My Day With KISS

Last week I came to realize that I had very little exposure to hard rock legends/lunch box salesmen extraordinaire's, KISS. With the urging of a couple friends I spent a whole day of work listening to KISS on my work van stereo. The results were far from disastrous and while I won't say I came away with an appreciation of them as a band, I certainly didn't hate the time I spent with them either. Here are my (very brief) thoughts on a partial discography.

Kiss - 1974 

Kiss' self titled first album is a good collection of hard rock songs. "Strutter," "Nothing to Lose," "Firehouse," "Cold Gin," "Deuce" and "Black Diamond" are all good songs. There's a couple throwaways but I like it. 

Hotter Than Hell -1974

Hotter than Hell is pretty terrible. The production sucks and there were only 1 or 2 songs in the middle that I cared for. 

Dressed to Kill - 1975

Dressed to Kill is better than Hotter Than Hell but aside from "Rock 'N' Roll All Night" the songs are all really generic.

Alive! - 1975

This is where KISS became superstars and it's easy to see why. The live versions of most songs blow away the studio versions. If you only want to own one KISS album, this is it.

Destroyer - 1976

Destroyer is their first album that is pretty unfair to make a judgment on after one listen (though I heard it years ago and know at least half the songs). A lot more experimentation which probably isn't Kiss' strong suit but most of it worked pretty well. Will have to give it another go. 

Rock & Roll Over - 1976

Rock and Roll all Over is back to straight hard rock but aside from the 2 famous songs ("Dr. Love" and "Hard Luck Woman" and 1 or 2 more it's again pretty generic and unexciting hard rock.

Love Gun - 1977

Love Gun is definitely one of their better albums. The songs hooks are a lot better and more consistant. Could really live without the lame cover of "Then He Kissed Me."

Alive 2

Alive II isn't as great as Alive but it's still far better then most of their studio work. Again the live versions of songs are generally way better than the studio one's.

 Dynasty - 1979

After releasing the completely lame gimmick of four simultaneous solo albums (which I haven't listened to), KISS released this pile of shit. It's pretty terrible.

Unmasked - 1980

I made it through half of the first song before skipping this completely. I was pretty burnt out on KISS by now and that song was truly awful.

Creatures of the Night - 1982

Better than the last 2 (and one that I skipped, something Elder) but by no means anything I ever want to hear again.

Lick It Up

I'm not sure who was in the band besides Stanley and Simmons at this point but I do know they ditched the makeup. This one sounds a lot like straight hair metal so there's not much of chance that I will like it but it's not a horrible album.

FINAL THOUGHTS: I think KISS at their best is a good hard rock band with a great gimmick while at their worst listenable but highly generic dumb rock (at least in their prime, after the solo album mess most of this stuff is practically unlistenable).

If I ever see a copy of Alive 1 or 2 at a used record shop for under 5 bucks I won't hesitate to pick up a copy.

Thursday Video: Raphael Saadiq, "Daydreams" - Live on Leno with Robert Randolph

Raphael Saadiq AND Robert Randolph? Sign me up! Anyway the two of them teamed up (along with Saadiq's awesome backing band) to rock out "Daydreams on Leno last night. It's one of the many fantastic songs on Saadiq's excellent new album Stone Rollin'. Thanks to The Audio Perv for the video.

R.I.P. Clarence Clemons - "Jungleland"

There's not much for me to say. There are tons of great tribute articles from this weekend all over the internet that are far better than anything I'd come up with. You will be missed Big Man. This is the best performance of "Jungleland" I've seen on Youtube (and there are a lot). Clarence really nailed the solo here.

Biutiful: 2010

None of Alejandro Gonzalez Inarittu's previous three films (Amores perros, 21 Grams and Babel would ever be considered happy films but they are in no way a preparation for the onslaught of depression that is Biutiful. This is a classic "see it once but never again" film. There are a ton of great things about Biutiful and the main one is Javier Bardem. Playing a good hearted criminal who's just trying to support his two children, protect them from his bi-polar wife who's cheating on him with his brother (though they are technically separated) and who has just been diagnosed with terminal cancer, Bardem has never been better (including No Country For Old Men, though these are very different characters). He brings a much needed grounded humanity to the film that could easily be lost as there are very few good times to be had. Inarittu also films this cycle of despair and wreckage beautifully. The story may be an ugly one but the visuals are genuinely stunning. On the downside, while this is a very powerful film, it's also a very long film. At almost 2.5 hours and without a whole lot of uplifting moments, Inarittu basically dares the viewer to keep watching and I suspect a lot of people will be very turned off by this. Bardem's performance and Inarittu's direction make Biutiful practically a must see film but I can't imagine too many people wanting to take this journey multiple times.

