Michelle Fusco (Ace Artist) interview

How old were you when you got into art and what exactly got you into art?

About 13 or so and it was to escape difficult situations at home. Interaction with my single parent was not good, and I would sit in my room for hours, drawing and painting, to avoid thinking about things... to escape into another world.


I understand that you're a self-taught artist. Is there a specific reason why you opted not to have any formal art schooling or training?

I was very poor growing up, so college of any kind was never mentioned. Later on, someone told me that art schools squash individuality & creativity and I would be better off without it anyways.


Do you have any preference(s) as far as media (acrylic, pen & ink, pastel, charcoal, etc.)? If so, what is/are your preference(s)?

My favorite media is Pencil, because you can get the tightest detail that way. I also use chalk pastels, acrylic paints, and charcoal.


As an artist, who/what are some of your influences & inspirations and why?

Michelangelo for his outright insane technical skill, Dutch surrealist Renee Magritte for his dramatic imagination and Norman Rockwell.  He did a painting called “The Virtuoso” of a violinist, and captured incredible detail in the subject’s hands as he played the violin. I saw it as a young teenager and remembered wanting to capture detail in hands and necks of my subjects with the accuracy that Rockwell did.


Why exactly is former KISS lead guitarist Ace Frehley such a huge focus of your work?

Ace is a lifelong inspiration.  To me, he just sums up the spirit of Rock & Roll and artistic freedom. He’s real. His music, character and real life experiences are reflected in his music, with magic and yet without pretense. He speaks from the heart through his music, you know? Somehow he’s dramatic, imaginative, and yet straightforward. I find that to be uncommon and very inspirational. Life has been pretty rough for me, so far, but somehow this idea of the perfect painting of Ace I still need to do keeps me going no matter what.


What are some of your favorite KISS and Ace albums/songs and why?

Destroyer and Love Gun for classics like “God of Thunder” and “Shock Me”. I also love Psycho Circus because it symbolizes the KISS Reunion of 1996, which was a big deal for me. I drove 500 miles to see Ace & Peter back with KISS again! I think that was one of the most exciting times ever.

I love all of Ace’s solo work, especially during the Frehley’s Comet era. “Rock Soldiers” is my favorite song of all time.


Are you a fan of any of KISS's non-Ace albums/songs? Why or why not?

Revenge comes to mind. I think that’s my favorite non-Ace KISS album. “Unholy” is a great song, I really like how it captures the dark mood of “God Of Thunder” somehow.


Discuss some of the other bands/artists whom you've made a focus of your work and why you chose those particular artists to focus on.

My favorite subjects are always ones who speak from the heart, ones who you get the impression that genuine self-expression is their motivation, like Jim Morrison and Blackie Lawless (W.A.S.P.) for example. They have/had a lot to say, and there is some sort of wisdom and depth to the work so you don’t feel like they’re just trying to make a buck.  You feel like they are real artists with something to say.


What are some of your favorite albums/songs by those bands/artists and why?

Almost anything by The Doors, but especially “The End”, “The Soft Parade” and “Riders on the Storm”. Things about exploring the wilderness of our own inner self. Examples of Blackie/W.A.S.P. stuff that fits are things like “Headless Children”, “Unholy Terror” and “The Crimson Idol”. Again, music with meaning behind it.


Are you planning on releasing a book of your work at some point? If so, please discuss. If not, why not?

I would love to release a picture-book of my different subjects over the years! I have done 20+ paintings of Jim Morrison alone, just as many of KISS, lots of other things too: Alice Cooper, Marilyn Manson, and so on. I need to organize all my stuff and try to figure out how I might publish it. I think that’s a great idea.


Feel free to discuss any of your other endeavors here.

I really need to do more paintings of Ace outside of KISS. Frehley’s Comet/Trouble Walkin' era Ace. I want to do a bunch of drawings and paintings in that time frame. Also I’ve been getting requests for classic Motley Crue. That might be fun! I also still have to do a perfect 3D shadow-box painting of Ace with KISS, Dynasty era, and make the Light Guitar actually light up with a teeny led light kit.

Right now, I am trying to share my work as much as possible via Facebook and my website, and also have started offering prints for sale of many of my different projects over the years.

[This is an example of the prints for sale: http://70sthunder.ecrater.com/p/15213044/24x36-ace-frehley-fire-and-ice]

I really want to do an album cover.  I hear that Ace is working on a new album and I am trying to figure out who/what to submit my samples to that I might have a chance at that.  Can you imagine how cool that would be?!

The Elder (as in the 1981 KISS album) movie trailer

http://www.elderthemovie.com/

http://www.indiegogo.com/elderthemovie

The Roth Show (video webcasts from David Lee Roth)

http://www.youtube.com/user/TheRothShow

You Need A Backseat Surprise!

You Need A Backseat Surprise

Now if you’re unfamiliar with Automan.ca, you should seriously consider adjusting that.  You’ll thank me for it!  The band is fronted by none other than drummer Darrell DWaRf Millar from the iconic Canadian band KiLLeR DWaRfS.  Darrell has moved out from behind the kit to take over vocal duties and leaving space for Adrian Cavan to step in.  John Fenton handles bass guitar and rounding out the line-up is Darrell’s song writing partner Carleton Lockhart, who plays his guitar strung upside down and without a pick.  If any of this sounds familiar, maybe you caught Wallygator’s interview with Darrell DWaRf Millar from May 24^th, which you can re-discover here: http://dbgeekshow.blogspot.ca/2012/05/interview-with-darrell-dwarf-millar.html or even his show review from their gig at The Rockpile Bar & Nightclub in Etobicoke back on June 27^th: http://dbgeekshow.blogspot.ca/2012/06/automanca-show-review.html.  As you may have guessed the Canadian Hosehead Duo of the Decibel Geeks (The Meister and Wallygator) are big fans of KiLLeR DWaRfS and certainly Automan.ca.  Darrell mentioned that there may even be a little something down the road for the DWaRfS, very exciting news indeed.  In the meantime, Automan.ca's brand of southern flavoured straight ahead rock is getting quite a bit of airplay on Canadian radio stations and they started their invasion of western Canada recently, travelling in what they call the Zed Leppelin mobile.  I'm not sure what year it is, but they assure me that it has all the comforts of home, complete with wood-grain dash and cassette player (at least it’s not an 8-track!).  Ahhh, that’s the life of a rock and roll band on the road.

