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Easyhouse

So here we have one of those songs from the so-called Kiss trinity sanctified by some fan collegueges, or something like that, which of course means the hard core and purest essence of the very earliest Kiss Klassiks, and should therefore be formed around Deuce, Strutter and… Firehouse?

Well, I didn't come up with Firehouse, and such an approach as mentioned above should not be entirely unintelligible to me, even if another song would make at least as much sense, also charged with a whole lot more of heart energy.

But why not, because Firehouse certainly contains the very essence of a klassik Kiss rip, just take a sacred look at its intro and, in direct comparison, please take a look at the intro to Making It Easy (1973) by The Raspberries. And yes, sacred Paul did indeed make it very easy for himself with the intro this time.

A little too easy, even for my taste. Personally, I like Firehouse a lot, but I still think that Cold Gin, written by Ace during a subway ride, is the more sensitive and, above all, more democratic option.

Surely the trinity thing couldn't have come from an Ace fan.

Firehouse (1974)

Making It Easy (1973)

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Backside Friends

Oh right, I Will be There (1997) is also still around.

I'm genuinely sorry that I have withdrawn my attention from this song all this time, because you have to know, if I had a consistent Paul Stanley top-whatever list of my favorite Kiss kompositions, this song would be included without any question. And I can hardly say anything else about Bruce's absolutely outstanding solo (1).

So, whenever this gorgeous song is mentioned in fan circles, wherever they happen, it is always and above all briefly pointed out that this is just the Kiss version of a classic acoustic Led Zeppelin ballad. It goes without saying that any reference to which Led Zeppelin song exactly it might be is just as persistently omitted.

If we can even speak of a single song at all, if not three, whereas one of those may be a Humble Pie song anyway. Just to help out a little. But while I'm at it, I might as well carry on, because Humble Pie's Take Me Back's (1969) intimate ambience thus sets the framework, to a certain extent, not only for I Will Be There's solo, but also for its overall conceptualization (2).

Which of course could also apply to Led Zep's Black Mountain Side (1969), only in a slightly moodier, in the best sense of the word, quirkier way. And because Kiss would never get away with the oddball playfulness of a Zeppelin instrumental (3), they've more or less remodeled it into a more dignified songwriting format that suits them and just kinda absorbed it into it, instead of leaving too much internal space to the pure playfulness.

It's hard to express without having direct melodic or structural references in mind, but when I listened to Black Mountain Side in a Kiss context for the first time in over 30 years, I immediately and irrevocably realized what Paul song must have been the inspiration for.

And then we still have Friends (1970), which demonstrates how digestible strings are over an acoustically grooving band, albeit with an oriental note and an ecstasy that is far removed from I Will Be There. But even on Friends, it's more the basic arrangement of the instrumentarium of acoustic guitars than anything else, reminiscent of I Will Be There without any direct structural connection. Just let Friends play to the end and then I Will Be There immediately afterwards. I think you should then immediately realize what I have in mind and try to explain in vain.

Thus we already have our three acoustic songs for today, all of which, to my nose, would provide the framework for the sound character of this in-depth and heart-warming exceptional Kiss ballad. Whether anyone should have any doubts about it is immaterial to me, because when I look at Kiss' previous hit list, I know exactly what ground I'm standing on.

Let's see what else can be shaken out of the rest when time is right.

Side Notes:

(1) Although I would like to go into this in more detail elsewhere than here and now. Check out one of the upcoming Bruce's Solos features.

(2) Although it is just as reminiscent of Metallica's opener for Ride the Lightning (1984), Fight Fire With Fire and its acoustic intro.

(3) Sometimes it makes my heart ache just to recall all the complaints about the bongos from the united Kissians worldwide. Those poor things.

I Will Be There (1997)

Take Me Back (1969)

Black Mountain Side (1969)

Friends (1970)

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Kiss & Metallica Pt. 1 of 5 - The Thing That Should Not Be For the Innocent

Today we're turning the tables and taking a look at a song by someone else that might have been inspired by our favorite band for a change.

