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Post by The Cap'n on Feb 1, 2019 10:57:43 GMT -5
Because I happen to have one playing as I work from home--posting here is "working," right? (and folks, this is one reason some of us don't post under our full real names...)--I was curious. For those of you who like KISS music, which is your favorite album and why? I think there's usually a roughly agreed-upon sweet spot of roughly 1975 through 1978 or so, but there are several really good ones within and outside of that time frame.
Make known and defend your choices.
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Post by kds on Feb 1, 2019 11:52:40 GMT -5
Because I happen to have one playing as I work from home--posting here is "working," right? (and folks, this is one reason some of us don't post under our full real names...)--I was curious. For those of you who like KISS music, which is your favorite album and why? I think there's usually a roughly agreed-upon sweet spot of roughly 1975 through 1978 or so, but there are several really good ones within and outside of that time frame.
Make known and defend your choices.
That's a very difficult choice, as I think even their classic albums tend to have some faults. But, I suppose I'd go with Destroyer, the obvious pick. Detroit Rock City is my all time favorite KISS song, and what an opener. Plus, you have one of Gene's best moments in God of Thunder, and as a fan of light and shade, I like how the rockers mix with Great Expectations and Beth. But, I have to say, the s/t debut, Rock and Roll All Over, and Love Gun (terrible cover of Then He Kissed Me notwithstanding) really give it a run. Post classic period, Creatures is great hard rock album. I have a soft spot for the very late 80s Crazy Nights. I think Revenge is their last really consistent album. Psycho Circus was overall disappointing IMO. I thought Sonic Boom was pretty "paint by numbers," and I never listened to Monster.
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Post by The Cap'n on Feb 1, 2019 16:04:19 GMT -5
I've got to say Love Gun. It's certainly got my favorite opener of theirs, "I Stole Your Love," and is maybe the most tuneful of their albums overall. It also plods less than some of their earlier albums' songs so that they sound exciting even on the album, not just in a live setting. The production is good, a nice balance between the super basic of some of their early albums and the probably overdone Ezrin stuff. Mostly just a live-sounding rock band, but a little acoustic guitar here, some decent harmony vocals there.
I even like "Then She Kissed Me."
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Post by Deleted on Feb 1, 2019 17:13:26 GMT -5
My favorite KISS album is probably their debut album, but Dressed To Kill isn't far behind.
I think the first album defined their sound, their "personalities" if you will, and includes their best batch of songs. "Deuce", "Strutter", "Cold Gin", "Firehouse", and "Black Diamond" are hard to beat IMO. Some of the future live recordings make them sound a little tame, but the songwriting and singing/musicianship still shines through.
Dressed To Kill, while charting higher than the first two albums, always felt like a dark horse to me. It came out with little or no fan fair, didn't receive a lot of press, but it was just the kind of KISS album I liked - nuts and bolts KISS, three-minute rockers, no special effects. Oddly enough, "Rock And Roll All Nite" wasn't among my favorites; I preferred "Room Service", "C'mon And Love Me", "She", "Getaway", and "Ladies In Waiting".
Those are my two favorite KISS albums, but if I had to rank them, it would be very, very close. It wouldn't be clear cut.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 9, 2019 16:42:29 GMT -5
Standing on a corner, suitcase in my hand...
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Post by The Cap'n on Feb 9, 2019 17:02:26 GMT -5
I see none of you KISS fans have mentioned Music from "The Elder". I haven't listened to it yet but a friend recently recommended it to me, claiming to be an underrated album. You know what, it was one of my favorites when I was in high school. Its reputation is terrible, and that's somewhat earned. It is a pretentious album, but coming from an almost entirely, almost proudly lowbrow band like KISS, it was just totally unbelievable: people who might have liked the album would reject it from KISS; people who liked KISS would reject it as the polar opposite of everything the band stood for.
But while I was a KISS fan, I was also a fantasy-friendly geek to some extent. (I mean, I didn't play D&D ... but I did play a Middle Earth-focused variant. And I don't think that's helping my position.) So maybe it was just at the right time for me, as I was somewhat growing out of the simplest KISS rawk but moving into admittedly more complex but still absurd things like Freddie Mercury's Barcelona or, well, The Elder.
