Revenge....

Revenge est le 16e album studio du groupe Kiss sorti en 1992.


Eric Singer rejoint Kiss lors de sessions d'enregistrement au début de l'année 1991
en remplacement temporaire du batteur Eric Car, mais "Le Renard" nous quitta le 24 Novembre 1991,
Kiss fera de Singer son batteur permanent.
"Revenge" est dédié à la mémoire d'Eric Carr.


L'album commence très fort « Unholy » heavy, sombre et surpuissant .
Destructeur, un Gene Simmons à la voix démoniaque à souhait
une tuerie ce premier titre!
L'alternance choisie pour l'ordre des morceaux entre Gene et Paul est parfaitement orchestrée.

Paul est magistral, il provoque (l' explicite « Take it off »), des titres plus sombres (« Tough love »),
une ballade" Everytime I look at you »une des plus belles réussites du groupe en la matière, ou des titres
énergiques tel que" I just wanna ".
[Et lorsque Paul et Gene s’unissent, le résultat est explosif..

Vous aurez compris que c'est un de mes albums studio préférés, dans mon top 3...

TITRES

1. Unholy (3:40) - Simmons/Vincent
2. Take It Off (4:50) - Stanley/Ezrin/Roberts
3. Tough Love (3:44) - Stanley/Kulick/Ezrin
4. Spit (3:32) - Simmons/Van Zen/Stanley
5. God Gave Rock And Roll To You II (5:18) - Ballard/Stanley/Simmons/Ezrin
6. Domino (4:01) - Simmons
7. Heart Of Chrome (4:02) - Stanley/Vincent/Ezrin
8. Thou Shalt Not (3:59) - Simmons/Damon
9. Every Time I Look At You (4:38) - Stanley/Ezrin
10. Paralyzed (4:14) - Simmons/Ezrin
11. I Just Wanna (4:07) - Stanley/Vincent
12. Carr Jam 1981 (2:46) - Carr
Players
• Paul Stanley ••• Rhythm guitar/lead vocals on 2, 3,5, 7, 9, & 11/backing vocals
• Gene Simmons ••• Bass/lead vocals on 1, 4, 5, 8 & 10/backing vocals
• Bruce Kulick ••• Lead guitar/bass on 3 & 9
• Eric Singer ••• Drums
• Eric Carr ••• Drums on 12/Harmony vocals on 5
• Dick Wagner ••• Acoustic guitar solo on 9
• Kevin Valentine ••• Drums on 2
• Jesse Damon ••• Backing vocals
• Tommy Thayer ••• Backing vocals
Album Details
Produced by Bob Ezrin. Recorded at Rumbo Recorders, Canoga Park, CA,
Track Records, North Hollywood, CA, Cornerstone Recorders, Chatsworth,
CA, Ocean Way Recording, Hollywood, CA, Acme Recording Studios,
New York City, NY, The Enterprise Studios, Burbank, CA, and A&M Studios,
Hollywood, CA, September 1991 - March 1992. Engineered by Chris Steinmetz,
Niko Bolas and George Tutko, assisted by Pete Magdaleno, Dick Keneshiro,
Bart Stevens, Andy Udoff, Julie Last and Richard Hasai. Mixed by Mick Guzauski and Rall Rogut
at Record One Studio, Los Angeles, CA.


En hommage à Eric Carr, l’album se termine avec un solo de batterie
Carr Jam 1981.
On saluera l’aspect humain du groupe, pour qui Eric était un ami
que l’on n’oubliera pas.

unohly
car il fallai en choisir une,mais dans l'ensemble j'aime tout l'album

J'ai voté "Unholy" car il y a longtemps que notre Gene ne s'était pas montré aussi démoniaque !

thou shatl not ca c est le kiss que j aime

Wow dur dur de choisir car c'est un des albums que j'aime beaucoup, mais puisqu'il faut choisir, j'ai voté "Unholy", le démon dans toute sa splendeur !!

comme beaucoup ici, c'est l'album que j'ai écouté de long en large en craquant sur tout... et bien sûr Unholy fracassant et qui retourne les tripes en bagnole

Thou shalt not ,un titre que j'adorerais entendre live !une tuerie !

unholy sans hésitation !

j'aurais tellement voulu voir gene cracher le sang sur ce morceau !

jfpkiss45 a écrit:

unholy sans hésitation !

j'aurais tellement voulu voir gene cracher le sang sur ce morceau !

yes

UNHOLY !!!
Un des meilleurs album,malheureusement marqué par cette tragédie que nous regrettons tous (bien que comme pour Black Sabbath,la mort de l'un fait revivre le groupe originel!!)

jfpkiss45 a écrit:

unholy sans hésitation !

j'aurais tellement voulu voir gene cracher le sang sur ce morceau !

Rock The Nation ..

DOMINO +1 j'aime vraiment tout cet album...... qui porte si bien son nom...REVENGE dans mon top 5

La dernière bombe de Kiss (avant Monster ? ) , énorme album , des p****ns de compos et une prod terrible !!!

KISS - 20 Years Of Revenge Part I

Rarities



May 19th, 2012 will mark the 20th anniversary of the brilliant KISS Revenge album. BraveWords.com will mark the passing of this landmark record with a five-part series of interviews conducted in the last couple of weeks with the major players on the disc as well as a few musicians that you may not know took part in the album’s recording sessions. Our first such surprise is Tommy Thayer. Many may know Tommy as the current Spaceman of KISS, but back in 1992, he was Gene Simmons’ protégé and former guitarist for the band BLACK N’ BLUE. Tommy’s role on the album was limited to adding backing vocals on a few tracks along with his former Black N’ Blue singer, Jaime St. James. Revenge would mark Tommy’s second appearance on a KISS album. He had previously contributed two acoustic tracks to the band’s Hot In The Shade opus. Thayer’s song ‘Nasty Nasty’ from the Black N’ Blue album of the same name formed the basis of the Gene Simmons composition, ‘Domino’ on the Revenge album. BraveWords.com caught up with Tommy via email as KISS preps to head out on the road in support of their new album, Monster.




“I was there during some of the recording and I sang background vocals on a bunch of those tunes,” said Thayer when asked about his work on Revenge.

When asked about the song 'Domino' and his general impression of the album, Thayer replied, “the song 'Domino' and the Revenge album were great. It’s definitely my favorite album from the non-makeup 1980-90s KISS.” When asked why he added: “The reason is that it was the most cohesive record. All the songs fit together and made a singular statement and that's hard to do unless you have someone driving the process like producer, Bob Ezrin. Bob definitely had the band's ear and drove the recording process with great arrangements and song selection.”



Though the album marked a brilliant return to form for the band and drove fans back to the fold, the album failed to reach significant chart success. Thayer offered his thoughts: “The Revenge album would have done so much better commercially if it hadn't been released in the era of 1992. By that time ‘80s hard rock was on the backside of the curve and entire new style of rock music was coming into vogue. It was bad timing for a great song like ‘Every Time I Look At You’ which a couple years earlier would have probably been a top ten single.”

Keep your eyes on BraveWords.com for the second part of this special five part series... coming soon!




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la version traduite pour Eric !

20 Years Of Revenge Part II; Valentine's Day

May 19th, 2012 will mark the 20th anniversary of the brilliant KISS Revenge album. BraveWords.com will mark the passing of this landmark record with a five part series of interviews conducted in the last couple of weeks with the major players on the disc as well as a few musicians that you may not know took part in the album’s recording sessions. Our second such surprise is drummer, Kevin Valentine (DONNIE IRIS & THE CRUISERS). Like Tommy Thayer before him, Revenge was Kevin’s second appearance on a KISS album (having come in to cut the drums for the track ‘Take It Off’). His drum work can first be found on the track ‘You Love Me To Hate You’ from the band’s 1989 Hot In The Shade album. After Revenge, Kevin continued as a ghost musician for KISS playing on the entire Psycho Circus album save for one track (Into The Void) and before the recording of that album, he served as Peter Criss’ drum coach on 3-D Psycho Circus tour that came on the heels of the highly successful 1996 Reunion tour. Kevin has kept quiet over the years about his involvement with KISS, but in this exclusive interview with BraveWords.com, he finally breaks his silence.