And as it's not hard to guess, Metallica's The Thing That Should Not Be from Master of Puppets (1986) and Kiss' Not For the Innocent from Lick It Up (1983) are on the agenda for today. So beware, dear conservative friends of Rock & Metal facts carved in stone, some of you might not enjoy this. Just put your dusty manuals aside for a moment and open your ears, and maybe also better your mind, and I for my part will do what I can.

And just to lay the cards on the table, I'd like to say with an experienced ear and a firm will that Hetfield, Ulrich or Hammett must have used Not For the Innocent's intro and verses as well as its fundamental atmosphere as a blueprint for The Thing That Should Not Be (1).

Just listen to Metallica's psychedelic Swamp Blues loop intro, dripping and oozing with ominous negative energy, like a harbinger just before a real disaster breaks out in order to unfold relentlessly. Once you recognize the emotional aspect of it, you can easily say pretty much the same about Kiss' version of this theme, albeit far more minimalist musically, but always punctual and stingingly accurate with their deliberate evil premonition before some really bad dudes show up that nobody can do anything about.

Furthermore, I would like to point out that I see here less a rip-off or a swipe, at least not an unrestrainedly obvious one as Stanley and Simmons have often and only too gladly demonstrated, but rather an exaggeration of a comparatively simple scheme that concentrates on its own excesses.

So if Kiss have always been comfortable with the comparison to Elvis on steroids, then in this case Metallica could easily be seen as something like Kiss being exposed to an atomic bomb explosion and then mutating into a grotesquely muscular super monster. And that's only in relation, because the similarities I'm referring to have little to do with melodies or lyrical content, but mainly structure and mood, where one still remains fairly unmistakably the product of the other.

Whatever, those who have been exposed to this comparison in the past have generally reacted in a very polarizing way, to put it mildly. There were those who jumped on it and couldn't ignore the parallels thereafter, and the others, well, I can still hear their booing and crying. You know, the people using their ears usually heard it, the ones with an attitude much less so. And in my experience, these were usually the Metallica fans who strictly adhered to those rules, which include (among presumably many others), that Metallica are just not the biggest Kiss fans in the world (rule no. 13, article 1, § 3). And whatever else (2), but in this respect, they hardly differ in any way from most of the Kiss-obsessed.

I mean, you don't have to necessarily be someone's biggest fan to recognize something in their music to make use out of it, do you? As if it was a shame.

Maybe I'll even turn it into a six-parter, who knows?

Side Note:

(1) Oh, there was a highly sensitive reaction to this one, and it was torpedoed for all it was worth by precisely those who were expected to do so.

(2) Other discrepancies related for example to James Hetfield's Lovecraftesque lyrics and having nothing at all to do with Kiss, but in my opinion that's also just as flimsy, as if one would accuse a retelling of a story or a reinterpretation of a painting of using different words and different colors without addressing the content. And oh, there was more, but what can you do about it?

The Thing That Should Not Be (1986)

Not For the Innocent (1983)

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Ironing Girls in Hell

Who's in the mood for Hotter Than Hell (1974), again? This time I'm talking about the title track, but actually only its end part, the one intoned with that fabulous gong.

Paul himself occasionally claims that he got the necessary inspiration for that one from Black Sabbath's Iron Man (1970), but united fans all over the world are steadily saying that he must have mercilessly ripped it off from Neill Young's Cinnamon Girl (1969).

And I can't exactly blame them for that. I mean, if Cinnamon Girl had never existed, well, I'd probably be grasping at any straw I could get and squeezing what I could out of Paul's Iron Man myth. Just like that little chickenhawk tries his luck with Foghorn Leghorn every now and then, just as convinced of myself as he always is. At the very least.

But since this is less the case, I think that Paul must have had the idea of Sabbath during an extensive walk through the Sahara, and the acute lack of water there was probably responsible for what I can only call a delirium.

Which brings us right back to Neil Young, because his riff is indeed not unlike the doomy, ponderous writing of a Tony Iommi, and differs from Paul's Hotter Than Hell riff in almost no way, except that Paul has given it a good oiling and made it run a bit smoother. I mean, Neil Young himself put the doom into it, from Kiss on the other hand comes this oriental, oppressive hot mood, which Paul probably brought along from one of those walks (1).