The Zed Leppelin Mobile

I was fortunate to catch their show on Monday October 15^th at the Mansion Nightclub in Barrie.  The Monday night time slot didn't deter the die-hard Automan.ca fans from attending the show.  The guys were all available before the show to chat with fans, take some snapshots, sign autographs and have a beer with.  On that note, I should mention that the guys are happy to mingle with their fans and their merchandise is very reasonably priced with CD’s at $10 each and tour shirts at $25 only!  Of course you can also pick up some Automan.ca swag at www.automan.ca and bring your CD to the show for an autograph and photo.  Darrell and crew started up around 10:30pm and treated the fans to a selection of tracks from all their CD’s including my personal favourites Back in the Sun from the Pocket Change CD and Forty-Five and Bona Fide from the latest, Backseat Surprise.  The band sounded amazing and are an extremely tight unit playing together as they rolled through their setlist full of high energy rock.

The Backseat Surprise Tour sees the band visiting the Western provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia over the next three weeks.  Check out the detailed schedule at www.automan.ca or search them on facebook and catch one of their performances.

Setlist:

Bona Fide, Dig in Deep, Sweaty Hand of Fate, Cinnamon Rain, Loose Lips, Livin' Bitter Better, Milldog Blues, Hurts to Be Alive, Back In the Sun, Rock it Together, Forty-Five, Down to the Bone, Porno Queen, Drivin', Rockin', Lovin'.

Cheers,

The Meister

Raising Hell in KKKalifornia hell

Andrew Jacobs here,

Raise your hand if you first heard Aerosmith's 1975 classic "Walk This Way" via their collaboration on the song with the rap/hip hop group Run DMC in 1986 (and played on this week's Covers With Attitude show).

*raises hand*

Although I'd been familiar with rap/hip hop music since 1984 (having seen and thoroughly enjoyed the movie Breakin' when it was released in the theater that year), it wasn't until two years later when Run DMC took over MTV with their videos for, among other songs, "Walk This Way" and "It's Tricky" that I actually contemplated going to the record store and purchasing a rap/hip hop record.  And although the very first rap/hip hop record that I ever purchased wound up being the Beastie Boys' Licensed To Ill, Run DMC's Raising Hell was the second.

Raising Hell also has the the distinction of being the first black rap/hip hop record that I ever purchased.  The reason why I feel the need to emphasize this is because for a lily white guy who grew up in ultra-Christian and ultra-conservative Orange County, California (this is back when California was still very much a red state as well), being able to overcome the institutionalized racism that plagued that area of California and not only enjoy but embrace black music was quite a feat.  And even though I'd already purchased records by black artists such as Jimi Hendrix and the Bad Brains a year or two before I'd even heard of Run DMC, Raising Hell was the very first record that I ever heard where black pride was unabashedly mentioned in the songs' lyrics.

Episode 55 - Covers With Attitude

We're back this week with a second helping of our live recording at the recent Nashville Comic & Horror Festival and this time we have some company.

Our good friends from the PWA Show dropped by to help us create an all-covers show that is certainly like no other that we've done. We're sure that some of the choices today will either make you want to jump for joy or want to reach through the ipod and strangle us. Either way, we don't think you'll be bored.

The PWA Show is hosted by Dave and Korey and posts new episodes, like us, every week. What do they cover on the PWA Show? Well, just about anything. Their off-the-cuff, stream of consciousness conversations are pretty interesting and give you a fly-on-the-wall feeling when listening. Check them out and give them a listen. We consider them our brothers-in-podcasting.

We kick things off with Chris' pick of a industrialized version of a Zeppelin classic before going to Dave's pick of a KISS classic covered by a group of Alternative pioneers from Minnesota.

Korey makes his first selection of a White Stripes cover with a Tennessee connection before Aaron shifts things back heavier with his choice of a controversial frontman covering a Maiden classic.

We return from the break with the first country artist to ever be spun on the Decibel Geek Podcast and it's a great cover of a Catman-sung KISS classic from the 1970's. Coming off of that, Dave selects a Marilyn Manson cover that helped the shock rocker break through to the mainstream.

Korey's second choice of the song that is arguably the birth tune of rap-rock runs completely counter to Aaron's choice of Tesla covering a killer track by Alice Cooper.

Next up is Chris' choice of Pearl Jam jamming out a live version of one of the best arena rock anthems of all-time before Dave chooses a cover performed by another Seattle-formed band performing a David Bowie classic from MTV Unplugged.

We finish things off with The Man in Black delivering a painful rendition of a wrenching Nine Inch Nails song from 2002 and end things on a heavy note with Aaron's pick of W.A.S.P. covering a rollicking Who track.

Send all hatemail regarding Korey & Dave's picks to thepwashow@gmail.com and.........

Buy Music!

Trent Reznor
The Replacements
KISS
White Stripes
Sebastian Bach
Garth Brooks
Marilyn Manson
Run DMC
Tesla
Pearl Jam 
Nirvana
Johnny Cash
W.A.S.P.

Connect to Us!

Rate, Review, and Subscribe in iTunes
Join the Fan Page
Follow on Twitter
E-mail Us
Comment Below

Direct Download

Maiden and Mayhem in Montreal

Maiden and Mayhem in Montreal

With this past episode of The Decibel Geek podcast being a radio sucks episode in which the boys featured Iron Maiden’s Can I Play with Madness I thought I would take this opportunity to post a rather late concert review on one of my all-time favourite bands Iron Maiden.