Rating: 4

Tuesday Video: Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears - Live on Letterman

Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears are a fantastic rock and soul band with a fantastic new album, Scandalous. Last night they took their talents to The Late Show and rocked the house (also be sure to check out Joe's suit!). Great stuff and thanks to The Audio Perv for the video.

Fucked Up: David Comes to Life (2011)

If there's one generic (and slightly hyperbolized) term I could use to describe David Comes To Life, it would be EPIC! Everything from the sound of the music to the length, scope, audacity, indulgence and ambition that Fucked Up display on their third full length album is so huge that there's no other way to describe it. David Comes To Life is a 80 minute hardcore punk rock opera about a guy who falls in love with a political activist, only to be rejected, give up on life and finally realize that life goes on. At least that what's I think it's about. Truthfully someone would need far more than the one week I've had to fully take in everything that the band attempts (and largely pulls off) on this beast. The music is a giant punishing wall of guitars and gravely shouted vocals (if you've heard Fucked Up's music before you know what I mean) with a fair amount of tempo changes. This album will hit you hard and pummel you into being a believer in the power of being Fucked Up. Talking about individual tracks is pretty much worthless as they consistently bleed together. David Comes To Life is really meant to be taken as a whole. It certainly is a bit overwhelming and not everything works (mostly the sheer length is just too much) but David Comes To Life will most certainly be a staple on year end best of lists from all over! EPIC!

Rating: 4

Track Listing:

1. "Let Her Rest" (3:23)
2. "Queen of Hearts" (4:26)
3. "Under My Nose" (3:29)
4. "The Other Shoe" (4:57)
5. "Turn the Season" (4:02)
6. "Running on Nothing" (4:46)
7. "Remember My Name" (5:09)
8. "A Slanted Tone" (3:40)
9. "Serve Me Right" (3:49)
10. "Truth I Know" (4:34)
11. "Life in Paper" (4:38)
12. "Ship of Fools" (4:02)
13. "A Little Death" (4:36)
14. "I Was There" (3:19)
15. "Inside a Frame" (4:18)
16. "The Reclusive Girl" (3:34)
17. "One More Night" (5:36)
19. "Lights Go Up" (5:30)

Just Go With It (2011)

I won't lie, I used to love Adam Sandler movies. I'll still laugh heavily at Billy Madison, Happy Gilmore, The Wedding Singer and Big Daddy but somewhere along the line either I matured (not likely) or Sandler's movies have just plain sucked (with some notable exceptions Punch Drunk Love, Funny People). I was hoping Just Go With It would break that trend. It didn't. Aside from a few funny moments (mostly involving the children) Just Go With It is filled with terrible sight gags (Nick Swardson giving the Heimlich to a obviously fake sheep, Sandler mocking a largely unseen mans facial hair), unbelievable and completely predictable plot lines, forced sentimentality and half-assed "acting" (Jennifer Aniston looks completely bored the entire time). On the plus side there's a lot of scenes of Brooklyn Decker in a bikini and even though she's a terrible actress, she fills that particular piece of swim-wear beautifully. Just Go With It is certainly not as terrible as lets say, Click but aside from hardcore Sandler fans, I can't imagine too many people having a great time going with it.

Rating: 2

Frank Turner: England Keep My Bones

"Now who'd have thought, that after all, something as simple as rock and roll would save us all." Those words from "I Still Believe" sum up a large part of Frank Turner's outlook, there are terrible things that happen in the world (and he's not afraid to sing about them) but music really can help save us all. On England Keep My Bones, his 4th solo album, Turner has given us a fantastic and varied record full of conviction, passion, hooks, energy and a love of rock and roll.

