Peter Criss – 2 Loud 2 Old Music

Kiss -Alive! in Amityville: June 1973 – (2021) – Album Review

Published on June 8, 2023June 3, 2023 by 2loud2oldmusic8 Comments

If there is one thing I love to find and that is Kiss Bootlegs. I was out on Record Store Day, in line to check out with my RSD vinyl when I looked down and to my left and at the bottom of this shelf were a handful of bootlegs. 2 Van Halen boots and 1 Kiss. Well, all three are mine now and first up we have the Kiss Bootleg, Alive! in Amityville 1973. It was recorded at the Daisy in Amityville, NY on June 16, 1973. It says it is an audience recording, but I’ve read else where it is a soundboard recording, but either way…it is a recording and I have it. The sound quality is actually quite good as it has been remastered and repaired as it says on the back cover.

The really cool thing about this album is that this is about 8 months before the debut album ‘Kiss’ came out in 1974. You can’t get much earlier than this with Kiss recordings. Except maybe the Coventry shows. This is the original line-up of Gene Simons, Paul Stanley, Peter Criss and Ace Frehley. The band didn’t form until late January 1973, so we are only 6 months in to the life of this band. A lot of these songs you know as they did get released, but not all of them made to recording stages. Heck, the band hasn’t even been signed yet and Bill Aucoin isn’t even in the picture at this point. Really cool stuff. Let’s check this show out.

SIDE 1:

First up is the song “Nothin’ to Lose” and it sounds like the song from the debut. You have both Gene and Peter and they attack this song with a vicious ferocity. The lyrics don’t match up perfectly and it seems a little scattered as some of the arrangement does differ from the final studio version, but you do recognize it for what it is. The band is killing it as you can feel the energy and excitement in their playing.

The strange thing is that Peter seems to do most of the talking between songs. He does a great job, but it is weird not hearing Paul. Then we get the song “Firehouse” which seems to have Gene and Paul on vocals. The song sounds like you’d expect, but it isn’t quite the same. There is a strange scream before the chorus, and extra long drum part and the guitar solo from Ace sounds nothing like the one from the studio version. They didn’t have a siren so the end is Peter hitting the cymbals to make that sound. But still so cool to hear it played this way.

The next track is one I’ve never heard before, ever. It is called “Life in the Woods” and it is almost 8 minutes of riffing as it is a guitar heavy song. It was originally titled “Want You Beside” and written by Paul. The song has Paul yelling at the crowd to get up and get moving. There are a lot of harmonies at the beginning with Paul and Peter and then the band comes full force in. There is a break in it where they are screaming “Life in the Woods” and honestly I don’t know who is singing it as it doesn’t sound like any of the guys. And Peter seems to take over the vocals at the end and let’s out an F Bomb at the end. It is a strange song and doesn’t sound like they really know what to do with it as it is all over the place. I don’t think the song really works well and within a month or so, they stopped playing this one which is great because it is awful.

The final track on side 1 is the old Wicked Lester song “Simple Type”. This one I have heard before and have the studio version of the track on a bootleg or two. Ace opens this one with a great riff and then they lay down a cool groove while Ace throws out riffs all over the place. The studio song is less than 3 minutes I believe but this goes on for over 7 minutes. You have both Paul and Gene on vocals and I have to admit this doesn’t sound like the “Simple Type” song I remember from other bootlegs. This one is more of a rocker and the guys are letting all hang out on this one. Ace is really tearing things up here. What drags this song for 7 minutes is the cool jam section and I like to see the boys do that. Now, on the vocals so far, it seems like most of the songs have had two different people in each song singing…this would later become, one song, one voice except for may “Rock & Roll All Nite” and very few others. It’s nice to see more of a band focus here.

SIDE 2:

The first song up is “Acrobat” which is a part of two songs one of which would become “Love Theme from Kiss” off the debut and the other is called “Much Too Young” which was a Gene idea that never materialized. Most of the song is an instrumental, but there are some lyrics with the “Much Too Young” part. Mid way through, Peter gets a drum break and then Ace gets to let loose as well. If you have the Kiss Box Set, this recording of “Acrobat” is in there and it is attributed to the August Daisy shows, but there is some disagreement on that front. I don’t know or care which is true.

