Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
To many yes men and you end up with this....., December 17, 2004
Let me preface this review with the fact that I like Gene and respect what he has accomplished in the music industry. Also I am not a hard core Kiss fan, but I do enjoy their earlier work like Dressed to Kill. I liked the raw minimalist approach Gene and his band used back then. Unfortunately, Kiss as a band and Gene as a solo performer lost their way. I thought when they put the makeup back on and had Ace back in the band they would get away from the shredding 80's joke that they became, and get back to basics. This album has some of that basic stuff I like so much all those years ago, but it only rears its head on occasion. That being said, on with the review.
Sorry Gene but, I don't think the world needs to hear you sing Prodigy's fire starter, or a cover song about a transsexual. I know you want to be edgy and come across as hip, but prodigy has not been hip or cool, ever. Plus, someone of Gene's vision could have picked a better song to cover than a Prodigy song. To me that is pandering. But pandering to whom? Does Gene think that this will be played in clubs and at raves? I think it would only be used to clear the dance floors. I mean this is the guy along with Paul Stanley who came up the concept of Kiss, and that was one heck of a cool and ground breaking vision.
Now you would think that by including a song he wrote with Bob Dylan that he would handle it with care and precision. (Well he didn't.) For some insane reason Gene produces this song with cheesy synths. Huh? What? Yep, what could have been a cool song comes across as light weight 80's Casio keyboard fluff. In fact with all the money Gene is worth he could have had decent production values for this outing. Now if this was the sound he wanted to have, he must have a lot of ear wax blocking up the works, cos it does not sound raw (which is I think how he may have envisioned this project). On the contrary, it sounds badly mixed with very poor arrangements. There is some okay stuff on here, the title track is hilarious, and hard. The opening song takes from Queens "Tie Your Mother Down," and sounds like it could have come off Dressed to Kill. However, as a total listening experience this album just sucks. I could go and grab a thesaurus and come up with a profound way to say it sucks, but that would be redundant. It is as simple as that, it sucks, and it sucks on allot of different levels. Oh well, Gene is rich enough to do whatever he wants and rich enough to take it like a man when I say this is one of the worst records I have ever heard from a major recording star.
One other thing, what is up with Gene wanting to have group sing alongs with some of these songs. It sounds like he just got tired with some of these songs and just dragged hobos and barflies from off the street to sing back up. Ladies and gentlemen, girls and boys, this is an excellent example of when you surround yourself with to many yes men, or women you get something like this, which is a mish mosh of an album by an iconic rock star sadly out of touch.
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34 of 41 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Uncle Gene Does Karaoke, June 12, 2004
When I got this CD, I had the lowest of expectations, but even with that in mind, I found very little if anything salvagable on this horrible excuse for a CD. With lyrics like "you got a personality, yeah, just like a bucket full of pee...," we're scraping the bottom of the "creative" barrel here. Is this the stuff Gene was busting at the seams to put onto disc? Even Gene's '78 solo album (which out of the four comes in at a #3, just barely nudging out Peter Criss's) was miles ahead of this. Much of the album sounds like bad karaoke. Listen to "Beautiful" and "1000 Dreams." It sounds like Gene programed a 1984 Casio keyboard's drum machine and went to town. The same goes for "Waiting for the Morning Light." Damn, he tries hard, but with Gene single tracking his voice, uh, the straining... it's fingernails on a chalkboard. Gene threw a curveball on his first solo album with "When You Wish Upon a Star," but in an odd way it fit. "1000 Dreams" sounds like it was supposed to be this album's radical departure, but it only serves to embarrass...kind of like how I feel when my elderly uncle, after a few too many drinks, starts singing "What's New Pussycat." He likes it, but no one else does. The two good songs are "Dog," which sounds kind of like the Beach Boy's "Kokomo" on an acid trip, and "Black Tongue," a tip of the hat to Frank Zappa. These two songs show a little bit of inspiration -- just a little. As much a Gene has been known to criticize Peter Criss and Ace Frehley's ability to write songs, this CD gives him absolutely no ground to stand on. I know Gene intended this to be a departure from Kiss music, but all this CD shows me is that in his heart of hearts, Gene would like to be Barry Manilow.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Honesty from a huge Kiss fan, November 5, 2005
I've been a huge Kiss fan since 1977. So, forget all other reviews, I'm about to tell you the 100% truth. Put the CD in, press play, and the first song "Sweet And Dirty Love" will totally kick your ass. This should have been recorded by Kiss. Second, "Firestarter"...a little bizarre but decent. Third, "Weapons Of Mass Destruction"...the heaviest song Gene has ever done, and it's good. THE REST OF THE CD IS F**KING HORRIBLE!!! As a Kiss fan, songs 4-13 are embarrassing! As a footnote...the two extra songs on the Japanese release are very good songs. It's a shame that most people won't hear them. They should have been on the American release and replaced two of the crappy songs. Gene was my childhood hero, but, by NO means, do I recommend this CD.
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