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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Dec 27, 2019 20:45:31 GMT
The earliest known footage of KISS appeared on YouTube yesterday:
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jan 4, 2020 4:35:45 GMT
Of all ways for Gene Simmons to make news:
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on May 16, 2020 13:29:46 GMT
An interesting article on "Kissin' Time":
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Post by Kapitan on May 16, 2020 14:03:52 GMT
There is a beautiful irony in reading complaints from Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley about tacky gimmicks used to make a buck.
Whatever they thought of it--or later claimed to have thought about it--I love this cover. Great example of how they actually were at their best as a melodic, hard rock and roll band, not a heavy metal band. (Not that they didn't have some fine metal moments.) The harmony singing in the refrain is golden, exuberantly done.
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Post by Kapitan on Jul 31, 2020 14:16:43 GMT
I see that Ace Frehley is set to release a new album of covers, Origins, Vol. 2, in September. It will be his fifth studio album since his 2009 return to action.
While I'm not a huge fan of covers albums (much less two within a few years), it is nice seeing him so active! In that same time frame, KISS has released two albums, and nothing since 2012. Conversely, this will be Ace's fourth release since 2012. The track list is:
Ace Frehley, 'Origins, Vol. 2' Track Listing 1. “Good Times, Bad Times” (Originally by Led Zeppelin) 2. “Never in My Life” (Originally by Mountain) 3. “Space Truckin’” (Originally by Deep Purple) 4. “I’m Down” (feat. John 5) (Originally by the Beatles) 5. “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” (feat. Lita Ford) (Originally by the Rolling Stones) 6. “Politician” (feat. John 5) (Originally by Cream) 7. “Lola” (Originally by the Kinks) 8. “30 Days in the Hole” (feat. Robin Zander) (Originally by Humble Pie) 9. “Manic Depression” (feat. Bruce Kulick) (Originally by the Jimi Hendrix Experience) 10. “Kicks” (Originally by Paul Revere and the Raiders) 11. “We Gotta Get Out of This Place” (Originally by the Animals) 12. “She” (Bonus track) (Originally by Kiss)
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jul 31, 2020 14:20:21 GMT
I see that Ace Frehley is set to release a new album of covers, Origins, Vol. 2, in September. It will be his fifth studio album since his 2009 return to action.
While I'm not a huge fan of covers albums (much less two within a few years), it is nice seeing him so active! In that same time frame, KISS has released two albums, and nothing since 2012. Conversely, this will be Ace's fourth release since 2012. The track list is:
Ace Frehley, 'Origins, Vol. 2' Track Listing 1. “Good Times, Bad Times” (Originally by Led Zeppelin) 2. “Never in My Life” (Originally by Mountain) 3. “Space Truckin’” (Originally by Deep Purple) 4. “I’m Down” (feat. John 5) (Originally by the Beatles) 5. “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” (feat. Lita Ford) (Originally by the Rolling Stones) 6. “Politician” (feat. John 5) (Originally by Cream) 7. “Lola” (Originally by the Kinks) 8. “30 Days in the Hole” (feat. Robin Zander) (Originally by Humble Pie) 9. “Manic Depression” (feat. Bruce Kulick) (Originally by the Jimi Hendrix Experience) 10. “Kicks” (Originally by Paul Revere and the Raiders) 11. “We Gotta Get Out of This Place” (Originally by the Animals) 12. “She” (Bonus track) (Originally by Kiss)
Ace is turning into a reg'lar Mike Love! I'm not familiar with Ace's solo albums or specifically his first covers' album, but I do like the tracklist on this new one. co
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Post by Kapitan on Jul 31, 2020 14:22:12 GMT
Origins, Vol. 1 track list below. (Copied from Wiki, didn't clean up formatting issues in copy/paste. Forgive the awkward presentation!)
Track listing No. Title Writer(s) Original artist/arranger Length 1. "White Room" Jack Bruce, Pete Brown Cream 5:04 2. "Street Fighting Man" Mick Jagger, Keith Richards The Rolling Stones 4:01 3. "Spanish Castle Magic" (featuring John 5) Jimi Hendrix The Jimi Hendrix Experience 3:35 4. "Fire and Water" (featuring Paul Stanley) Andy Fraser, Paul Rodgers Free 4:11 5. "Emerald" (featuring Slash) Phil Lynott, Brian Robertson, Brian Downey, Scott Gorham Thin Lizzy 4:29 6. "Bring It On Home" Willie Dixon Led Zeppelin 4:26 7. "Wild Thing" (featuring Lita Ford) Chip Taylor The Troggs 3:45 8. "Parasite" (featuring John 5) Frehley Kiss 4:03 9. "Magic Carpet Ride" Rushton Moreve, John Kay Steppenwolf 3:43 10. "Cold Gin" (featuring Mike McCready) Frehley Kiss 5:18 11. "Till the End of the Day" Ray Davies The Kinks 2:27 12. "Rock and Roll Hell" Gene Simmons, Bryan Adams, Jim Vallance Kiss 6:31
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Post by Kapitan on Jul 31, 2020 15:18:11 GMT
I'm not familiar with Ace's solo albums or specifically his first covers' album I should comment on that part of your post, too, SJS: honestly you don't need to check out Ace's solo albums, imo--and especially not these latter ones. The best one--and I don't think many, if any, Ace fans would dispute this much--was his "KISS" solo album.