Next up is the classic song “Deuce” and this will sound familiar. It is basically the album version, but maybe some tweaks to the ending. Come on, you know it isn’t going to match perfectly. Gene is on vocals, liked you’d expect, and he tears it up. It is Gene, all dark and menacing. This feels like the Kiss I know and love.

“100,000 Years” is another off the debut album and you get what you expect here. You get Gene’s opening bass line which is so recognizable and then Paul comes in on vocals. Paul’s vocals are stellar and hits those high notes perfectly. And then throw in Ace’s blistering guitar work and you have a masterpiece. The biggest difference is Paul’s lyrics at the end are completely different and he even tells the woman he’s speaking to in the lyrics to give him head!! Okay, that’s different.

The famous guitar lick kicks in and you know it is time for “Watchin’ You”. Gene’s on vocals and they are a little rough as he’s screaming too loud in to the mic at first, but it gets better. This song sounds like the final version and it is such a killer tune and great to hear live.

The final track we have here is “Let Me Know” which sees Gene and Paul trade off on the vocals. It is a fun song and a little more poppy. It is basically the old song “Sunday Driver” which Paul had written. I really like this song and I love it when those two trade off on vocals. It is something they should’ve done more of through their career.

And there you have it. Another cool piece in Kisstory. I will point out that this bootleg of the show appears to be missing the songs “Black Diamond” and “Strutter” so if I ever find another version of this show and those two songs are on it, I’ll have to grab it. Otherwise, this set is awesome. I really love it. The sound quality is actually phenomenal so whatever they did to clean it up worked beautifully. I can see myself pulling this one out again and again. My Overall Score is a 5.0 out of 5.0 Stars. There is nothing negative I really have to say about this one. Yeah, “Life in the Woods” isn’t a great song, but how cool is it to have a recording of it when the band never actually recorded this song. If you see this one, you need to grab it.

The Bootleg Series:

Kiss – ‘Black Diamond: Lafayette Music Room, Memphis, TN April 18th, 1974 – FM Broadcast’ (Alternate Cover) – Album Review (The Bootleg Series)

Published on May 23, 2023March 27, 2023 by 2loud2oldmusic6 Comments

If you are thinking, “John, you’ve reviewed this show before”. You would be right. I reviewed it about a 1 1/2 years ago. But this one is different…it has a different cover and from a different manufacturer. In my quest to get as many Kiss Bootleg’s I can, I found this one in a local record show, new and sealed. And cheap. This is actually an easy one to get if you are collecting Kiss Bootlegs. I think I paid $20 for it. When I saw it, I knew I had this show, but I really liked the cover and this one has clear vinyl. Otherwise, there is nothing really special about this one, no inserts, no picture sleeves and no surprised in the package like I have received in a lot of my bootlegs. This one is rather generic. For historical reasons though, it is pretty cool. The recording is an FM Broadcast from April 18, 1974 in Memphis, TN at the Lafayette Music Room and is one of the earliest recordings of the band.

Soundwise…well…let’s just say there is sound. This is a recording off a radio broadcast on to a tape. That tape was then copied, which was then copied, which was then copied, which was then copied and keep going for another dozen copies. There is a massive tape drag at several points during the show which slows the song down and it is quite noticeable. That proves that the source material was from an old tape that had been copied many times. Yes, the sound sucks at times and might be on the low end of some of my bootlegs, but I am still okay with it and because I collect them I will buy regardless.

If you look at the setlist, you will notice a few things stand out. One is they basically played the entire debut album with a few minor exceptions. Two, they play the song “She” which won’t come out until 2 albums later on ‘Dressed to Kill’. And Three, they play a song called “Acrobat” which is actually the basis for the song “Love Theme From Kiss” from the first album. This is two months after the debut album release, so it is strange they played the “Acrobat” version and not the album version.

SIDE A:

The album and set opens with “Deuce” and boy can you hear the tape drag on this one, pretty drastic. But you can still make out the song and hear Gene just fine as it is in the instruments where you have the issues. Nothing is real clear except the vocals. Towards the end of the song, it clears up and gets a little louder and that cowbell comes in nicely. “Strutter” is up next after a slight pause and you get more wobbly instruments and even a little on the vocals this time around. Paul sounds like he is singing the song so much slower. Again, you are buying this strictly for the historical value…that is what I keep telling myself anyway.

