2025 in 2025: Day 119

Love Again - Ayumi Hamasaki

This is not an album I listen to often - quite likely my least listened to Ayu album, or at least right up there. It is not necessarily bad or anything - there a few awesome songs and the interludes are really great - but I find it a bit... generic. This whole little period post-Power of Music is her most average. Colours was awesome and put an end to that. I should listen to Colours again...

Highlights: snowy kiss, untitled for her... story 2, Ivy, Bye-bye darling

7.5/10

Love and Fear - Jimmy Barnes

Barnesy's usual brand of Aussie rock, but with more of a modern/updated sound. Which, at this point, is now 20 years-old. Big rock guitars, a few big beats. No rapping on this one, but def some R&B on that one song.

Highlights: Time Will Tell, Temptation, Love Gone Cold

6.5/10

The Love Below - Outkast

Or really an Andre 3000 solo album with Big Boi on a couple of tracks. Look, Imma be real with you with all: I find Andre 3000 really pretentious and annoying. And this album is a lot of nonsense and sex, without actually being sexy, if you know what I mean. In the middle are two certified bangers, but they are just surrounded by the stupidest collection of skits and... whatever this is. None of it feels like actual songs.

Highlights: Hey Ya!, Roses

4/10

Love Demolition - Zowie

I think this is NZ pop? I was given this CD by... someone? And they were given it... somewhere? Clearly a heavy influence from Lady Gaga going on here. It is actually mostly decent. Or at least listenable. Hey - that is a very high compliment for me when it comes to New Zealand music!

Highlights: You Treat Me (Like I'm Software), My Calculator, Nothing Else, Ping Ping

6.5/10

Love Gun - Kiss

This album is just what I needed this morning to get back on track! Just about peak Kiss, right here. Well, I mean, they peaked for like 3 years and it was basically downhill after this, but this album rules the schools.

Highlights: I Stole Your Love, Love Gun, Got Love for Sale, Plaster Caster

9/10

Love is Hell - Ryan Adams

No one will ever convince me this album is as good as people try to pretend it is. I am not saying it is terrible - because I listened to The Love Below this morning, so I know terrible - but it is not the amazing triumph that Ryan Adams fans think it is.

Highlights: This House is Not For Sale, Love is Hell, Wonderwall, Please Do Not Let Me Go

6/10

Love is Hell Rarities - Ryan Adams

Some of these songs are fine. Some are better than some of the songs on Love is Hell. Some are just a continuation of the miserable mediocrity found on Love is Hell. And this version of This Is It is the worst I have ever heard.

Highlights: Gimme Sunshine, I Want to Go Home

5.5/10

Love is Hell: New York Sessions - Ryan Adams

I am going to kill myself...

Highlights: I am dead like Charlie Kirk

5/10

Love Live! School Idol Project - μ's

Oh hey, I did a cleanup of this stuff a few years ago. I actually thought it was last Winter, but apparently time goes VERY quickly! Yeah yeah iDOL is SHiT and all that, but this is exactly what I needed after 3 hours of DRA being a black cloud. These girls are the rainbow and sunshine washing his BS away. I need to learn No brand girls on guitar. And bah gawd that bassline in どんなときもずっと is phenomenal.

Highlights: No brand girls, どんなときもずっと, Wonderful Rush, 僕らは今のなかで

8/10

Love Live! Sunshine - Aqours (and others)

Why, yes - I did a cleanup for these songs the day after doing so for μ's. This was more complex, because I had everything still split across like 4 albums and all sub-unit names are being used for the artists, etc. I may have to watch an episode of this show tonight.

Highlights: 勇気はどこに？君の胸に！, 君のこころは輝いてるかい？, SELF CONTROL!!, Landing action Yeah!!

7.5/10

Love Songs - Ayumi Hamasaki

Start the day with Ayu and end the day with Ayu! I always forget this album actually came out before the Power of Music concert - mostly because there is almost nothing from it performed at that show - and I consider it the start of the 'lame' period of Ayu's career. Well, first lame period. The second would be the last 4 or 5 years. Like most Ayu albums, it is a mix of various styles, but country rock is certainly a first!

Highlights: Thank U, Love song, MOON, blossom, sending mail

7/10

"Albums" listened to so far: 1044

FREE PALESTINE

Music Talk: Kiss Goodbye - Day Two

So Kiss had their "final" concert the other day, which has led me to making this a bit of a Kiss week on the ol' iPhone playlist. I was originally planning on a full-fledged Kissathon III: the timing felt very appropriate, because it was about 10 years ago I did the original Kissathon blogging, and it being the end of Kiss and their 50th anniversary, it just felt it was time to take an expert-level approach to this and include a whole bunch of stuff that I skipped last time and has been released since, such as Eric Carr's "solo album" and all of Gene Simmons' solo work (yes, even including the dreaded vault - 8 discs of demos that would likely make me laugh or die of boredom)... but then I realised that I really don't have the patience to deal with Tommy Thayer again.