As tragic as it is I must confess that I have only had the opportunity to see Iron Maiden once previous to this summer’s Maiden England Tour featuring special guest Alice Cooper and that was for the Brave New World Tour, which marked Bruce Dickinson’s return to the band way back in 2000.  My “Maiden Buddy” and I were determined to catch this tour after missing their shows for so long.  “Can I Play with Madness” is rather fitting as a theme for our concert adventure as instead of seeing them in Toronto, for some unknown reason we formulated a plan to travel to Montreal to catch the Number of the Beast.  I guess we figured what the hell, might as well go all out as we’ve missed so many shows!  We booked a hotel on line and opted to take the train, thinking that we could ride in comfort and begin the overwhelming consumption of frosty adult beverages at an early hour.  Apparently, the rail company was not on the same page as us, as there was no “bar car” and the attendant pushed a beverage cart up the aisle around 10am, telling us that we could not get a beer until the bar serving time of 11am……and then she disappeared and we didn’t see her again until the last half hour of the ride!!  And then she would only serve us two each….lesson learned about 5 hours of train travel and the availability of beer, oh well, lots of drinking to come.  The hotel was just a short walk away from the central train station past the Bell Centre, home of the Montreal Canadiens and venue for the mayhem of tonight’s show.  We found it easily and had a rapid fire check-in, basically opening the room door and tossing our gear inside, we hit the streets in search of the frosty adult beverages that we were so very, very far behind on.  I was sporting my “a little bit” snug Brave New World shirt, my buddy was in his “Eddie” football (soccer) jersey and we were not alone.  Maiden shirts were everywhere on the streets and it was an electric atmosphere, with people stopping us and others to chat about their choice of shirt and it’s origin, and in some cases showing off stunning “Eddie” tattoos.  I was surprised to run into a couple of guys that have travelled from Nova Scotia as this is the closest place that they can see major bands, and I thought we’d come a long way!!  What a great rock and roll party atmosphere and buzz for the show, something that we don’t get at most Toronto shows.  Everyone was friendly and in great spirits as we walked around the downtown core, often opting to sample the sights from a couple of sunny patios.

We headed down to The Bell Centre (a thrill for me being a Montreal Canadiens fan) and joined the milling throng entering the building after posing for some candid photos with statues of hockey legends outside the Arena like Guy Lafleur.  Alice Cooper was just coming on as we lined up to purchase more rather overpriced, but oh so sweet “Nectar of the Gods”, beer and took our seats.  Alice started out with The Black Widow from his iconic record Welcome to My Nightmare and then moved into the less well-known title track from Brutal Planet, all of which sounded great as we impatiently waited in the beer line.  I noticed several Cooper shirts around my nosebleed seating area of high and to the left of the stage.  We hit the seats in time for I'm Eighteen and the crowd was lapping up every minute of Cooper's set, I mean that's a helluva opening band right there!!  With a large yellow snake around his neck, No More Mr Nice Guy (I still prefer the Megadeth version, just punchier, sorry Alice) and then Hey Stoopid led us into the guitar solo.  The guitarist was a rather attractive blond girl who's chops sounded as good as she looked!  Billion Dollar Babies came next before the Wayne's World soundtrack tune of Feed My Frankenstein and although Tia Carrere was not on stage with Alice, his new guitarist was a fine substitution in my eyes. A huge "Frankenstein" came out on stage during the tune; I guess Alice spared no expense on this tour even though he was the opener.  Waving his trademark riding crop through the air, Poison delighted the crowd next and then into another cut from the Brutal Planet CD, Wicked Young Man.  That's two tracks off that twelve year old disc now that is certainly not his most popular work, but a very fine recording effort indeed, wonder why is he promoting that one so hard?  In true Alice fashion the guillotine was rolled out next and he cut off his own head for I Love the Dead.  He closed out his way too short 40 minute set with the anthem heard across the world every June, School's Out and sporting a Montreal Canadiens hockey jersey. Wonder if he'll wear The Leafs in Toronto in two days. An Alice Cooper show is certainly an entertaining event and I loved it all the way.

Seventh Son of a Seventh Son was the first real album that I had listened to and purchased from Iron Maiden, yes I know a bit late to the party.  It's not my favorite CD, but indeed the one that started me rolling and it all began with the single Can I Play with Madness.  After an into of Doctor, Doctor, a classic UFO cut, I was thrilled as the opening track was Moonchild and then blistering through into Can I Play with Madness.  The “We want information” intro announced that The Prisoner would be the next treat and then Two Minutes to Midnight from Powerslave, an album which is considered to be a true heavy metal achievement.  It was nice to hear Afraid to Shoot Strangers as it is a rarely played song before lead vocalist Bruce Dickinson came out adorned in the red coat uniform jacket and waving the Union Jack for The Trooper.  The classic Number of the Beast is a great song and has to be heard live to really be appreciated and the crowd was singing along the whole way.   Phantom of the Opera was next and then Run to the Hills, during which a huge “Eddie” appeared, dressed like General Custer.  I was treated to one of my personal favorite Iron Maiden tunes next in The Wasted Years.  Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, The Clairvoyant and Fear of the Dark all preceded the standard show closer of Iron Maiden.  After a brief break the boys treated the fans to a killer encore set of three songs consisting of Aces High, The Evil That Men Do and Running Free.  They encompassed something from almost every CD, sticking to the older ones which are by far the best recordings of this pioneering NWOBHM band.......... and for those keeping track, that's five tunes (half the album) from the Seventh Son of a Seventh Son album.  I would have liked to hear more from the Piece Of Mind CD, but with a setlist like that and such a big repertoire of great tracks to choose from, you can't really complain.

We filed out after the show and hit the streets. If you've never been to Montreal (and this was my first time), the dowtown core in an excellent party area with different bars and clubs lining both sides of the streets in the three block radius.  With Maiden shirts surrounding us (and now both sporting a new shirt with eddie riding a moose in front of the CN Tower and waving the Canadian flag) we proceeded to party on into the wee hours of the morning! What an awesome show experience through and through, proving that Maiden can still rock all the way.

Iron Maiden bassist and founding member, Steve Harris just released a solo effort entitled British Lion and while it is not Iron Maiden, he puts forth a creative and well composed disc of solid rock tunes. A recommended purchase for any fan.

Cheers,

The Meister

never trust a Wiki

A KISS DISS from Steven Tyler

Last week, while on a break from work I read something quite amusing. According to a recent interview with Aerosmith's Steven Tyler, it appears he feels Kiss are a "Comic Book Band". That in of itself wasn't the most amusing part, what really intrigued me was the reader comments that followed. We'll get to that in a moment.

http://ultimateclassicrock.com/steven-tyler-kiss-comic-book-rock-band/


Now when I first read the quote I thought to myself that without proper context, this could have gone both ways as either a strange compliment or an outright dig at the band. So I followed through and read the interview.

