Something I just remembered: supposedly for the Psycho Circus tour, they were going to get brand new costumes based around the album theme, but then they decided it would be a bridge too far. Even though I thought the proposed costumes (assuming they were based off the action figures) were ridiculous, at least it would have added to a feeling of "moving forward," just like in the '70s. New album, new costumes. Instead, they started wearing their Destroyer era costumes again (which for some reason I've never liked as much as the Love Gun era costumes, which had been worn during the 96/97 tour). Oh well. See for yourself the proposed Psycho Circus costumes and decide for yourself: whose was the douchiest?
Sometimes I think it's the best album ever made. Sometimes I think it's mankind's greatest achievement. Did I mention that I like it?
Dreamin' and Journey of 1000 Years are not only the best tracks on PC but the last great KISS tracks so far sadly. Both are so good could be on the divine Music from the Elder, the greatest record of all time.
I can't see me following you to Helsinki. I like it warm here. A thought about the Psycho Circus lyrics; I wonder if that was Paul's way of describing having Ace & Peter back. I think it works actually. He's saying 'we are one' and he always said it's a family but that's also what corporations say about their employees.
There are at least 3 instant classics on Sonic Boom...2 from Paul and 1 from Gene...but we'll get to it.
Psych Circus: very good, solid song. 8.3/10 I'm sure everyone knows this, but there's a slew of b-sides and unreleased cuts from these sessions that are better than many of the songs that made the album. Whoever picked what songs go on the album should be slapped upside the head. "It's My Life" is one of the best KISS songs ever!
Another personal bias I must confess: I hate circus music being added to rock songs to give a certain atmosphere. Now, I rather like this song - good hook, nice riff, soaring vocals, works well for an anthem/concert opener. But if you play it live, does it really work anywhere other than the opener? The drums made no impact on me, not sure I even noticed there were any. But it's interesting that Bruce was pushed aside for Ace, but on the album opener, Tommy Thayer is playing guitar instead of Ace and Bruce is playing bass. Not sure I would have known it wasn't Ace, but the guitar is faceless and the solo is not very Acey. But just judging it on its own merits and not on who's actually playing on it, I like it. About as good as Childhood's End for me, so I give it a 7.5 out of 10.
it's no colder in the winter for the most part than say, Boone, NC (where I lived for 10 years), but it's always freakin' cloudy and/or rainy... and the sun basically disappears below the horizon from November until February as the earth tilts... we get as little as 5 hours of daylight sometimes, but since we're on the coast we never actually see that daylight because of the cloud coverage... on the other hand, my summer cottage is two and some change hours further north so in July the sun doesn't really set there... just gets a little grey around 11:30 p.m. but the sun comes back up a couple hours later! Lack of light really depresses some people (me included) in the winter, but full scale daylight all day long also makes some people depressed in spring/summer... me, it just makes me whacky like I've had too much caffeine!
I still don't understand it's lineage but I'd love to see us add the song Carnival of Souls to our discussion. I only heard it a couple of years ago but I love it and it's better than most latter day KISS songs. I downloaded it as a Psycho Circus demo but given it's title I can't help but think it predates that. Anyways, Happy Birthday @GodShifter , I'm trying to add to your workload!!!!
WITHIN 1998 (Simmons) (5:10) The second song Psycho Circus is a hold over from Carnival of Souls that was worked on by Bruce Kulick and Gene Simmons. The song probably dates back to 1994 or 1995 in terms of its origins. Actually, part of "Within" is directly from the demo itself as producer, Bruce Fairbairn, decided to bring the backwards guitar that opens the song directly from the demo and doctor it up a bit for Psycho Circus as he loved the effect. The song starts out with some weird vocal effects from Gene and Bruce's backwards guitar work. It then segues into a a mid-tempo rhythm with the main rhythm guitar riff coming in and then the bass guitar and Gene's vocals appearing to support that. Gene is doing some different things with his voice, going from an almost monotone delivery to a far more harsher, almost "Demon" like vocal for the choruses but still being backed by the other vocal line. It's kind of a neat effect having Gene's voice two different things at the same time. "Within" definitely sounds like something more from CoS than Psycho Circus as it retains the down tuned grit of much of the material from the former mentioned album. Heavy guitars aside, there something about "Within"with the rhythm of the bass and drums that reminds me a bit of KISS doing U2. Of course, with the backwards effects and the slight eastern influence in places, there's a bit of Beatles influence here as well (like a lot of Gene's material, really). In any case, influences aside, the song is a good and keeps the momentum from the first track going. That aside, with weird little vocalizations that appear throughout the tune, the crunchy guitars, and odd mannerisms of the song, little of it sounds like vintage KISS. Perhaps Psycho Circus was never intended to do that anyway as certainly the title track doesn’t take you back to Rock and Roll Over or anything like that, but there should be some nods to the original sound of the band, but I’m not hearing it. Outside of Gene and Paul’s vocal, this sounds like KISS on steroids. I mentioned that this exercise is probably only my second time to hear this album, but even if it was my first, nobody could convince me that what I was hearing is Frehley on guitar or Criss on drums. It just doesn’t sound or feel authentic in feel.
Thank you, sir, and to all others that have wished me a happy birthday! All you guys are great. I’m certainly down for looking at some of the rejected stuff from PC and we can either do that when we complete the album proper or add that stuff to the demos and unreleased stuff that I intended cover once the thread is completed with the official studio discography. Either way is fine with me.
Easily Paul's, for the simple fact that he confusingly wears all four make-up patterns as knee and shoulder pads. WTF? And happy birthday @GodShifter - enjoy!
Within: One of my favorites on this record, I like the sort of slow burn on this track, I like Gene's vocals on this track, I think it's a really cool track.
Man, the typos are killing me in the last few posts . That’s what happens when you travel (that’s the excuse I’m using anyway )
Psycho Circus (album) I've never heard it. Other than it being a complete scam I have no opinion on it and will approach these songs as open-mindedly as possible. I didn't pay any attention to it on release. I just didn't care. KISS, for me, was a ship that had long since sailed. Psycho Circus (song) I'm listening on YouTube and the video for the long version sounds cruddy on my laptop, cruddier than usual so I'm switching to the condensed video version. There will be less to hate because it is shorter. I'm joking, people...like I said...Open-Minded! HELLO!! Here I am Here we are... It's an ok opening track, it's nothing original but I think it sets the mood well enough even though the whole "Welcome to the show.." concept had been done to death in rock music by this point. I think Thayer does a nice Ace impression on the solo. Is that Thayer? This album is going to get confusing..lol... The video This is bad, Peter looks as if he could barely lift the drumsticks for the short segments he's in and the rest of the band look forced, like they're trying to recreate something that left the station 16 years ago. And what's with the effects? The video looks like one of those you pay $6.50 to make at the traveling weekend carnival in the supermarket parking lot. So where does that leave me in camp Psycho Circus? A functional opening track, not a blockbuster. 6/10
