IN MYHEAD This tune is bad. How many times do you have to say "In My Head", "In My Head". Plus, the song goes nowhere. No good riff, no chorus to speak of. Closes thing to grunge so far and I can't stand grunge music and the "woe is me" attitude of it. Worse song so far off of COS.
If this was Gene's idea of a Helmet inspired tune, it's a complete fail. Helmet was far more angular than this with their riffs and certainly had a far more active rhythm section than what this song is doing. John Stanier is one of my favorite drummers. He could really bring it with Helmet. He was great with The Mark Of Cain, too.
IT NEVER GOES AWAY 1997 (Stanley, Kulick, Cuomo) (5:42) The fifth of the six collaborations of Paul Stanley, Bruce Kulick, and Curt Cuomo (what did this guy do anyway? I can’t get a handle on exactly what his role was? I assume helping with lyrics, but it’s unclear) is the song “It Never Goes Away”. According to Paul in an interview, song is about the evil in the world and how it continues to occur and there’s nothing that can be done about it. “It Never Goes Away" is, once again, another dark themed song on a very dour and heavy album. If you wanted party time KISS you certainly came to the wrong place. “It Never Goes Away” is the second longest song on Carnival and features Bruce on a 12 string Rickenbacker guitar for the solo that was given to him by Gene Simmons on Bruce’s birthday. Kulick is also on bass guitar again for this one. Musically, the song is a slow burn, doom inspired grinder resembling something Black Sabbath might have done on, perhaps, the Dehumanizer album, but, also (and here it comes) we’re treading again on Alice In Chains territory. Paul’s vocals are almost monotone during the verses, but he does soar a bit on the choruses to give the song some very needed contrast. Overall, it's not that impressive of a performance from Paul as I don't hear that much conviction in his delivery. I’m a big doom metal fan, but this song is just flat boring. I’m sorry. There’s just not much going on here that’s very interesting outside of some shadings from Bruce Kulick on guitar. I do like the 12 string solo as its pretty unique and there’s a riff at 4:30 which is very Kim Thayil like which is cool (the ending is kind of Soundgardenish as well). However, the slow crawl of this song just becomes monotonous. I think the worst thing about it is that this just doesn’t feel like KISS at all. It’s been mentioned about this album a lot but most of this material is just really so far away from anything they’d ever done before. Certainly “It Never Goes Away” is one of the biggest offenders to my ears. It just doesn’t work for KISS and that’s not say the music is bad, but it does feel inauthentic. Reading an interview with Toby Wright about Carnival of Souls he states that the album ideas were primarily Bruce Kulick’s and, as mentioned already, he was the architect of this direction. Wright states that when he met with the band that Bruce told him in confidence that he (Wright) was really going to have to push Simmons and Stanley to make this material work. I’m not sure either were really completely sold on the idea of doing this. Ultimately, I think what Wright got out of them was successful, but the album itself is certainly a head scratcher in many ways. Certainly, “It Never Goes Away” is a prime example of a song that just doesn’t feel true to the spirit of the band and there doesn’t seem to be a fully formulated idea here with this song.
IT NEVER GOES AWAY KISS at their Sabbathy best...and frankly, the greatest Paul Stanley vocal of all time. This isn't a go-to tune for me, but I never fail to be blown away when I do put it on.
It Never Goes Away Early Black Sabbath never goes away. The melody is pretty uninteresting and the slowness of the music is putting me to sleep. I understand how they're going for a pounding, slow heavy set of riffs, but it's just lethargic. Chorus does nothing to save this one. Once it hits the middle section at 4:00 in, I'm absolutely ready for this to be over. Oh, another verse. I guess we're hitting the bad stretch here, with this and In My Head. OK, a thing I like - I like how Paul holds the last note for a long time. Really, really bad song.
It Never Goes Away: I like the phasing effect at the beginning, it's cool to listen to on headphones, and the song starts promising, but ends up aimless. This is such an uninspired Black Sabbath knockoff I'm surprised it wasn't on 13
Two 5/5's and a 4/5 on side one, that's really not too shabby! I've liked less in albums but still give them a spin on occasion. I think we may be converting you subconsciously come on now you know you like it a little more than you thought..... Now about soul, have you given Brother James a listen? Or Marvin? How about them Isley Brothers and........ Peace brother
IT NEVER GOES AWAY I think this song is a good example of Paul's criticism of the album. This seems less sincere than the others and despite Paul putting in a great performance here as he was at his peak around this time vocally I am not buying what Paul is selling as it it is like he is doing a cover song. This goes right alongside In My Head as not a good song from COS. It's just sort of there with the only highlight being Paul's vocals.
OK, so not much dynamics here, but I like the mood it creates. If I compare this to Black Sabbath's After All (The Dead), a song that lumbers on in a similar fashion, it doesn't measure up, but little does to Sabbath in my ears and eyes. I listened to this all the way through, liked it, but didn't have much about it I remembered. So I listened again, and had the same feeling. This one is really difficult for me to rate, frankly. I see why there's differing opinions here, because I'm having differing opinions IN MY HEAD. The fact that I wanted to play it again is certainly a plus and not true throughout this album. 6.8 out of 10.