GOOONG!!! I can picture Foghorn Leghorn tearing Barnyard Dawg out of his sleep with that.

Side Note:

(1) I think Leon Sphinx did indeed have his raison d'être when he gave 80s Kiss in the Hot in the Shade days a fairly new and yet absolutely klassik flair.

The links are all highlighted except for Cinnamon Girl, and if you want you can also listen to some Black Sabbath for direct comparison:

Hotter Than Hell (1974)

Cinnamon Girl (1969)

Iron Man (1970)

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The Cold Way

Hotter Than Hell (1974) was probably the first time that Kiss, as songwriters who were now more or less earning money with their music, came into contact with the cheerful principle of time pressure due to deadline.

Combined with the band's apparent natural ability to transform any inspiration directly, whether external or internal, this resulted in what I can only consider to be the actual genesis of the klassik Kiss method of songwriting.

As a small illustration, please listen to the middle part riff of Cold Gin from the debut album (1974), you know, the one Gene selflessly contributed to Ace's first official Kiss song without any credit, and after that, please listen to the intro and main riff of All the Way from the follow-up Hotter Than Hell.

Whether you want to categorize this approach as impulsive minimalism with cultural memory and a pronounced tendency towards autocannibalization, or you prefer something more open-minded and mystical and find the word magic (which by the way can be irritating for some) more appropriate,

I think both perspectives are undeniably extremely accurate.

If you want to go all the way just klick on the damn links:

Cold Gin (1974)

All the Way (1974)

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Slicin' All Over It

As far as I know, Any Way You Slice It (1985) was already written in 1982, where it was not used for Creatures of the Night (1982), similar to It's My Life, for whatever reason.

When I listen to Dance All Over Your Face in this regard and keep in mind that Lick It Up (1983) went through a rather fast development process and was feverishly recorded in two studios, I think that Gene must have quickly cannibalized Any Way You Slice It's not necessarily original but nevertheless coherent riff melody for Dance All Over Your Face.

Whether Mr. Hollywood was no longer aware of this in 1985 or just couldn't have given a damn, it didn't seem to be too much of a problem to shake it out of his sleeve again for Asylum in order to come a quick and equally comfortable step closer to fulfilling his duty within his part-time band.

But that still makes no real difference to the overall picture of Kiss as a total work of art, because such a methodology runs like a thick, even very thick, long, red, extremely active thread through all their songwriting. And yes, I know, it's always the same old story, I'm just repeating myself.

I'm actually only surprised that I didn't notice this much earlier.

Only Dance All Over Your Face's second link is highlighted, so that in addition to the rocking main riff you can also enjoy the outro with its effectively mixed Gene scream collage culminating in a wonderful finale with the constant relaxed riff in the background, which hopefully underlines the similarity to Any Way You Slice It a little more.

This is what Chill Out sounds like in a well-kept metal parlor:

Any Way You Slice It (1985)

Dance All Over Your Face (1983) (1)

Dance All Over Your Face (1983) (2)

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Paul's Balls-in-the-Zipper Voice Pt. 8 of 10

Welcome to the triptych of hallowed 80s shrillness, today with the three-pack Crazy, Crazy Nights, I'll Fight Hell to Hold You and Bang Bang You.

Crammed together like oil sardines in a tin (1), but only to guarantee more space for the true highlights still to come. Not that I'll Fight Hell to Hold, my personal favorite today by the way, isn't one, no no, it's just that it's getting even more brutal, and the hard-boiled among us should definitely be looking forward to that.

So, full throttle ahead, my courageous readers and let's kick off with Crazy, Crazy Nights:

And even if everything here seems to start out pretty much as normal, it's not. Here and there, there are a few deliberate slips into the high register in the verses (the slightly higher pitch of the lead vocals in the chorus is not particularly noticeable due to the range of the euphoric gang chorus), but apart from these little vocal fill-ins that cavort around everywhere and try to compete with Bruce's superb solo interludes, it's above all the swinging peaks at the end of the bridges that really sting our ears.

And then there's still the middle part after the second chorus. There Paul pretty much sounds as if his vocal chords lived in the body of a 50 kilogram lighter and 40 centimeters smaller adult man, but one of the small but mighty variety, you know. Just to establish a relation.

