Santa Claus is a metalhead. That’s right, that’s no hipster beard and stocking hat”¦ that’s a “˜10 day bender, too lazy to shave and I didn’t have anything else clean to wear, what?? ready to get my mosh on’ look. Because, let’s face it, it’s time to take Santa back. We all know he drives around on Christmas Eve in a hearse blasting Motorhead, and wondering what to get all the good metalheads for Christmas. Well, have I got a list for him!
Whether or not you consider Kiss to be a metal band, I don’t believe that anyone could argue that their 1982 album Creatures of the Night is a heavy metal record. And a damn fine one at that!
Here with the epic anthem “War Machine” from the Creatures of the Night record is the mighty Kiss.
The iconic Spaceman Ace Frehley, who was one of the original members of KISS, the hard rocking quartet that just got inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, has just released a new single for his upcoming release Space Invader titled Gimme a Feelin’,” which is streaming online right now.
The track, which harkens back to Ace’s first solo album (the 1978 KISS “Ace” solo record) and the late ’70s era of KISS, with little touches of New York Dolls thrown in for good measure, opens right out of the sonic gate with a blast of notes, as a solo gives way to the stripped down, yet punchy arrangements, with Ace’s vocals right in the middle of the mix. The song and the lyrics are straight out of the hard rock/blues canon that KISS and Frehley are most known for, capped by the lyric in the song of a woman having “got what it takes to jangle my brain.”
As part of Amazon’s monthly $5 MP3 album deals, the KISS compilation album The Very Best Of KISS is on sale in MP3 format for only $5. (The CD is currently $8.49 and is an AutoRip, which means with the CD purchase you’ll also get a FREE MP3 download of the entire album.)
This is 21 of the best KISS songs for only $5 (that’s less than a quarter each), so this is a steal! And and yes, they are great tunes – this isn’t one of those best-of compilations where you’re never heard of the songs. There’s “Detroit Rock City,” “Shout It Out Loud,” “Strutter,” “Deuce” (I could end up naming all 21 at this rate), and the Alive! version of “Rock and Roll All Nite,” which of course is the best rendition of this mega-hit. There’s even “New York Groove,” the hit off of the Ace Frehley KISS solo album (the best, of course, of the four 1978 solo albums). Most of the tracks on The Very Best Of KISS are from the band’s makeup era in the 1970s, but there’s a handful of the post-makeup selections, too. KISS is one of my favorite bands in the world, so I can go on and on and on about how if you don’t already own most of their music catalog, you should grab this best-of collection, especially at this low price.
Browse all 100 albums on sale this month for only $5 each.
Original KISS members Ace Frehley* and Peter Criss performed together this week for the first time in 13 years at the 30th anniversary celebration for radio host and TV’s That Metal Host star Eddie Trunk.
The Spaceman and The Catman, both of whom originally left KISS in the early 80s, but returned to the group for the 1996 reunion tour and subsequent album Psycho Circus, jammed together at the Hard Rock Cafe in New York City on Wednesday, October 23, 2013, along with Anthrax members, bassist Frank Bello and guitarist Scott Ian; former Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy, and Guns N’ Roses guitarist Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal.
With Frehley on lead guitar and Criss on drums, along with a combination of the aforementioned musicians, the former bandmates rocked out on KISS tunes “Parasite,” “Got To Choose,” “Hooligan,” “Love Her All I Can,” and “Rock And Roll All Night” — the latter three performances can be seen here below in a fan video that was taken.
Students of the Unusual™ comic cover used with permission of 3BoysProductions
The Mercuri Bros.™ comic cover used with permission of Prodigal Son Press