Some large percentage of KISS fans probably chuckle at the thought of Paul Stanley's falsetto "I am just a boy... ," the faux medieval woodwinds of "Fanfare," the pomp of "The Oath," "Odyssey," and "I," but I loved it all.
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Post by kds on Feb 9, 2019 23:10:53 GMT -5
I much prefer the hard rock and metal of the 70's up to about 1985, but my go-to hard rock act is always vintage Foreigner, who obviously morphed into something else in the 80's. I'd say that lyrically they're neck and neck with KISS for big dumb teen-oriented sexist lyrics. Killer riffs too, and Lou Gramm was an amazing vocalist in his day. I'm a big fan of the late 70s / early 80s AOR movement, and Foreigner was one of the best of those bands.
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Post by Wicked Lester on Feb 10, 2019 3:08:31 GMT -5
I see none of you KISS fans have mentioned Music from "The Elder". I haven't listened to it yet but a friend recently recommended it to me, claiming to be an underrated album. I'd say it contains some of the best stuff the band ever did. People just didn't want that kind of music from KISS back in '81.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 16, 2019 18:09:20 GMT -5
Nothing's for free, nothing's for free, take it away boys...
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Post by The Cap'n on Feb 16, 2019 18:35:33 GMT -5
Not a band I could ever enjoy.
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Post by kds on Feb 17, 2019 16:05:47 GMT -5
Nothing's for free, nothing's for free, take it away boys...
I actually didnt much care for STP until this album was released. I feel like this is around the time they stopped trying so hard to sound like a grunge band, and Scott Weiland dropped the "yarling" and found his own voice.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 17, 2019 18:53:35 GMT -5
An MTV favorite from the 90's...Want you coocoo cannonball.
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Post by kds on Feb 19, 2019 13:45:33 GMT -5
Getting a little alternative in here.
In honor of the master's birthday, here's the song that started it all
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Post by The Cap'n on Feb 19, 2019 13:58:06 GMT -5
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Post by kds on Feb 19, 2019 14:12:55 GMT -5
I'll probably check out the movie at some point. Though, I imagine the movie will be like Mr. Roger's Neighborhood compared to the book.
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Post by The Cap'n on Feb 22, 2019 11:41:29 GMT -5
KDS, I was perusing upcoming albums and saw new stuff on the way from Sammy Hagar's new band, LA Guns, Whitesnake, Motley Crue (soundtrack), Queensryche, Tesla, plus convincing reports of new AC/DC and (less convincing) rumors of GnR. Is this your dream coming true or what!?
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Post by kds on Feb 22, 2019 11:47:00 GMT -5
KDS, I was perusing upcoming albums and saw new stuff on the way from Sammy Hagar's new band, LA Guns, Whitesnake, Motley Crue (soundtrack), Queensryche, Tesla, plus convincing reports of new AC/DC and (less convincing) rumors of GnR. Is this your dream coming true or what!? Certainly more promising than most years. Although, to be honest, I haven't really checked out any new Queensryche in awhile. I've heard they've actually improved since Geoff Tate's exit. I actually believe that since Tate seemed to be the one behind taking them away from hard rock / heavy metal territory. But, I just haven't checked it out. I'm looking forward to Hagar's new release, which features Michael Anthony and Jason Bonham. Whitesnake's last album of original material, 2011's Forevermore, was a very strong release. So, I'll be interested to see what they have in store this time around.
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Post by The Cap'n on Feb 22, 2019 12:38:42 GMT -5
While I haven't kept up on their material, I've always had a soft spot for Whitesnake (regardless of era, going back to the post-Purple version). I also usually get a kick out of David Coverdale's interviews: pretty smart and charismatic conversationalist, and a guy who doesn't take things too seriously.