BraveWords.com: How did you get involved with KISS? It’s been suggested that you first played with KISS on their Hot In The Shade album.

Kevin Valentine: “Correct. I did play on some stuff, but let me back up. Eric Singer and I are friends from high school in Euclid (a suburb of Cleveland). So, the Hot In The Shade record - he’d been playing live with Paul and doing demos with Paul, but he had to go back on the road with ALICE COOPER. He said to Paul, ‘Kevin’s a good guy, why don’t you give him a shot.’ So, I went in a played on a lot of Paul’s stuff. That was with Pat Regan at Fortress (studios). It was an electric kit except for the cymbals. Supposedly, my drums were replaced even though Pat said that most of my drums ‘weren’t quite replaced’. I don’t really know.”

BraveWords.com: But if you listened to the album, would you be able to recognize your parts?

Valentine: “Well, yeah I recognize my parts because it’s what I played when Paul and I put them down, but it’s hard to tell if they were actually replaced or not. There’s an issue of ‘feel’, but if someone is playing the same exact parts - it’s tough to tell.”

BraveWords.com: The accepted truth is that you played on the song ‘You Love Me To Hate You’. Does that sound reasonable?

Valentine: “Yeah. There’s always the craziness with the band, but sure it’s reasonable. I view the drum track and rhythm track as the foundation of the house and sometimes it’s hard to just rip out that foundation and put another one underneath there - no matter who is playing the foundation. It just doesn’t work and sometimes the demo has a certain feel over the master. So, you keep the demo because of that.”

BraveWords.com: Then you went in and did CINDERELLA’s Still Climbing album?

Valentine: “Cinderella’s Still Climbing was in ’93.”





BraveWords.com: So, the next thing was KISS’ Revenge. Did you play on any of the demos?

Valentine: “No. It was Eric Singer. I just got a call that he had to go back on the road with Alice Cooper. He wasn’t a full fledged member (I might be wrong), but he had to go back on the road with Cooper and do his deal. The band had known me from Hot In The Shade, so they called me in. It was a little strange working on a song that just didn’t feel right. I’m sure if Eric had time, they would have done some more takes and it would have been fine, but he had to go. In that situation, I listened to Eric’s parts and I thought they were all great. I then went in and started to re-cut the drums.”

BraveWords.com: This is only for the song ‘Take It Off’?

Valentine: “Yes. Eric’s kit was set up and everything was ready to go. The track was already down and (Bob) Ezrin is really a brilliant guy. If you can’t come up with the parts, he’ll think of them for you. He was scary, but also quite nice to work with because of his talent. So, he played the track and when he thought something was not quite right; he’d stop the tape and say ‘okay - we need a more energetic fill into this chorus. Let’s back up the tape and punch you in... Do it again - it doesn’t work... Okay, let’s try another one.’ That’s how you’d cut the track with him. The assistants would layer (after having done multiple takes) and piece it together to get one continuous track, but I can’t say enough about Ezrin. I, of course, knew about his history, and to work with him was a real pleasure and honor.”

BraveWords.com: Eric had done the track, so do you know if the drums on ‘Take It Off’ are all you or did maybe some of his parts make the final cut?

Valentine: “I’m assuming it’s me only because... Well, I’m assuming. Of course, you can cut things together. Had Eric cut it weeks before, the drum tunings may have changed, but there’s no telling.”

BraveWords.com: Before doing these two ghost appearances, were you a KISS fan?

Valentine: “Yeah, I was. I played in a wedding band for years (which is better than working at a car wash on Saturday mornings) and I slowly got into a cover band. The manager would always tell us to write some material and he was a major KISS fan. He said we had an opening slot for KISS and we really needed to get our asses in gear. Of course, we didn’t get our asses in gear and there was no warm up slot for KISS. It’s undeniable that their appeal is so widespread.”

BraveWords.com: You had also been in a band (with current KISS guitarist) Tommy Thayer before all of this...

Valentine: “Yeah. The band was HARLOW. It was Tommy and I with Tod Jensen on bass and Teresa Straley (she was a brilliant singer), but I didn’t do the record. I came in after the fact.”

BraveWords.com: Tommy’s band, Black N’ Blue, was signed to Gene’s label. He played a little on Hot In The Shade, did some backing vocals on Revenge and has played a little on almost every thing after that. Did you continue your career with KISS in any capacity such as drum teching or...

Valentine: “On the Unplugged tour they did in ’95...”

BraveWords.com: The Kiss Konvention tour?

Valentine: “Yes. I ran sound for that tour. I was running sound for a club on Sunset Strip and Tommy asked me if I wanted to do the tour, so I did that and out of that came all the original guys playing again. After Psycho Circus came out, they needed to tour the record...”

BraveWords.com: You had to teach Peter all of his drum parts...

Valentine: “I did.”





BraveWords.com: But before we get to that story - let’s talk about your work on their Psycho Circus ‘reunion’ album. It took them over a decade after the album came out to admit that it wasn’t Ace and Peter playing on the album. It was you and Tommy Thayer with Bruce Kulick playing bass on some tracks. How did that happen? The band had just finished the highly successful reunion tour. Everything was working on high octane for the band. They announce that they are doing a brand new ‘reunion’ album with the original band... but then you get the call. Did they try with Peter and it just wasn’t working?

Valentine: “There’s always been two camps: Gene and Paul and Ace and Peter. Peter was haggard. I don’t think they did try him; maybe Bruce Fairbairn (producer) had something to do with that. He probably said, ‘if we’re going to do the record, I can’t use Peter,’ but I’m not quite sure what the deal was. I don’t know why they didn’t use Ace. They always knocked heads and that might have been part of it, but maybe they just thought it was easier to have Tommy play and me play. I’m sure it was easier. There was less drama.”

BraveWords.com: Did Eric Singer play on Psycho Circus?

Valentine: “No, he didn’t.”

BraveWords.com: What was it like showing up at the studio on the first day of recording. Was the music all done or did you actually create the drum parts?

Valentine: “That’s a good question. By that time, Cinderella had ended.”





BraveWords.com: Still Climbing was a great album and a great song.

Valentine: “Cinderella were always funky with drummers in the studio. Tom is just a sweetheart. I had my son because I was in the band and thought it was a fairly stable situation, but then I got let go. Gregg Bissonette did the record in L.A. with Andy Johns producing. They cut the tracks in seven days and it was a total mind fuck. I’m thinking, ‘God, I thought I had the ability.’ Anyways, my head was spinning and a bass player friend of mine said that Greg had gotten my tapes and thought they were great and that he didn’t know what to do. ‘They sound fine. I don’t get it,’ he said. After Greg did his parts, there wasn’t one usable track, so that made me feel somewhat normal. (Kenny) Arnoff got my tapes and Bissonette’s tapes - he called up Greg and said, ‘tell me what to do because this sounds fine.’ They dragged him through the mud and made him play things that I did not know a human could play. I got to give him credit. It was quite amazing and I know I can’t play like that. Nonetheless, after that I felt totally sane and I have some of the drum tracks on cassette and they were totally good.”

BraveWords.com: This all happened on Still Climbing? I always thought you played on the entire album. So, they re-cut the songs?

Valentine: ‘They re-cut the album three times. I cut half to three quarters of the record and they said it’s not working. We put up the second record with Cozy’s parts and played the drum tracks... I think I sound a lot like Cozy Powell. On the second album, they used the guy that played on the first record. They used Cozy Powell. They used Paulinho da Costa and Denny Carmassi (who’d played with Heart). They were also going to use a drum machine because Tom wasn’t happy with the tracks. They were really weird with that kind of stuff. It’s insanely crazy. It was weird.”

BraveWords.com: Did Andy Johns say that your drums tracks weren’t good enough?

Valentine: “No, it was the whole band and Andy. He called me later and said, ‘I got fired.’ Here’s the deal with Andy - it took us three or four days to get a drum sound. I found out later that the day after he got a package of heroin from somebody that ‘we’ve got a drum sound in an hour,’ so he was on good behavior. I guess ‘good behavior’ couldn’t get us a drum sound and he was fired. By the time the album came out I had already joined another band (here in California), grunge had taken over and Cinderella went away.”

BraveWords.com: That album had a lot of potential, but getting back to KISS. You’re in the studio for this ‘reunion’ album. There were a lot of expectations from the market place and KISS fans. Are you nervous, excited...