“Firehouse” sounds great and I happy with that version. It is an untouched, live version warts and all and it is quite enjoyable. Ace’s solo sounds good and you get a glimpse of the band doing what they do best with no real hiccups. The cool song on here is “She” as I said it hadn’t even been released yet on an album. The guitar opening on it sounds a little slower and I am guessing that is the tape drag as there is a lot of wobble. But vocally again, sounds good. Gene is menacing as ever and Paul on background duties. The coolest part is the instrumental break/guitar solo as it isn’t what we get later. This the reason to buy this release if you need one. And last up for Side 1 is the badass song “Nothin’ to Lose”. And by this time you are used to the wobble and so it starts sounding pretty decent (okay, decent enough). I love this song as you get both Gene and Peter on vocals (and Paul is heard pretty good on backing vocals). I love Peter’s gritty and raspy old school singing on this one. Always fun.

SIDE 2:

Side 2 kicks off with the Ace Frehley penned song “Cold Gin” (after the radio DJ does a station break), but with Gene on vocals as Ace wasn’t singing this early on in the band. Now, I did get to see Ace do this one this past Summer when he opened for Alice Cooper but that is another story. I really love this song but I will say this version seemed a little flat and not sure if that was the band or the recording itself. After a little tuning, we get Gene’s bass and some thumps until they become “100,000 Years”. Paul sounds fresh and youthful and can do some great ooh-yeahs back then.

Another favorite of mine to hear live is “Black Diamond” even with a DJ interrupting the opening notes for a station break. The tape is wobbly again as it sounds a little funky and messed up, but it is still “Black Diamond”. I love the slow opening and then the bombastic explosion for the rest of the song. Plus, the instrumental break and solo are always great. An all around fantastic song every time I hear it. The song ends the broadcast. Then the show announcer comes back and the band is tuning their instruments a little they go in to what is labeled as “Acrobat” but it cuts out the “Love Theme From Kiss” parts off and is just the band jamming. Peter has a little drum solo piece then the band kicks in and they jam out, all instrumentally and then they start singing only a little. There are very few lyrics and they sing “You’re much too young” a couple times and then they go back to jamming and we get a killer guitar solo piece as well. Then Paul says “Good Night” and it is all over. Fun track.

Despite the tape drag and the wobbly sound in out at times throughout, I still find this an enjoyable most especially for an early version of “She” and for the encore with “Acrobat”. It is also a cool historical piece to have anything live and uncut from 1974 with them really just getting going. All-in-all, it turned out to be an okay show as you get used to the sound issues and you enjoy it for what it is. I can’t give it too high of a score, but I will give it at least a 2.5 out of 5.0 Stars (but it should get more for the two songs I mentioned – maybe a 3.0 to 3.5…but that might be too generous).

The Bootleg Series:

Kiss – ‘Destroyer: 45th Anniversary 2-LP Deluxe Edition (Colored Vinyl) (2021) – Album Review (The Kiss Review Series)

Published on May 2, 2023April 30, 2023 by 2loud2oldmusic11 Comments

With the album ‘Alive’ in 1975, Kiss finally broke through and were on their ways to be Rock Gods!! But their next album needed to make a statement. It needed to capture the band like none of their other albums had been able to do. Famed record producer, Bob Ezrin, was brought in to man the boards all based on the work he was doing with Alice Cooper. Kiss needed that same energy and success. And did Bob deliver? Oh hell yeah he did!! ‘Destroyer’ was released on March 15, 1976 and with songs like “Beth”, ‘Detroit Rock City” and “Shout it Out Loud”, Kiss was on top. They had made it! A now platinum selling artist, a massive touring act and they were starting to reach heights they only dreamed about. At first thought, the album was slow out of the gate until “Beth” was played on the radio…it was the B-Side to “Detroit Rock City” and then Bam!! Everything changed. To celebrate this pivotal album, Kiss delivered the 45th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition Box Set which we’ve already reviewed and it is jammed pack with goodness. This time we have the 2-LP Deluxe Edition Colored Vinyl which we are discussing. It isn’t as jammed pack but it is still pretty great for what it is.

One thing I really like about this set is the gatefold. It is stunning. When you open up the gatefold and there are the members of Kiss in full gear on their choppers, you get excited. It is really cool.