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Post by kds on Feb 22, 2019 13:01:33 GMT -5
While I haven't kept up on their material, I've always had a soft spot for Whitesnake (regardless of era, going back to the post-Purple version). I also usually get a kick out of David Coverdale's interviews: pretty smart and charismatic conversationalist, and a guy who doesn't take things too seriously. I think Whitesnake, like many bands, are unfairly pigeonholed as a "hair metal" band, thanks to their 1987 John Kalodner makeover, which saw their bluesy 1982 ballad Here I Go Again transformed into a 1987 full on power ballad, complete with a sexy video on MTV. Their 2000s reformation is proof that there's far more to Whitesnake than power ballads and hot chicks dancing on Jaguars.
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Post by The Cap'n on Feb 22, 2019 13:07:34 GMT -5
Even s/t and Slip of the Tongue were really good records, I thought (and still think). Far above the musicianship of a lot of the trash of the era. Yes, they were awfully Zeppeliny and the look was of the times. But there was good stuff.
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Post by kds on Feb 22, 2019 13:11:07 GMT -5
Even s/t and Slip of the Tongue were really good records, I thought (and still think). Far above the musicianship of a lot of the trash of the era. Yes, they were awfully Zeppeliny and the look was of the times. But there was good stuff. Yeah, they were good albums, the 1987 s/t album in particular with John Sykes, Neil Murray, and Aynsley Dunbar in the band (a pity that lineup never toured). I also thought the Zeppelin comparisons were way overblown (especially these days with the likes of total copycat band Greta Van Fleet). Sure, Coverdale hit some Plant-esque notes, but I think he's got a distinctly different voice.
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Post by The Cap'n on Feb 22, 2019 13:14:27 GMT -5
Overblown, maybe, but not totally unwarranted. I mean, "Still of the Night"... But nothing compares to the copycatting of Greta Van Fleet, that's for sure. I recall when a co-worker of mine introduced me to them after their first EP, maybe? He was thinking I might get a kick out of them. It was fine--nothing awful about it by any means--but mostly I just thought "those kids seem like they're a great Zep cover band."
Whitesnake had some awful luck, or maybe just poor chemistry, with lineups. First as you mention that s/t lineup doesn't ever tour. Then they do the next lineup and Vandenberg isn't even able to play on the album. Coverdale seemed to go through lineups awfully quick in those days, especially on guitar. It's more stable now, I think, isn't it?
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Post by kds on Feb 22, 2019 13:26:30 GMT -5
Overblown, maybe, but not totally unwarranted. I mean, "Still of the Night"... But nothing compares to the copycatting of Greta Van Fleet, that's for sure. I recall when a co-worker of mine introduced me to them after their first EP, maybe? He was thinking I might get a kick out of them. It was fine--nothing awful about it by any means--but mostly I just thought "those kids seem like they're a great Zep cover band."
Whitesnake had some awful luck, or maybe just poor chemistry, with lineups. First as you mention that s/t lineup doesn't ever tour. Then they do the next lineup and Vandenberg isn't even able to play on the album. Coverdale seemed to go through lineups awfully quick in those days, especially on guitar. It's more stable now, I think, isn't it?
The current lineup is a little more stable, but he still switches guitarists a bit, not as often as the late 80s. Reb Beach has been a pretty consistent part of Whitesnake. Doug Aldrich (formerly of Dio) was there for a few years, but has been replaced by Joel Hoekstra (who played with a later version of Night Ranger). At the end of the day, it's still very much DC's band.
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Post by The Cap'n on Feb 22, 2019 16:02:34 GMT -5
Hoekstra is DC's co-writer now, isn't he? I recall hearing DC in an interview maybe at the reissue of s/t or something talking about him in that capacity.
Speaking of interviews and the style in question, I just listened today to a not-too-old interview with Tom Werman, who somehow had mostly fallen off my radar despite having produced a lot of albums I loved back then, including from Cheap Trick, Twisted Sister, Dokken, Poison, Motley, LA Guns, and many others.
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Post by The Cap'n on Feb 22, 2019 16:12:27 GMT -5
Their 2000s reformation is proof that there's far more to Whitesnake than power ballads and hot chicks dancing on Jaguars. Well, I just watched their new video and apparently they're not quite done with the girls on cars idea...
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