Valentine: “Definitely excited... We were in a great studio. I had had my daughter and then run sound for the band on the road for three months. I just couldn’t do that anymore. If I’m not going out as a KISS member or member of another band...”

BraveWords.com: Were you ever asked to be a KISS member?

Valentine: “No.”





BraveWords.com: So, after Hot In The Shade and Eric Carr’s passing, it didn’t come down to a choice between you and Eric Singer?

Valentine: “No. Eric had toured with Paul and he’s a great guy. He sings Peter’s stuff rather well (which was beneficial). So, I went in an auditioned for Bruce Fairbairn and there was a few other people. Oddly enough a lot of the songs were off of Hot In The Shade that I played on, but hadn’t made the record. So, I knew the songs and it all went well. They said, ‘do you want to do it, ‘ and I said ‘sure’. I had been mixing sound for TV and movies, so that I could stay home with my family. I had been doing that like a second shift thing from 4PM to midnight. This was going to be a difficult thing because I wasn’t going to be home all day. I could do tracks from nine in the morning to four in the afternoon and then I have to go make ‘TV’ for the rest of the world. So, I worked with Gene in a very small rehearsal room for about two or three weeks. He would bring in songs that he had demo-ed up with a drum machine and I don’t remember how I worked on any Paul songs. I think I demo-ed them at another studio.”

BraveWords.com: So, how does the album come together? Is the whole ‘band’ working in the studio together?

Valentine: “After the rehearsal... I think the place I worked with Paul was called Tone King. Also, worked with Ezrin again. Paul or Gene was working with Ezrin. Then we went into the studio and started cutting tracks and everyone was there.”

BraveWords.com: Were there any leftover tracks from the Psycho Circus sessions (that didn’t appear on the album)?

Valentine: “Oh, yeah. We cut about twenty tracks.”

BraveWords.com: And only eleven came out including the ‘bonus track’ for Japan. Were the leftover songs completed?

Valentine: “They were completed rhythm tracks with drummers or people that play on basics. I’m sure they worked them up and either discarded them or they’re in the ‘can’ somewhere. I’m not sure what happened to them.”

BraveWords.com: Then Tommy Thayer came in a did his parts.

Valentine: “Yeah.”





BraveWords.com: After the album comes out, you’re obviously not allowed to say that you played on it. Was that contracted or did they simply trust you?

Valentine: “They knew me well enough to know I’d not blab. Someone sent me a run down of the tracks and said, ‘ok, that’s not Peter,’ and I simply passed it along to Paul. I told him that I felt somewhat under the microscope, but that it wasn’t me that said any of this stuff. He said, ‘don’t worry about it. They’re ravenous avid fans. They figured it out.’ But no, there was nothing (contracted).”

BraveWords.com: Were you told to ‘sound like Peter’ on the album?

Valentine: “No. Sometimes, I wish I had because I liked what I played on, but I also like that tune that Ace and Peter played on, ‘Into The Void’. Truthfully, I like it more than the stuff I played on because it sounded like the early original KISS stuff.”

BraveWords.com: Were you happy with the Psycho Circus album overall or did you think ‘these songs are weak’?

Valentine: “I was happy with the tunes. I wasn’t happy with the sound. I was wanting to go for the early KISS sound and I know you can’t go back in time, but (as an engineer) I had ideas. I would have liked it to sound more like that (the early years) than it did. I didn’t care for the way, at least, the drums sounded. I would have liked to have a more vintage drum sound, but it wasn’t my call.”

BraveWords.com: The band then embarks on the 3D Psycho Circus tour. Obviously, Peter doesn’t know any of the new songs and there is a concern that he won’t be able to play them live. Did you have to sit down and teach him these songs?

Valentine: “Yeah, what we did was rehearse at West L.A. Rehearsal... I don’t know what Peter did, but he was damaged from years of abuse. He had to have a roadie drive him there because he couldn’t get to the place (which is kind of strange). So, we’d sit down with the records, two drum kits and headphones and we’d go over the stuff.”

BraveWords.com: The records? The whole gamut of KISS...

Valentine: “Oh, yeah.”

BraveWords.com: So, you’re not just teaching him the Psycho Circus stuff? You’re teaching him ‘Parasite’ and....

Valentine: “Yeah! I’m teaching him the beginning of ‘Love Gun’ and I was like ‘dude, you made this fucking part. You have to be kidding me.’ It was weird. I, of course, had to teach him some of the newer songs, but yeah - we were going over the old stuff.”





BraveWords.com: I’ve heard that Tommy had to do the same thing with Ace...

Valentine: “Tommy even worked with Peter.”

BraveWords.com: Teaching him drum parts?

Valentine: “Yeah. When Peter and I were playing, we had to play to the tracks, but the tracks had his original parts on them and he relied on them and on me. But Tommy had his guitar and he’d play them with him (hums Love Gun) - and Peter would have to come in with his parts on his own without any drums as a reference. So, Peter and Tommy worked together, too.”

BraveWords.com: On the Psycho Circus and Farewell tours, Peter’s drumming had gone... well, a car goes from 0 to 60, but Peter’s drumming had gone from 60 to 0.

Valentine: “It was disappointing.”

BraveWords.com: It really was. I prefer KISS now with Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer because it’s four guys that can get up on stage and play. They can make an album with no ghost musicians. KISS now is a real band. Even in the ‘80s, people that played on a KISS album included you, Jean Beauvoir, Allan Schwartzberg, Tommy Thayer, Bob Kulick, Anton Fig, Robben Ford, Jimmy Hasslip, and the list goes on. That’s not a band. So, I prefer KISS now because it’s a band again.

Valentine: “I was jazzed to see the band at that Dodger stadium gig. Peter was in better form and as the band would come around again and again - Peter was... In my opinion, the drummer has to ‘kick’ the band. Not rush the band, he’s got to fucking kick the band, but Peter was not leading. He was following and it was very lacklustre. I stopped going to see them because of that. It was very disappointing, but when Eric returned to the band - there was some fire again.”

BraveWords.com: Eric can play, there’s no question about that. I saw eleven Reunion shows, but by the time they got to the Psycho Circus tour - the thrill of seeing the four original guys had been replaced with the reality that they sounded slower and tired. They weren’t having fun. I was actually thrilled when they announced the Farewell tour because it was time to put this thing to rest.

Valentine: “You’re right.”

BraveWords.com: As a lifetime fan, I should not have been thinking ‘it’s time for KISS to end.’ After having taught Peter his parts in ’98, did you have any other involvement with KISS? Did you work with them on the Farewell tour?

Valentine: “No. I went back to playing with Donnie Iris And The Cruisers. The ‘glove fits’ and I have a good deal. I’m not saying I’m Buddy Rich, but when I was working with Peter and he couldn’t remember his parts or play them. I was his teacher. I think I have the gig now with Donnie because I’m the right guy.”







BraveWords.com: Back to Revenge. What’s your opinion of the finished album and what do you think it meant for KISS at the time?

Valentine: “Song wise, vibe wise and even sonically - Revenge is really one of my favorite records from them and I know that it had to do with Ezrin because he does not accept ordinary. He pushes and shapes things until they are more special and Revenge was. I told Eric that it was some of my favorite drumming and I know Ezrin had something to do with that. The record is great - it just is. Sonically, I thought it was brilliant and I said that to Paul and he thought it was a nightmare. I guess they had problems with gear or tape. I guess it was a real difficult sonic record, but to me it sounded like a million bucks.”

BraveWords.com: It still does. Bruce Kulick has often said, ‘this is the one KISS album I would not remaster.’

Valentine: “Yeah and I know what they did to my track with punching in and cutting it up, but that’s the way Ezrin works and that’s how he gets the best for the song. It’s the technology you use to make a great record. I love that record. It had the vibe, the songs and I just thought it was brilliant.”

BraveWords.com: Do you ever wish you could have played on more tracks on the album like ‘Unholy’?

Valentine: “You know what? No. I’ll tell you why. If I see or hear an opening where there is room for improvement - I migrate there and would say, ‘I wish,’ but Eric did such a good job and that’s why I say no.”





Coming soon - KISS Revenge the 20th anniversary Part III.