Even that probably has a bit of an inflated reputation, probably because it was like if George Harrison suddenly outperformed both Paul and John when he was finally given the chance: his album was widely seen as the best of the four. But it's still firmly in "good album" territory, not great or classic overall. If it were a KISS album, I'd probably rank it somewhere in the 7th to 12th best overall range. But it does have some really good songs, including the hit cover of "New York Groove."
Other than that, these are the songs I think are best. One full-on Ace classic rocker (Rip It Out) and one underrated pop-rock gem (What's On Your Mind).
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Post by Kapitan on Aug 22, 2020 22:37:47 GMT
I just stumbled across a really interesting comment from Gene Simmons, made upon the September 1978 release of the KISS solo albums. As part of an interview for his album, he says that while that was the first time they'd taken time off, in that time they did four solo albums plus a new KISS double album of all original material, due "next summer" (e.g. summer 1979).
The next KISS album, of course, was Dynasty, released just before "summer 1979" (in May '79), but consisting of only nine songs, one of which was a Stones cover.
Does anyone know whether there was a trove of material recorded around then that simply never saw light of day? Or was this just the sort of lie (or at least optimistic, premature "announcement") musicians seem to regularly spout?
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Post by Kapitan on Aug 23, 2020 20:27:00 GMT
I cannot find anything to support Simmons' aforementioned statement about a double album of all-new material coming due instead of Dynasty. (And to be clear, this isn't including solo album content; at their release, he's saying there will STILL be that double album.)
But there seems to be literally nothing to it. He might have thought he was telling the truth, but they don't seem to have been sitting on some treasure trove of recorded material. I even checked out some boots and such for hints there was a lot of extra stuff (i.e., their version of the Beach Boys' circa 1969-71). But nope.
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Post by Kapitan on Aug 25, 2020 18:21:50 GMT
The past few days, while doing some evening chores, cooking, etc., I've had Gene Simmons' autobiography playing in the background (which is on YouTube, read by Gene himself).
It's neither particularly good nor bad, but it's fine for what it is. The reason I'm writing is, there have been at least half a dozen times where he said this specific sentence: "Ace did nothing."
Fictional but typical example, "I met with the promoter to discuss details; Paul and Peter put up flyers around town. Ace did nothing."
I laughed so hard at this sentence being repeated verbatim. It makes me both love Ace and feel for Gene and Paul. As lovable as Ace seems, he would have been a terrible bandmate. The similarities to the Beach Boys are so easy to spot, with business-minded, generally sober, but often assholeish guys trying to coexist with talented, artistic, but wholly wild and undependable band members. The romantic wants to favor the latter, but it's easy to say that when you're not on the hook for their lack of sense or work ethic.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Nov 22, 2020 22:24:34 GMT
Happy New Year's Eve announcement from KISS:
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Post by Kapitan on Dec 17, 2020 18:57:19 GMT
Not sure if this is the proper place for this post, but did Brian Wilson play "I Was Made For Lovin' You" years earlier? I saw this guy commenting the other day that at 1:08 of this video Brian played a very similar (if not the exact same) melody to this KISS song. Check it out: ... And I'm not saying it's plagiarism, since KISS probably didn't have access to this tape it might have been just a weird coincidence (or is this a common progression? idk). Wow, that is remarkable. The figure itself isn't anything odd: it just walks up and down the first five notes of a minor scale. But the phrasing and repetition of the highest note is quite a coincidence.
And I do think it's a coincidence, just because the song was written in New York by Paul Stanley, Desmond Child, and Vini Poncia in the late '70s. As far as I know, none was a Beach Boys fan and all were based in the northeast through that time period. Plus, from what I understand, Smile boots were pretty rare--especially session boots, which I'm not even sure were around at all--in the late '70s, so it seems hard to imagine they'd have the chance to take it.
That said, if anyone in that trio had the chance and interest, it might have been Poncia. He had been a professional songwriter as well as musician and producer going back into the '60s, with songs recorded by the Ronettes and Darlene Love, and he worked with producer Richard Perry, and co-wrote with Ringo Starr and Leo Sayer. That is at least roughly the generations and universe of people who could've had access to Wilson's tapes, and I could imagine Poncia as a fan considering he was in that world.
But it's probably just more likely that both Brian Wilson and, 10 years later, someone between Stanley, Child, and Poncia fiddled up and down a minor scale and found that melody.
The best bet
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Post by Kapitan on Dec 17, 2020 23:31:04 GMT
Happy New Year's Eve announcement from KISS:
Manager Doc McGhee says they'll be breaking records: most pyro ever, largest stage, most cameras ... "the stage is insane."
Note: McGhee is a pottymouth! (I don't mind, I can relate. But my gosh. My mom would've threatened to put a bar of soap in his mouth.)
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Post by Kapitan on Dec 21, 2020 20:57:01 GMT
I'm listening to early Kiss albums (pre-Dynasty) because, as ongoing practice to get my hands back in working order on instruments and learning my new recording software better, I'm going to translate an older country-esque song of mine into Kiss-style hard rock and roll. I'm hoping to imitate the the hooky melodicism, the moderate heaviness, and the slight groove they brought in those years (though of course the raw material probably isn't up to the task). But trying to think like someone else is harder than I'd have guessed, to say nothing of the fact that I'm still only a few days in to playing guitar and bass after a few years off.
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