In the article Tyler admitted to some serious competition  "issues" between the bands back in the 70's, then he goes on to compliment Paul and Gene calling them "wonderful people" but then he seems to take a stab at them with his "comic book band" quote. Saying that Aerosmith takes themselves and their art seriously, making it sound as though he feels Kiss is just all flash, bubblegum and no substance.

Interesting words coming from a guy who spent two seasons as a judge on American Idol. A move that "commercially" kept Steven in the press spotlight while his band recorded their next album. You don't get much more "comic book" or "bubblegum" than American Idol.

Look, I will take nothing away from the legacy of Aerosmith. They earned their rightful place in Rock n Roll history producing some truly classic, timeless music. I love their music. That said, in this writer's humble opinion they haven't released a decent album since 1993's "Get A Grip."

Interesting to note that the "diss" comes on the very same week that Kiss released their new "Monster" album and only three weeks until Aerosmith are scheduled to drop "Music From Another Dimension."

Considering the number of crossover fans that both bands share, it seems a little foolish of Steven to throw barbs at the Kiss army at this point in their career. Some will say any press is good press and maybe I am wrong but judging by the comments that readers posted after the interview started making the rounds, it seems pretty clear that the Kiss faithful weren't too pleased with Steven's remarks. Kiss fans are a tad protective of their favourite band.

This shouldn't have surprised me as I recently wrote of an instance in Toronto when David Coverdale crossed the Kiss Army and paid the price that night. Feel free to check it out at http://dbgeekshow.blogspot.ca/2012/07/stanley-vs-coverdale.html

It just seems to me that throwing insults at your fellow rockers is a pretty piss poor way to promote your own album. In today's marketplace fan retention is probably pretty important, even for the well established bands.

I do know that based on hearing Aerosmith's first single from the new album, I will be in no particular rush to be at the record store on November 6th. Sorry Steven, think instead I might buy a comic book, some bubblegum and listen to Toys in the Attic or maybe Kiss's new Monster. Did I mention that I purchased Monster the day it was released, just sayin.

Happy 35 to the second KISS Alive

Andrew Jacobs here,

I've always prided myself on being able to appreciate the entire KISS discography equally.  To me, most of KISS's '80s albums are just as good as (if not better than) their '70s klassics.

Having said that though, if I had to pick just one favorite KISS album, Alive II would absolutely be it.  And today marks 35 years since it's original release on October 14, 1977.

Just like 1975's Alive!, Alive II is a live showcase of the 3 studio albums released before it.  And because both Rock And Roll Over and Love Gun are tied for first place as far as my favorite KISS '70s studio albums go, the songs from those two albums that are performed on Alive II are given a whole new life and energy that the studio albums, as great as they are, simply could not match.  Throw in the super spectacular Alive II opening double whammy of Destroyer's "Detroit Rock City" and "King Of The Night Time World" (as I've previously mentioned, my absolute favorite song pairing in the history of music) and the unbelievably evil & awesome sounding "God Of Thunder" (featuring a kick ass Peter drum solo) and you've got yourself one hell of a great live document of what I personally consider to be the original KISS lineup at their absolute best.

But wait, there's more.

"Larger Than Life", one of Gene's studio tracks from side 4 of Alive II, is arguably The Demon at his most demonic (for lack of a better word).  It's also in my top 5 of favorite Gene songs.  Ace's "Rocket Ride" is an outstanding Spaceman tune that, although KISS never played it, became a staple (and rightfully so) of Ace's solo shows throughout the '80s and the '90s.

Happy 35, Alive II.  And many, many more.

Monster roundtable discussion on this week's episode of THE KISS ROOM

http://theemattporter.podomatic.com/entry/2012-10-12T14_18_52-07_00

iTunes - https://itunes.apple.com/ua/podcast/podkisst-kiss-fanzine-for/id213317689

THE KISS ROOM's Matt Porter and Frank Hagan are joined by PodKISSt's Ken Mills, Creatures Of The Net's Cassius Morris and Kissteria's Chris Giordano for an in-depth roundtable discussion of the new KISS album Monster, which was released this past Tuesday.  KISS Army co-founder Bill Starkey is one of the many special guests on this week's episode of THE KISS ROOM as well.  TURN IT UP!

my Vicious childhood

Andrew Jacobs here,

The very first time that I heard the song "Chinese Rock", it was neither by The Heartbreakers nor by, as heard on this week's edition of the Radio Sucks Radio Show, The Ramones.  It was by Sex Pistols' bassist Sid Vicious on one of the many live albums released after his death from a heroin overdose (natch) on February 2, 1979.

As I've mentioned previously a few times, The Sex Pistols was the very first band to become my favorite band of all time when I was 15 years old.  And, of course, Sid Vicious was the very first rock star to become one of my heroes during that time as well.

Here's a list of some of the things that I have done in the name of Sid Vicious:

• For my 16th birthday in 1986, I all but ordered my parents to shell out $100 to buy me The Sex Pistols' movie The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle (it was only available as a Japanese import on VHS at the time). This scene with Sid, particularly at the 2:10 mark, is the main reason why I wanted it.  Hey, I was 16 for fuck's sake!
• Also in 1986, I went as Sid for Halloween that year.  Unfortunately, no pictures exist as far as I know.
• Once again in 1986, I saw the movie Sid & Nancy in the theater on the day that it was released.  Because of my love for Sid, I absolutely hated it.  In fact, 26 years later, I still hate it.
• The very first rock book that I ever read was And I Don't Want To Live This Life by Deborah Spungen, which was about her daughter Nancy (a.k.a. Sid's very infamous girlfriend, who he allegedly murdered in 1978).

Nowadays, I don't think very much of Sid and haven't since I was a teenager.  However, I simply cannot deny the fact that I sure thought he was fucking cool when I was 16.