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la traduction

KISS - 20 Years Of Revenge Part III; BOB EZRIN's "Go-To Guy" DICK WAGNER



May 19th will mark the 20th anniversary of the brilliant KISS Revenge album. BraveWords.com will mark the passing of this landmark record with a five part series of interviews conducted in the last couple of weeks with the major players on the disc as well as a few musicians that you may not know took part in the album’s recording sessions. Our third such surprise is guitarist, Dick Wagner. Like Tommy Thayer and Kevin Valentine before him, Revenge marked Dick’s second appearance on a KISS album (having played on the band’s seminal album, Destroyer). Wagner has always been a go-to-guy for producer Bob Ezrin and made a name for himself as part of Alice Cooper’s original Welcome To My Nightmare album and tour. BraveWords.com caught up with the veteran guitarist to talk about his chance involvement on KISS’ classic Revenge album. He’s also recently released an autobiography, Not Only Women Bleed.






BraveWords.com: You make a brief appearance on KISS’ Revenge album playing the crucial solo on the ballad, ‘Every Time I Look At You’. How did that happen?

Dick Wagner: “I was in the studio and KISS was in the adjacent studio. I was recording some new material of my own... Some pretty elaborate demos. Some of that stuff is on my Full Meltdown album. Anyhow, Paul Stanley came over to say hello to me and asked me if I would come in and play on a track that Bruce Kulick hadn’t been able to do. Paul asked me to come over and play, so I went over. I said hello to Bob (Ezrin); they played the track for me and I played a solo. That was it.”

BraveWords.com: Was it your own original solo or did KISS have something planned out?

Wagner: “It was my own original solo. I don’t copy anybody. I don’t need to do that. I can always come up with something that is appropriate.”

BraveWords.com: Was there a solo on the track and it just wasn’t working?

Wagner: “I never heard any solo. They just played me the basic track and then I played my solo the way I play.”

BraveWords.com: The last time you played with KISS was...

Wagner: “Destroyer...”

BraveWords.com: What was the difference... Or how was it going back and working with KISS?

Wagner: “You know, it’s not like I was impressed to play on a KISS album. I’m not that way. I just play whatever I feel is right for whatever the song is and for whoever I play for. I let my own emotions and style affect whatever I’m doing. It’s just has to be really good and fitting. It’s not a matter of ‘oh, boy! I’m going to play on a KISS record.’ I played with Alice Cooper and he paved the way for KISS, so I’ve already been to the top. As a session guitar player, I’ve done big sessions and little sessions. I just try to play with a much fire, emotions and sound that I can get. I try to do my very best for whoever - big or small.”

BraveWords.com: Did it bother you that you weren’t credited on the album?

Wagner: “I’m used to that. People want to hold on to their image. You come in and do something that is great, but they don’t mind not giving you credit. Now, I’ve got enough of a reputation that it does them good to put my name on. As for Destroyer, I don’t think I was known enough to make an impression on them. They wanted it to be ‘the band’. It was the same way with Aerosmith.”



BraveWords.com: But there is a difference between the two. When you did the Get Your Wings album you hadn’t done Alice’s Welcome To My Nightmare album or tour, but by the time you got to KISS’ Destroyer - you had. You were a marquee name by then.

Wagner: “KISS didn’t want to have studio players noted even if they needed them for the sound. I always figured it this way - I’m being hired and paid (maybe not as much as I should be)... It didn’t put a lot of money in my pocket, but for me playing the guitar is something I love to do. So, when I get the opportunity to make something better or ‘complete’ that’s payment enough for me in a sense.”

BraveWords.com: It’s amazing how they keep things a secret...

Wagner: “They keep it a secret because they don’t want people knowing they had studio players. I accept that. They don’t want to give me credit; that’s fine they don’t have to. I’m just doing my job.’

BraveWords.com: Do you remember which Destroyer tracks you played on?

Wagner: “I played on ‘Sweet Pain’. I played acoustic guitar on ‘Beth’. I played on four tracks, but I don’t remember... I played on ‘Same Old Song And Dance’, but that’s not Destroyer.”

BraveWords.com: That’s AEROSMITH’s Get Your Wings.

Wagner: “I also played on ‘Flaming Youth’.”

BraveWords.com: Did Steve Hunter play on the same tracks as you?

Wagner: “The only track that I know Steve played on is ‘Train Kept A Rollin’’. We both played on that one.”

BraveWords.com: Oh, so you played on two tracks on Aerosmith’s Get Your Wings.

Wagner: “I remember playing on four, but it’s so long ago and I was into a lot of drugs at that time.”

BraveWords.com: But when you listen to the songs, you can tell it’s you playing....

Wagner: “I pretty much can, but I haven’t listened to that album since I don’t know when.”



BraveWords.com: So, on Destroyer you played on ‘Flaming Youth’, ‘Beth’ and ‘Sweet Pain’...

Wagner: “I played on four tracks during that session, but I just don’t remember the other track.”

BraveWords.com: You’ve wrote ‘Only Women Bleed’ which has been recorded by roughly thirty artist including Etta James. The song was embraced by a lot of female artists. That’s interesting because when Alice first released it, people accused him of being a misogynist, but that’s not what the song is about...

Wagner: “When you actually listen to the lyrics, you know it’s about domestic violence. It was a ground breaking song. It was the first domestic violence song that I know of.”

BraveWords.com: Back then domestic violence was a dirty little secret and Alice helped expose it...

Wagner: “Yup, that’s right. Gloria Steinem called it the ‘women’s liberation’ song of 1975. It definitely touched that movement. So, it was ground-breaking. Alice had the title and I had written all the music in 1968. It was a song that I was writing for THE FROST, but I realized that the lyric wasn’t good enough. I had some colorful lyrics in that Frost music. Although, the song was really good - it got passed by. So, I had that version demo-ed of my singing ‘Only Women Bleed’ with different lyrics.”



BraveWords.com: Do you still have those demos?

Wagner: “I do not. I swear to God. I have so many cassettes and maybe if I were to go through them all - I might find that.”

BraveWords.com: Speaking of old demos - Alice Cooper released Welcome 2 My Nightmare which includes ‘Something To Remember Me By’ a song written in the ‘70s. Will you be submitting anymore songs to Alice...

Wagner: “I’m sure they’ll ask me again. Just before Welcome 2 My Nightmare, Bob called and asked me to write another ‘Only Women Bleed’, so I sent down ‘Something To Remember Me By’. Alice had always loved that song and he remembered it. I gave him license to change any lyrics, but they made hardly any changes. It’s pretty much the original song that I wrote back in the ‘70s. I had actually performed the song myself way back.”

BraveWords.com: Lou Reed. You worked with him in the past. Have you heard his collaboration with Metallica, Lulu?
Wagner: “No, I have purposely avoided it. I hear it’s terrible.”


For more Dick - visit his Facebook page:

And pick up his book, Not Only Women Bleed.




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KISS' 20 Years Of Revenge; Bruce Kulick - "I Think I Finally Impressed Them On Revenge"



May 19th 2012 marked the 20th anniversary of the brilliant KISS Revenge album. BraveWords.com has marked the passing of this landmark record with a series of interviews conducted in the last couple of weeks. Our first three parts focused on the lesser known heroes of KISS’ greatest non-makeup album. In this, our fourth installment, we switch our attention to guitarist, Bruce Kulick, who had a long tenure with KISS and is still revered by the fans. BraveWords.com caught up with the veteran guitarist (and current member of GRAND FUNK RAILROAD) to discuss his work on KISS’ classic, Revenge.






BraveWords.com: When the band went into the studio to record Revenge, Eric Carr had passed away, NIRVANA was breaking and KISS was coming out of a ‘pop’ phase. Was there a lot of pressure going in to make the album?

Bruce Kulick: “You have to remember that we evolved through those prior years. By Hot In The Shade we were a little more back to leather jackets and more straight ahead rock. To go from Asylum or Crazy Nights to Revenge would never have happened. So, it was a fair evolution. Getting Ezrin involved showed a real commitment. There’s no doubt that Gene and Paul can produce. They’re talented enough and opinionated enough. You need those qualities and they learned a lot from all the years and albums (they were making). However, I always find that when an artist produces themselves - there’s always some compromising and they can’t be pushed the way...”

BraveWords.com: It can be hard to self-criticize the music...

