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From: Blasting-Zone.com Ever make a decision early in your life that you later seriously regretted? I did…and it’s funny…it seems just like yesterday. I was eight years old, it was Saturday afternoon and I once again found myself standing in front of the discount cassette bin at my favorite local--and now long defunct--retailer. The decision? Which of the four KISS solo albums should I buy. Let me tell ya, I was totally stumped. There they were, all mixed in with a Bangles album I had never heard of, Johnny Horton’s Greatest Hits and most of Rush’s post-Moving Pictures releases. I was mortified, half convinced that I would make the "wrong" decision no matter which I chose. To make a long and painfully boring story short, I ended up buying Gene’s (the cover art finally won me over) and spent the rest of the weekend terrorizing my elderly neighbors. Now, twenty two improbably long years later, having had the apparently opportunity to spend the past month and a half relentlessly playing PAUL STANLEY’s long-awaited, sophomore solo effort Live To Win, I once again find myself wondering if I ultimately made the right decision. On the stellar Live To Win (2006), an expertly assembled ten song collection of brilliantly executed Hard Rock, each track, beginning with the blistering title track, and the slow-building (albeit impossibly passionate) "Lift", immediately commands the rapt and undivided attention of even the most jaded and unimaginative of listeners -- myself most definitely included -- with a seamless, mostly mid-tempo barrage of soaring vocals, searing fretwork and tastefully executed rhythms. Obviously under an overwhelmingly tremendous amount of pressure to overcome the stigma and mysticism undoubtedly associated with the past (this is, after all, the frontman’s first solo effort since his 1978 eponymous debut), Stanley quickly and efficiently dispenses with the business at hand, locking down on an airtight groove with the greatest of ease. Continuing with the electronica-fueled "Wake Up Screaming", and the thought-provoking "Bulletproof", Stanley and his band of not-so-merry men -- guitarists Corky James, Brad Fernquist, John 5, Tommy Denander and Andreas Carlsson, bassists Sean Hurley and BRUCE KULICK (!), drummer Victor Indrizzo and keyboardists Greg Kurstin and Zac Rae -- steamroll forward at what can only be described as a carefully calculated pace. Wisely avoiding the seemingly predictable, quasi-retro path so many wrongfully assumed Stanley would take, each track is delivered with a razor-sharp precision that easily exceeds even the most hopeful of expectations. Am I simply once again overstating my feelings and opinions? Absolutely not. Anyone who has ever questioned Stanley’s individual abilities will, without a doubt, be totally blown away. Personified throughout by an ear-pleasingly slick, high-gloss sheen and an impressively thought-provoking, emotion-laden lyrical stance, other standouts, including the bittersweet "It’s Not Me", and the maddeningly infectious closer "Where Angels Dare", offer a wealth of compelling further sonic evidence in support of Stanley’s already undeniably firm grasp on all things Rock ‘n’ Roll. Seriously…can you honestly think of anyone else capable of delivering such a cognitive effort thirty five years after releasing their first record? I didn’t think so. Easily the erstwhile KISS frontman’s most musically ambitious -- and thus overall satisfying -- effort since, well, Revenge (or perhaps Carnival Of Souls), one can only hope this is only the beginning of the former Mr. Eisen’s long-overdue return to the mainstream. Still waiting for the real Ace and Peter to come back for one last studio album? Sorry folks, it ain’t freakin’ happening. This -- for better or for worse -- is as good as it’s gonna get, at least for now. Fortunately for all parties involved, the majority (if not all) of the decidedly energetic wares contained herein Rock with an urgency that has been noticeably absent from Stanley’s otherwise pristine repertoire, a much-welcomed factor that instantly makes most of the ingenious Live To Win an absolute must-have for both die-hard "completeists" and curious newcomers alike. Thus, if you’ve once again found yourself longing (and yes, we certainly hope that you have) for user-friendly Hard Rock fix that won’t leave you disappointed, then this, my friends, might just be what the doctor ordered. Trust me, you won’t be disappointed. |
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