Ok everybody, I just got back from a secret place (sorry, can't divulge who, what or where -- I'm sworn to secrecy) where I listened to an advance tape of Psycho Circus about 3 times. I took some notes on each song, a quick review, if you will. Granted, these are first impressions, and may change over the next few months as I hear it a few more times (I've been promised more listenings). Here we go. First, a few points to mention:
IS PETER DRUMMING ON THIS ALBUM??:
The jury is still out on this one for me. It's not Anton fig, It's not Eric Singer, so if they got someone else, they do a good job of keeping it basic. Actually, some of it sounds like Carr. There is nothing overly "Peter-like" on it, but I don't hear much that he CAN'T do either -- in other words, there's no blistering metal drumming on it, just straight ahead, solid playing, minimal fills, etc. My gut tells me that if Peter plays on only a few songs, one HAS to be "Into The Void," the ACE song. That sounds the most like Peter, with Strutter type fills, etc. The rest is a mystery to me. I'm stumped for now.
THE PRODUCTION:
Not real raw, but not overly slick either. Anyone fearing the super gloss Fairbairn sound with horns etc, need not worry. It's a pretty loud, solid, well recorded album with the guitars pretty up front. I'm pretty happy with it.
THE SONGWRITING:
Is it classic KISS???? Well, sort of. It's more classic KISS sounding than anything since probably the 4 songs on Killers. It has alot on it as far as styles. You will be surprised, especially at Gene, no "Dr. Love's," no sex songs-period. The lyrics are about the band themselves, the fans, togetherness, rock & roll, all done tastefully without being depressing or cliche. Overall, it's a hard ROCK album, with the emphasis on MELODIES (something sorely lacking lately). Lots of 2 part vocals, good basic guitar riffs, good arrangements with lots of left turns, etc. It's no Rock & Roll Over.....but i reaaly wasn't expecting it to blow me away and sound EXACTLY like old KISS in every way, because it can't be duplicated. If the Beatles reformed in 1998 with a still alive Lennon, it would not sound like Sgt.Pepper. It would be good, and it would be better than the various side projects, but the magic of the old days is the fact that it can't be duplicated, and that's what makes it so magical-it only happened once. BUT, that doesn't mean that the original band can't make some great music later on too. Just don't expect an exact duplicate. If the chemistry is there, the rest falls into place. And it does on Psycho Circus, for the most part.
THE SONGS:
PSYCHO CIRCUS: WOW! Real strong verses! Paul sings. A good strong vocal from him. A great riff drives this song with a tempo similar to Deuce/Take it Off, very Paul solo Lp-ish in style. The chorus is not a catchy one, it's more powerful and driving. I predict this will be the opening song to the new tour "Welcome to the show, etc" The pre-solo sounds like "Elected" from Alice Cooper, very cool. Cool fretboard pick slides from Ace, a cool double harmony lead part. A standout track. Blows the pi$$ out of "Jungle."
WITHIN: Throwaway number one for me. Starts with backwards guitars into a downtuned, Bruce (COS) styled riff, slow, plodding, boring, etc. Totally does not fit in with the vibe of the rest of the lp. The only heavy Gene song on the album, but just not a good one. This sounds like something from COS. I'm going to guess this is a collaboration with another writer. If they recorded 20 songs, and this made it, well, I'm perplexed. Sounds like Ace was playing cards again for this song, because there's NO sign of him around, unless he is trying really hard on this to be modern sounding (cool backwards guitar parts though).
I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE STATE OF R&R: Now this is more like it. Cool straight ahead rocker, catchy chorus, great power chording from Ace. Cool call and response vocals/guitar licks between Paul & Ace.
INTO THE VOID: This is the most classic sounding KISS song on here (surprised???), and it comes from Ace. The verse melodies are lifted from "Mr. Blackwell," but this is more rocking. I'd bet this is Peter on drums here for sure. If he plays anything on this album-this is it. Good strong vox from Ace.
WE ARE ONE: Gene in solo LP voice. Very different, pleasant, melodic, kinda has an Oasis vibe to it. Maybe a little too commercial in a way, but it doesn't get too generic. Acoustic guitars drive the verses, a very breezy, melodic nice song. Hard to explain.
YOU WANTED THE BEST: A Ballroom Blitz/Kickstart My Heart type of drum beat behind it. GREAT verse trade-offs between all 4 guys -- Peter sounds really cool on this. A real uptemo rocker, and a GREAT VINTAGE solo from Ace that rips! Classic KISS style.
RAISE YOUR GLASSES: Paul sings. Real good verses, but I hate the chorus. Too Bon Jovi-ish. It sounds like a Pepsi commercial. Cool melodic solo from Ace, Unmasked/Killers styled verses, but a dreadful chorus. Oh well.
I FINALLY FOUND MY WAY: Peter's ballad, and a real good one too. Beautiful song with GREAT bridges with Peter & Paul (sorry, no Mary) singing together-going up to falsettos, really nice. The metalheads will despise this. I think it's kinda Lennon-esque.
