Tag Archives: bruce kulick

Events, Reviews

Reflections & Photos From KISS Expos Past (2002-2004)

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And now a little rewind for you…

kiss expo
NY/NJ KISS Expo

KISS seems to be getting more attention than ever thanks to their smoking new CD “Sonic Boom”, the “Gene Simmons Family Jewels” TV show and the always rousing concerts that they do for sold out audiences worldwide.  With this being the case, I felt that I should go back into my personal archives and add some fun never before seen images to the PiercingMetal Blog so the readers of our adventures can enjoy them in terms of some KISS related fun.  After all, they do no real good by being in a random folder on a hard drive only seen once in a blue moon by the occasional curious visitor to the Metal command center.

That being said, this little side story is not about KISS themselves but more about an event that was called the NY/NJ KISS Expo.  It was an annual affair that was put together by Richie Ranno (of the band Starz) and was the means for those who sold KISS memorabilia and those who collected it to mingle together along with musicians that had some part of their history connected with KISS or were just interested in being a part of the fun.  My friends had been going to this convention for years already but my first go round would be in 2002 but I could not find any photos outside of the scanned ticket below.

kiss expo
KISS Expo 2002: Your Ticket To KISS Purchases

This event was in Hackensack, NJ and only $16 bucks to get in.  That was cool to know since you would end up spending hundreds more in terms of KISS things you might have had interest in.  If I manage to find any photos from that event I will edit the narrative to allow them to fit in.  So far there seems to be only one which you get below.
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Music, Reviews

“We Wish You A Metal Xmas and a Headbanging New Year” (Deluxe Edition) by Various Artists

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Artist: Various Artists
Title: “We Wish You A Metal Xmas and a Headbanging New Year” Deluxe Edition
Label: Armoury Records
Release Date: 9/14/2010
Genre: Holiday Metal
Rating: 4/5

A couple of years ago the folks over at Eagle Records gave the Metal fans a holiday album that was really something up their alley. Though not as much a story-telling enterprise as the Trans-Siberian Orchestra or as tongue in cheek a delivery as a Twisted Christmas, this really had some interesting and fun stuff to enjoy. Having reviewed the original CD and then its EP follow-up, I decided to combine and slightly rework those thoughts based on Eagle Records re-releasing these albums in time for the 2010 holiday season as one package.

“I’ve been a fan of the holiday juggernaut that is the Trans-Siberian Orchestra for several years now, but there was no way that my experience with that would have prepared me for how Twisted Sister would deliver their “Twisted Christmas” release. I bring them up as it originally hit me as one of the most absurd items in reviews to do pile but after several listens I found myself intrigued at just how well the conventional Metal vibe worked when crafted together with Holiday classics that they chose. It was an album that left you hungry for more and that made the arrival of the “We Wish You A Metal Xmas and a Headbanging New Year” release something I was eager to dig into. The players on this one are as vast as the Metal genre itself and as result finds legends like Alice Cooper and Ronnie James Dio performing along with the likes of diverse quality players like Steve Lukather and Ray Luzier and many, many more. The vibe of this release is rather heavy which was good and I admit it that it almost felt like a Motorhead track when Lemmy gave it a go at “Run Rudolph Run”. Shock master Alice Cooper and John 5 delivered the creepiest “Santa Claws Is Coming To Town” I’ve ever heard and believe me at the end of this one, the fact that he knows when you are sleeping and knows when you are awake will scare the Charles Dickens out of you. Winners come shining through during a few numbers like “Silver Bells” which has a powerful modern Metal drive to it and Geoff Tate singing and I felt the same way about the albums opening title track that gave us the magical voice of Jeff Scott Soto, a singer I have always been able to enjoy. Dio is at his ominous best with Mr. Iommi and company for “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” and the best way to describe this one is as imagine the band Heaven And Hell doing the track. Weird huh, but it does work on some levels. I had to say that I was put off by the Death Metal growls of Chuck Billy and Thrash treatment given to “Silent Night”, as this is a track that I like to much to see given such a reworking. Of course there are some who might enjoy the chance to finally hit the circle pit to this one, so here you go folks. Former Judas Priest/Iced Earth front man extraordinaire Tim Owens hits it out of the park with “Santa Claus Is Back In Town” and he sounds like he is having a blast and the same can be said for King’s X vocalist Dug Pinnick during “Little Drummer Boy”. It wouldn’t be fair for me to ruin every single surprise on the album so I shall leave the remaining tracks to your own surprise as you unwrap this present with glee after you taking it from the spiked leather stockings that are hanging on your mantle. It does end with a rousing rendition of John Lennon’s “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” and I love this tune and felt the guitarist/singer did a fantastic job of it. He is joined by Toto’s own Steve Lukather who can deliver the goods in any situation it seems.
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Music, Reviews