Kulick: “Right, but Ezrin is a task-master. They were cautious about him because of The Elder (which is actually a really interesting record), but it was a period when Bob was a little bit out of his mind and there was a lot of crazy things going on then, but that didn’t matter because his talent was always there. He was in fighting form when we did the song for the Bill & Ted movie. That proved to us that Ezrin can do the record. Wisely, Gene and Paul had been skeptical and wanted to be sure that ‘if we’re going to hand over the helm. We want to be sure that he’s in good shape.’ And he was. So, there we were with a real producer who knows how to work with them and did some amazing stuff with them in the past. That really formed this ‘take no prisoners’ tough competitive... Just to compete with the history of the band. This was our Revenge (that we could still kick ass after all these years). Yeah, we took the make-up off, but were still on top of the game.”



BraveWords.com: You had the added pressure of having a new drummer come in...

Kulick: “Yeah, but having a guy like Ezrin... If one of your elements or ‘ingredients’ is missing. You’re going to get a great guy to take his place - period.”

BraveWords.com: And Ezrin does that a lot...

Kulick: “When you think about some of the things that he’s produced or the players that he goes to like a Dick Wagner - who I recently admitted is the guy that played the solo on ‘Every Time I Look At You’. I did ask Gene and Paul not to discuss it because I was hurt (even though Dick is one of my heroes). It was still an honor and nobody (when you listen to the unplugged version of me doing it) would know any different. You wouldn’t know that it wasn’t me that played the electric solo. That wasn’t to screw with my head, but they were under pressure to finish the song and I was on holiday. Those guys don’t go away; they’ll work straight through and the next thing I know is ‘oh, there’s a solo on it because you wanted to play it for the label? What?’ It’s an amazing solo and it’s Dick Wagner. They didn’t have to fly him in; he was in the other room working on demos. Now, getting back to the drums - we did audition drummers (some name guys and don’t ask), but Eric was the guy. Losing Eric Carr was a hard thing to deal with. The emotional part was a drag and a really hard thing to deal with, but in terms of a task - the drummer is always the first to go. I’m not saying Eric Carr wouldn’t have been able to play drums on this thing, but Ezrin would have been all over him and I know that.”

BraveWords.com: He took Eric Carr out of The Elder on certain tracks. He brought it Alan Schwartzberg.

Kulick: “I wasn’t even aware of that, so there you go.”

BraveWords.com: Alan played on the song ‘I’ and also played on some tracks from the Animalize album.

Kulick: “I came in late there, so I wouldn’t know. Ezrin did listen to him (Eric Carr) play, but he could tell that he was out of shape. How do you play at your competitive best if your undergoing chemotherapy and fighting cancer? It’s crazy and really hard. I saw a couple of names guys come in and he (Ezrin) wasn’t impressed, but with Eric (Singer) if he wasn’t good enough - we’d work with him. We’d rather not piece this out to a ton of session guys. Plus, Eric was comfortable with Paul having done the solo tour (and he did a good job). The only track he doesn’t play on is ‘Take It Off’. Ezrin didn’t like what he had done, so Kevin Valentine came in. Eric Singer would have nailed it, but he had to leave (he had commitments with ALICE COOPER). In the same way that maybe it would have been my solo on the ballad, but I wasn’t there. Eric just didn’t nail it in time, so they brought somebody else in. I know I didn’t get a real proper shot at doing the solo on the ballad was because they really thought they could do a move within the label... Move over to an A&M rather than stay with Mercury because A&M was hotter and still distributed by them. It didn’t go anywhere, but it was a valiant effort to try an impress some people with a great song. It wasn’t a single like ‘Forever’ in my mind, but it’s still a great song.’”

BraveWords.com: They did try to do something with it. Even the video had Paul sporting a two-day beard and give it that gritty look...

Kulick: “Yup, but by that time the power-ballad was on the way out. At least, it had a real string quartet which is an Ezrin specialty. There was no freaking synthesizer.”

BraveWords.com: The album finally comes out and the fans’ reaction is a collective ‘wow’. This was Creatures Of The Night Part II - a loud bombastic... Was it ‘scary’ to put out ‘Unholy’ as the first single? Suddenly, KISS was playing heavy metal - this was not ‘Reason To Live’ anymore...

Kulick: “I think the idea was to show that the band had ‘teeth’ and harder rock radio would be more responsive than pop radio. So, we hit them with something really strong which for a hard rock tune really does have a catchy chorus, but is, of course, dark and heavy. Was Domino the next one?”



BraveWords.com: I believe so...

Kulick: “The reaction was good, but the whole genre lost steam to bands like Guns N’ Roses and Nirvana. That was our biggest problem. We delivered an amazing record, but the timing would have been better a few years earlier.”

BraveWords.com: For years, you had been living in Ace Frehley’s shadow (and I don’t mean that in a disrespectful way), but ‘Unholy’ comes out and suddenly fans’ get the Bruce Kulick signature sound. It upped your profile within the KISS fan base. Did you feel the same way about Unholy?

Kulick: “Really, the whole record. Ezrin and... They were all really clear that they wanted me to step up and work really hard. Whatever I contributed had to be as big as the record is meaning to be. I remember Paul saying, ‘you’re going to have to play with a lot of cojones.’ It made it pretty fun for me...” [ed. note: at this point in the interview - a technical glitch wiped off twenty minutes of conversation. We apologize.]

Bravewords.com note: After the glitch - the conversation picks up with Bruce answering a question about KISS’ next studio album Carnival Of Souls. Only a partial answer was saved due to the glitch.....

Kulick: “...That record in the mix really wasn’t given justice, but that’s a whole different discussion.”

Bravewords.com: Carnival was an afterthought. There was zero promotion for it and it went straight to the cut out bin which was a huge shame.

Kulick: “Yeah and there was a lot of politics with that too because of the Reunion tour, but I have a really fond relationship with Revenge and by deconstructing the songs as I did for a clinic - it really showed what a creative period it was for the band. Everybody really did an amazing job on their instruments and their dedication to making a great record. There’s no filler tracks on the record.”

Bravewords.com: Looking back now, is there anything you’d change?

Kulick: “Well, I’d include ‘Do You Wanna Touch Me Now’ and I would have let them sing it the way they had it. That’s the only thing because I remember when we mixed this thing... I’m a really hard to please guy. I’m a perfectionist and I remember listening back and thinking, ‘I’m 99.9% happy with the album.’ Truthfully, it was amazing.”

(Note: 'Do You Wanna Touch Me Now' is a hard rocking song written by Dave ‘The Snake’ Szabo, Bob Ezrin and Paul Stanley for the Revenge album, but was left off at the last minute. Bruce discussed the song in full in the twenty minutes of ‘tape’ that got wiped.)



Bravewords.com: Did it come down to a decision between leaving off ‘Do You Wanna Touch Me Now’ and another song?

Kulick: “No. It was going to be included, but a few songs needed a little bit of ‘surgery’ and they just couldn’t come up with anything for it in time. For the other songs, the miracle happened and the baby was saved, but with this one they just couldn’t figure out how to save the day.”

Bravewords.com: Speaking of babies - Vinnie Vincent tells anyone that will listen that he played on Revenge.

Kulick: “I was very pissed and hurt, the first time I heard him spouting that back when people thought he was credible. As much as he spins whatever is going on in his life in a reasonable fashion, I just think that there’s been a lot of negative things said about him that it’s hard to take anything he says very seriously. I know he wrote with the guys, but he pissed them off because he was expecting a certain business relationship about how they do the credits, how they split the songs... Which is their business and not mine, but I do know they had another falling out with Vinnie over it. The only thing I can ever... I wasn’t there for it and Gene said to me is that the beginning scratches on ‘Unholy’ - I did not play that stuff and I wasn’t there when it was done... I think he put a sketch together in the studio prior to Ezrin even being there. How hard is it to press record and just scrape against a guitar? It’s like a special effect, but why Vinnie would misrepresent it by saying he played the solo? I was like, ‘what?’ I was mortified and if he did play a solo at some point with Gene; it’s NOT the one that is on the record and I never heard it. It was a little creepy when he was there, but I played along with it. I know he’s a talented guy. He’s an especially good songwriter with them and if they’re willing to work with him than I had to welcome the idea because maybe he’ll come up with some great songs for the record.”

