Yeah and it's funny how closely her version follows this. Right down to the vocal inflections. Like on the 'should I' part. btw, the keyboard player in that video, and co-writer of that song, is Holly Knight. Another Spider/KISS connection since she later did some writing with Paul. eta: and she plays on Unmasked
I like Love 'Em And Leave 'Em quite a bit, a solid start to Side 2! I actually like Peter's drumming on it, somehow odd but it works well with the bass. The guitars are edgy and sound great... The choruses are perhaps a little repetitive but then Ace takes the song to the stratosphere with yet another amazing solo! Definitely cringeworthy lyricwise but Gene's delivery is nonetheless rather convincing. Overall, not the best song on the album but provided with all the ingredients that make it one of their very best! That Rock And Roll Over energy is in there intact.
"Love 'Em And Leave 'Em", never really stood out for me from the album. Dunno, why but it feels maybe a bit bland track. Not sure why they did pick this song for video, if it was only for song that needed to be sung by Gene then they could have had a better choice. Good funky beats, Peter's groove and Ace's solo are things that I like the most. Ace saves the day again. Ace was a some serious machine delivering those nice solos and licks. Next...
LOVE 'EM AND LEAVE' EM It has me at the start, Gene sounds convinced he's onto something and I'm with him, as out of the gate it's got a cool strut riff thing going on and there's some real energy behind it. The chorus ?....... well it's not really bad, but it ends up being killed by repetition, with the end result sounding uninspired. I count 23 repetitions of the song title throughout the whole thing ! Ace shows up and gives proceedings a little bit of a kick in the pants, but that really isn't enough to get it above average. I'm pretty sure there's a great song in here somewhere, but our boys seemed to stop looking for it once they reached the chorus.
Yes...something like Get All You Can Take would be better if he wasn't showboating. That said, hearing that he did a lot of those songs IN ONE TAKE is damn impressive.
Baby Driver "Push that pedal to the floor!" Hot damn...I may be one of Peter's harsher critics, but damn this is a great song. As a kid I even requested it and got it played on the radio! And can I add that I think this is one of Gene's finest bass performances and sound? Plus Ace doing those bends (with Paul?) at the end are just killer.
LOVE ‘EM AND LEAVE ‘EM Well here is the clunker for me. Not terrible, and not a track I'd skip, but certainly the weakest track on RNRO. It just sounds like Gene wrote this in 5 minutes or less and tossed it out there.
Curve read my mind on this track...I'll go one step further...like "Baby Driver", another dud on this album.
MR. SPEED 1976 (Stanley, Delaney) 3:19 Equal parts The Rolling Stones and Faces, Rock and Roll Over’s “Mr. Speed” written by Paul Stanley and Sean Delaney is a welcome change up from the dull cut before it “Love ‘Em and Leave ‘Em”. Just as “Love ‘Em” lulls you sleep with its monotonous chorus outro, “Mr. Speed” with it’s Richards/Wood inspired opening chords makes your ears perk up a bit. “Mr. Speed” is a mid tempo, fun time rocker that is characteristic of Paul Stanley’s material for this album (save “Hard Luck Woman” but more on that later). A highly melodic tune with some great background vocals starting at 0:41 (sounding almost very do-wop), “Mr. Speed” rumbles along with a great grooving bass line and an almost country/roots inspired lick on the guitar. It’s the guitar lick that gives off such a Faces/Stones vibe. A tune like this could easily be found on Sticky Fingers or Exile on Main Street or A Nod Is As Good As a Wink … to a Blind Horse. I particularly like Gene’s bass tone on this song. It’s got a real chunky flavor to it and moves along tastefully under the guitar riff. Ace puts in a well placed melodic lead ala Ron Wood or Mick Taylor at 1:56 (some Chuck Berry in there, too) and then the song is back to the main riff and Gene doing some Jack Bruce like riffs underneath. Again, I don’t hear anything very outstanding on the drums here, but, oh well. Stanley says the song’s lyrical content is about a guy that can pick up women really quickly and I quote “seeing those pick-ups reach their logical conclusion”. Right. That’s certainly a better angle than being called “Mr. Speed” for another reason in a sexual context (har har). Actually, not knowing this tune very well, I assumed the song was drug related, but that’s pretty off because it’s, well, KISS. I mean, think about it, how many tunes has the band done that encourage drug use or alcohol abuse? “Cold Gin” is one of the few songs that even broaches the subject. The song is, of course, loaded with sexual innuendo as are most KISS tunes. It doesn't hit you right in the face, because that probably wouldn’t have set well with the younger audience of which KISS was acquiring more and more of a following with. These were the days of the KISS Army after all. Not sure how much this was played in concert, if at all, during the 70’s. It, like a lot of other more deeper cuts, has been resurrected for the cruises and sets later in the band’s career.
