KISS: The Songs 1974-2012

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by GodShifter, Feb 7, 2017.

  1. Exile On My Street

    Exile On My Street Senior Member

    Location:
    Long Island, NY
    Which begs to question, why didn't they fix Peter's drumming in the studio if they could have?

    And no, I'm not a musician. I just play one in KISS threads on the Steve Hoffman Forums. :p
     
  2. Juggsnelson

    Juggsnelson Senior Member

    Location:
    Long Island
    Charisma: I love Gene's ad-libbing on this one. I really can't compare this song to anything else...it deserves credit just for that! I dig the Ace solo and the Paul chorus vocals are a nice touch counter balanced by Gene's lead vocal. I remember thinking this was complete garbage my first time through the album but it stuck in my head to the point of where I had to keep playing it over and over. Not a great song but a personal favorite (and the name of my fantasy Football Team) nonetheless.
     
  3. dadonred

    dadonred Life’s done you wrong so I wrote you all this song

    Location:
    Austin, TX
    Sounds like a stick on stick (click)? I think I hear it again at 1:50. Same at 2:44.

    At 2:03-2:04 there's a sound of either breaking glass or a bell.
     
    Last edited: May 23, 2017
  4. npgchris

    npgchris Forum Resident

    No, it's not a different photo shoot. Here is the original image for the cover:

    [​IMG]

    The image was manipulated (heads moved around to move everyone closer, etc), and for some stupid reason parts of other pics were crudely added in, so that the final cover shot that we know might feature a few different pics of each guy's face put together. That's why Peter's makeup appears uneven, even though it wasn't actually. This was long before Photoshop, of course, but why they felt the need to futz with the image to the extent that they did is beyond me.
     
  5. SammyJoe

    SammyJoe Up The Irons!

    Location:
    Finland
    "Charisma", I think it's always been nice and cool little song. Catchy and that's what it really is, you can't escape the fact. I like it.
    Somehow, now this is weird but still as I think it resembles some harping ad for supermarket, as it just gets a bit repetitive.
     
  6. dave9199

    dave9199 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Durham, NC
    Peter doesn't have any green eye makeup.
     
  7. dave9199

    dave9199 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Durham, NC
    I never bought Dynasty as a kid but when I did I saw the inner sleeve and thought it was the coolest thing. I thought it was so good I remember wishing I had bought it but never did until I got it on cd. I still love the image. I just realized Ace's color is first.



    [​IMG]
     
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  8. moops

    moops Senior Member

    Location:
    Geebung, Australia
    CHARISMA
    This one gets a tick from me ....... it slithers out of your speakers and creeps around just nicely because it's Gene being Gene, and when Gene's being Gene he may make you feel kind of icky but he writes cool songs.
    I'm ok with that. It's got a vibe that just locks in for the prowl, and yes it may seem kind of simple and straight forward in it's delivery but that's the key to it's success I think. His vocal and the beat in the verses have a kind of hypnotic effect, but as the questions are being posed, I get the feeling the spell is being cast and before you know it Gene's thinking of doing bad things again.

    The chorus has a decent hook too and Gene gets his multiple voice thing going throughout as well, which you don't really notice at first. I love the guitar solo ! Who is it ? Ace ? Do we know for sure ?
    It's just tasty with great inflections on certain notes in all the right places.

    And I may have hit my head earlier but ...... the breakdown at the 3:10 mark here reminds me of a similar section in Floyd's Run Like Hell ?!
     
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  9. Cooks420

    Cooks420 Forum Resident

    Location:
    NY
    Because sometimes, crap playing is unsalvagable. And back then, producers had even less studio magic at their fingertips. It's all a cost/benefit analysis, and it was probably much cheaper, easier and better for morale to have Fig nail the takes than Peter playing like ass, taking up studio time and money, and just pissing people off.
     
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  10. ejluther

    ejluther Forum Resident

    Location:
    Newtown, CT
    [​IMG]
    Me, either! Apparently the album was to be called "Out of the Asylum" at one point...
    He does but it's very dark for whatever reason. He sure looks dead behind the eyes in tbat shot...
    [​IMG]
     
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  11. Curveboy

    Curveboy Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York City
    CHARISMA

    Simply incredible. Though I do to this day wonder what this would have been with much heaver production. Ace's lead is perfect, and when Gene comes back in with the harmonizer around 3:22 I still get chills. This is one I wish they had done live.

    Is It My Fire Or My Flame indeed!
     
  12. Daniel Plainview

    Daniel Plainview God's Lonely Man

    I like "Charisma". It's not a monumental composition in the Gene Simmons catalog but it is strangely pleasing in it's demeanor. Studio 54 Dracula with a hard-on.
     
  13. bruce2

    bruce2 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Connecticut, USA
    Overall I like Dynasty but when I listen to it now I usually start at track 4, Dirty Livin'. I don't like I Was Made For Loving You, to me it is pure Paul cheese. For 2000 Man and Sure Know Something I prefer the Unplugged versions to a large degree so prefer to listen to those and skip the studio versions. I love how the album ends with the two Ace songs and X-Ray Eyes, they are my three favorites so it ends on a high note for me!
     
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  14. Cheevyjames

    Cheevyjames Forum Resident

    Location:
    Graham, NC
    I tried listening to Charisma again this morning. I still don't see what everyone loves in it. I just think it's a bad song.
     