England Keep My Bones kicks off with the intro track "Eulogy" (another one that portrays Turner's look on life) before the back to back outstanding folk punk of "Peggy Sang the Blues" and "I Still Believe." The rest of the album features such stylistic variations as acoustic folk ("Rivers," "Night's Become Days"), Hard Rock ("One Foot Before the Other"), piano enhanced ruminations of life and love ("I Am Disappeared," "Redemption"), pub ready sing-a-longs ("If Ever I Stray," "Wessex Boy") and even an acapella British history lesson ("English Curse"). The closing atheist anthem, "Glory, Hallelujah" is a song with a message I don't personally agree with but is almost impossible to resist singing along with just the same. While the subject matter tends to be fairly specific to England, the passion, heart and sense of joy that Turner brings to every song is completely universal.

Frank Turner has made some great music in the past (and he puts on one hell of a live show as well) but England Keep My Bones is a big step up. It's a fantastic album that will certainly be a strong contender for at least my year end top ten list. If you enjoy music that is pure and comes from the heart, there is no reason to not get a copy of this as soon as possible.

Rating: 4.5

Track Listing:

1. "Eulogy" (1:34)
2. "Peggy Sang the Blues" (3:33)
3. "I Still Believe" (3:45)
4. "Rivers" (4:34)
5. "I Am Disappeared" (4:47)
6. "English Curse" (2:17)
7. "One Foot Before the Other" (3:26)
8. "If I Ever Stray" (2:54)
9. "Wessex Boy" (3:34)
10. "Nights Become Days" (4:26)
11. "Redemption" (4:48)
12. "Glory Hallelujah" (4:36)

The Late Show (1977)

I'm a sucker for a good private eye flick and for movies that mix a bunch of genre's together and pull it off so it was with great hope and glee that I popped The Late Show into my dvd player. This mix of noir throwback, comedy, action and inside an look at 70's Los Angeles ("this place never changes, they just move the people around") is a vastly overlooked film that did not disappoint me in the least. Art Carney plays aging private eye Ira Wells who's former partner shows up at his door dying of a gunshot wound talking about a big score he wants to cut Ira in on. Soon Wells is caught up investigating the murder, looking for a lost cat and hanging around quirky pseudo hippie Margo Sperling (Lilly Tomlin). The plot is an intricate and layered mystery that holds up well on it's own but the key to the Late Show's success is the characters. Carney is fantastic in a role that is both funny and at times painful. Tomlin's character is fairly annoying at first but after a while she grows on you and the emotional attachment the two form is the most worthwhile aspect of the film. Add in strong supporting roles from the lies of character actors Bill Macy and Eugene Roche with Robert Benton's (Kramer Vs. Kramer) strong direction and you have a smart, funny mystery that is well worth checking out for genre fans.

Rating: 4

Ranking the Films: The Coen Brothers Version

With the blu-ray release of True Grit tomorrow there is no better time to do a good ol' film ranking for one of my personal favorite filmmakers, the Coen Brothers. I can honestly say that I at least somewhat enjoy every single film they've ever made even though a few are only just o.k. Throughout their career they've often been accused of being more style than substance and while there is certainly some truth to that, when the style is as awesome as theirs a lack of pure substance is easily forgiven. With a film canon that runs the gamut from screwball comedies to westerns and film noir (usually mixing a bunch of styles in the process), Joel and Ethan are not afraid to take chances and have firmly established themselves as not only distinct voices in underground cinema but as excellent commercial directors as well. Click on the jump to get a rundown on how I humbly view each of their 15 films.

The Green Hornet: Blu-ray (2011)

I enjoyed roughly 30 seconds of The Green Hornet's two hour runtime. At least someone made the fine decision to include Sam Cooke's "Twistin' the Night Away" on the soundtrack. Other than that, there was nothing redeeming about this mess. I had very low expectations going in and still came away disappointed. The movie focuses as much on comedy as action but is too filled with bad visual gags lame one liners and fake awkward dialogue to actually be funny. Director Michel Gondry has a nice flair for interesting visuals but there's very little of that on display here with a focus on standard action movie quick cuts. Seth Rogan is a good comedic actor (and since he co-wrote it that explains a lot of the films failed attempts at humor) but not an action hero. Christoph Waltz is utterly wasted as the paper thin villain and Cameron Diaz is really annoying. I guess Jay Chou isn't terrible and for this movie that's pretty high praise.

Well at least the blu-ray is pretty sweet. Being a new release action movie one would expect the presentation to feature great visuals and a booming soundtrack and the disc does not disappoint on a technical level. If you have completely different tastes than me and liked this piece of trash you should feel free to enjoy it in all it's horrible hi-def glory.