Side Note:

(1) No matter which amplifier you'd put them through, those cute and tiny voices of the sardines couldn't sound much any higher than Paul's.

Crazy, Crazy Nights (1987)

I'll Fight Hell to Hold You, our indisputable star of the day, sounds much more like a confirmed suspicion of serious helium addiction.

But as is often the case, everything starts off quite innocently and harmlessly and only towards the end of the verse lines Paul's vocal chords whip up a little, then really pick up the pace from the second line onwards and shoot into the stratosphere from the bridge onwards like a bloody rocket. Or rather directly and without any detour straight through my auditory canal like an all-pervading gamma laser ray, for which even steel is no more of an hindrance than butter at room temperature for a… hot knife.

So, Paul's high pitch when screaming here is not just an occasional highlight, but has finally mutated into the new status quo more or less of the whole song. As he seems to have a good understanding of his range at this pitch, and even more so to have it completely under his control, just as a Tinitus impressively displays its sense of authority to the listener via Paul's yelling head voice.

And as if his falsetto from The Elder (1981) days had spent the last few years in the bodybuilding studio, punching everyone in the nose or rather in the ear who had nothing but ridicule for it.

Yes, that's what they get.

I'll Fight Hell to Hold You (1987)

Bang Bang You has only just managed to be included in our fun trio Infernale, although I'm now wondering what I was thinking, because the stand-out moments aren't necessarily deserving of too much mention.

But here, too, it's the little moments and the little vocal embellishments between the verse lines, but especially the sprawling bridges, a few short moments that gain in sharpness, that could get to the bone. You could simply call this the new standard, not necessarily ear-paralyzing or anything like that, but it is noticeable in all corners. And the keyboards in the chorus also play along nicely.

Overall, though, everything still balances out nicely, which is why I am unfortunately forced to rate Bang Bang You mercilessly as the big balls-in-the-zipper loser. Frankly, I'm a little disappointed, given that I had such high hopes.

Well, that's what I get for my generosity.

Bang Bang You (1987)

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Six Lonesome Teens

This one is for all you romantics out there.

Today's feature on Christine Sixteen (1977), one of my all-time Gene faves, is more of a kind of formality that doesn't require any real finesse, but just a bit of stolidity in pursuing a basic and plausible statement by Gene and trying to give it a certain illustrative background.

No more, but also no less.

So why not tackle the whole thing with enthusiasm and a certain amount of artistic freedom and work with the most effective contrasts possible, just as you would to tease out the final effect from a beautiful painting or drawing. And after all, it's the contrasts that create the harmonies.

Of course I'm talking about those classic spoken word passages as they were often used in 1950's rock n' roll in place of a now classic considered guitar solo. In this respect, who can't remember the infamous one from Christine Sixteen (1), especially by today's standards? And why not take this opportunity to pay another tribute to the King himself and create a gentle romantic pedant to Gene's little excursions to high school entrances.

I am aware that I could certainly have chosen something more rocking than a cuddly number by Elvis Presley, but as it is, I find Are You Lonesome Tonight? (1960) (2) largely appropriate to my intention and at least as appealing.

And it all boils down to the same thing anyway, no matter which way you tackle it.

Side Note:

(1) C16 still has a guitar solo. Cheers to Eddie Van Halen for this one.

(2) Originally written in 1927 and recorded by Charles Hart, by the way.

I don't usually do this to links from this band, but when I saw them on Youtube that day, I knew, I knew, I've got to highlight them, I've got to highlight them:

Are You Lonesome Tonight? (1960)

Christine Sixteen (1977)

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The Holy Unbelow

There's this tiny inconspicuous but also damn catchy part in Unholy's (1992) refrain. I mean this guitar that serves as a pad immediately after that incredibly punchy gang chorus, right before the main theme continues in stomping fashion.

It is precisely this little sequence that has a downright lunatic glorifying quality, as if the titular antagonist of this song (1), in the midst of an ongoing battle against his eternal adversaries the representative of the light, demonstrates true heroism for a brief unexpected moment and thus saves an innocent soul from certain death, only to fall back into his deadlocked role of the darkling immediately afterwards.