These last two songs are kind of the doldrums... want to like this one in particular because of the 12 string Rick, but a guitar does not a tune make...
It Never Goes Away The song starts promising with a nice sludgy riff. Paul doesn't have the right voice for this type of music, it sounds forced. That's not really a knock against Paul, he's just not good at the "Woe is me, I'm so down on the world" vibe. When he opens up vocally he sounds much better and, more convincing. There isn't much to really add, no big changes in the music worthy of mention, it just slogs along...until it ends. KISS may have the sludge down, they may have the world weary lyrics down, they may even have the whole AIC "vibe" down, double-tracked vocals and all but what they're lacking on many of these songs are those subtle musical nuances that make AIC so compelling to listen to. Plus the fact that Layne comes off as the more authentic vocalist. So here you're left with what could be an AIC outtake, a band who sort of sounds like them but, frankly, just isn't.
Yeah, it's been a bit of a revelation. I mean, the bad parts really are terrible but songs four, five and six are quite sublime. Mind you, I haven't listened any further so there's still a chance I might be able to free myself from the Dark Side's shepherd's crook. What can I say about the soul thing. Growing up in Britain, there seemed to be an endless supply of "vocal groups" (usually consisting of a singer and two or three backing dancers/vocalists) in spangly shirts with the blandest, dreariest excuse for music that was ever on the telly (I have seriously unwanted memories of The Floaters inflicting Float On, on an suspecting public via Top Of The Pops circa 1977). Amateur musicologist friends have since told me this was disco, not soul but I've never been brave enough to check on the difference! However, what the Isley Brothers did to Summer Breeze has certainly earned them a place in the seventh circle of Hell!
It Never Goes Away What never goes away? The boredom? This is the worst Paul song thus far, to me. It's just... eh.
Yeah I was'nt crazy about their covers, but a lot of their early stuff is good and Ernie Isley's Who's That Lady is a pretty sweet nod to Jimi. James Brown : Super Bad is a great intro to The Godfather Of Soul. Marvin Gaye What's Going On & Sexual Healing are real good. Lol I love soul & funk I could sit here all day listing great songs like Otis Reading's Been Loving You Too Long or his cover of A Change Is Gonna Come is so heartfelt it'll bring a tear to your eye. Lol told ya, all day Soul & Funk are great fun and lift me out of bad mood faster than anything else. Try it you might like it! Lol and for funk Sly & The Family Stone, Funkadellics/Parliment. pax bro
It Never Goes Away This song feels twice as long as it actually is. Vocally, Paul is in top form but the song goes nowhere. Good lyrics though but I'm not buying what is being sold here. 4/10
Big P-Funk fan here and I'm pretty sure @npgchris is as well. Also dig me some JB and Sly among many others. I'm feelin' ya, bro!!
I do like some funk. I got into Sly and the Family Stone, bizarrely enough because of REO Speedwagon. Sly appeared on their Lost In A Dream album which made me curious enough to check him out. That led me to performers like War, Earth, Wind and Fire and, of course, George Clinton. Breathtaking stuff. Appreciate the soul tips. I'll check 'em out. I dunno, you innocently participate in a KISS thread and end up being a Marvin Gaye fan. The world has gone mad!
Alright It Never Goes Away, get your speech ready because you've just won Lucky Sizzles' Surprise of the Day!!! I think Black Sabbath is absolutely the reference point for this. I'm getting a combination of Electric Funeral and Hand of Doom from It Never Goes Away. I can see this as being a reasonable thing for Paul to aspire to vocally because of his ability to sing high. Ozzy was the master of singing in this crazy and uncontrolled fashion that made you think of the end of the world. So with Paul's vocal skills and control it's reasonable to think he could ape this style. Now, is he successful at it? This could easily go sideways because when Paul over sings or goes too high it can quickly get out of control. He wisely limits himself so I feel like the higher singing is kept in check while providing enough of a contrast. And though I think some of the lyrics are a bit too far from Paul, they don't bother me in this case. I think this is a good song, probably wouldn't rush to put it on any KISS compilation but I wouldn't nuke it from Carnival of Souls. I'm a bit surprised to see it's 5.42, it doesn't feel like it. While I'm making the obvious early Sabbath comparisons, while the vocals and the guitar are good on It Never Goes Away, something that you can't replicate is the genre defining sounds provided by Geezer Butler on bass and Bill Ward on drums. At one point I think Gene had the potential to be a very interesting bassist and Bruce does fine work on this album but neither could hope to be as interesting in note choices as Geezer. And without taking anything away from the professionalism of Eric Singer, Bill Ward was a game changer in the 1970's. So yeah, I'm pleased to be 'all in' on It Never Goes Away. Nice to have a second Paul song to enjoy on this album.
I think Black Sabbath songs have more dynamics than they are given credit for. It Never Goes Away never goes anywhere (and I kinda like it, despite that fact).