Bravewords.com: Were you worried at all because he had been the guitarist in KISS...

Kulick: “I would hear the rumors that Vinnie is back, but NO. I was not concerned. Had I not been able to come up with the goods and they had said, ‘Bruce you have to do better,’ than maybe.”

Bravewords.com: So, when you’re told than Vinnie is coming back, you weren’t nervous?

Kulick: “No, because I knew that he wrote eight of the songs on Lick It Up and it sold pretty well. It was all about the record and not about anybody’s ego.”

Bravewords.com: You were most concerned about getting the best final product...

Kulick: “Exactly and Ezrin welcomed it, so they went off a wrote some songs.”

Bravewords.com: Up to that point you had done some writing with KISS, but not a lot. You had had some good solos, but always very controlled. You hadn’t sung on an album yet KISS was always about the four guys getting a song (much like THE BEATLES). Was Revenge the first album that people came to you and suggested you sing a song?

Kulick: “No, I never expected to sing on Revenge. The track on Carnival Of Souls even came about in a weird way. First of all, I wasn’t real confident to do it even though I can sing better than I even thought. Jeremy Rubolino (who is related to Ezrin) did a great job producing me on my album, BK3. Even though I sang on my Audio Dog and Transformer albums, I sang the best on BK3. It’s how you work with people. Eric Carr was an amazing singer and it was shocking to me that they didn’t use him more. I realized that like they’ve done with Eric Singer, in time, they’ve let him sing a song because it is KISS like. Eric can sing a song and so can Tommy. I love the fact that Paul is doing that and they’ve established that, but I never felt, in all the years that I was with the band, that ‘Bruce should sing a song.’ I was happy if I had a co-write. I remember clearly one time that as much as I had that ‘Tough Love’ riff that turned into a song - I remember working on another thing that my brother wanted for a band he was working with... I remember Ezrin hearing it in the parking lot (I was playing it in my car stereo) and he said, ‘what’s that? I like it!’ I said, ‘it’s an idea I hope makes it on the Revenge record, but nobody responded, so I’m doing it for this project with my brother.’ I’m not sure what ever happened to the song. I think somebody used it as a theme for a product. I didn’t always get to write with Ezrin. I had to present things to Gene or present things to Paul... It was this method of pitching them with stuff that you thought would catch their ear. Sure enough Ezrin said he liked it, so I thought, ‘damn if I had only circumvented them and gone straight to him...’ But I didn’t know Bob real well then. It didn’t end up on the album, but was clearly something that could have been look at. I never judge how much I got by how much I could contribute; a lot of it was so political of how open or receptive they were to certain ideas that I had. I never took it personally, but one time I thought Paul was avoiding me and I complained to Gene and he was like, ‘you have to talk to him.’ He was like, ‘just tell him how you feel,’ and when I would Paul would respond more... Gene was always emotionally supportive that way.”

Bravewords.com: Correct me if this assertion is wrong. In the ‘80s, you were just the guy filling in on guitar, but come Revenge you were now KISS’ guitarist. You became part of the family and not just the guy who isn’t Ace.

Kulick: “I certainly did my job on Asylum and Crazy Nights. Ron Nevison (Crazy Nights producer) to this day says really nice things about me. I actually challenged them one time in the studio and he really could have thrown me under the bus. But I do think that since I was the mellow guy kind of watching and trying to please them, but never trying to overly impress them... I think I finally impressed them on Revenge. When Paul said, ‘I hear an acoustic solo on this Forever song,’ and I lay down this killer track with the engineer. He was like, ‘you got it. This is great.’ I always felt that I had their respect, but I think I just brought it to that level that I finally found my place in the band.”



Bravewords.com: Perhaps you had their respect, but not the fans’...

Kulick: “I can’t force how they felt, but I certainly was feeling (pauses) valuable in the situation. Then they leaned on me a lot about the song writing on Carnival Of Souls. If you love that record you can thank me, but don’t blame me if you don’t. That was the direction in which they were headed. It was heavier than Revenge.”

Bravewords.com: Carnival Of Souls has one song that I think is an all-time KISS classic which is ‘Master & Slave’. It deserves to be played live in 2012 and beyond. It should not be a ‘lost’ track...

Kulick: “I know what you mean. Eric and I have done it with ESP and it’s not an easy song to play live, but it’s got a great riff to it.”

Bravewords.com: It’s brilliant. It’s as good as ‘Unholy’ or ‘Shout It Out Loud.’ It’s a great song! Anyhow, any last story about Revenge?

Kulick: “I do want to tell this one story about working with Bob. Working with Bob was really important in my career. There’s no doubt that the things he’s worked on in his career were brilliant from PETER GABRIEL to PINK FLOYD to Alice Cooper to KISS.”

Bravewords.com: ‘Welcome To My Nightmare’ and ‘Destroyer’...

Kulick: “And when you think of some of the early Peter Gabriel - so it makes you wonder, ‘what does this guy do?’ So I was pretty nervous working with him and I watched him spin his magic (which is his musicianship). The way he worked was interesting. I would have a day where we’d work on a solo and if stuff needed to be redone three times then it was redone three times. You’d think you had the bass parts or guitar parts and he was like, ‘no. Let’s start all over again.’ That happened pretty often actually.”

Bravewords.com: Was it frustrating?

Kulick: “No, I accepted it. I knew why. I got it. It wasn’t to be punishing, mean or anything... We were working on kind of a Beatles’ solo which was very melodic and cool. It might have been for Domino, but I don’t remember. The point is that I learned it. We doubled it. I don’t have a real hard time doubling myself unless I came up with a riff that was off the cuff. Then we tripled it which made it sound even bigger then we took a little break. He comes back in and says, ‘I hate it. Let’s start all over.’”



Bravewords.com: And this was before Pro-tools...

Kulick: “You played it. You played it. You played it. That’s the kind of stuff where Bob pushed me and I didn’t mind because I knew it was a great process (even working out that solo on ‘Unholy’). So, I was very fortunate for having that opportunity of working with him. You do have to trust the person. That whole article that came out recently about Crazy Nights. Paul and Nevison were tight and Gene wasn’t. Gene thought he’d be too pop for the band. I thought Gene had some good songs on that record and Paul likes to say that Gene wasn’t there, but Paul was really happy in that pop element. It was selling a lot of records for other artists.”

Ed. note: to make up for the lost part of the interview, BraveWords.com reached out to Bruce Kulick via email to get his comments about the ‘lost’ Revenge track ‘Do You Wanna Touch Me Now’ and replacing Ace Frehley’s guitar parts on the track that ended up being called ‘Carr Jam 1981’. We are reprinting his email in full and unedited:

Kulick: “Do You Wanna, well, I always hoped it would be finished. But Ezrin and the guys were never convinced of the chorus. We tracked everything except a solo and of course lead vocals etc. Only a guide vocal track by Paul. And the song really rocked. Perfect for the formula of Revenge, although there were NO fillers on this record. What a tight guitar driven tune and the breakdown section had some killer Eric Singer drum beats. Hoped it would of been on the box set, but I had no control of that. Playing on Eric Carr's jam tribute track, which was actually something Ace appeared on from when it was I believe 'Breakout' was good therapy for me. I was obviously very sad about losing Eric and first thing back after the funeral break in recording Revenge was THIS track. 'Bruce, put some guitars on this.' Oh boy. I never heard any of the other tracks, just the drums and a reference for the riff that I had to play. Weird timing to do this, but good for me. I was happy we added it, especially in light of what an important record Revenge would be in the catalog of KISS.






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KISS - 20 Years Of Revenge With Eric Singer; "I Was Getting The Opportunity To Play In KISS Now, But Under Really Bad Circumstances Because Eric Carr Passed Away”



May 19th 2012 marked the 20th anniversary of the brilliant KISS Revenge album. BraveWords.com has marked the passing of this landmark record with a series of interviews conducted over the last few weeks. Our first four parts focused on the lesser known heroes of the Revenge album as well as former KISS guitarist, Bruce Kulick. In this, our fifth and final installment, we focus our attention to current KISS drummer, Eric Singer. He first came to prominence with KISS as ‘the new guy’ on the Revenge album. BraveWords.com caught up with the veteran drummer (who is gearing up to hit the road with the band on their The Tour with MÖTLEY CRÜE) for his comments on the album that started his career with the band.