Just imagine if Count Dracula or Jason Vorhees did something like that. I mean, it just seems so insane to me because it's absolutely absurd in the middle of the thematic scenario and I guess it probably takes pretty big balls and a healthy self-confidence in yourself and your abilities to pull this little stunt off, no matter how minor this may seem.

But that's precisely the small part I'm talking about. And if you're wondering, because everyone reading this should know Kiss well and be familiar with their practices, whether this little bugger was adopted from somewhere else or recycled in another Kiss song, then I welcome you all to my little sub-category:

Why Monster (2012) sounds like Revenge (1992), part I honestly didn't count because it's just a silly arbitrary sub-category.

So let's save ourselves the long walk on eggshells this time and take a straight look at the frivolously rocking AC/DC-inspired Gene and Paul duet Take Me Down Below, and its midpart intermezzo, that gyrating motif after the second chorus, from which there seems to be no other option than to run ad absurdum in order to get out of itself again and give the ending of the song the space it needs to continue breathing. Yes, this part.

And while listening you can hardly avoid realizing that they are pretty much identical and both might have deserved an award for the most diverse variance in the recycling history of this band. In this respect, only one question remains unanswered: What does this have to do with The Rolling Stones and Kiss' debut album (1974)? Hm, let's leave that one better for another time.

And by the way, Gene did look a bit like Count Dracula back in the '78 solo album days, when he wore that red and black cape.

Side Note:

(1) Or the protagonist, depending on how you prefer to turn the tide.

Unholy (1992)

Take Me Down Below (2012)

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I Stole Enough

I keep reading this almost normed sell I've Had Enough (Into the Fire)'s (1984) opening - and main riff to be the re-iterated re-write of The Oath (1981). Which I don't consider to be fundamentally wrong, but merely somewhat incomplete.

The problem is, as is usually the case, the loss of information within the communication chain. Who hasn't experienced it when the other person, whether friend, colleague or any official, only responds to the least of what you have painstakingly presented and simply stubbornly ignores the rest. You'd think Paul could tell you a thing or two about it.

Especially when it comes to I've Had Enough, I guess, which in my understanding is a riff within a riff made up of several components and not just one. Much like Hell Or Hallelujah (2012) comes very close to such an approach in its neo-klassikal aspect. And with Hell Or Hallelujah, we have also hit the frame-forming intersection to today's aforementioned counter-candidate The Oath, and all you have to do is listen to it and wait until none's riff other than I Stole Your Love (1977) (1) reveals its presence all by itself.

So, I Stole Your Love's riff, or rather a deviation from it, forms the basic foundation on which the riff that developed from The Oath per Exciter (1983) to I've Had Enough is simply laid on top, inbetween, or wherever else it may have found fit. Kinda simply put.

Of course, Paul and company use all the stylistic devices that characterize the Zeitgeist of the decade and turn the whole thing into a contemporary fancy pantsy metal production, which can best be described as a highly polished, unleashed beast that shreds everything in its path with mechanical precision. Personally, I like to compare it to the Tasmanian Devil from the old school Bugs Bunny cartoons.

And despite all the perfectly bursting wildness of this monstrosity, Paul and his then partner in crime (once again Desmond Child), couldn't think of anything better than to attempt a balancing act towards, of all things, melodramatic 80s dance musical and shape the finished product into…well, just what it is. Whatever could have driven them to do so.

But let me put it this way: I simply don't want to complain.

Side Note:

(1) Not surprisingly, since both songs are so similar that even the rhythmic and spelling sounds of their titles seem to suggest it: I've Had Enough-I Stole Your Love.

I've Had Enough (Into the Fire) (1984)

I Stole Your Love (1977)

The Oath (1981)

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From Demon to Drama

There are certain continuous common themes that connect increasingly disparate Kiss albums such as Love Gun (1977), Dynasty (1979) and Unmasked (1980). One of these is certainly Gene's trademark demon song, albeit in this case in the form of an ever-expanding piece of chewing gum.

In order to try to clarify this argument, let's have a look at all the Gene compositions that come into question for such a measure.

