The song is impossibly fast with speeding guitars, super fast (inhuman) drums and an indecipherable growl as vocal. I had never heard of this band until I saw the song mentioned in the article. SOUNDTRACK: CRYPTOPSY-“Slit Your Guts” (1996). They economically punish the people who care about them most: In the course of my lifetime, I’ve purchased commercial recordings of the song “Rock and Roll All Nite” at least 15 times. They inoculate themselves from every avenue of revisionism, forever undercutting anything that could be reimagined as charming. They keep releasing greatest hits albums with an extra song or two, they even keep making albums that are nowhere near as good as their best stuff. Kiss are even easier to dislike if you do know them–Gene Simmons is a greedy bastard who is intent upon taking as much money from his fans as he can (and is proud of that). Kiss are very easy to dislike if you don’t know them–they are silly, they were costumes, they sing dopey pop metal about sex, and they just keep going even though they are ancient. But imagine my delight when Klosterman decided to write a huge article defending Kiss for all of the right reasons while at the same time loathing them for all the right reasons, too. I especially like his writing about music (although I have never read any of his books–some day).
“The Definitive, One-Size-Fits- All, Accept-No Substitutes, Massively Comprehensive Guide to the Life and Times of Kiss” Definitely of its time, but some interesting stuff nevertheless. I can see them not wanting this released during their heyday or during their heavier moments, but it’s not an embarrassing collection by any means. It’s a cover of the Hollies song and not the “Shout It Out Loud” that Kiss would later record. “Molly” is a gentle acoustic ballad by Paul with falsetto and everything, “Wanna Shout It Out Loud” is another Gene falsetto song. Gene seems to be straining a lot on falsetto vocals. A band called Griffin has also recorded it (and their version is better). It’s fairly psychedelic, including the middle section sung by Gene and the slide guitar solo. “What Happens in the Darkness” has a kind of disco sound (in the backing vocals) and Paul’s lead vocals have an interesting edge to them. It is probably the least Kiss sounding song of the bunch because they didn’t write it. “Too Many Mondays” has Gene on vocals and it is a very delicate song with gentle backing oohs. “She” (one of my favorite Kiss songs) has a wonderfully weird vibe here, (not to mention a flue solo which is very Jethro Tull). It’s got a lot less of the psychedelic elements that the other songs have. “Simple Type” (the version I heard is lousy qality) is a rock and roll number with (I think) Gene on vocals. The song also has an entirely new middle section, which is very early Kiss–they liked showing off creative chops back then. I love “Keep Me Waiting” has a what, tuba sound? for the riff. “Sweet Ophelia” has a groovy 70s vibe and a feeling that is not too dissimilar to the sound of The Elder. The solo is lame and it’s funny to hear “do dooo” backing vocals (and a keyboard section). “Love Her All I Can” sounds not too different from the Kiss version. Two of the songs from the demo made it onto Kiss records (strangely, one not until their third release). It has a very 70s vibe (including flutes and keyboards) and is much less heavy than what they would be releasing in just a year’s time. I’d be surprised if it were because there are four cover songs. This demo version which floats around the internet may or may not be the album. They recorded, but never released, an album (given Gene’s money grubbing needs, I can’t believe he hasn’t released this yet). Wicked Lester was the band that Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley started before they created Kiss. SOUNDTRACK: WICKED LESTER-The Original Wicked Lester Sessions (1972).
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