So instead, I made the bold choice to just do a Monday of the OG line-up. From the self-titled album through to the solo albums. And with a nice strong matcha, I gotta say... I had a great time. A great reminder of why I love Kiss so much. If I hadn't been exhausted from being awake for almost 24 hours and walking a millions kms, you can bet I would have picked up my guitar and jammed out to Dressed to Kill before bed. And I don't really need to talk about those first 12 albums, because 10 of them are pure awesome, 1 is pretty decent, and the last just hilariously awful. But I will reiterate that self-titled to Alive! is gold. I'm really hoping that Kiss can put together some type of awesome box set to commemorate that period next year. And maybe finally give Hotter Than Hell a remix while they're at it?

Of course, I am still waiting for my Diamonds and Pearls box set to arrive (well, not anymore - it arrived while I'm typing this), so I had to plan for another day of Kiss greatness. Which actually works for me, because then I can tick off the fake OG line-up albums.

So this morning I started things off with Destroyer {Resurrected}, which is now my official "go-to" whenever I want to listen to Destroyer. Honestly, I love how alive the mix is; the whole thing just lifts the energy to a higher level. Plus, it's great having an actual Ace Frehley solo on there instead of Bob Kulick and Dr. Wagner. Which leads me to my current listen... the Destroyer 45th Anniversary box set.

Not doing 100 hours of demos was a great choice. Because these demos are dumb. Admittedly, I do enjoy hearing Paul Stanley sing God of Thunder, and maybe It's the Fire could have been a decent song if they had finished it off, but the rest are either songs that eventually became better songs, or just Gene making a lameburger.

Now I'm on to the 3rd disc, which consists of single versions and remixes. And the real highlight - Ain't None of Your Business, an actual studio outtake from the sessions. It's some cover song? And was going to be Peter's song on the album before he gave them Beth. Kisstory would be completely different had that not happened; this album might not have been such a success, Kiss might never have reached the heights they did, and Ace Frehley might not have spent 40 years incorrectly thinking he had won a Grammy! Anyways, Ain't None of Your Business is actually much more like Peter's songs on their earlier albums, but doesn't fit in with the style of Destroyer at all. So I like it a lot.

Finally, we get a disc of the band live in Paris on the Destroyer tour. It's hilariously terrible quality. Almost has hilarious as Paul Stanley's guitar playing. But it's high energy fun that I can only wish I was watching instead of just listening to. Every time I listen to this box set (this would likely be the 3rd, at best) I convince myself I could never justify purchasing it at the exorbitant Kiss-style price tag. Then I see that atmos mix of Destroyer and the big silliness of the box set and I think to myself  'ooh I should get that next time I see it on special'.

Yes, I'm a moron.

Then we move on a 1977 concert from the "Off the Soundboard" series. This is better quality than the '76 show - which you would expect from a soundboard recording. I'm a fan of any live set that opens with I Stole Your Love, so this one is an immediate win for me! In fact, this setlist is almost completely songs from Destroyer to Love Gun, so that makes this quite different. Again, that is a plus! For some reason, the bass disappears every so often. Since this is a soundboard recording, I can only assume that means Gene hadn't yet learned the art of miming to backing tracks....

On to Double Platinum. I talked about that before. It's a Kiss compilation, but with added stuff to make the songs... more... something. And then we're on to Dynasty and Unmasked to close out the day. Maybe Greatest Kiss as well, since that's a full-on awesome compilation of the original line-up. All of this is awesome.

Prince may have to wait another day so I can action another day of Kiss.

SMASHES, THRASHES AND HITS (1988)

Kiss found themselves stranded in the mannequin graveyard...

Oh hey, another Kiss compilation!

This time we get two new songs: Let's Put the X in Sex is everything you expect from an 80s Kiss track where Paul Stanley is strutting around singing about making sweet love to some young woman, while (You Make Me) Rock Hard is... pretty much exactly the same.

Def Slam Poetry right here.

Then it's on to the 'hits'. Except most are remixed. Easily the worst version of Love Gun on the planet; like, it's Love Gun so it is still better than anything you or I will ever write (unless you are Ryan Adams or Brian May. In which case, "Hi!" and "ZOMG why are you reading this?!?!") but this remix makes it sound stupid. Almost as much as the remix of I Love It Loud makes it sound gutless and pathetic. I would really like to know what they were thinking with that one. Perhaps you can find out for me, Brian May?