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Kiss – ‘Destroyer: 45th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition’ (2021) – Box Set Review (The Kiss Review Series)

Published on April 18, 2023April 14, 2023 by 2loud2oldmusic15 Comments

With the album ‘Alive’ in 1975, Kiss finally broke through and were on their ways to be Rock Gods!! But their next album needed to make a statement. It needed to capture the band like none of their other albums had been able to do. Famed record producer, Bob Ezrin, was brought in to man the boards all based on the work he was doing with Alice Cooper. Kiss needed that same energy and success. And did Bob deliver? Oh hell yeah he did!! ‘Destroyer’ was released on March 15, 1976 and with songs like “Beth”, ‘Detroit Rock City” and “Shout it Out Loud”, Kiss was on top. They had made it! A now platinum selling artist, a massive touring act and they were starting to reach heights they only dreamed about. At first thought, the album was slow out of the gate until “Beth” was played on the radio…it was the B-Side to “Detroit Rock City” and then Bam!! Everything changed. To celebrate this pivotal album, Kiss delivered the 45th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition Box Set and it is jammed pack with goodness. Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley have been paying attention to other band’s box sets and now they know how to put one of these together and it is stellar…mostly.

It is jammed pack with 4 discs of music. A remastered edition of the main album; 2 CDs of demos, rarities, outtakes and remixes as well as 1 Live CDs chock full of goodness from the Paris show on May 22, 1976. And you also get a Blu-Ray Audio of the main album and I can’t wait to turn this baby on in surround sound and hear all that Bob put in to these songs. But that is not all, not by a long shot. The box set is packed with an 68-page book, posters, stickers, photo cards and all sorts of information about the band…don’t believe me, look at the sticker from the front of the box set…

So sit back and let’s go through the box set in detail with a lot of pictures to show you the beauty of this set.

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Kiss – ‘Kiss My Axe 1978’ (1981 Re-Issue) – Album Review (The Bootleg Series)

Published on November 24, 2022November 5, 2022 by 2loud2oldmusic15 Comments

Happy Thanksgiving!! Here is what I am thankful for as far as music goes (of course tops is my family and friends).

I am always on the hunt for Kiss Bootlegs and I got another classic one a few weeks back. Noble Records was having their 3rd Anniversary Drop and Dylan always has some great stuff out that day. The store opened at 10 and the line had to be long as it always in as everyone wants the good stuff. I had been recovering from surgery and this was my first trip out so there was no way I was getting there early and standing in line. No, I wasn’t doing that. Instead I left the house at a little before 10 and got there around 10:20 am. I figured, if it was meant for me to have it, it would still be there. And guess what, it was still there and I grabbed it!!! Yes, I was excited. Bootleg #21 of Kiss was now in my collection.

This one was an old one. It was from 1981 and was actually a re-issue of the 1978 original release of the album. The people putting out this one spared no expense as the album sleeve is a plain white cardboard with nothing on it. Instead you get a piece of paper with a badly printed picture of the band and the details on the release. That is it. The inner sleeve is white and labels, well, as you see below, there was not much too them. But typical bootleg fashion, the band’s name is not on the label. I love these old style boots, you can’t beat them.

This was recorded live at Los Angeles Forum, California, On August 25, 1977 and this is fresh off the new album at the time, ‘Love Gun’. I’m really excited about this one because I didn’t have a bootleg from the Love Gun Tour…now I do. The band was hungry, young and insanely good at this time. The recording is an audience recording as you can hear a lot of the kids screaming around the person recording the show. But as far as audience recordings go, it isn’t bad. It isn’t the whole show as it is only 11 songs and most of them are from the ‘Love Gun’ album.

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KISS-OPOLY

Published on July 27, 2022June 19, 2022 by 2loud2oldmusic20 Comments

Back on June 18, there was another small Record Store Day for those items that were delayed from the main one on April 23. I was on the hunt for the Collective Soul first vinyl release of ‘Disciplined Breakdown’ and the Halestorm Tomb-Shaped Single which I did get both. I wasn’t able to get up and be there when it started so I was worried I would miss out. Around Noon, my youngest daughter and I headed out to our first stop Repo. Repo had the Halestorm, but not the Collective Soul…dang it. And while we there, we figured we’d look around.