Almost Human:

You couldn't get any more Gene in demon mode than this, not necessarily in terms of heaviness but in terms of sheer attitude. Imagine the horniest werewolf ever in the midst of psychedelically inflamed walls of guitars and opiatically relaxed rhythms surrounded by a languishing harem.

I think even as a child I always had the ladies from the Love Gun (1977) album cover in my mind's eye for this song. And the high-noise collage created by Eddie Kramer, which is also known as Ace's Solo, would even have had Adrian Belew nodding with a beaming smile on his face. Most definitely Gene at his most over the top.

X-Ray Eyes:

In terms of attitude, things are a little more dignified here, even if Vini Poncia knew how to transfer the Ace-esque noise aspect to the Dynasty era, with which X-Ray Eyes can clearly score points, and a small but all the more effective psychedelic background chorus is also reminiscent of Almost Human.

The main riff is dark and heavy, but the production is not necessarily so, and then there are still the much more relaxed verses, which are only too happy to get rid of all that silly heaviness with the help of the Christine Sixteen piano, and emphasize more the human aspect and the unbearable lightness of being this poor creature punished with its unbearable abilities, and make it seem more humanly comprehensible (1). The Demon is no longer program, but merely a point of reference.

Naked City:

Let me put it this way, I've always loved this song for a variety of reasons, especially because of Gene's goosebump-inducing head voice in the verses, but Raggae Kiss should nevertheless not have had too much trouble adapting this song to their repertoire stylistically.

The Demon is barely noticeable here, and in the highest case only recognizable by a dark and heavy, but thanks to the softener-pop production still far too light main riff, which also does not come from Gene but from the great and always reliable bench player Bob Kulick. But here, too, it is no longer Monster-Gene, but all the more the reflective city and night guy who forms the central aspect with his isolated soul, probably best unleashed in the minimalistically screeching, howling feedback aftermath of the guitar solo, which for me is the undisputed highlight of this song (2).­

What can be drawn from this? Hard to say, perhaps a step-by-step approach to Gene's own true inner self, which possibly only carries the claim to be better recognized by the surrounding world, and accordingly tries to present itself more and more in this perspective?

Gene's '78 solo album should speak volumes in this context and in all likelihood have opened the door for this direction, softening his otherwise impenetrable battle armor and maybe revealing his vulnerable heart a little.

But it could also just be that it's all total bullshit and Gene became less attracted to music and more interested in Hollywood, and jumped on the opportunity to get his money faster with a few softer, and poppier and even schmaltzier compositions.

You decide.

Side Note:

(1) Something comparable also happened with Ace on New York Groove.

(2) Maybe even of the whole Unmasked (1980) album. But I guess Paul challenges it for this place with his magnificent Tomorrow.

Almost Human (1977)

X-Ray Eyes (1979)

Naked City (1980)

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The Innocence of Years

90s Gene twin pack. This means Journey of 1000 Years (1998) and Seduction of the Innocent (1997). Ooh la la!

I don't know what got into me, but one more time I have no intention at all of claiming that todays pieces of Kiss-music should plead guilty as a harbor of musical theft (1), or anything like that, but simply to focus on the degree of relationship between two little verses, which, in my opinion, has so far only rarely or not at all been taken note of.

In my ears these two gorgeous Gene songs are shrouded in a gentle, warm veil of the Orient, and sound exactly just as you have probably often seen it in clichéd, colorful epic adventure films, including blood-red sunsets against exotic desert backdrops. And maybe a caravan of camels strolling comfortably through the picture.

An environment that, by the way, suits Gene's Beatles timbre anything but badly (whereby the differing sonic landscapes naturally do the rest). Speaking of The Beatles, needless to mention that an extra touch of psychedelic always goes very well with the Near East, even in both cases, and which also comes across quite refreshing by any measure.

Still, the inclusion of two songs of such a type on two fundamentally different Kiss albums, one more than the other, might seem surprising. Especially when you consider that an album with a more klassik approach like Psycho Circus (1998) left far more playful possibilities open for the band than Carnival of Souls ever did, and the latter expanding the battle zone for everyone's favorite band would be an understatement to say the least (2).