DREAMIN': Paul sings. Good verses, kinda like Killers type material meets his solo LP. Not crazy about the opening guitar riff, too middle-eastern like -- not bad, but could be stronger.
JOURNEY OF 1,000 YEARS: Gene in Solo LP/Destroyer mode yet again, which I like. Those looking for the evil demon will not get it on this album. He's really delved into his Beatle-esque side on this album, with emphasis on clean vocals and strong melodies. This song is no different, strings, kinda has a marching drum going in the back, very experimental. GREAT, great bridges sung with Paul, an excellent song.
Well, that's my song by song analysis. My overall feeling is that I'm very happy with this album -- it could have been a grungy 90's trendy mess, it could have been a dreadfully cliche sex romp album -- it's niether. It's just a pretty strong, straight ahead ROCK album with the emphasis on melodies and in your face guitars on the rockers. Lets get one thing out of the way: They will never top the 70s material, even with the originals back again. BUT, this is the most enjoyable KISS album I've heard since like 1981. It's not a pure, 70s sounding album, which kinda bums me out. I'd like to see it done on Analog tape which gives it a warmth, but this is still a good sounding album. Considering my disenchantment with alot of the 80s material and the dreadful (in my eyes) COS, this album is a godsend. Are there flaws? Sure. I'd change a few things, but I think that with all things considered (Bruce Fairbairn), it could have been a complete disaster. I will give it a preliminary rating of ***1/2 stars out of 4. Keep in mind that nothing past Love Gun gets 4 stars from me, so I'm tough on KISS. If I find out Peter doesn't play on this album, not only will my rating drop, and it will confirm that Love Gun is the last true blue KISS album, but I might consider a lawsuit against the band for mental anguish and false advertising! Thanks for reading.
PS-I DON'T have a copy, so please, no 300 E-mails asking me for it, OK? Thanks.
PART II
Well, I've had the chance to hear the album in it's entirety again 4 more times over the last 2 days(and probably wont hear it again until it comes out, or a bootleg surfaces), and I have some backpedaling to do on my initial review after REALLY listening to the album after the initial novelty wore off. Ok, here it goes:
I DON'T THINK PETER PLAYS ON THIS ALBUM EXCEPT FOR "INTO THE VOID", THE ACE TRACK.
After closely scrutinizing the drumming, and really paying attention to the fills, style, etc, I think Into The Void is the only song that sounds like Peter. The fills are reminicent of what he did on the last tour(especially going into the choruses), and it's a different drum sound that the rest of the album too. I just have a gut feeling about this. PLUS, I just heard some info from a few reliable sources that the drums are actually a guy named Kevin Valentine...who used to be in Donnie Iris' band back in the early 80s(KingCool at AOL can fill you in on this guy), and he was in Cinderella for about 10 minutes after Fred Coury left . I am hearing that he is on this record, and that Peter MAY be on a song or 2, (Into The Void IMO). After hearing this and listening to the record again, I think I might believe this. :-( Strike #1.......
ACE FREHLEY GETS THE SHAFT ON PSYCHO CIRCUS:
There is just quite simply, NOT enough of Ace on this album-PERIOD. There are 5 songs right off the bat that have no real signs of Ace(Within, We Are One, Dreamin' Finally Found My way and Journey Of 1,000 Years). The guitar work on alot of the album does not have that signature "Les Paul straight into a Marshall" raw Ace sound on it. Into The Void does, YWTB, Pledge Allegiance, and maybe the title track have the most Ace in it. Everything else kinda has an 80's guitar tone to it. I blame this on Fairbairn. I think he overprocessed the guitars to the point of making them sound like an 80s Bon Jovi guitar sound on some of this stuff. This is what this album is SORELY LACKING is having the songs driven by Ace. There are alot of open spaces in songs where some of his signature licks would have been perfect, but it's not there. During alot of the verses, it's just chugging, but not alot of the
power riffs that Ace is known for. Who decided this??? I'm sure Ace would have loved to rip a bit more on it, but did Fairbairn tame him??? This is what REALLY keeps Psycho Circus from sounding like the classic, all out raw KISS album we/I had all hoped for. Without Ace's unique tone, alot of this material just sounds like a beefier 80s KISS ala Crazy Nights(only because of the overy commercial type choruses like Raise Your Glasses). Which leads me to......
BRUCE FAIRBAIRN DOES NOT KNOW WHAT KISS SHOULD BE:
We do-the FANS! Fairbairn I believe has stripped away alot of the individual personalities of each member on this album by taming Ace, and (rumor has it) replacing Peter. I think that him, plus maybe Polygram wanted alot of commercial type songs on here, and that's evident with a few songs. I think these big name producers and companies are looking for PRODUCT, and they aren't really concerned with ART. Units have to be moved, and in order to do that, the album must be played perfectly(session guys), and has to have a few hits on it. I'm surprised PC is the first single, because that's a pretty strong song, not overly commercial, and I wouldn't think Poly would choose that first. And as far as perfection goes, well, Appetite For Destruction is sloppy, but kick a$$ rock album, and it sold ALOT of copies, so maybe realness and a little recklessness is what helps make great rock & roll, at least IMO. That's why albums like DTKill and R&R Over are really great ROCK albums.....a little reckless, raw, unpolished, but REAL. The more I listen to PC, I wish that the band would have just produced themselves, and invited a bunch of KISS fans that have been fans for 15+ years(only because I think long term fans have more of a feel for the old sound and what it entails since they grew up on the material) down to the studio to preview tracks, and LISTEN to OUR feedback, not some producer guy who didn't care less about KISS until they contacted him last year. If we were in the studio, we could give them ideas on how to make a classic KISS album better than just about anyone, I think.