I decided to go over to the shelves and look for some Kiss (like there was any chance I was going to find one I didn’t have. The Kiss albums were on the bottom shelf and to properly go through them, you have to sit on the slimy, sticky floor…it wasn’t that bad. When my bones creaked and moaned and I finally got down there, I saw a box sitting across the top of the albums that was not visible from above. A factory sealed Monopoly game with Kiss as the theme!! Hell Yeah!! I had been looking for it for at least a decade or more. And it was factory sealed!! Hell Yeah Again!!

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Kiss – “Calling Dr. Love” (1977) – 7″ Single – (The Kiss Review Series – Bonus Edition)

Published on April 23, 2022April 19, 2022 by 2loud2oldmusic24 Comments

I’ve found a few Kiss singles lately and this is the last in the bunch…for now. This time around I found the single to the song “Calling Dr. Love” off the band’s 1976 album ‘Rock And Roll Over’. The song was the band’s fourth Top 20 hit going all the way to #16 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was the second single on the album which following the success of the album, ‘Destroyer’, went on to sell over a million copies and hit platinum status. Kiss was on a roll at this time and their popularity was growing by leaps and bounds.

A fun fact on the song is that it was written by Gene while he was at a Holiday Inn where I am sure he was “living in sin” (let’s see who gets that reference). The song title was inspired by a Three Stooges film called ‘Men in Black’ which contained a hospital intercom announcement, “Calling Doctor Howard, Doctor Fine, Doctor Howard.” And thanks to wiki for that reference.

My version is again, the standard U.S. version with the boring Casablanca / Filmworks standard sleeve. No picture sleeve. The B-Side is the Paul Stanley sung song “Take Me”. No special remixes, no unreleased tracks, just the same old stuff, but I still had to have it. I’m a little nuts that way.

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Kiss – “Christine Sixteen” – 7″ Single (The Kiss Review Series – Bonus Edition)

Published on April 9, 2022April 9, 2022 by 2loud2oldmusic21 Comments

A couple weeks ago we talked through the Kiss 7″ Single for “Beth”. I know, I know…the Kiss Review Series will never die as I’ll always keep finding stuff to show off. Now, I found another one of their singles and this one is from their 1977 album ‘Love Gun’. It is “Christine Sixteen” and the song features Gene Simmons on the lead vocals. As far as chart success, it went all the way to #25 on the Billboard Hot 100. Not bad!

I say not bad because of the subject matter of the song, a lot of stations wouldn’t play it or would only play it after 7pm as if that made it any better. The basis of the song is about an older man infatuated with a girl of the tender age of 16. That wouldn’t fly at all today, but back then, it wasn’t terrible or unforgivable, merely frowned upon I would say based on the fact it still sold like hotcakes. Imagine the chart position if all the stations played it any time of day.

My version is the standard U.S. version, with no picture sleeve. It has the standard Casablanca/Filmworks sleeve which is pretty basic. The B-Side of the song might actually be better than the A-Side is it is Ace Frehley’s song “Shock Me”. More on that later. First let’s discuss the A-Side.

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Kiss – “Beth” – 7″ Single (The Kiss Review Series)

Published on March 22, 2022March 9, 2022 by 2loud2oldmusic24 Comments

I’m always out searching for Kiss music that I don’t have on vinyl and right now that is mostly singles. The latest time I was out digging, I came across a 7″ Single for the song “Beth” off their 1976 classic ‘Destroyer’. The original single for this album was “Detroit Rock City” as the A-Side and “Beth” as the B-Side. When that went out to the radio stations, the DJ’s ended playing “Beth” which quickly became the most requested songs on a lot of stations.

After that, the decision was made to reissue the single with “Beth” as the A-Side and “Detroit Rock City” as the B-Side. That is the copy I have. It was released in August 1976. Now, my version I found doesn’t have a picture sleeve as shown as the header. I used that to make the post more enticing. My version actually just came in a plain white sleeve but the original at least would’ve had the Casablanca Sleeve that would’ve looked something like the above picture…If I find any singles out there with that sleeve I will buy it (regardless if it is Kiss or not just so I have the correct one).

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Kiss – ‘Best of Solo Albums’ (1979) – Album Review (The Kiss Review Series)

Published on February 21, 2022February 5, 2022 by 2loud2oldmusic51 Comments

By 1978, Kiss had reached the peak of stardom. Kiss was flying high and a couple members were too. Trouble was brewing and most especially with Ace Frehley and Peter Criss. From what I have read, they both wanted to do solo albums, but the band needed to keep the train rolling. So Bill Aucoin and others came up with a strategy to help keep the peace. The entire band would each do a solo album and they would all be released at the same time on the same day, however, they would be under the Kiss umbrella. Brilliant or Stupid was still yet to be seen. No band had ever attempted this prior or since and probably for good reason.