But pleasant surprises don't always have to be the exception, as Kiss have always been known for that as well as for the rather onloved opposite - and who am I to complain about the night when I get the sun in return?

On that note, I think I need to watch Lawrence of Arabia now.

Side Note:

(1) No need to worry, next time I'm back in action.

(2) Well, since Destroyer (1976), the blueprint from which Psycho Circus was more or less made, followed a similar pattern.

Journey of 1000 Years (1998)

Seduction of the Innocent (1997)

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'Nuff Slidin'

Because it was so nice to be back in the 80s last time, let's just keep for today one foot in it for the sake of enjoyment and do a long split back into the 21st century. Out of dedication to this decade, and not to the balancing act itself, mind you.

Good old Paul may well have had something similar in mind when he was in charge of the production of Sonic Boom in 2009, because for his carefree feel-good instant classic Never Enough he must have inconspicuously looked over the shoulder of his brother in Led Zeppelin spirit David Coverdale (probably the world's biggest Led Zep enthusiast of his generation alongside Stanley) and his Whitesnake and completely inconspicuously borrowed a basic idea from the latter's Slide It In (1984) from the style-defining album of the same name.

And yes, the opening riff directly anticipates, what is also confirmed in the chorus and especially in its repetition in the final part, and that somehow applies to both Whitesnake and Kiss. I honestly can't tell exactly, because both sound more or less the same (1).

The only truly surprising thing about this affair for me is that Never Enough doesn't sound a bit like Led Zeppelin.

Side Note:

(1) But don't let anyone forget my previous comment about Never Enough's downright obtrusive similarity to Plaster Caster's bass line. It's been a while, you know.

Never Enough (2009)

Slide It In (1984)

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Reason in Motion

Let's be honest, Kiss have only rarely tried to hide their musical influences, no matter in what dimension they have made themselves felt in their own work. On Crazy Nights (1987) they even seem to have reached their personal high point on several occasions, making no secret of it at all, similar to a beloved cat that you regularly find in your living room aquarium.

I hope it should slowly dawn on the last of us that today we are taking another look at, drum roll… Reason to Live.

If Paul is to be believed, Desmond Child is responsible for the lion's share of Reason to Live, and therefore presumably also for the increased hunting frequency in foreign territories. So if that's where his heart has led him, fine by me, if you know what I mean. But you never really know with these two anyway, so why don't we do Paul the favor and just play through the whole thing with Desmond for a change.

And it would certainly be a good idea to briefly recall two of the probably biggest hits of the 80s, which Desmond must have simply soaked up while composing today's somewhat chilly tearjerker. Anyone who therefore would like to find out more about Foreigner's I Want to Know What Love Is (1984) and Heart's Alone (1987) and the extent to which Reason to Live and Desmond Child are up to their necks in this matter would be well advised to click on the last two links.

For today's interests, however, all we need to do is take a look at the chorus hook and its melody, which somehow manages to remind me every time anew of 80s movies in a not exactly subtle way.

Names like Ally Sheedy, Emilio Estevez or Rob Lowe inevitably come to mind, which brings us to the chorus hook of St. Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion) (1985), the title hit song from the coming of age yuppie drama of the same name, which is probably familiar to pretty much everyone who was old enough to consume or at least be aware of popular culture in that decade. Needless to say, said song could be found in at least high to top chart positions worldwide at that time, and that I love to imagine Desmond Child at the piano in the midst of this setting.

And even if St. Elmo's Fire's Hook comes across a whole lot more enthusiastic and upbeat than the rather melodramatic to depressed Reason to Live, which barely emerges from its Prozac cloud, this hardly changes the fact that both short but all the more catchy melodies are pretty much one and the same.

Moreover I don't understand the lyrical conclusion at all, this But it can't Be Your Looove-thing. Gee Desmond (or a bit Paul for my sake), love is of course the reason why we and all life lives at all!

No wonder this was not the big hit it was constructed to be.

While I had a reason to highlight these links, it's not my love:

Reason to Live (1987)

St. Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion) (1985)

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Wild Lou's Out

Does anyone remember how Ace Frehley jokingly announced Louie Louie (1963) as Kiss' forthcoming single at the end of MTV Unplugged (1) and immediately started performing it?