  15. yarbles

    yarbles Too sick to pray

    Always loved Charisma. It's an unusually good song from GENE, imo. Also it's probably the only KISS song I've ever shagged to, LOL.
     
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  16. William Smart

    William Smart 21st Century Schizoid Man

    Location:
    North Haven, CT
    My guess is it was more than timing. Skills totally deteriorated? Who knows? Maybe not even his drumming, maybe his life style was interfering? We'll never know what really happened. It's a matter of who's story we each want to believe I guess. Not everything can be fixed in the studio. Peace
     
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  17. GodShifter

    GodShifter Forum Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Dallas, TX, USA


    MAGIC TOUCH 1979 (Stanley) (4:40)

    The slow boiler “Magic Touch” from Dynasty features Paul Stanley on rhythm guitar, vocals, and bass guitar. In many ways, the song sounds very similar to something that would have been found on Paul Stanley from 1978. While “I Was Made For Lovin’ You” was disco inspired and “Sure Know Something” was more pop/rock oriented, “Magic Touch” gets back to Paul’s roots of hard rock on Dynasty.

    The song is a bit unusual in that it begins with the chorus and then segues into the verse (which the ascending figure reminds me a bit of “Love In Chains from Paul’s solo album). The whole song is a bit of a downshift in terms of tempo as the song kind of crawls along with a slightly sludgy riff (in reality it's probably not much different in tempo than "Charisma"), but has some nice guitar interplay at 2:27 where the rhythm guitars harmonize ala Thin Lizzy right before the solo. The solo is a short burst from Ace with some high bends (but frankly the mix isn’t great as the solo is buried a bit).

    At 2:46 we get the bridge where Paul goes into a higher register with some melodic bass lines to support it. Then it’s back to the chorus again.

    I like “Magic Touch” but much like some of Paul’s rockers from the solo album, there’s just not that much to talk about here. Yes, there’s some good background vocals from Gene and the studio ringers, but the song, overall, is pretty draggy, repetitive, and feels about a minute too long. It’s almost dirge like in some respects which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Great, emotive vocals from Paul though.

    Interesting as the lyrics are written in the third person, so it’s Paul singing about someone else experiencing the woman with the "magic touch" instead of himself or it’s him commenting on his own situation from a different perspective.

    I can find no instances of KISS performing this live until the KISS KRUISE deal, but it was performed by Paul and his band on his LIVE TO WIN from 2006. I’ll link a video from that tour.
     
    Last edited: May 23, 2017
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  18. bartels76

    bartels76 Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    CT
    I can see it going both ways. I don't think it's an everybody should love it song or everyone should hate it. a lot of the songs on Unmasked and Dynasty are middle of the road where there is nothing abrasive about them but not a lot that are A list songs either.
     
    Last edited: May 23, 2017
  19. GodShifter

    GodShifter Forum Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Dallas, TX, USA


    "Magic Touch" from Paul Stanley's 2006/2007 tour.
     
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  20. bartels76

    bartels76 Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    CT
    :laughup:
    MAGIC TOUCH

    My second favorite Paul song on the album. I could totally see this on his solo album. Love the riff and the performance overall. Paul's vocals are pretty perfect throughout and glides effortlessly through the song. Cool understated Ace solo. My only beef is the slick production so I would say the Live to Win live version from 2006 is the definitive version of this song.
     
  21. moops

    moops Senior Member

    Location:
    Geebung, Australia
    MAGIC TOUCH
    This is just total Paul, everything about it. I like it, though I think it would really take off if the guitars were a tad more chunkified when we're riffing it out ...... maybe it's the guitar sound or something ?
    Anyway, it's almost klassic KISS, but just not quite there for me now. I used to love it when I was a kid and it works in enough departments that I never skip it or anything.
    I'm with GodShifter in that it's either a bit too long somewhere, or it kind of lopes along in parts, which might have worked in it's favor with some meatier riffage.
    Man ....... I really don't know with this one ! ........ there's a KISS Klassic in there somewhere, I'm sure of it ...... I just can't quite work out what would take it there ?

    Overall though DYNASTY is performing quite consistently for me so far.
     
  22. Zoot Marimba

    Zoot Marimba And I’m The Critic Of The Group

    Location:
    Savannah, Georgia
    Magic Touch
    What a great song, tied for second place on this record, such a great well written pop song, some sweet ass harmonies, an excellent performance from Paul, this is fantastic, it is, on a scale of one to ten, a 24,453
     
  23. Sandinista

    Sandinista Forum Resident

    One thing I'm learning here about my take on all things KISS is that it seems like I am lukewarm on songs that are All Things Paul.

    This one is a case in point. Eh. I don't hate it but I'm kind of bored, doesn't really move me.

    I do like the chorus and Paul's vocalizing around the 1:19 mark.

    I pretty much agree with Jason that I have a feeling there's a better song in here somewhere, a shorter song for sure. Maybe a little faster too.
     
  24. Zoot Marimba

    Zoot Marimba And I’m The Critic Of The Group

    Location:
    Savannah, Georgia
    I know that when GnR recorded Civil War, they had to cut and paste thirty four different drum takes because of how screwed up Adler was
     
  25. William Smart

    William Smart 21st Century Schizoid Man

    Location:
    North Haven, CT
    Absolutely love that post! What a great line.
     
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