BraveWords.com: Tommy Thayer recently mentioned that he did background vocals on Revenge.

Eric Singer: “Yup. I was there when he did it. I did it with him and (I think) Jaime St. James and somebody else was there. I think Tommy has a co-write on one of the songs on the record. If I remember, when I did the record... I did the drum tracks in two sessions and then I went on tour with ALICE COOPER right away the next day - after I did the second batch of songs. When I came back months later (after the tour) they were doing overdubs and mixing... I wasn’t there when Bruce was doing lead solos and the vocals, but I was there when we did some background vocals and I remember us doing it. I remember me going in a recording a gong for the very end of ‘Unholy’. I recorded two different size gongs to try and get this ‘wall of sound’. The idea of me wanting to do the gong came from me being such a huge QUEEN fan and Queen geek... ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ - the last line ‘any way the winds blows’ and the big gong at the end. That’s where I got the idea. I always thought that was such a great effect. We actually did that on one of the songs on the new record, Monster, as well. The thing ends with a big gong. We love the production stuff and Queen is my favorite band, so I’m biased.”

BraveWords.com: Let’s go back to the beginning of Revenge. You’d been on tour with Paul (doing his solo shows). You’d recorded the demos on the Hot In The Shade album (and it’s thought that some of your drum tracks ended up on the album). On Revenge, the spotlight is squarely on you because you’re replacing fan favorite, Eric Carr, who passed away...

Singer: “What had happened is that I did ‘God Gave Rock N’ Roll To You II’ for the Bill & Ted Bogus Adventure movie and Bob Ezrin produced that. Eric was ill at the time, so Paul called me up and asked me to do that. He wanted me to play on this song for a movie soundtrack. That was their way for Bob and Kiss to feel each other out to see if there was a spark. It came out really cool and I like it because it has a lot of Queen type influences with the vocals, the arrangement and the break down in the middle. It’s very Queen like in the approach. Then I went on tour with Alice. Literally, I just walked in the door and was about to put my suitcase in the bedroom and the answering machine went off. Paul was leaving a message asking me to call him. I picked up the phone and he said, ‘we need help with some recording because Eric Carr is ill.’ I told him that I was only home for a couple of weeks and he said,‘okay. Go to Gene’s house.’ I changed my clothes and went right over to Gene’s house and met Bob Ezrin there. They walked me through some of the riffs and ideas. They said start rehearsing tonight, so I made plans to meet Bruce. He started showing me some of the riffs...”

BraveWords.com: Had you worked with Bruce at any point before this?

Singer: “Only on the ‘God Gave Rock N’ Roll To You II.’ That was Gene, Paul, Bruce and myself with Bob Ezrin producing. Eric Carr came in a did some vocals later and he did the video, but I actually played drums on the track.”



BraveWords.com: It’s the only KISS tracks that has two drummers on it...

Singer: “Well, not both playing. So, I went to work with Bruce and I did find out that they had tried working with a couple different drummers and Eric Carr a couple of times before they called me up. They got together with Eric, but he was ill. He was going through chemotherapy, but I wasn’t there. I was playing in Alice Cooper’s band. Anyways, they told me that they had tried working with Eric, but that he just wasn’t strong or fit enough to go through the rigors... Being the studio is long days and it’s both mentally and physically very draining. They tried Aynsley Dunbar and for some reason Gene and Paul... I’m paraphrasing, but it just wasn’t ‘the right style’. KISS is a certain kind of style and you have to come in an assimilate. Aynsley is a great drummer and he’s one of my favorites, but it just proves that just because somebody is technically qualified; it doesn’t mean they’re the right guy...”

BraveWords.com: Right, you wouldn’t want Neil Peart in KISS...

Singer: “Aynsley is more progressive. He had played with FRANK ZAPPA for crying out loud. He’s got a lot of chops and is an accomplished drummer, but stylistically for what KISS does; it wasn’t the right thing. I heard they tried some other guy, but I don’t know his name. It was a studio drummer. Then they tried Eric Carr again and that’s when they called me. I found this stuff out much after the fact. So, I did the tracks and what they were going to do... I was only available for a couple of weeks. Ezrin said, ‘let’s just have you do half the tracks and we’ll have Kevin Valentine do the other half.’ Kevin came into the picture because when Paul was doing demos for Hot In The Shade; I had been doing some of the demos... Paul was going into a studio and putting these ideas down and was having me play on the stuff, but I went on tour with BADLANDS. He wanted me to keep doing these demos with him because Eric Carr lived in New York, but I couldn’t do it. The Badlands’ record had come out and we were going to do our first tour in Japan. So, I called Paul and told him that, ‘I’m not able to to continue...’ So, that’s how Kevin got introduced to Paul and Gene. He ended up doing some demos and recording projects for Gene (Doro Pesch on her 1990 Doro album). That’s how he met Tommy Thayer (who also played on the Doro album). That’s how he and Tommy ended up in that band, HARLOW with Teresa Straley. I know it’s minutiae...”

BraveWords.com: But KISS fans love minutiae...

Singer: “Kevin Valentine and I went to high school together in Euclid, Ohio. He’s two years older and I used to see him play in locals bands, so I’ve known him for a long time. When he moved to California we reconnected and that how I referred him to do those demos. Back to doing the Revenge; since I only had two weeks, they said, ‘we’ll have you do half the record and Kevin Valentine will do the other half.’ Paul had already been working with him and liked Kevin’s drumming. After, we started recording Paul, Gene and Erzin... We caught a good vibe. Ezrin said, ‘we think we should have you play on the whole record.’ He got on the phone to Alice’s manager, Shep Gordon, and said, ‘this is a good opportunity for Eric and the drummer in KISS is ill and they’re really liking what’s going on here with Eric.’”

BraveWords.com: At this point, you’re not in KISS. You’re just some ‘studio drummer’...

Singer: “At this point I’m the drummer in Alice Cooper, but because I had been on Paul’s solo tour... In these kinds of situations, you hire your friends because you know what you’re going to get.”

BraveWords.com: So, at this point, no talk about joining the band or touring with the band...

Singer: “No no no no no...”

BraveWords.com: So, no commitment from either side...

Singer: “This was basically ‘can you help out and play on the record.’ Every intention was to have Eric Carr play on the record, but he was ill. Once we started recording the vibe was good and they decided they wanted me on the whole record. It went from me playing on half of it... So, I literally did the next batch of songs up until I left for Europe (with Alice). A lot of people know that Kevin Valentine played on ‘Take It Off’. I did the song and Ezrin said, ‘it’s good, but I know it could be better.’ He knew I had to leave. I simply ran out of time. I couldn’t just come back tomorrow...”



BraveWords.com: So, you knew right away that Kevin played on the track. It’s not something you discovered ten years later...

Singer: “I knew right away because Ezrin said, ‘it’s not right and it could be better.’ We cut the stuff and he listened back... Gene went out to use his car phone and we called Kevin and said, ‘we want you to play on one song.’ I told Kevin that I was going to leave my drums here and just go ahead and play the song. Kevin and I are friends, so there was no problem and I was just a studio guy at that point. The whole idea was just to get the job done. I didn’t have an ego about it. I had to leave and he ended up coming in. That was it and that’s how he ended up on Revenge. I went to Europe and Paul called me up a couple months later... Eric Carr had gotten real real ill. They invited me to come down to the studio to listen to what they were doing. I hadn’t heard anything... This was in late ’91 or early ’92 (I don’t remember), but I went down to Track recording on Vineland Avenue (that’s where they did the over dubbing). That’s when the talked about putting the gong on. Then I did a few backgrounds (vocals). We did some gang vocals which was very common for KISS to do.”

BraveWords.com: Which is also classic Ezrin....

Singer: “We did the same thing on Carnival Of Souls’ ‘Childhood’s End’.”

BraveWords.com: Which is a decent song...

Singer: “Don’t get me started on that record.”

BraveWords.com: ‘Master & Slave’ is the only great song.