The Green Hornet may be the worst movie of the year so far and will most likely go down as one of the worst superhero movies ever made. I mean at least Catwoman had Halle Berry in that tight black suit, Elektra had Jennifer Garner in whatever she was wearing (sidenote: I never saw Catwoman or Elektra) and Batman and Robin had.........well alright, The Green Hornet is better than Batman and Robin.

Ratings:

Movie: 1
Blu-ray: 5

Face to Face: Laugh Now, Laugh Later (2011)

2011 must be the year of veteran punk bands releasing their first album in many years. Not only did we get excellent new albums from Screeching Weasel (even though they broke up again about a month after it's release) and the Swingin' Utters, we now get the first album in 9 years from Face To Face. Laugh Now, Laugh Later isn't the strongest album the band has ever released but it's far from an embarrassment. Even if it only exists as an excuse to tour, that's a good enough reason for me. "Should Anything Go Wrong," "It's Not All About You," "All For Nothing," "The Invisible Hand" and "Bombs Away" are all fine skate-punk songs with Trevor Keith's half sung half shouted vocals and a barrage of melodic "whoa's" from the rest of the band. In other words there's nothing new being brought to the table and the sound is firmly planted in the late 90's (this is a good thing for veteran punk bands). On the downside there are too many tracks that have forgettable melodies and since most of them are located on the second half of the album, Laugh Now, Laugh Later is pretty top heavy. Ultimately, while it's far from their best work, Laugh Now, Laugh Later should be good enough to keep long time Face To Face fans happy.

Rating: 3

Track Listing:

1. "Should Anything Go Wrong" (3:05)
2. "It's Not All About You" (3:02)
3. "The Invisible Hand" (3:04)
4. "Bombs Away" (3:00)
5. "Blood in the Water" (3:43)
6. "What You Came For" (3:13)
7. "I Don't Mind and You Don't Matter" (3:42)
8. "Stopgap" (4:33)
9. "All For Nothing" (3:07)
10. "Pushover" (2:28)
11. "Under the Wreckage" (3:03)

Drive Angry: Blu-ray (2011)

Lets just get this out of the way right now, Drive Angry is not a "good" movie. It's actually pretty terrible and not in a schlocky low budget way. That said, I enjoyed watching it and think it's one of the better ridiculous Nic Cage movies to come out in a while.

Cage is John Milton, a recent escapee from hell who is out avenge the murder of his daughter at the hands of cult leader, Jonah King (Billy Burke) who has also kidnapped Milton's granddaughter and plans to offer her up to Satan as a human sacrifice. Along for the ride is random waitress Piper (Amber Heard) with The Accountant (William Fichtner) giving chase along with a slew of cops. Oh yeah David Morse shows up for a while too, even though he doesn't actually do anything.

If all that sounds pretty stupid, it is but director/co-writer Patrick Lussier (My Bloody Valentine) pretty much acknowledges the stupidity right up front and gives the movie a rather non serious tone that makes the film hard to hate. They're certainly not attempting to make Shakespeare here. Cage gives his usual overacting performance (with requisite terrible haircut) that seems to drive people crazy but it works for the material presented here. He probably kills at least 50 people singlehandedly and in one fantastic scene of insanity, manages to knock off at least 8 opponents all the while still chugging whiskey, smoking cigars AND never removing his penis from the waitress he's pleasuring while still clothed ("I never disrobe before a gunfight"). Heard isn't given too much to do besides look pretty in skimpy clothes and attempt to kick some ass with varying results. Fichnter gets most of the best lines ("Whoa, those are fucked!" before sticking a pole into a dudes shot out kneecap) and is the real highlight of the film. With his ridiculously terrible southern accent Burke manages to outdo Cage in level of overacting and his is the only performance I found to be distracting but I guess when you're playing a David Koresh like figure, overacting is really the only way to go.

The blu-ray is a new release action movie so naturally it looks and sounds great. It probably looks too good at times because the incredible fakeness of a lot of the CGI is readily apparent but mostly that just adds to the films tone. This was also a movie shot in 3D so there are numerous times when things fly at the screen or are obviously meant to be 3D affects that just look really stupid while watching it in 2D but that's not really the fault of the disc. It's as good as Drive Angry will ever get. The audio is a constantly booming track well worth the price of admission in itself. High quality stuff.

