I don't know, I was thinking more like a Pacer or Gremlin! Lots of windows so everyone can see whose driving the ugliest car!
Well, if anybody ever covers it, they can change the title to "Hooptie Dreams" - not to be confused with the wonderful 1994 documentary "Hoop Dreams".
Cadillac Dreams - THE 10/10 mega-masterpiece. Not only it's by far the greatest tune on HITS it's also one of the coolest and grooviest tracks KISS has ever recorded and one Gene's all time finest. Gimme one bar of Cadillac Dreams over entire 85-88 output easily. Or entire Creatures of the Night record. In my Top 10 KISS tunes no doubt about it.
I smashed my head against the wall rocking to it in '89. Tore it down as a result. And that was a damn good soviet built brick wall, not the paper house walls you guys have in US.
Cadillac Dreams rocks! Simple but effective. Some of the vocal melody/meter sounds like another song but I can't remember what it is. Doesn't matter. A neat combo of heavy rock, funk, rockabilly...is that Slim Jim Phantom on drums?????....anyway, a cool song. Bruce K kills it on slide with cool responses in the chorus and I like the muted Bo Diddleyish rhythms on the guitar in the intro and throughout. The bridge changes to E at 1:53 but not a key change technically...no cadence...so a tonicization is all...sorry for the tech speak. The guitar break goes to G-F then to A and back to C at 2:11 and the main riff comes back in and Bruce plays right along with chordal tones with a nice mix of slide and regular guitar and some rockabilly phrasings. Nice tension build up with the hang on the C. The guitar break is basically the chords in the pre chorus. The horns are a nice fill in of the soundscape. Cool responses on the slide guitar in the coda. Awesome song. Cheap Trick should have covered it.
I have always liked it as well. Always makes me smile. Some folks don't like it? Well all I can say to that is.......
About half of the tunes on the last 3 albums could more than hold their own against this one, I would think! (And if you missed "Read My Body" several days earlier, consider yourself lucky).
CADILLAC DREAMS Sun King 10/10 Fire Woman 10/10 American Horse 9.5/10 Edie Ciao Baby 10/10 Sweet Soul Sister 10/10 Soul Asylum 9/10 NYC 9/10 Automatic Blues 10/10 Soldier Blue 8.5/10 Wake Up Time For Freedom 8/10 Medicine Train 10/10
Damn, @SizzleVonSizzleton ya pure busted me! Heh, no HITS for me... i'm in enough pain already, my friend! I was hoping the concussion would maybe help me forget Crazy Nights but, nup.....it's still there Seriously though, thanks so much for your thoughts, that means a lot! Hehe, you know it was brother!
DRESSED TO KILL (1975....March 19th...it was a Wednesday) ROOM SERVICE The first thing I noticed, compared to HTH, is the production seems to be a bit better on this one....a lot less murky on the drum front for starters. Not a bad kick off here, some neat fills from Peter and I much prefer his snare sound here, I like the bassline and Ace's leads are neat...at first I thought he was using an octaver but it's two seperate tracks....cool! The rythmn guitars still sound a bit muddy to me but it's a solid opener for their third album. I can guess what the lyrics are about but with a band like KISS, it's expected, and it doesn't mean I actually pay attention to the majority of them. I'm not faulting them for it either, far from it, I just prefer when their lyrics are a little more subliminal. Which isn't often, haha. 7/10 TWO TIMER Digging the crappy tone on the guitars as this one kicks in but wish they were a bit more meaty. As it progresses, the guitars sit back and chop away giving the vocals and another cracking bass line from Gene the chance to drive the verses. Admittedly, it took me a couple of minutes to suss out that it was Gene doing the lead vocal, he sounds do different for the first few bars!! Not sold on the chorus but it's nothing I would run to whip the needle up from. Kinda simple bluesy solo from Ace but it befits the song....sure i'm hearing Peter doing some offbeats on a cowbell here and there too. 7/10 LADIES IN WAITING Cool snare dropped on the 2 & 3 beat of the bar by Peter...reminds me of a drum beat from a Japan song for some reason....but not sure it suits the chorus. It's almost hinting at a 12-bar on the guitars but it doesn't go full 'rawk', I love the way bass sits back on this through the verses but i'm non-plussed about the vocal tbh, it's a bit 'meh', plus he lyrics are dire but, hey ho, you already knew that. The double tracked solo is quite difficult to make out but the bits I can make out sound fine. Also really like the little guitar melody as it fades is pretty nice....sounds like almost the same pattern as bits of The Final Countdown lead. Jeez, sorry. Nil points for mentioning that, what can I say, it's gotta be the meds. Can't say it's one of my absolute favourites but it's more than a pass! 6.5/10 GETAWAY Opens up with a boogie riff and kicks along with the guitars playing relatively simple parts. That bass line is genius though (or, GENEious), it really lifts the song. The vocals are pretty tame until Peter starts screaming at the end, I do love it when he does that, such a rock 'n' roll voice!! The song isn't brilliant by any means but again, not something i'd run to switch off. 6.5/10 ROCK BOTTOM I can't remember the acoustic intro being as long on the studio version but there you go. I don't know if it fits either but who am I to tell them how to write/arrange songs? I do prefer the version from Alive as it seems more of a proper song and has a fair bit more nuts when it kicks in, this one sounds a bit different in the arrangement...shorter?...but it's still a kick ass song! Ace's twin solo is a peach, doesn't outstay it's welcome and I love how Peter doubles the kick on the chorus, pumps it along nicely! 