Sam Kinison discussion with Don Barris on Ari Shaffir's Skeptic Tank podcast

http://www.arishaffir.com/ari-shaffirs-skeptic-tank-81-sam-kinison-with-don-barris/

Andrew Jacobs here,

Another (albeit sad) 20th anniversary occurred in 2012 - the 20th anniversary of the very untimely death of rock 'n roll comedian Sam Kinison, who was killed when his car was struck by a drunk driver on April 10, 1992.  While I must confess to not having ever listened to any of Kinison's albums and have only watched parts of a few of his standup comedy performances, I am WELL aware of his legendary status among both the comedy and the '80s rock/metal worlds (not to mention the Sterniverse).  The link above leads to an almost 3 hour Kinison discussion between comedian Ari Shaffir and Don Barris.  Barris, as some of you are well aware of at this point, is the co-star and co-creator of both the cult movie classic Windy City Heat (a.k.a. the funniest movie I've ever seen in my entire life) and The Big 3 Podcast (a.k.a. the funniest podcast I've ever listened to in my entire life).  Needless to say, I highly recommend taking 3 hours out of your lives and listening to this.

This MONSTER has TEETH!

October 9th, 2012 and KISS have uncaged "MONSTER", their 20th studio album. I am here to tell you that this Monster has Teeth!

Now I will admit to you that I am indeed a complete and unabashed KISS Geek. Live, this band has no rival. They completely wrote the book on delivering the biggest spectacle in rock. That said, it has been many, many years since I have been actually excited to get to a record store on release day to get a copy of any album.

When Kiss delivered the high octane single "Hell or Hallelujah" a couple months back, I have to say I was more than just a little curious to hear some more. Needless to say it was a long hot summer awaiting the release of the rest of Monster. So I marked October 9th on the calendar and I wasn't going to wait a day longer.

After giving this new record not one, not two, but three complete uninterrupted listens I have decided to simply boil this album review down to two very important points.

ONE - Thank God for Paul Stanley and his totally focused vision of KISS 2012. His idea to have the four members, together in the studio, plugged in and bouncing ideas around has spawned 12 new tunes of simple balls out Rock n Roll. And God Damn, it feels good!

Opening up with the aforementioned "Hell or Hallelujah" the album starts at 90 miles an hour and never really eases up on the gas pedal. The sticker on the outside if the CD stated "NO BALLADS" and true to word Gene sets the tone for the rest of the album with "Wall of Sound" a crunchy rocker that gets Gene warmed up for things to come.

The songs come fast and furious as KISS demonstrate some serious musical chops throughout. Kiss have never been shy to wear their influences on their sleeve and you can hear plenty of Zeppelin and some New York Dolls thrown into the mix. Like "Sonic Boom" on a diet of steroids and Red Bull, Monster doesn't just take things to the next level, it takes things to the next dimension! Every time I listen to it I pick a new favourite track, a sure sign that this album is going to become a mainstay in my ipod.

From the cow bell rocking "Eat Your Heart Out" to the grinding "Back to the Stone Age". From the AC/DC like riffage on "Take Me Down Below" to the fun and soul full "All For The Love Of Rock n Roll" and the evil "The Devil is Me". This album has something for everyone. Oh wait, I stand corrected, no it doesn't, as the sticker stated "NO BALLADS"

And for the second point of my Monster review...

TWO - Thank God for Tommy Thayer! The guitar leads on this album are so completely off the hook, it's ridiculous. On Sonic Boom, it seemed to me that Tommy spent a lot of time thinking "what would Ace do here" On Monster, it seems he is completely at home and this time around he is on a fucking mission. Listen to the fretwork, creativity and sheer musicality of these guitar solos, I think even Ace himself would concur, this guy can play guitar.

Monster to me seems to have the good ship KISS all rowing in the same direction. This time around they don't seem to be trying to be or sound like anything, they are just trying to be Kiss and "God Damn it feels good!"

Episode 54 - Radio Sucks Radio Show vol. 8

On Saturday October 6th, the Decibel Geek podcast ventured out of the bat cave to meet a large contingent of fellow Geeks at the Nashville Comic & Horror Festival.

With a ton of amazing folks wearing wild costumes and special guests including Ernie Hudson in full Ghostbusters gear, it was a bit distracting recording on-location but we still want to share the experience with you in this week's episode; Radio Sucks Radio Show volume 8!

Our mobile producer Marc Bullard joins us on the mic this week as the three of us select a truly eclectic mix of tunes are you are not likely to hear on your payola-funded corporate radio station.

We kick things off with Marc's pick of a track from Skid Row's Slave to the Grind album that will make you go ape followed by a gut-wrenching track from Alice in Chains' Dirt album.

Aaron spins a celebratory tune from The Donnas before coming out of our first break with Marc's pick of a newer track from Extreme followed by a more recent tender-loving song from Motley Crue's Saints of Los Angeles album.

Before heading into the break, Chris spins a track from Iron Maiden that ponders the idea of toying with crazy people.

We return from break #2 with the strangest grouping of songs you'll never hear anywhere else. We segue from Aaron's choice of a powerful track from Paul Stanley's 1978 KISS solo album into a track that Marc picks in honor of Aaron performed by The Dead Milkmen.

If that wasn't strange enough, Chris serves up a long jammified track from King's X that will surely make you want to never attempt to play guitar again.

Closing out today's show is a track from End of the Century by The Ramones that Chris loves in all it's different incarnations. We hope you dig the tunes you hear today. If you do.......

Buy Music!

Skid Row
Alice in Chains
The Donnas
Extreme
Motley Crue
Iron Maiden
KISS
The Dead Milkmen
King's X
Ramones

Connect to Us!

Rate, Review, & Subscribe in iTunes
Join the Fan Page
Follow on Twitter
E-mail Us
Comment Below

Direct Download

Interview and Review with Gypsy Rose's Michael Ross

This article is written in two parts, the first part was completed Sunday September 30th after speaking with Michael Ross. The second part is an album review of the new Gypsy Rose album from FnA Records "Poisoned by Love", completed October 8th, 2012. Enjoy.

When I was preparing for this interview I put on the "PREY" album from Gypsy Rose and it got me to thinking. Just what is it that makes an album truly great? Many would argue sales numbers (Gene Simmons included) and although it seems sales is most often how success is measured, sales certainly has nothing to do with quality. I mean Nicki Minaj and Justin Bieber sell a lot of records but that doesn't mean they aren't crap.

So here I was listening to this album, absorbing it like music should be listened to, with no distractions and I have to say that the songs found on this lost treasure are as strong as anything that Bon Jovi or Def Leppard ever recorded. Now of course art is purely subjective and this is all just my own personal opinion, but thats what music is all about. I love Def Leppard's "Hysteria" album which sold about a gazzillion copies and I love Gypsy Rose's "Prey" album just the same. Both albums move me, making one just as important and valid as the other. I will also go on record and say that "Don't Turn Your Back On Me Now" is quite possibly the most gut wrenching rock ballad ever written and recorded. Sorry for the news Mr. Bon Jovi.