“KISS Boxed Set” by KISS

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Artist: KISS
Title: “Boxed Set” (remastered)
Label: Mercury/Universal Music
Release Date: 11/20/2001
Genre: Hard Rock
Rating: 4/5

It was really only a matter of time before KISS got around to releasing a career spanning boxed set after delivering what seemed to be endless editions of “Greatest Hits” packages that often featured the same songs as the last one had dished out or ones that only featured a minor change in the track listing, order of the songs or the photos. Even though I have been a lifelong KISS fans, the sheer number of these kinds of releases from the band was making me start to feel a little bit played. Despite this viewpoint, I still picked up a copy of the boxed set when it was released and wanted to present to you its track listing and some thoughts on what I liked and where I felt that they let us down a little bit. The massive release does give us five CD’s with a total of 94 tracks and 30 of them are ones that were never before released. These unreleased tunes cross a wide gamut from missing tracks, demos, live recordings and alternate versions. Percentagewise that means that of the whole package, just under a third of it will be “new” to the fans ears. I used quotations there based on the amount of bootlegged CD’s that had been circulating the conventions that often had this stuff.

As a lifelong KISS fan I was eager to hear more of the demos of the tracks that became legendary parts of Rock and Roll history and I was very interested in cleaner copies of the Wicked Lester stuff. Yeah that particular band was a total out of left field sounding one from what KISS was to become when they founded it; but it is relevant to the bands history and hence something that the fans want to be able to enjoy. When it comes to unreleased tunes from the bands archives; the more the merrier in the eyes of the KISS Army without a doubt. Check out what they did give us on the release.
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Reviews, Videos

“Bat Out Of Hell The Original Tour” [DVD] by Meat Loaf

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Artist: Meat Loaf
Title: “Bat Out Of Hell The Original Tour”
Label: Eagle Vision
Release Date: 11/10/2009
Genre: Epic Theatre Rock
Rating: 4/5

For over thirty years “Bat Out Of Hell” by Meat Loaf has not only remained one of the top selling Hard Rock albums of all time, but also been one of my very favorites based on its bombastic song-writing and execution. It was the album that introduced the world to the collaborators Jim Steinman and Marvin Lee Aday who we lovingly refer to as Meat Loaf and forever changed the lives of many who heard their work. Growing up in the seventies I very vividly remember how one of the LP’s signature tracks “Paradise By The Dashboard Light” was the favorite song of almost my entire eighth grade graduating class. Thinking back on it I find it an amusing memory especially when one considers how far from these experiences we all were at the time. My favorite song was “Rock & Roll All Nite” but I digress. It was an album that really impacted the Rock scene and has resonated for years after and that made the chance to enjoy a performance of its content on a classic live film quite a treat. Filmed in Germany circa 1978 for the television show “Rockpalast”, “Bat Out Of Hell The Original Tour” captures the band on their climb to fame and delivering almost the entire album. The songs “For Crying Out Loud” and “Heaven Can Wait” are omitted from the set but that will hardly matter once you get into the groove of the film based on just how rousing it actually is.
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Music, Reviews

“Smashes, Thrashes and Hits” by KISS

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Artist: KISS
Title: “Smashes, Thrashes and Hits”
Label: Mercury/Universal
Release Date: 10/25/1990
Genre: Hard Rock
Rating: 2.5/5

While “Smashes, Thrashes and Hits” would truly be the third KISS compilation that featured must have selections from the band’s catalog, its predecessor entitled “Killers” was never released in the States. That makes this album the second such release for the US region fan base and it would follow in similar fashion to “Killers” and would feature not only classic material but a couple of new tracks as well. The band’s first official compilation came to us by way of “Double Platinum” and unfortunately for those fans who own that album already, they will notice about seven tracks being duplicated on this release that also appeared there. Generally, KISS fans don’t mind and seem to eat up anything that the band issues to us but it should be something you are made aware of. The CD wins in some fashion by choosing to not only cover the earliest legacy years, but for also being smart and including material from the eighties were KISS was an MTV staple and could be found in regular rotation based on the videos from some of these albums. I don’t need to comment on the bands classic tracks such as “Love Gun” and “Detroit Rock City” among the others but I will say that they managed to feature a couple of goodies from the 80’s for the fan base to enjoy. “Lick It Up”, “Heaven’s On Fire” and “Tears Are Falling” were very important tunes for KISS as they were now a band that was proving they were much more than image only. The tasty tracks offered big sing along choruses to the audience and whether you loved or hated the songs, you would instantly find them playing over in your mind.
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