All-Star
Tribute to KISS - Spin The Bottle
by Keavin
Wiggins
All-Star
Tribute to KISS - Spin The Bottle
Label: Koch
Rating:
Tracks: Detroit Rock City - Dee Snider
Love Gun - Tommy Shaw
Cold Gin - Mark Slaughter
King Of The Night Time World - Chris Jericho
I Want You - Kip Winger
God Of Thunder - Buzz Osborne
Calling Dr. Love - Page Hamilton
Shout It Out Loud - Lemmy Kilmeister
Parasite - Doug Pinnick
Strutter - Phil Lewis
I Stole Your Love - Robin McAuley
If you are like me, you visit the used
record store often, hoping to catch a gem in the middle of all the muck.
It never fails, every time I sort through the used CD bin I always come
across a half a dozen copies of the “official” KISS cover album Kiss
My Ass and GNR’s “Spaghetti Incident”. Luckily, for fans, Spin
the Bottle, is everything that Kiss My Ass wasn’t. In other
words, if you buy it, you are not as likely to trade it in.
Instead of trying to pander to the mainstream
with artists that are riding the charts at the moment (Gin Blossoms), for
this tribute the bands called upon to contribute should have more credibility
with the KISS Army. How can you go wrong with Lemmy, Dee Snider,
Page Hamilton or Phil Lewis? Much better choices then Toad The Wet
Sprocket, Gin Blossoms or Garth Brooks.
The disc starts strong with Dee Snider
kicking out a version of “Detroit Rock City” that puts the Mighty Mighty
Bosstones cover to shame. Tommy Shaw follows up with a strong version of
“Love Gun,” the only real problem with this one is some of the lead guitars
are a bit over the top and Tommy doesn’t really stay true to the original
vocal melody. Former Vinnie Vincent Invasion frontman Mark Slaughter (yeah
he headed Slaughter too) delivers a rippin’ version of Cold Gin. He actually
delivers the vocal with a lot more attitude than you might expect given
the tone of Slaughters music. This is a surprisingly good cover with plenty
of balls.
Fozzy frontman and Pro Wrestler Chris Jericho
takes on “King of the Nighttime World” and is probably the closest to Paul
Stanley’s vocals. This is one of my personal KISS favorites so I might
be a little harder on anyone trying to cover it but Jericho does a faithful
cover aided by Fred Coury, Mike Inez and Rich Ward.
Kip Winger’s version of “I Want You” really
sounds like Winger, in other words dated. Buzz Osborne from the Melvins
on the other hand really takes “God of Thunder” and makes it his own, sounds
a bit like Rob Zombie and features former KISS axeman Bruce Kulick, Blasco
and Carmine Appice. A truly kick ass cover!
Helmet’s Page Hamilton checks in next with
a pretty cool cover of “Calling Dr. Love” but is really overshadowed by
the next track from Lemmy! Yes, the god of metal Lemmy just kills with
a raw rendition of “Shout it Out Loud.” You cannot help but love it and
he’s ably backed up by Samantha Malony and Jennifer Batten. This is not
what you might expect but is memorable.
Doug Pinnick of King’s X is next up and
backed by a name every KISS fan will recognize, Bob Kulick. Not as cool
as the Anthrax cover on “KISS My Ass” but it’s cool and Doug actually sounds
a lot like Lemmy on the vocals. Next up L.A. Guns frontman Phil Lewis gives
us “Strutter”. His backing band Gilby Clarke, Jeff Pilson and Bob Rock
give the song a distinct feel and Phil does a great job on the vocal that
pretty faithful to Paul’s vocals. Gilby struts his stuff at every opportunity,
but it works here.
The disc concludes with former MSG frontman
Robin McAuley backed by C.C. DeVille, Tony Franklin and Aynsley Dunbar
for a fun cover of “I Stole Your Love”, however Robin seems to fall off
on a couple of the lines but overall it’s a pretty cool cover.
So, all in all, this is a very worthy tribute.
There are many KISS tributes out there, but this one ranks among the best
and would definitely add to any KISS fan’s library.
But leave the CD aside for a minute - The
bonus DVD alone is worth the price of admission. It features some cool
interviews with the musicians on the tribute talking about their personal
KISStories and thoughts about the “hottest band in the land.” The
Bob Kulick penned liner-notes are a nice touch.
The only real complaint I have and one
I typically have with tribute albums, I would have loved to seen lesser-known
songs covered. Can you imagine Lemmy doing “Going Blind”?
