(mini-review)In the late 70's, Kiss released four albums, one for each member to experiment with. Paul Stanley's disc stands out as the best, and it's not hard to see why. The guy is a pure songwriter. To this day, he oozes "catchy." I'm not sure I'd want to catch what he oozes, but you get the point. Every track here will get stuck in your head for days. Music review cliche? Sure, but damn if it doesn't apply. "Tonight You Belong to Me" begins with soft bellyaching and morphs into a steady riff that carries the song across the finish line. "Ain't Quite Right" is so 70's. I love the layered vocal harmonies, the bluesy licks, and the dramatic ending.
"Wouldn't You Like to Know Me" will make you want to take your girl to the drive-in and neck all night. It's that kind of song (and yes, I'm 95 years old). Again, the chorus is irresistibly catchy. The whole album is very friendly and melodic, though I wouldn't call it homogenized. Anything written by Stanley is going to be somewhat cheesy, and I knew that going in. Other top-shelf tunes are "Love in Chains" and the heartfelt "Goodbye." I don't really have anything else to say about this record. It's filling, and it captures that rad Kiss sound before they jumped the shark. An easy 4 Z'Dar's.
My favorite is Ace Frehley's solo. New York Groove, Ozone and Fractured Mirror...awesome.
ReplyDeleteI like this album, and its the most KISS of all the four solo albums. They all have great tunes, but my favorite has to be Genes solo album. He really delivers some of his best tunes on that one and some of his best Ballads.
ReplyDeleteAnd from Ace Frehleys solo I LOVE "New York Groove". So freaking catchy. "Im back! Back in the New York Groove!"