![]() ![]() Only now, as KISS’ career slowly creeps to a close are fans starting to truly realize just how seminal of a guitarist Bruce Kulick is. “ I Walk Alone” from Carnival Of Souls (1997) It’s clearly an outtake from the Revenge or Carnival Of Souls era, but never the less - “Dreamin'” rocks, and it’s one I would love to hear live. As an adult, I realized that “Dreamin'” was actually a lowkey standout track written by Paul Stanley. Anyway, as a kid, I didn’t appreciate the backend of Psycho Circus and ignored “Dreamin'” for years. Aside from the tracks I’ve just called out, Tommy Thayer handles all of the lead guitar work, and apparently, Bruce Kulick, who co-wrote the track, handles all of the bass work, with session drummer, Kevin Valentine, handling the drumming on the down-low. For those that don’t know, with the exception of “ Into The Void,” “ You Wanted The Best,” and “ I Finally Found My Way,” Ace Frehley, and Peter Criss don’t play on this thing at all. In retrospect, it is a bit sad that it wasn’t the true “reunion” record it was offered up as. Some would say it’s the last “great” KISS record, and I can’t disagree, although I did love Sonic Boom, and Monster too. It still sounds fresh, and the songs are as good as anything they’ve ever done before or since. Looking back, for me, Psycho Circus still holds up. I have tremendous reverence for Psycho Circus, as it was the first real, live album of new material the band released during the height of my late-90s childhood KISS obsession. Is Rolling Stone's Best 200 Singers of ALL TIME Trash? | Ep 3 With all this being said, check “Outta This World” out if you missed it. I love Ace, but he and anyone else really have no right to complain. It’s also worth noting that Ace Frehley sold the rights to his make-up. Tommy is simply doing what he is being paid to do, and you would all do the same. My point is, Tommy and Ace are both great. Ace’s style is more distorted, and a bit of a sloppy meet’s mania type of thing, whereas Tommy, is extremely clean and tone-focused. That said, I’ve seen Tommy live, and I am very familiar with his work in Black N’ Blue, and Tommy does have his own bluesy vibe, and distinctive vibrato, and phrasing that is different than Ace Frehley. Next, many will say, “Tommy is simply imitating Ace” Yes, it’s true that Tommy stays true to the original source material and doesn’t really deviate. ![]() Some will say, “KISS should have created new characters for Tommy, and Eric.” My retort is how did that work out when they tried it with Vinnie Vincent and Eric Carr? The answer is - it didn’t. I’ve heard it all before - droves of “fans” who have nothing better to do than harp on the fact that Tommy Thayer is wearing Ace Frehley’s Spaceman makeup. This said, the fact remains that “Outta This World” is a truly underrated late-stage KISS track. ![]() I am going to go ahead and assume that I’ve already infuriated no less than half the people who are reading this with the inclusion of this track. Regardless, let’s get this thing started. Some you will agree, and some you probably will hate. In the meantime, here are ten KISS tracks that I feel are criminally underrated. When KISS’ End Of The Road Tour does finally wrap up in 2022, at MSG, I can guarantee you I will be in the front row for that show, no questions asked. Simply put, I am a lifelong fan of the band, and they are without question my favorite band of all time. That said, I too am a proud member of the KISS Army, and so I felt it was time I give this thing a go myself.įrom here, there isn’t a whole lot more I can say regarding KISS that I haven’t said before. Pictured left to right - Gene Simmons (bass), Paul Stanley (rhythm guitar), Vinnie Vincent (lead guitar), Eric Carr (drums)/All images courtesy of Getty Images/KISSonlineĪ number of months ago, our very own Joe O’Brien took a pass at his ten most underrated KISS tracks in his article, You Wanted The Best, You Got The Best…Underrated Kiss Tracks, and I think Joe nailed it. KISS’ non-makeup era yielded some of the band’s best tracks. ![]()
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