Each member had to find their own producer, their own musicians as no one in the band played on the other persons record. All the albums came out on the same day, September 18, 1978. To help promote the Solo albums, the label released the ‘Best of Solo Albums’, but only overseas. To this day, there is no U.S. release of this album. To top that off, there was never a CD release of this album either. If you find one on CD, it is not legit.

‘The Best of Solo Albums’ takes three songs from each of the members with Ace Frehley and Peter Criss on Side One and Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley on Side Two. It is hard to say if these are the best 3 songs of each member especially if Peter’s and Gene’s weren’t the best of the bunch, but I have to say it is still a great set. It is enough to whet your whistle and determine which ones you need to buy. If you didn’t know, the answer is all of them!! You want the posters. So buy all of them.

My copy is actually a rather current re-issue from 2019 and it is on a beautiful Black & Silver & White Splatter vinyl. It is a limited edition on 180g and if you look at the logo, you can tell it is the German Edition as they have to change the style of their logo to normal SS so it doesn’t look like the Nazi SS army. The album looks beautiful just look at the picture above. I think this is the first German Edition I have on any of their albums. And if you want to look at the attention to detail, look at the back cover and notice they changed all the SS on them as well.

Now, let’s get to the songs…

SIDE ONE:

The album opens with Ace’s songs and a cover song, “New York Groove”, by the band Hello and written by Russ Ballard. This was the single off the album and became a massive hit for Ace and really became his signature song. Ace knew Russ from when Kiss opened for Argent back in the day and has worked with Russ numerous times since. For Ace, this is a personal Anthem since he is from New York and he helped perpetuate the myth that he wrote the song even though we know he didn’t. Ace’s version has some differences from the original including the hand-clapping sound of the original was more of a foot-stomping sound and the harmonica riff was replaced by guitar…well duh. With surprisingly no guitar solo like you would expect with Ace, the song kept relatively close to the original. It is a wonderful tune and the biggest hit of all the solo albums going to #13 on the Billboard charts. This must have driven Gene crazy!!!

The opening track on the album and the second one here, “Rip It Out”, is bombastic and has a massive sound. Guitar riffs galore and a drum sound by Anton Fig that was so huge and filled the song with the punch it needed. It is my favorite drum sound on any of the Kiss albums until Creatures comes along with Eric Carr. Not to be overshadowed, Ace lays down a classic solo and opens the album like none of the other albums had been done. Ace threw down the gauntlet and showed that He is someone to be noticed!

“Speedin’ Back to My Baby” is more guitar, guitar and then some guitar! Eddie Kramer is bringing out the best of Ace both vocally and that guitar. Not only does the song open with a solo, there is another solo in the middle with a cool break right before it. It is like solo on top of solo. The song’s energy matches the title. The song was co-written by Ace and Jeanette Frehley which I guess he was speedin’ back to her.

“You Matter to Me” is up first for Peter feels more disco than anything with the keyboards. Written by Vini Poncia, John Vastano, Michael Morgan, it is one of the few songs Peter doesn’t have a hand in writing. With Vini writing it, I am not surprised by the sound and style as you will see that more and more with the next two Kiss studio albums for which he produces. This was the first single on his album and never charted.

“Tossin’ and Turnin’” is up next and it is the only true cover song on the album originally done by Bobby Lewis back in 1961. It is more of a rocker with some R&B tendencies and it fits Peter’s gritty vocal style. He feels more at home with this one and the drum work is not bad either along with the saxophone break.

For Peter’s final song we get a song that I thought was a cover called “Hooked on Rock & Roll” which was written by Peter and Stan Penridge. With Steve Lukather on guitar and the whole feel of the song, I would swear it would be something Chuck Berry could’ve done or any of those early rockers. The song fits Peter’s vocals so might be a keeper.

