Why Would I Listen to This? – Tommy Reviewing KISS Asylum Tour Off The Soundboard

Episode 617. Michael and Mark share their thoughts and review of the new KISS Off The Soundboard from the 1985 Asylum tour. It is great to finally have a live show with Bruce Kulick and Eric Carr. It is great to have the Asylum tour represented. We are glad to have purchased this release, but…

We only need to listen to this once and we are done. No return listens are needed. Why? Paul Stanley’s stage raps are cringeworthy. Four solos during the show, please NO! And for goodness sake, stop playing so damn fast! Slow down!

Tommy shows up right at the end and without any leading expresses the same thoughts as Michael and Mark… he actually said, “Why would I listen to this?”

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Songwriter RUSS BALLARD Praises KISS Rendition Of “God Gave Rock ‘N’ Roll To You” – “Perfect”

In a new video interview with music journalist Joel Gausten, legendary songwriter Russ Ballard (KISS, Argent, Rainbow, Ace Frehley, Santana) talks about his forthcoming album, Songs From The Warehouse / The Hits Rewired, and highlights from his decades-long career.

Ballard has had a long association with KISS, including writing two songs recorded by Ace Frehley and Peter Criss respectively. In 1991, KISS had a hit with its version of Ballard’s 1973 song “God Gave Rock ‘N’ Roll To You” (originally recorded by his former band Argent), as “God Gave Rock ‘N’ Roll to You II” with a faster tempo and slightly changed lyrics.

“I don’t honestly know Ace’s version (of ‘In The Night’),” Ballard reveals in the interview. “He called it ‘Into the Night’, didn’t he? I think I’ve heard it before. I don’t recall ever sitting down listening to it, but I like what I’ve heard of his stuff, what he does. (His version) worked for him, because I’ve seen it a lot around; I used to get Billboard, and it was all over the place. Same with Peter Criss; I’ve never heard very much. I know he did ‘Some Kinda Hurricane’, and he did ‘Let Me Rock You’.”

“I think what KISS did with ‘God Gave Rock ‘N’ Roll To You’ was perfect. I think the tempo is dead right, and (so was) changing the lyric. I made my first verse more spiritual, as it was ‘God Gave Rock ‘N’ Roll To You’. I used that ‘love your friend, love your neighbor’ idea at the front, and they used the thing about getting a guitar and (doing) the whole thing as a ‘rock’ thing, and it was perfect for them. It was right for them. The tempo was absolutely spot-on. For me, our one with Argent was too slow; it was draggy and laid back … but KISS got the groove into it, and I loved that.”

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‘I Remembered Watching Gene Be So Nervous About It’: Bruce Kulick Speaks Up on One of Kiss’ Most Polarizing Albums

If you’re a veteran rock act who issued albums over a near 50 year period, there are bound to be a few releases that proved to be more polarizing than others amongst fans. And Kiss certainly had a few of them, tops being 1981’s conceptual rock opera, “(Music From) The Elder” and 1997’s decidedly grungy “Carnival of Souls: The Final Sessions”.

But there is another album in their discography that is also met with a bit of resistance from their following: 1987’s “Crazy Nights”. And unlike the other aforementioned controversial albums, “Crazy Nights” was a hit: going platinum in both the US and Canada, and gold in the UK (where the album peaked at an impressive #4). Additionally, Kiss scored a smash hit single with the anthem “Crazy Crazy Nights” in the UK (which also peaked at #4).

But the sudden sweetening of Kiss’ sound with keyboards and some of the material sounding like it was written on the spot (particularly the lyrics to the Spinal Tap-esque “Bang Bang You“) has become quite apparent when listening back to the LP with “2025 ears”.

During an interview with Chaoszine, former Kiss guitarist Bruce Kulick discussed the “Crazy Nights” album. And explained which member was all for it, and which member wasn’t entirely comfortable with its direction.

“In contrast to ‘Asylum’, which seemed to be more self-produced, it was interesting to get [producer] Ron Nevison involved, who was very successful then,” Kulick said (transcribed by Ultimate Guitar). “He had hits with some big bands, and I know that Paul [Stanley] was very excited to work with him. Gene [Simmons], maybe not as much, but again, I was able to contribute some songs.”

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Bruce Kulick Expresses Frustration Over KISS Unplugged Coverage Focus

Former KISS guitarist Bruce Kulick shared his thoughts about the ‘KISS Unplugged’ performance in a recent interview with Chaoszine. His final major live performance with KISS was overshadowed by the reunion with original members Ace Frehley and Peter Criss.

“One thing that I always feel frustrated by was Eric Singer and myself with Gene and Paul and those performances were extra amazing but all the publicity and all the press was always about that Ace and Peter came out,” Kulick said. “They’re like 20% of the album, and I get the hype of it, but it’s not in relation to the musicianship or the songs or how many things we did that were just untouchable.”

“The truth is, the body of the concert that Eric and I did with them, I just think is amazing,” he continued. “And the fans know, but I know if you ever look at any of the publicity or the pres,s all it wants to talk about is the reunion. And that was my last big live gig with them. It’s kind of sad, of course.”

Kulick’s comments highlighted a pivotal moment in KISS’s history that changed the band’s trajectory in the mid-1990s.

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