Now, twenty plus years later Gypsy Rose are back with some new material. Michael Ross, lead singer and the founding member of the band was cool enough to call me and got me up to speed on just what is going on.

DBG: So Michael, lets go right back. What got you into music in the first place?

Michal Ross: I was a hockey player and I am from a small town of Petrolia Ontario and anyways I was a hockey player and one of my best friends Brad was a guitar player and had a band with his three brothers. So in grade ten there was a teachers strike for about three months and one day Brad and his band were rehearsing and the Cars had just released "Let the Good Times Roll" and I asked the drummer if I could sit in. He let me sit in and I had never really played drums before but everyone was like "oh my god!" and that was how I got started. So "Let the Good Times Roll" was my very first song.

DGB: Very cool, I was unaware you began on the drums..

Michael Ross: Oh yeah I am a drummer, actually I toured a good part of Canada when i was 18-21 and I was a drummer/singer and everyone would say to the band "your drummer should be the singer" kind of stuff. So I just decided, I had toured with a band out of Hamilton called Vehicle and one day at rehearsal I had just had enough, couple of the guys were moody and I left to start my own band. That became "Shattered Heart" and we won the Q107 Homegrown contest.

DBG: So was Shattered Heart what evolved into Gypsy Rose?

MR: Yeah like Brian Joyce has been with me since my very first band, Shattered Heart was my first lead singing gig where it was my songs and vision and such. After I quit Vehicle as the drummer and put Shattered Heart together I think we only had like 12 weeks before the deadline of the Q107 Homegrown. They had over 800 bands enter that year and we made the top 12 and made onto the album.

DBG: Being the huge Kiss/metal geek that I was, I found out about you guys when I heard you had signed with Simmons records. That was all the endorsement I needed, how did the whole Gene Simmons connection come about?

MR: That's actually an interesting story, OK let's take it back a little bit to Shattered Heart. We won the Q107 homegrown and that band was doing good. I was like 22 and was love sick and home and it was my first "I Quit" to be at home. Well after about a month of that I was like "What am I doing?" I started a whole new band, got the old bass player "John Fennerty" he had played with Honeymoon Suite and our new band was called Secret Affair and that's the band that evolved into Gypsy Rose.

When we got signed we were called Secret Affair, so what we did was this. We didn't have the Internet or anything so I went into the record store and Sam the Record Man had this "Canadian" section and I started looking at all the albums writing down who's who.Who were the management people, who was the agent who basically cleaned their clothes , you know what I mean? So what I did was take cassettes and the band drove me around, I was all done up and went into every office and dropped off a cassette inviting them to a showcase gig at Spanky's in Brampton Ontario.

So the only person that showed up was Tom Treumuth who worked with Honeymoon Suite, Helix and Autograph and he basically just signed us on the spot. So Tom started doing demos with us and taking them to New York because his friend was Bob Buziak who was the president of the New York RCA office at the time. So they were playing "Poisoned by Love" in some executive's office and Gene was walking by the office and was like "What the hell is that?" and that's how we got the Gene connection.

DBG: Very cool, so you basically went from playing clubs in Canada to being in a recording studio with Gene Simmons of Kiss?

MR: Yeah, and we had to do a private showcase for him, he had recently signed a deal with Bob Buziak for his own Simmons Records through RCA and he already had House of Lords. So anyways he kept making appointments to come and see us and we had a rehearsal hall to play for him but he kept having to postpone and reschedule because at the time Shannon was pregnant with Nick. So long story short he finally ended up coming and I will never forget when he walked in the door, you know I mean I was Gene Simmons every year for Halloween. To have him walk through the door and sit there and watch me in this little rehearsal hall was just a little intimidating. So anyways he signed us.

DBG: Anything specific you remember from the recording of the album?

MR: Yeah there's a lot of things, I mean with the band Secret Affair I was more influenced by bands like Honeymoon Suite and Platinum Blonde so I wasn't really a heavy sort of speak songwriter so Tom Treumuth had to mold me. It took a while and Wild Reaction was like the first real "Hard Rock" song that I wrote and "Poisoned by Love" was  a 5 minute fluke. I was waiting for a train, I would take a train to Toronto every Monday and head back to Sarnia on Friday, so I was waiting for my train and had the acoustic guitar and was alone in the control room and I just started singing the "poisoned by love" lyric and Tom was standing by the door and he went "what was that? you ain't going anywhere" so that song was basically written in 10-15 minutes .

DBG: Well I have to say that the PREY CD is absolutely one of my all time favourite albums. "Don't Turn Your Back On Me Know" is one of the most gut wrenching ballads I have ever heard.

MR: Thank you very much, I really appreciate that. If I can jump for a moment to the new CD. There is a new version of that song on the album. I wanted to figure out a way to make it new but keep it the same if you know what I mean so we recorded it on piano. I think it's the proudest I have ever been of my music with this version of the song. Can't wait for you to hear it.

DBG: So back for a moment, you guys released PREY and then what? I found it strange that I never manged to catch you guys live anywhere. What happened after the release?

MR: Well yeah geesh this is like one of those "it could only be my luck" story. I mean we were doing great, I remember we were like number one in Salt Lake City, number one in Milwaukee, I was like calling up the radio stations thanking them for playing us and stuff. That was going great and Bob Buziak, back to this president of RCA had a contract dispute and quit and they brought in Joe Galante from Nashville. They brought him in and apparently he didn't like I don't want to say who, the president of our label. So we went from being number one, being in Billboard magazine, Hit Parader, Circus, Rolling Stone even reviewed the album and all the sudden it was gone. I mean it was GONE, I think the album had only been out for like eight weeks and Joe came in and Simmons Records was dropped. So that destroyed me for a few years, I can only realize it now looking back but that's part of the reason I have had my struggles and fighting some demons that thank god I don't have anymore but yeah it was a hard blow man.

DBG: Wow, eight weeks! I didn't know if it was just the timing of it all as the whole Grunge thing started rolling in.