8/10 C'MON AND LOVE ME One of my good ladys favourite KISS songs. I learned the, sometimes hilarious, but genius lyrics only through her constantly singing it to me at the most random moments...out shopping, cooking, etc. Now we both sing it out shopping haha. The intro is menacing and really powerful as the intro guitar gets backed up by stabs from the rest of them before it kicks in. There's such a great vibe on this one and there's no hiding it's power as a song, even if the guitars sound a little too clean on the studio version, well, except the acoustic...which probably should hehe. Love Pauls vocal on this one and the skippy beat by Peter at the bridge. It comes across a lot darker here but...I still think the one from Alive kicks its ass...I dunno if the production neuters this one a little here but it's mega anyhow! 9/10 ANYTHING FOR MY BABY I absolutely love Peter's playing on this one, mainly the toms throughout the choruses but...the verses don't quite hit the same mark for me. It's ok, bit of a throaway number compared to the rest of DTK i'd say. It does feature another absolutely brilliant gritty vocal from Paul this time but, I just wish I liked the verses better. I think this may be my least favourite from DTK......but i'd still take it over unadulterated, vapid ass foam like Crazy Nights anyday. 4/10 SHE My favourite song on DTK (but I still think the Alive version slaughters it, especially the addition of the Zep sounding bit from Let Me Know) I dig everything about it, it's sassy and groovy and pretty unsettling.... the rolled off guitar tones and the riff itself echoes the Sab's to me, then it switches to offbeat stabs which give it an almost disco feel but it breaks it up nicely. The bass tone at the breakdown is beautiful and another reappearance of some dual leads and some cool adlibs at the breakdown from Ace sets this on it's way! Can't really say anymore, just a brilliant close to the album!! MUCH preferred the sound quality/production on this DTK, a definite step up from HTH but it's not without it's flaws. Pretty brilliant considering it's the 'difficult third album'. Overall rating : 8/10, neck and neck with the debut.
CADILLAC DREAMS I do like the chuck-a, chuck-a rhythm...I hear a bit of "Ballroom Blitz" or "Radar Love" along with the '50s vibe. So, I was mistaken yesterday: it was not "Silver Spoon" which features Bruce on slide, it is this song. It's decent slide playing but won't make anyone forget about Duane Allman or even Micky Moody. It seems in late '89, a lot of the hair bands were starting to utilize more prominent slide. It's all over Motley's Dr. Feelgood album, plus Aerosmith and Tesla were doing a lot of slide. I think the horns are a bridge too far. Gene's vocals are good. It's like Gene's trying to do a "Motown"-ish song a la An Innocent Man-era Billy Joel, which is kind of different for him (in a good way). But the lyrics are a bit...disingenuous? Plus the expression "Cadillac Dreams" makes me think of the whole "Caviar wishes and champagne dreams" nouveau-riche douchebaggery of shows like Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. Ultimately, because of the lame lyrics, horns, and a few elements, this track ends up being less the sum of its parts.
Ok, I was a bit spaced earlier and somehow missed the last two songs from DTK... LOVE HER ALL I CAN The intro riff reminded me a little of 'Got To Choose' from HTH but when it kicks in it switches to a similar sounding riff as the main riff in Lowrider. I love the groove on this one and there's always room for more cowbell! And those harmony riffs on the guitar are cool but the vocal harmonies are what stands out for me on this one.....reminded me of Staley/Cantrell (AIC)....which is fkn A in my book! Paul sings this with plenty attitude and, as usual, it's a cracking solo by Ace. I don't think i've heard one where i've went 'Uh oh..' so far. At the end breaks there's some real nice fills from Peter. A hidden gem. 8/10 ROCK 'N' ROLL ALL NIGHT I know this is probably a fan favourite but i've gotta be honest and say it doesn't nail it for me. Don't get me wrong, it's played well and it obviously translates well in a live setting better but.....I find it kind of dumb and too repetitive. I realise it was probably written to give crowds something to sing, but ahhhh....nope, not for me. Sorry if that twists anyones underwear but that's how I feel. 4/10 Overall review rating for DTK still an 8/10.
Right on about C'mon and Love Me. The studio version is not heavy enough. This is one of my favorite live Kiss songs and sounded amazing live with Ace and Paul trading the intro lick back and forth. Skid Row did a great version of it. One of many amazing Paul Stanley songs. I remember when they played this live at the 1975 Wildwood NJ concert and the place went nuts during it. I remember thinking how much better it sounded live. I remember thinking how I would love to hear the song live all the time......little did I know it was about to happen.
I think we argued about this sometime back, but I'm pretty sure Ace Frehley plays bass guitar on "Getaway" (or he's rumored to anyway).
C'mon & Love Me was the very first KISS song I heard, albeit just a brief snippet. It was a video clip, during a feature on American Rock, sometime before summer 77 (because that was when I bought my first KISS albums). I think it was no more than 10-15 seconds, just the verse part. But I remember being intrigued, because it sounded like a semi-decent song, and up to that point I'd assumed KISS was just a bunch of low-grade hucksters, a comedy act even. So when I eventually bought ALIVE! and flipped over to side two, I instantly remembered the song, which is an indication of its quality. Yes, definitely one of PAUL's best (Anyone know what that clip might have been? What pro footage of CALM would have been broadcast by mid-77??)
