I do get what you're saying and I feel kind of bad for cajoling you into participating in something that you've made clear before that you're just kind of done with. No big deal. Enjoyed interacting with you in this thread and I'm sure we'll do so in other threads in future. Take care my friend.
GOD OF THUNDER (Demo) 1975 (Stanley) (2:53) This was the original version of “God of Thunder” before it was altered to become Gene’s theme/showcase tune on Destroyer. Gene has stated that “God of Thunder” was Paul’s attempt to write a “Gene Simmons song”, but Stanley has refuted that. He says the song is, in fact, about himself and the lyric changes to the song were not that drastic to what the song became on 1976’s Destroyer. It’s pretty obvious, though, that either Gene or Bob Ezrin or both did some re-writing to make it more suitable for “The Demon” character that Gene plays. The tempo for the demo is almost disco like and much more upbeat than the claustrophobic, doom laden number from Destroyer. Gone, too, of course, are the sound effects and other production elements that Ezrin added for the finished studio version. The drummer on this is JR Smalling (who also played on “Doncha Hesitate”). Smalling lays down a fairly funky beat with lots of high hat and cowbell while the bass, played by Paul, is pulsing throughout the entire tune. Both the drums and the bass give the song its danceable vibe. The guitars have a nice crunch to them and the solo (I’m guessing played by Paul) is short and direct. Nice touch with the falsetto background vocals, too. Paul’s version of “God of Thunder” is pretty good and quite an interesting oddity as the curtain is pulled back a bit here for this one.
I'm going to go with "She" over "Watching You" and "Rock Bottom" over "Parasite". That wasn't easy, either.
That was a big revelation when this was mentioned as part of the box set. I'm not sure people in the tape trading scene even knew that demo existed, much less heard it. And I still wonder - were there any other demos with J.R. Smalling on drums? When you've got a road manager who is willing to lock another band's road manager inside a road case, these things are important!
What's this about the road managers? I'm going to admit I don't even know who J.R. Smalling is (besides he's, obviously, a session drummer). I've never heard of him before. As far as the Paul "God of Thunder" version, it is interesting to hear and, as you noted, was a highly anticipated inclusion to The Box Set. I'm certain I posted this demo before when we discussed Destroyer at length, but I don't think much as said about the demo hence why I'm bringing it up again.
Sounds like it's on 1.5x speed. Still have to give credit for most of the framework. I would say it' an odd contribution, given prior efforts. But KISS was clearly on a brand new trajectory by Destroyer.
J.R. Smalling was a bad-A%# road manager who was with them from the first record through Destroyer, I believe. He was super-dedicated and just looked cool as well. Argent did something lame to Kiss one night - I think they cut Kiss's power off or something like that. The next night, J.R. locked the road manager inside a road case to make sure they wouldn't pull anything like that again! Mr. Smalling is also the voice you hear at the beginning of Alive!. In the rare first tour program from early '76, you can see him at the top of the page below, carrying what looks to be a giant prophylactic off the stage!
Catching up with the thread and here's my few quick words of each song: "Doncha Hesitate", nice little song that could have been included in some of the early albums. Even if it's kinda cool, not sure really where it could have been put and what song it should have replaced. Maybe it was only meant as for being outtake. "Mad Dog", not bad at all, really promising and pieces that could have been truly something. Now it's kinda sketch, so it could have been improved and made like more final song. This could have been used later when some of the people were running out of ideas in the 80's.. "God Of Thunder (demo)", I was really suprised when I heard this demo-version sang by Paul on the boxset. With little faster tempo, up-tempo beats on drums and much lighter singing, it was ok and grooving, but surely and seriously thinking Ezrin made the right call. And luckily Gene got this song and it became his signature song, which mirrors his demonic persona.
More on/from Mr. Smalling here: Interview with original KISS Krew member J.R. Smalling JR Smalling, Moose Members Of The Original KISS Krew Chat With Three Sides Of The Coin - "It Would Be Nice If They (KISS) Looked Into Themselves And Became The Men We Thought They Were" The Road Crew book: https://www.amazon.com/Out-Streets-...418681&sr=1-1&refinements=p_27:J.+R.+Smalling
Well, when Stan presented the demo to Ezrin, he looked Stan in the eye and said, "This is a great song! Gene will sing it."
God Of Thunder : that was...... different! Thank the Gods it didn't get released that way on Destroyer. Sorry, while it may be interesting, it's laughable in that version. God of Thunder sung in that falsetto has the exact opposite affect. Kind of like Lawrence Welk doing Born To Be Wild, unbelievable.