Drive Angry is not the type of film thats going to hold up with any sort of scrutiny. You're either going to be into it or not. I fell for it almost immediately and wouldn't hesitate to visit it again. Obviously it's not for everyone but anyone who enjoys Cage, over the top scenes of violence, ridiculous dialogue and general "so bad it's good" type action, Drive Angry is pretty sweet. Just don't think about it too much.

Ratings:

Movie: 3.5
Blu-ray: 4.5

The Stunt Man (1980)

The Stunt Man is one of those cult films that a certain group of people will absolutely love, while a larger group will find worthwhile but not anything to get really excited about. I fall firmly into the larger group. There's a lot of worthwhile stuff going on in this movie but screenplay writer Richard Rush gave director Richard Rush more than he could ultimately handle. The Stunt Man is a about a fugitive (Steve Ralisback) who accidentally wanders onto a movie set, accidentally kills a stuntman and then is bribed to take his place by the films eccentric director (Peter O'Toole). He falls in love with the leading lady (Barbara Hershey) and slowly comes to believe that the director is trying to kill him. The film attempts to blur the line between reality and imagination and does a very good job of doing so. Scenes from the film within the film flow seamlessly with scenes representing real life and do a good job of confusing the viewer much like the faux stunt man becomes confused. O'Toole is fantastic as the maniacal, ego driven, obsessive and manipulative director. He was nominated for an academy award and it was well deserved. He almost singlehandedly carries the movie. On the opposite end of that spectrum is Ralisback. Quite simply, he is not a skilled enough actor to carry a two hour feature film. Some character actors should only be character actors and his performance in the lead role really hurts The Stunt Man. The tone of the movie is also all over the map and while that can work if done right (and is almost assuredly the main reason this movie has a cult following), Rush just couldn't pull it all together and the film as a whole never quite clicks. It's still worth checking out and maybe you'll love it but I personally won't be visiting it again.

Rating: 3

Raphael Saadiq: Stone Rollin' (2011)

I've been sitting on this review for at least 2 weeks trying to figure out a way to do justice to one of the best albums so far this year but at this point I've given up trying to be clever. Stone Rollin' is fantastic from start to finish. Raphael Saadiq has created a retro-soul album that sounds both modern and like it could have come straight out of the late 60's and early 70's. There's early rock and roll ("Heart Attack"), funky bassline driven soul ("Radio"), fingersnapping party tunes ("Day Dreams") string filled laments on life and love ("Go To Hell," "Good Man," "The Answer") and and mid tempo funk booty call anthems (the title track). They're all performed with passion, soul and exuberance (and largely by Saadiq himself) and the end result is simply fantastic. Saadiq has always made great music dating back to his Tony! Toni! Tone! days but I don't believe he's ever made an album as full of life and as purely enjoyable as Stone Rollin'.

Rating: 4.5

Track Listing:

1. "Heart Attack" (3:03)
2. "Go To Hell" (4:20)
3. "Radio" (3:22)
4. "Over You" (2:31)
5. "Stone Rollin' (3:37)
6. "Day Dreams" (3:20)
7. "Down the Line" (4:25)
8. "Just Don't" (5:17)
9. "Good Man" (3:46)
10. "The Answer" (9:36)

Thief (1981)

Thief is probably best known as Michael Mann's first directorial effort and befitting thee first film of a man who would go on to make great films (Heat, The Insider, Collateral) it's a promising movie that doesn't reach masterpiece status. Frank (James Caan) is an ex-con master thief who gets roped into working for the mafia after his fence is killed and as you can imagine, things don't go so well for him after that. The film shares a lot of similarities with Heat (ex-con who refuses to go back to jail no matter what the cost, intricate depictions of robberies and criminal life) and is largely reliant on Caan's performance. Thankfully he is up to the task. While he's always been an actor that got by more on his physical presence than any outward displays of emotional acting, Caan brings a lot more to the character than just a tough guy with a rulebook. There's an early scene in a diner that Caan considers the best acting of his career and I'd have to agree. He's much more than a brute in that scene and it helps to carry his character emotionally through the more action oriented encounters. Mann;s visual style was not yet fully formed at this point but he still does a lot with camera movement, lighting and framing to make Thief visually interesting and unique. The Tangerine Dream score hasn't aged all that well and fully places this film in the 80's and the supporting cast is hit (Robert Prosky, Willie Nelson) and miss (Jim Belushi, Tuesday Weld) making the film well worth viewing but a flawed picture nonetheless.

Rating: 3.5