Review Series)

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After the Lick It Up Tour with Kiss, Vinnie Vincent was officially let go from the band. Except can you call it official since technically never signed his contract so I guess he was never officially in the band. However you want to look at it, by mid-1984 Vinnie Vincent was gone from Kiss. And since my goal in the Kiss Review Series is to review the first thing the former band members put out after leaving Kiss, we are going to discuss Vinnie’s debut release with Vinnie Vincent’s Invasion. After being let go, Vinnie decided to go see the world and upon his return, he was ready to make music. His paths crossed with Dana Strum who had worked with Ozzy. Dana knew Vinnie was out of Kiss and was looking for a good guitar to play with so he searched out Vinnie and they finally connected.

Now the band needed a drummer and they found that in the muscle-man himself, Bobby Rock. The main band was now together and all they needed now was a singer. They looked no further than the former lead singer of the band Journey. No, Steve Perry hadn’t left Journey (yet), they found the guy he replaced, Robert Fleischman. And the band was now complete. The band got a record deal with Chrysalis…okay, it wasn’t really the band, it was actually only Vinnie that had the deal, but we are splitting hairs at this point. And they were off to make a new album.

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Kiss – ‘Creatures of the Night’ (1985 – Reissue) – Album Review (The Kiss Review Series)

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You saw the title to this and you are probably saying to yourself, “John, you’ve already reviewed ‘Creatures of the Night’. Have you lost your rocker?” And the answer to that question is YES! I have reviewed ‘Creatures’ and I am off my rocker. The thing is, the band re-released the album in 1985 for some strange reason. The new line-up of Kiss with Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Eric Carr and Bruce Kulick was riding high. The fans loved the line-up, the last album was successful, the tour went off well, so all was good in the Kiss world. Someone, somewhere in the Kiss camp thought, “Hey, we should re-release the album ‘Creatures of the Night’ because why not.” I have no idea the rational or reasoning behind this at all as it makes no sense.

If you are going to re-release it, why not put a brand new cover on the album with the band without make-up. Check! Why not stick a picture of Gene’s Ass on it in tight-fitting leather pants. Check! Here’s the thing. The picture of the band without make-up has Bruce Kulick on it and if you aren’t aware, he didn’t play on the album. I guess that isn’t a problem because the original picture on the album had Ace Frehley, and if you read my review earlier, you know he didn’t play a note on the album either. So in the end, I guess it doesn’t matter whose picture is on the cover. And here’s the other thing, it was never fun looking at the back cover because there was a giant ass staring you in the face. You felt a little grossed out looking at that….thing!!

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Kiss – ‘Asylum’ (1985) – Album Review (The Kiss Review Series)

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We are now on the 13th Kiss studio album called ‘Asylum’ which came out on September 16, 1985. And this is actually the 30th review in the Kiss Review Series…I can’t believe we are already to #30 is pretty much the half way mark of the series. I have thoroughly enjoyed it thus far and I hope you have as well.

Now Kiss is in a good place, for the most part. Yes, Gene isn’t as involved as he should be and Paul is still running the show, but they have a solid line-up now that Bruce Kulick is an official member of the band. The line-up seems to be relatively issue you free (except for the Gene part). The line-up was now Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Eric Carr and Bruce Kulick. It would stay this way for the next 6 years and there would not be as much drama as before…thank goodness, but at the same time it does make for great story telling.

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Kiss – ‘Animalize Live Uncensored’ (1985) – Video Review (The Kiss Review Series)

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The first concert video Kiss had ever released was ‘Animalize Live Uncensored’ and I had this on VHS and I remember it vividly although I did watch it again to make sure I didn’t miss anything. It came out on April 19, 1985 and I was so excited when this came out mainly because I saw this tour. My second Kiss show ever and now I was getting a video from that tour, how cool was that. Here is my ticket stub and you can view the Animalize Tour Book which I bought at the show by clicking the link.

The stage was a simple set up in Kiss terms. A couple ramps on each side of the drum set with an elevated platform behind them. The stage floor was covered in the same animal print as the Animalize album cover…makes sense. The show had a varied setlist with some old and some new. They kick off and end with some classic Kiss songs, but everything else in the middle was all 80’s from ‘Creatures of the Night’ (4 songs) to ‘Lick It Up’ (3 Songs) to ‘Animalize’ (3 Songs). For me, this is where I wanted them to spend their time as I was discovering Kiss on my own with these albums so I wanted these songs and I got my money worth with it.

The video opens with Kiss rising from the stage and then they explode in to “Detroit Rock City” and they are in Detroit! The song is so sped up and Eric’s drums are so heavy. I don’t think I’ve seen it played this fast before. After the song, Paul goes in to his his “Cold Gin” spill and they blast in to “Cold Gin” with Bruce Kulick laying down that nasty riff. Bruce was a full time member of the band at this point (which they announced before this very show) since Mark St. John was let go around the beginning of the tour due to his health issues. The show was also a radio broadcast and being filmed for an MTV concert (and this video).

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Wendy O. Williams – ‘WOW’ (1984) – Album Review (Bonus Edition – The Kiss Review Series)

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No, you are not reading things wrong. This is part of the Kiss Review Series. You may ask yourself why because Wendy O. Williams was a part of the Plasmatics, she wasn’t in Kiss? How can this possibly be a part of this series? There are so many reasons why and I will go on record and say that this might be the best Kiss album that is not a Kiss album. WTF??? Am I smoking some weed, have I been drinking? The answer to both of this is None of your business. I guess I need to explain myself a little.

This is part of the Kiss series because nearly every member of Kiss at the time was on this album, most songs were written by members of Kiss and Gene Simmons was the producer of this album. Basically, it is a Kiss album. The bass player on this album was named Reginald Van Helsing who was actually Gene. And a funny point about the bass playing…Gene played Bass on more of these songs than he has on any Kiss album around this time period. What other Kiss members were on this album? Here is the list…

  • Paul Stanley
  • Ace Frehley
  • Eric Carr
  • Vinnie Vincent

So, yes…this is part of the Kiss Review Series!

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