SIDE TWO:

Side Two opens with the song “Radioactive” which was written by Gene Simmons, as was all but 2 songs on his album. This song was the only single from the album and it has Joe Perry (Aerosmith) on guitar, Eric Troyer (ELO) on piano, Allan Schwartzberg (Mountain) on drums and Bob Seger on backing vocals. A pretty stellar line-up. The song opens with a prelude that is very evil, sinister and demonesque which was filled with string orchestration and it cuts away to the song. The prelude was removed from the single if you were interested that little fact. The song doesn’t really match the intro as it is fun and upbeat compared to the evil that came before. It is straight-up rock song that probably leans a little more pop friendly. A good song all on its own.

“Mr. Make Believe” is another unexpected song from Gene that works so well. With this album we are seeing a softer side of Gene that I am sure no one expected. This song is pieced together from two demos, one called “One More Chance” and the other “Mr. Make Believe”. They took the best of both and created a simply beautiful ballad. You get the verses from “One More Chance” and the chorus of “Mr. Make Believe”. Both are on ‘The Vault’. If you listen to this one, you can hear the early British pop influence on the song. One of his best.

Now we get a song we’ve heard before on a prior Kiss album called “See You in Your Dreams”. Gene wasn’t happy with the original version on ‘Rock & Roll Over’. The biggest difference on this is the backing vocals are the women from the Group with No Name who are Katy Sagal, Gordon Grody, Diva Gray, Franny Eisenberg and Carolyn Ray . The Kiss version rocks out a lot more and is better in my opinion so not sure a remake was necessary at all. Plus, the song gets a little too repetitive for my liking.

“Tonight You Belong to Me” comes at you with an acoustic guitar and Paul singing so lovely and softly in what you think is a ballad before the song explodes with a killer Kiss sounding riff and heavy drums and a full band with tempo sped up and Paul’s vocals just soaring. If you remember from earlier posts, Bob Kulick was the guitarist that auditioned for Kiss and was right before Ace came in and took the job. Bob is back on this song and actually does all the solos but one song on Stanley’s album. And he does brilliantly.

“Move On” keeps the party rolling with a song about a parent that is advising their child to move on and explore lots of women. With wonderful backing vocals by Diana Grasselli, Miriam Naomi Vale, and Maria Vidal, more slick work from Bob, the song is another rocker with a little soul vibe thrown in with those backing vocals.

“Hold Me, Touch Me” is a pretty sappy and sugary sweet song, almost enough to give you a cavity. A piano intro opens the song, Paul sings sweetly and the song is layered with orchestration. It is a little over the top, but it works just the same. Paul actually does all the guitar work on this one which isn’t a ton, mostly the solo. The heavy lifting comes from Doug Katsaros on the piano and string sounds with Craig Krampf on drums.

If you are a Kiss Collector, this is a must as you need to have at least one of every release they have done. I am getting closer to completing that quest. Only a handful more to go. I like the fact they give each member equal billing with 3 songs each and they are really all great songs, might not have been my choices, but good nonetheless. If you see this grab it, it is worth the dough. I got lucky and KissOnline.com was running a sale and it was only around $22 plus shipping. Can’t beat that. My Overall Score is 4.5 Out of 5.0 Stars as like I said, I might’ve picked some different tracks that better represent each member. Otherwise, it is perfect.

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	Andrew on Friday New Releases – Ju…
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	Friday New Releases… on Friday New Releases – Ju…

Tag: Peter Criss

Kiss -Alive! in Amityville: June 1973 – (2021) – Album Review

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The Bootleg Series:

Kiss – ‘Black Diamond: Lafayette Music Room, Memphis, TN April 18th, 1974 – FM Broadcast’ (Alternate Cover) – Album Review (The Bootleg Series)

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The Bootleg Series:

Kiss – ‘Destroyer: 45th Anniversary 2-LP Deluxe Edition (Colored Vinyl) (2021) – Album Review (The Kiss Review Series)

Kiss – ‘Destroyer: 45th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition’ (2021) – Box Set Review (The Kiss Review Series)

Kiss – ‘Kiss My Axe 1978’ (1981 Re-Issue) – Album Review (The Bootleg Series)

KISS-OPOLY

Kiss – “Calling Dr. Love” (1977) – 7″ Single – (The Kiss Review Series – Bonus Edition)

Kiss – “Christine Sixteen” – 7″ Single (The Kiss Review Series – Bonus Edition)

Kiss – “Beth” – 7″ Single (The Kiss Review Series)

Kiss – ‘Best of Solo Albums’ (1979) – Album Review (The Kiss Review Series)

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The Kiss Review Series:

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