I have always, always, always loved Mr. Speed. Look, this is one of the few times that lyrics be damned (because they make no sense) it's just so catchy and melodic that I don't care. The harmonies are incredible, and paired with Hard Luck Woman. is probably the closest KISS has come to country.
Umm, from the same album, from the same songwriter(s).... "put your hand in my pocket, grab onto my rocket" and "sittin' in the back, her head down in my lap" That's like saying Quentin Tarantino likes implied violence.
"Mr. Speed" -- speaking of Chuck Berry . . . Very nice, heavily Chuck-influenced riffing on this one. What strikes me most about this tune, though, isn't any music-theoretical details. It's rather the overall mood. It has such an easygoing, carefree, positive-vibe feel to it. It strikes me as a very southern California song, or at least a late spring or summer tune. "If the Beach Boys had been KISS instead, 'Mr. Speed' would have been their bread & butter." It's a subtle difference, really, to the normal attitude of a KISS song (and I'm speaking purely musically, by the way--this is no comment at all on the lyrics), but there's a difference in my opinion, and it's a unique tune in their catalog because of this.
Baby Driver - meh. Love 'em and Leave 'em - As previously stated, I always thought this was the album opener, and I quite liked it in that context. I still quite like it and my enjoyment was only enhanced by Gene's head moves in the video. Lyrically, between this and "Ladies' Room," it's almost as if Gene is trying to pre-brief his groupies. Mr. Speed - Now we're really talking. Paul Stanley gold. Great tune, ridiculous lyrics, great guitar sound, classic Ace lead work. This one really has everything you want - a classic KISS experience. Oh, and Paul vocals. It's just all here. One of my all-time favorite KISS tracks.
Mr. Speed is a very cool rocking song, and yet another co-write with Sean Delaney. One of the highlights on the album, like perhaps Magic Touch on Dynasty, Mr. Speed's got great harmonies going, great little guitar riffs and bass lines, and a quick, melodic solo that fits the song perfectly..... Paul's at the top of his powers and his vocals are superb on it. All in all, a very important, vital track on Side 2 of the album.
Hard to believe we are at track 7 and we haven't heard from Paul since the second song on the album so his voice is very welcomed indeed! Mr. Speed is one of the catchiest songs on the record, so melodic, so Stonesy, so rocking. Ace, who is on fire for this record, gives another short and economical but extremely lyrical solo that's perfect for the song. Gene provides some really bouncy bass lines and Peter's kick drum just sounds so rad, especially during that little break after the solo. My favorite part of the song is at 2:26 after the middle break when they change up the riff just before the coda. Great song!
Mr. Speed- My appreciation has grown for this song as I have gotten older. It was never on any of my Kiss Kollection mix tapes back in the day but nevertheless it's a good song. A great solo by Ace on this ultra catchy song that should have had more live airings.
After just being reacquainted with LE&LE and Mr Speed, and in anticipation of the next two songs which I actually remember and recall disliking, Baby Driver is looking a lot better in the context of this album than it did the other day. But really, tracks 5-9 are probably the worst consecutive run of songs on any KISS album I can think of. Even CN & HITS didn't have 5 stinkers in a row, although I stand to be corrected when we get there... 7/10 is way too generous IMO, I'd give it 5.5/10 max. Good job they came back strong with Love Gun, else this could've been curtains. One thing's for sure: if RnRO had been the 1st KISS album I grabbed instead of Love Gun, I don't think I would have bothered checking them out any further.
Wow. I'm really in the minority here. Didn't like Mr. Speed then, still don't like it. To me it's filler. If I wanted to hear a Stones or Faces tune, I'd have played them. This is the most Un-KISS sounding song (imo) including Ace's solo. It just sounds like so many other bands. And it's (arguably) only 2:16 long, since nothing new happens after that. I remember wishing my turntable had a fast forward when this or Hard Luck Woman came on...
There's simply no chance I could agree with this review of Rock And Roll Over.... but yeah, I guess it's always different strokes for different folks.
I couldn't disagree more. I feel this way about "Love Gun", strangely enough. Half great, half clunkers.
Very well said. It's a great song. And who wasn't influenced by the great Chuck Berry! Everyone says Hendrix was the best but nope, it was Chuck.