MR: Well yeah that certainly is another reason, I mean after Simmons records was dropped Gene still wanted to manage me so he flew me out to LA and we worked on some stuff but yeah the whole music scene had changed because of Nirvana. So basically we were a year too late, if Prey had of been released a year earlier we would have gotten the second single out "Don't Turn Your Back On Me Now"  and who knows where we would have been right now but it is what it is, you know?

DBG: So I guess that brings us to the present, the new album is out. Twenty plus years later, what's going on?

MR: Yeah, it's wild you know, in this day and age the real "record deal" doesn't really exist anymore. I mean very, very few and far between. I have to say Steve Lockett and his staff at FnA Records are fucking amazing and I am not just saying that. I had a couple of labels approach me but there was something about these guys and there approach really got me and I am so glad they did. I mean wait til you see the packaging on the new CD, They really hit it out of the park, its better than what RCA did with the Prey album.They let me do what I want musically and have also signed my solo CD as well, so I am really excited.

DBG: So with a new album I have to ask, what's the next step here? Are we going to get to see Gypsy Rose live again?

MR: Well basically to call a spade a spade, it's kinda sad a couple of the guys can play but they cant play all the time you know. They have moved on and got stuff going, Steve is a software programmer, Brian the guitar player has his own insurance business so I am the one kinda carrying the torch here but we are definitely going to put something together and get moving on some dates.

DBG: Ok Michael, last question for you. What song do you wish you wrote?

MR: Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen.

***

When I first got wind that the band Gypsy Rose was releasing a new album, I was taken aback and quite honestly a little excited. Hell it had been over twenty years since I bought their debut album "Prey". An album that I hold in high esteem in my own personal music library.

After the Prey album came out I kind of lost track of the band. Here we are a couple decades later and I sat down last night to listen to some new (well sort of new) music from this band of "missing in action" Canadian rockers.

"Poisoned By Love"  the new offering from Gypsy Rose, released on FnA Records is a double barrel blast from the past literally! Vocalist/Songwriter Michael Ross has brought out and dusted off some long forgotten demos, some unreleased gems and also went in and re-visited a couple of the classic cuts from the Prey Album.


The new album delivers fifteen tracks. About half the album is comprised of complete demos that the band recorded back in the day. As is often the case with demos they vary in recording quality, but don't let that scare you off. "Touch", "Give It To Me All Night Long" and the booze soaked "Ride That Train" are all great tunes that given some proper studio time would have been great additions to the Prey album.

Where this album really shines is the "unreleased" material. "Chase the Dragon" is a sleazy little number and "Free Me From Me" is a great grooving track that is quickly becoming a personal favourite. Michael Ross also treats us to two tracks from the Prey album re-recorded with a twist. The balls out rocker "Poisoned By Love" gets a slow, moody acoustic guitar treatment that is different but quite enjoyable. By far though, the crown on this album is the Canadian Mix of "Don't Turn Your Back On Me Now". I stated above that this is an incredibly well written song and the version on Prey was damn near perfect in every way. That said, the new piano arrangement of this song and the hauntingly beautiful background vocals gives this tune a face lift for 2012 without loosing any emotion. This song alone is worth the price of admission, everything else is a bonus.

The album also includes two solo songs from Michael Ross that end off the album quite nicely. "Nothing To Loose But Each Other" continues to showcase the emotional side of Mr. Ross while "If Your Love Is Gone" ends the album with a pretty solid rocker. Overall, "Poisoned by Love" is a nice surprise from a band that never got it's just rewards. The fact that two decades have come and gone shouldn't be an obstacle as Michael Ross shows that great music is timeless. "Don't Turn Your Back On Me Now" just might become the hit that it deserved to be.

Track Listing

Too Many Pieces
Chase the Dragon
Don't Turn Your Back on Me Know (Canadian Mix)
Free Me From Me
Touch
Poisoned By Love (Canadian Mix)
Fallin
Give It To Me All Night Long
Ride On That Train
I Surrender
Bang Bang Boyz
Don't Turn Your Back On Me Now (FnA mix)
Poisoned By Love (FnA mix)
Nothing To Loose But Each Other

If Your Love Is Gone


For more information or to purchase a copy of the new Gypsy Rose album,
http://fnarecords.net/index.php/poisoned-by-love-detail.html
http://fnarecords.net/

To keep up with Gypsy Rose be sure to catch them on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/#!/GypsyRoseCanada?fref=ts



R.I.P. Sidney and Ronni Jacobs

Andrew Jacobs here,

Last Wednesday, my father passed away due to a myriad of health issues.  On July 8th of 2007, my mother passed away after an 8+ year battle with leukemia.  What does this have to do with Decibel Geek, hard rock and/or heavy metal?  EVERYTHING.  Had it not been for my parents' love of music (particularly rock music, natch), I would not have developed my lifelong passion with music back in the mid 1980s.  And, of course, I certainly would not be a writer/contributor to the Decibel Geek website.

Here's a very brief list off the top of my head of some of the bands/artists that I first discovered via my parents' massive record collection:

The Beatles (my favorite band of all time)
Paul McCartney
John Lennon
George Harrison
The Who
The Rolling Stones
The Doors
Bob Dylan
The Beach Boys
Janis Joplin
Leonard Cohen
The Eagles
The Band
Steely Dan
Elton John
Billy Joel
Hall & Oates
the Woodstock movie soundtrack

Here are some random childhood music and music-related memories of mine courtesy of my parents:

• My father originally wanted to name my brother Elvis instead of Evan (the name that my parents ultimately wound up giving him).
• The very first concert that I can remember seeing on television was The Rolling Stones on the Tattoo You tour on pay-per-view in the early 1980s.  My parents ordered it and had a bunch of their friends over to watch it.  When the concert was over, my brother, our friend Sammy and I performed "Start Me Up" for them.
• Although not really music related, my parents took my brother and me to see comedian Bill Cosby (my favorite comedian of all time) at Irvine Meadows Amphitheater in 1985.
• Also in 1985, my mother saw Madonna in concert on the Like A Virgin tour.  The Beastie Boys (my favorite rap/hip hop band of all time - noticing a pattern here?) opened for Madonna at that concert and when I started listening to them two years later, my mother told me that they got booed off the stage when she saw them open for Madonna.
• Some of the concerts that my parents took me to in the late 1980s and early 1990s include The Rolling Stones (with Guns N' Roses opening), The Who, Bob Dylan, Steely Dan and Billy Joel.