THERE ARE GOOD SONGS ON PC, BUT IF IT ISN'T ALL 4 GUYS ON AT LEAST 80% OF IT, I"M STILL WAITING FOR THE "REAL" KISS REUNION ALBUM:
Yes, i know that Destroyer had a non Ace solo on it, Dynasty had no Peter, etc. But IMO, the last real KISS studio Lp was Love Gun, and before that, 90% of the albums were all 4 members. This is classic KISS...this is the band, the sound that MADE them what they are, and this is what we want again....sloppy or not. There's also not enough of Peter or Ace in the background vocals at all. It's just G&P, or gang vocals. You see, it's little touches
like this that really count. Now I'm also hearing that Gene didn't play bass on most of PC because he was too busy working on merchandising deals, and guess who supposedly did the bass work....BRUCE! Now, again, this is second hand news, unconfirmed, but from formerly reliable sources, so I'm a bit worried now to say the least, coupled with the no Peter on the album news as well. I'm starting to really feel disillusioned with it all.....I like some of the songs on PC, I think the single is awesome, but man, are they all ON IT????? is this Milli vanilli??? is this what we've waited for for 18+ years?? This just ain't another KISS record where it doesn't matter who plays on it-this is supposed to be the REUNION ALBUM. Something just a tad bit more special than your run of the mill KISS album. I'm not a hypocrite, so I'm not going to say now I don't like some of the songs if it's not all of them on it, BUT, i don't consider this the TRUE KISS reunion LP we all wanted and waited for. My initial novelty of hearing it has worn off, and REALITY has set in, and I'm just a bit bummed out! Everyone on here who knows me knows that I'm honest with my opinions, so even though this is what I've been waiting for(a KISS reunion LP), if it isn't REALLY what I wanted from them, I'm not going to shy away from saying so. I'm an equal opportunity
complainer!!. Don't get me wrong, i think there's some great stuff on here, and I don't take that back, but OVERALL, upon repeated listenings, it's hitting me that there's no Makin Love, no Deuce, no Love Em Leave Em, no pure, animal, energetic, in your face old style rock & roll on Psycho Circus, and that bugs me. Sure, there's a few good rockers like the title track, State Of R&R, YWTB, Void, but overall, i think it shouId be rawer. I think again the big downfall is that Ace, and his solos take a backseat on this album, and that's a BIG mistake. When you hear him rip on YWTB on this album, or on Into The Void, you'll wonder why the rest of the album isn't like that.
MY RE-ASSESSMENT OF THE ALBUM:
Song by song, I'd like to give my overall rating: *-not great ****-awesome
Psycho Circus ****(cool Destroyer-styled solo)
Within*1/2(No Ace here)
I Pledge Allegiance To The State Of R&R***(cool rocker)
Into the Void***1/2(Could this be the only song with all 4? The most "70s KISS" sounding track on PC)
We Are One**1/2(ok, not great. Great Gene vocals, but real comercial)
You Wanted The Best***(a RIPPING Ace solo on here)
Raise Your Glasses**(for the verses....the chorus is Crazy Nights/Bon jovi....ugh)
I Finally Found My Way**1/2(I like this...it's wimpy, but it's OK.)
Dreamin'**1/2(Sounds like something from Killers/HITS....I don't think Ace is on this either, except MAYBE the solo)
Journey Of 1,000 Years***1/2(cool Elder/Destroyer?Gene solo vibe, but where's Ace again???)
OVERALL ALBUM RATING..........
as just a regular KISS album, like something from the 80s, etc, I'd give it ***, maybe ***1/2 stars. As something we've waited 18 years for, well, i'd have to say ** or **1/2 stars. It's not so much that I'm dissapointed in WHAT IT IS, as much as I'm dissapointed in WHAT IT COULD HAVE BEEN. Now I realise I back-pedaled on somethings from my 1st review, but keep in mind, I have now heard the album like 7 times, and I paid alot of attention to DETAILS these last few times, and now I'm able to really give a more well rounded view on it. With that being said, I do think alot of the older fans WILL dig it, as well as anyone who likes the 80s stuff too. I think anyone who was looking for or enjoyed the COS direction will be very dissapointed in this album. I also think that anyone who was really looking for a raw, uncompromising 70s styled album with alot of Ace on it will be not neccasarily dissapointed, but maybe a bit let down, like myself. I think I'm going to like seeing some of this stuff played LIVE by the originals this year more than I like the album versions.. Well, I'm done rambling......sorry if my change of heart on some issues upsets anyone, but i have to be honest on this....
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