Singer: “I like ‘Hate’. If the record was mixed differently, not produced differently... I think Toby Wright is a really good producer, but he had a point of view on how he wanted to mix the record... We had really different sounds when we recorded it, but when we mixed it he said, ‘I hear it this way.’ At that point, Gene and Paul were into the Reunion... I don’t want to say they didn’t care, but their energies were focused elsewhere. Bruce was the one that was the most active with that record. We definitely didn’t go with an Ezrin production because he would have made it more lush, big... That record could have sounded big and powerful like Revenge had we gone with that approach to mixing it. We had great drum sounds (ambient room sounds), but he decided to go with this really dry almost mono sounding thing and I don’t know what that was about. It just wasn’t what a KISS record sounds like. It’s a good record, but it’s not a good KISS record. That’s not what KISS sounds like. Getting back to Revenge - I really wasn’t around much and at the point of mixing stuff, Eric Carr had passed away. I felt awkward ‘cause, at this point, they had asked me to play in the band. Paul would call me up and invite me down to the studio and say, ‘you’re part of this record too.’ It was an awkward situation for everyone: for me, the band... I was getting the opportunity to play in KISS now, but under really bad circumstances because Eric Carr passed away.”



BraveWords.com: How did you feel about that?

Singer: “Mitch - that is NOT how you want to get a gig. You don’t want to have something positive in your life come at someone else’s misfortune.”

BraveWords.com: Did you ever think to yourself before joining that since KISS fans are fiercely loyal that they may hold this against you and this could actually be career suicide for you?

Singer: “Nah. It’s just like the make-up thing... When you are a musician and you are trying to make a living playing... Not many people get to be in a band that they start from ground zero and get to be a big success. That’s really rare. That never happened for me, but I’ve had some great fortune playing for bands in great situations with awesome musicians. I’m totally proud of that and I don’t regret playing with any of the people. If someone asks you to play (and I’m a drummer for a living) - I’ve been gainfully employed, so I’m very blessed, but I won’t let anybody tell me that I didn’t earn it.”



BraveWords.com: As far as the ‘Cat’ make-up. I don’t believe you deserve any criticism because if you hadn’t done it somebody else would have. Maybe Kevin Valentine would be the ‘Cat’ in KISS now...

Singer: “Anybody who says they never would have done it because they have ethics or morals is full of shit. There are guys in successful bands right now that if they got the call would do it today. If Gene and Paul called them and said, ‘we want you to be the drummer in KISS, but you have to wear the make-up...’ I guarantee, they’d all say, ‘yes.’ They might say the wouldn’t do it, but they’d wear the ‘Cat’ make-up and have no problem with it. For the exposure, financially and all the things that go along with it... There aren’t that many great gigs for guys in this business.”

BraveWords.com: Perhaps Lars of Metallica or the Crüe’s Tommy Lee would say no, but everybody would say yes.

Singer: “That’s my point and they’re the original drummers in the original bands that they created from ground zero. Why would they leave?”.

BraveWords.com: Back to Revenge. You were a fan. You went to their shows as far back as 1974 in Cleveland. What did it mean to you to be in the band now?

Singer: “I was all excited and happy. It was a great opportunity and I get to be the drummer in KISS. What’s the negative side to it? I did feel awkward and uncomfortable because it was at the expense of Eric Carr passing away. He was very loved by the fans, but I knew the band was going to continue on and I was blessed that they asked me. They could have had pretty much anybody be the drummer in KISS.”



BraveWords.com: Musically, the band came out of an ‘80s with albums like Asylum and Crazy Nights that were more pop, but Revenge wasn’t that. What were you thoughts about the music on Revenge?

Singer: “I knew when we made the record that it was really cool. Bob Ezrin is a real producer and I knew what he brought to it. He’s one of the best of all time. He gets you to look at things from a point of view that you might not ordinarily see it from (musically). He can communicate what he wants musically on an instrument... That’s the difference between a producer and an engineer who’s now calling himself a producer.”

BraveWords.com: Bob is also known for bringing in ‘his guys’ (ghost musicians). You recently found out that he brought in Dick Wagner to play the solo on ‘Every Time I Look At You...’

Singer: “In fact, I think it was you that told me. I never knew it, but the biggest bands had ghost people play on some of their stuff. KISS was known for this stuff which is why I find it so funny when people get so mad about the Peter Criss thing. He wasn’t even playing on the last couple of records... [ed.note: Peter Criss was credited for, but for the most part did not play on KISS’ Dynasty, Unmasked and Psych Circus albums.] People have short term memory. They don’t want to remember the ugly parts; only their version of the glory and good parts.”

BraveWords.com: I support the current version of KISS ‘110%’ - and if you deconstruct the KISS albums of the ‘80s, you’ll find that it was a lot of studio musicians and not always Gene or Eric or... It was Jean Beauvoir, Anton Fig, Allan Schwartzberg...

Singer: “I guess I can feel good knowing that I played on all the records I ‘played’ on... I was on every song except for the one (‘Take It Off’) and I never denied it and not to put anyone down, but Kevin basically learned what I put down for the song, but just did a better version of it.”

BraveWords.com: That’s why I’m a huge supporter of the current line-up. You made Sonic Boom and it’s the four guys. You made Monster and it’s the four guys. You play live and it’s the four guys with no tapes, no off-stage keyboardist... That’s what’s great about the current line-up. It’s a band again. It’s not Gene and Paul with a cast of thousands... Anyhow, twenty years on what do you think of the Revenge album now?

Singer: “Without being biased, I really like it because it was a really strong record by the band. They were trying to redefine what KISS was about. It was a little heavier, a little darker and away from the glam of the ‘80s. For some fans, this is their version of KISS with Bruce and I in the band.”



BraveWords.com: How was it working on the new KISS album, Monster?

Singer: “When we first started working, Paul wanted to get all together and flush ideas out. He wanted it to be fresh with no old riffs that somebody had worked on a previous record (that you’re just trying to re-write). Gene will write 30 or 40 ideas just to come up with four songs for the record. That’s the way he works. Gene, Tommy and I went into a demo studio a couple of times to put some ideas down and I told Gene, ‘I think you have another solo record here.’ I told him that when we have a break, we should go in and put some of these other ideas down. He’s got a couple of songs that are in the style of ‘World Without Heroes.’ They’re really good. When, Gene writes in that style it kind of reminds me of a George Harrison kind of a thing, but Paul didn’t want any slower, mellower, ballad type songs on the record. He wanted everything rock n’ roll. Understandably, he had a point of view on the style and direction of the record. So, that’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to stick to that point of view. No outside writers. No old material. All new material written by the band now. Nobody, but the band plays on the record. Nobody, but the band sings on the record. Nothing and that’s what it is.”

BraveWords.com: Anyhow, any last words?

Singer: “I love the fans. Their is NO band that has fans like KISS. This zealous. This dedicated. This cool. Some of my really close personal friends, I’ve met because they were KISS fans. I think that’s cool. There are some great people and we have a common language; everybody speaks KISS.”




la traduction :

http://www.microsofttranslator.com/BV.aspx?ref=IE8Activity&a=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bravewords.com%2Fnews%2F184364

GOD GAVE ROCK AND ROLL TO YOU!!!
Mais quel merveille, tant dans la production que dans l'interprétation!!
Gene dit aussi lui même que c'est le meilleur titre qu'ils aient jamais enregistré, la compo est parfaite, le son est parfait!! Cette musique est pour moi!! L'hymne au Rock, bien devant Rock and roll all night ou même les classiques du style: Highway to hell ou autres...

Intéressante cette itw de Kevin Valentine. Je ne connaissais pas l'histoire... J'avais vu son nom, mais ne savais pas qui il était (à la différence d'Anton Fig, par ex).

Ace-Diamond a écrit:

GOD GAVE ROCK AND ROLL TO YOU!!!
Mais quel merveille, tant dans la production que dans l'interprétation!!
Gene dit aussi lui même que c'est le meilleur titre qu'ils aient jamais enregistré, la compo est parfaite, le son est parfait!! Cette musique est pour moi!! L'hymne au Rock, bien devant Rock and roll all night ou même les classiques du style: Highway to hell ou autres...

Probléme,c'est une reprise

Oui mais as tu écouté l'original...

Elles sont tellement différentes, elle est tellement nul l'original..

"Unholy", what else?
Pour une fois que mon titre favori est de Gene, ...& le clip en n&b.

Titre de Gene pour moi aussi mais plutôt Domino..