A couple weeks back I wrote a review of the new Paul Stanley Soul Station record Now & Then. Let’s follow it up with a trip down the Youtube rabbit hole and have ourselves a TV Party featuring the Starchild himself. Not going to bury the lead this time.
I saw this tour and I thought it was awesome. Turns out maybe it wasn’t as hot as I remembered.
We can have a little fun with Paul because he has written about 50 songs better than any New York Dolls song. Starting with this one. Sorry Ricki. (editor’s note: The preceding statement is SO wrong on SO many levels that I’m not even going to bother to dignify it with a comment.)
Paul is obviously a master showman and songwriter, but did you know he can play guitar better than Jeff Beck and Eddie Van Halen combined? It’s true.
See how tasteful Paul’s solo was above? He isn’t an Ankh warrior show-off like that Vinnie Vincent fellow. The clip below was possibly the moment that got Vinnie fired from the band. (The first time.) He was allowed a couple of minutes to solo every night. It tended to run over buy A LOT and this night Paul was screaming at him to wrap it up. Turns out this was a lucky break for Mark St. John and an even luckier break for Bruce Kulick.
In all seriousness, the clip below is my personal highlight of the pandemic live-stream era. I was wondering what Paul was going to do and what he did was pure genius. And I mean legitimate genius. He just plays KISS riffs. No singing. No raps. Everyone of these riffs is fucking awesome. Criminally under-rated. Paul is a BAD ASS. I love this. Did I mention I love this? I hope I did, because I love this.
Moving on, a person doesn’t need to hear the intro to “Heaven’s On Fire” to know that Paul Stanley has some pipes - serious pipes - but don’t take my word for it. Ask a Youtube professional amateur vocal coach.
And obviously it goes without saying that his dancing and trapeze skills are legendary. Put them together with a song co-written by Desmond Child and you get a high-water mark in the history of Western Civilization.
Can you imagine how much it chaffed Peter Criss’s ass to see a hack like Garth Brooks butcher one of the Catman’s signature tunes on national TV?
In all seriousness, Peter does kill it in the clip below filmed at a KISS convention. You can actually see the $$ signs in Gene’s eyes as the crowd sings “If not for the first HELLO..” A lucrative reunion tour would soon follow…..
Paul not only wrote the best song for Peter (“Black Diamond”), he wrote Gene’s signature tune “God of Thunder.” I bought the KISS NYE 2020 show from Dubai and to my mild surprise, I loved it. LOVED IT. The production was incredible.
Kneel before the God of Thunder and Paul’s super-heterosexual metal songwriting skills. You want more? Can you handle it? IF IT’S TOO LOUD YOU ARE TOO OLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ok, in fairness to Ricki C., that song is worse than any New York Dolls song. He might have written fifty of those too. But the point I’m getting to is that Paul Stanley is a seriously talented song writer. He jumps from genre to genre just for fun. Can he write a power-pop song better than The Raspberries? Yes. In related news, this story explains why Paul’s solo record is better than Ace’s solo record.
Perhaps a little bonus Kisco in addition to “I Was Made For Loving You”…..
Can he write a song that sounds like John Speck and was recorded by The Fags? You betcha. Click here to read why Monster is a Monster of a record.
Which leads us back to Paul’s latest release Now & Then. Sure, there are a bunch of classic soul covers but the record features five new songs all written and produced by Paul himself. This is a fucking great tune.
I could go on and on but it’s 3am and I’ve got to work at the coffee shop tomorrow morning. Ok, one more for the road…..
Colin Gawel plays solo and in the band Watershed. For much more KISS Google the words KISS and Pencilstorm.