Rest in peace, Mom and Dad.  And thank you both so very much for all the great music and all the great music memories.

a tale of two KISS Army brothers

Andrew Jacobs here,

Pictured above is Chad Sanford, who I've been friends with since January of 1995.  And coincidentally (or maybe not), he and I met because of KISS.

Sometime in January of 1995, I went with a friend to The Whisky a Go Go in Hollywood to see a KISS tribute band called Parasite that I'd seen a year before in Orange County.  I had become somewhat friendly with the guy who played Gene in that band (having gotten in touch with him via one of the many '90s KISS fanzines), so I got to hang out backstage with the band while they put their KISS makeup on and got into character.  He even asked me to yell out the "you wanted the best" line to kick off the show.  Needless to say, I happily obliged.

When the show was over, my friend and I hung out outside of the club and shot the shit with one or two of the patrons as well as the guy who played Geezer Butler in a Black Sabbath tribute band that had also played that night.  Shortly afterwards, a heated but civil argument ensued between the Geezer guy and one of the patrons as to whether Sabbath was better with Ozzy Osbourne or Ronnie James Dio singing.  The Geezer guy was firmly Team Ozzy (NATCH) while the patron was firmly Team Dio.  I hadn't seen an argument like this before in my life and I had also not become a diehard Sabbath fan at this point and I didn't know very much about them either, so needless to say, I was enthralled to say the very least.

At some point, both guys agreed to disagree, shook hands and parted ways, at which point my friend and I struck up a conversation with the Team Dio patron about KISS.  The patron's name was Chad Sanford.  I told him that I'd like to hang out with him sometime.  We exchanged phone numbers and my friend and I drove back to O.C.

Almost 18 years later, Chad and I are not only still friends but best friends.  Although he now lives in Tennessee (where he's originally from) and is no longer a KISS fan (which is a whole other story for another time), our friendship is stronger than ever.

And I have KISS to thank for it.  Thank you, KISS.

my favorite album of 1991 (a.k.a. the best album you never heard in your life)

Andrew Jacobs here,

411 was an early '90s melodic hardcore band from my hometown of Orange County, California.  And back in 1991, they were not only my #1 favorite band but arguably the most popular Orange County, California hardcore band of that year as well.  To give you an idea of just how popular 411 was, they were the first hardcore band that I ever saw play in front of a quadruple digit number of people when they opened for Fugazi and The Offspring at the 4000 capacity (sold out in advance) Hollywood Palladium on September 8, 1991.  I wound up going to 7 of their shows (BY FAR the most amount of times that I've seen any one band) before their untimely break up after their 1992 summer tour.

Their one and only full length album This Isn't Me was released during the summer of 1991 and is still available via RevHQ.com (but not digitally, of course).  Needless to say, I highly recommend it.

On a rock-related side note, Frank Zappa's The Best Band You Never Heard In Your Life (a.k.a. the inspiration for the title of this post) was released in 1991 as well.  That album IS available digitally via iTunes and will be reissued on CD on October 30th.  Needless to say, I highly recommend it too.

Steve Clark

January 8, 1991.

We just returned from Christmas Vacation.  I was in my first period class when I heared the news. The morning dee-jay had just played a block of Def Leppard when he came on and said Steve Clark was dead. WTF!!!  I knew it was a lie. They had just performed three nights here in November . I just heard on MTV (the early twitter and Facebook combined) that the new album was in the works. But, as we all know now, it was true.

Steven Clark was born April 26, 1960 in Hillsbrough, a suburb outside of Shettfield. From an early age, he showed a love for music. When he was 11, Steve asked his father for a guitar. He said yes, but one one condition, he had to learn how to play. And learn he did.

Around 1978, Steve met Pete Willis. At that time, he was playing in a cover band called Electric Chicken.  Pete and Steve struck up a instant friendship.  Pete told Steve of an open guitar slot in his band Def Leppard, but he would have to audition for the rest of the guys. Steve auditioned, playing 'FreeBird', by Lynard Skynard by himself in its entirety.  They voted Steve in.  As a member of Def Leppard, Steve would become a MAJOR force in the songwriting department.  Steve wrote or co wrote almost all of Def Leppards' songs between 1978 to 91. In 1980, 'On Through The Night' made its debut. The album, which peaked at #50 in America, was the beginning to what would later be called a British Invasion: Metal Style.  The song,'Hello America' would become a hit.

In 1981, the guys released 'High N Dry' to rave reviews. 'Bringin on The Heartbreak'(STILL the best song EVER), andHigh n Dry(Saturday Night)' were ground breakers for the band. It was during the recording however Pete Willis was replaced with Phil Collen. Steve and Phil hit it off. Not only musically, but off stage as well. The two became known as the Terror Twins. And the guys lived up to this name.

In 1983, Pyromania was released. This was the break through album. The anthem song 'Rock of Ages', was proof that Def Lepprd was here to stay. But it would be 4yrs before another album would be released.

Hystera was released in 1987. No one knew that this would be Steve Clark's last album. Steve's guitar work on 'Women' and, hell the ENTIRE album was classic.  'Pour Some Sugar on Me' was the biggest selling single for the guys. While the guys were reeling from the success of Hystera, and selling out arena after arena Steve Clark was begining his dissent into darkness. By the end of the Hystera tour, Steve was a full on alcoholic, and it was getting in the way of recording. During the recording of 'Adrenalize' Steve was put on a leave of absence. During this leave, it was expected that Steve Clark get clean and sober. This was not to be.

Steve Clark died of an accidental drug and alcohol overdose on January 8, 1991. He was only 30 years old. 

Steve Clark left behind a legacy of music. He was co writer on half of 'Adrenalize', which was released in 1992, and debuted at number 2. The song  'White Lightning ' was written as tribute to Steve, and his love for wearing white onstage.

Steve Clark was one of the GREATEST guitar players in hard rock. He wasn't Randy Rhodes, but he had a very distinct sound to his playing.  I still listened to Def Leppard, but it wasn't the same for me. When Steve Clark died, a piece of the band's sound,the sound that made them famous died too.

RIP STEVE CLARK