Regardless of the fact that Ace hadn't even rejoined the band yet, this song just flowed out of him out of light-hearted exuberance, which to me means that it must have been close to him, from whatever point of view. Be that as it may, these were exactly the first thoughts when I read with interest a little while ago that Ace's solo effort Rip It Out (1978) was not entirely dissimilar to Louie Louie (2) by the Kingsmen in its chorus structure.

And, well, I guess I can only agree with that, even if it does get in the way of my own little disclosure that Rip It Out borrows in no small way from Wild Thing (1966) by the Troggs verses.

But I'm comfortable with that, considering that Louie Louie and Wild Thing also have that little something in common. For my part, given the aggressive titling of Rip It Out, I prefer Wild Thing as a first-degree influence, but I'm still happy to let Louie go first.

And not just out of politeness, it comes from the heart.

Side Notes:

(1) Can be found somewhere in a cut scene on Youtube, in case you weren't lucky enough to have been there.

(2) It was actually written by Richard Berry in 1955, but at this point we'll conveniently settle on the most famous version by the Kingsmen from the 60s.

Rip It Out (1978)

Louie Louie (1963)

Wild Thing (1966)

[rolandrockover]

Hell's Alright

This one is about as overdue as finally dragging the withered, fir-less Christmas tree out of the house in mid-May and sneakily throwing it on another neighbor's doorstep in the middle of the night.

If someone is already capable of this, then it's certainly not a step too far to serve someone the eggs they found in the summer and forgot about at Easter as an egg salad. However, I'm drifting off.

So, what was it about again today, oh yes, Hotter Than Hell (1974). About Hotter Than Hell and about the fact that Paul took inspiration from his then go-to track All Right Now (1970) by Free (1) and incorporated a lot of it into Hotter Than Hell's build-up (2). So it's another one of those all-in-one-swipes, just like we had last time.

But this time Kiss put a little more of their own integrity into the scales, or at least that of Black Sabbath, which they probably tried to let flow into the rather unconventional production with a little more weight this time. And yes, the result does indeed sound more hellish, if you like, and more saturated, darker and punchier than Free's original All Right Now, but it also conveys its light-hearted good feeling in an almost overwhelming way.

And before you know it, the re-write is already done, and of course also another Kiss klassik. Now someone would just have to sweep up the dried, brown pine needles and throw them out of the window.

Although I haven't had a Christmas tree or any other such decorations in my house for decades.

Side Note:

(1) From their album… Attention Ace and Paul fans, Fire and Water.

(2) And well, in another song from Dressed to Kill (1975) which I would like to go into another time.

All Right Now (1970)

Hotter Than Hell (1974)

[rolandrockover]

She-Jesus

Early Kiss and Humble Pie.

I think it's as inseparable as the proverbial meat and potatoes that Gene persistently propagates. Which of the two bands represents the meat and which the deliciously versatile spuds is something I don't want to rack my brains over today (1).

On Dressed to Kill (1975), which is downright bursting with carbohydrates and meaty bites, you can of course also find an unmistakably larger, somewhat harder to stomach chunk, namely She. But there's also a little something more attached to it, with which I have Humble Pie's Groovin' With Jesus (1974) in mind.

All the food aside, I think the commitment of these two can be pinned down most quickly in the middle part of She, you know, where the bass line begins with the build-up to the guitar solo, because this is hardly anything other than a variant of the rhythm section of Groovin' With Jesus, an impression that of course shimmers out more or less in the course of the musical progression. (2) Almost like like a piece of boiled beef in the middle of a stew simmering away.

And yes, I guess you could indeed say that Kiss are also like a good hearty soup. What other band can make that claim?

Side Note:

(1) On the other hand, I'm looking forward to talking a bit more about vegetables when it's time again to talk about The Elder (1981) or Revenge (1992) or something.

(2) And certainly no less inspired the Beastie Boys later on, but that doesn't really belong here... unless Kiss themselves had borrowed from the Beastie Boys in the 80s. I should probably listen to their debut album again. I mean, you never know, they also got Aerosmith and Run DMC.

One link is highlighted, the other is not:

Groovin' With Jesus (1974)

She (1975)