Then comes the Deuce remix, which is even more bizarre. The 80s songs haven't been remixed at all, so Lick It Up and Heaven's on Fire sound just the same. They should have remixed those as well just for the fun of it; maybe add some phaser to the vocals, bit distortion and delay on the drums and then just add in some funk guitar. Because that wouldn't have been worse than what they are doing to the classic 70s tracks here. Oh, and then Eric Carr finally gets to do some vocals by making the most boring version of Beth possible. I'm not blaming him at all, but bah gawd what was the point of this album? Did people think this sounded cool in 1988? I've watched every episode of Miami Vice and I can safely answer that with a no.

I'm totally deleting these tracks out of my iTunes when I get home.


Highlights:
The songs that are awesome still being awesome

Lowlights:
Listening to awesome songs get ruined by stupid remixing



Verdict =  4 Smoking Les Paul Guitars

KILLERS (1982)

I wanna take you to a GAY BAR - A GAY BAR!!!

Another Kiss compilation!

Except this has a few new songs, even. And was only available in Japan or something. Bryan Adams co-wrote one or two of the new songs. They are ok, just don't really sound like Kiss. Or at least, how Kiss have sounded up until now - sound more like a generic 80s rock band. I guess that's what happens when Ace Frehley doesn't save your band with his awesome guitaring. When the classic Kiss songs kick in, like Love Gun and Shout it Out Loud, this just becomes so much more apparent.

Highlights:

Love Gun, Shout it Out Loud, Sure Know Something, Detroit Rock City, I Was Made for Loving You, Rock'n Roll All Nite (Live)

Lowlights:

Bob Kulick replacing Ace Frehley on lead guitar for the new songs

Verdict = 4 Smoking Les Paul Guitars

LOVE GUN DELUXE EDITION BONUS DISC

The great philosophers then stomped the young women until they would fit nicely into a white box...

About a year ago, the Love Gun album was re-released with a bonus disc of demos and live tracks from 1977. They are mostly terrible. Especially the first one, Much Too Soon. If you ever wanted to hear Gene Simmons' singing at its worst, I guess you will be satisfied. The Plaster Caster demo isn't too bad, but I'd never choose it over the album version. Ever. Reputation isn't too awful. Sounds like it would have fit in with Gene's solo album or making an appearance in Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park. The Love Gun demo isn't too bad. Mainly because Paul Stanley is a million times the singer Gene Simmons is. An instrumental demo of Tomorrow and Tonight is surprisingly good fun. Makes me think that song could have been even better had the lyrics and melody not been so obvious. Oh great, another shitty Gene demo of a song that would have been at home on his shitty solo album. At least his singing isn't making me want to die this time - just go to sleep with a pillow over my ears.

Then we get some live songs recorded during the Love Gun tour, and obviously overdubbed in some ways because the drums sound far more modern than anything from Alive!. I'm not convinced the vocals are legit from 1977 either. But that doesn't mean the songs sound bad, because they are in fact the best parts of this whole disc.

Whoever bought this album for these bonuses should feel ripped off.


Highlights:
None

Lowlights:
Much Too Soon [Demo] - can't accuse Gene Simmons of only putting out things that make him look awesome, because that track certainly doesn't.


Verdict = 2 Smoking Les Paul Guitars

LOVE GUN (1977)

The shy young women gathered to hear from the world's best philosophers...

This album is a touch more consistent than the last couple. It opens with I Stole Your Love - which is probably the 2nd best opening song Kiss ever did. It has as much attitude as B.A. Baracus, but with dueling guitar solos so you know it means business! Christine Sixteen is a fun little sleazy Gene ditty about picking up high school girls or something. I'm not entirely sure; I didn't even pick up high school girls when I was in high school. Hell, I can't even pick up girls in general. Got Love For Sale is the most unappreciated gem in the Kiss catalogue. It has so much groove and coolness, yet people seem to forget it exists. Listen to it once and you'll be hooked like me. Or I'll hook your face with a pointy guitar!

Shock Me is Ace's first song on lead vocals and it is awesome. Because Ace is awesome and this song is awesome. Except for that time I saw Tommy Thayer singing it and had to boo. Tomorrow and Tonight has that obvious feel of 'we're trying to make an anthem here' but it doesn't quite work. Love Gun is one of the greatest Kiss songs ever. Wanna fight about it??

Hooligan is Peter's contribution and I really dig it. People like to hate on Peter Criss, but those people can fuck off; most of the time, his tracks were good and his vocals added something really different. Unlike Almost Human, which is basically God of Thunder part 2. I'm not overly fond of the first one, so an inferior reworking hardly lights my world on fire. Then we end with Plaster Caster - a super groovy classic track that was actually the 2nd Kiss song I ever learned and performed - and a cover of And Then She Kissed Me. Odd song to close things out, but the album still rules so take your complaints to Gene Simmons' accountant and Paul Stanley's zimmerframe.


Highlights:
I Stole Your Love, Got Love For Sale, Shock Me, Love Gun, Plaster Caster

Lowlights:
This album being considered inferior to Destroyer, when it rocks WAY harder


Verdict = 5 Smoking Les Paul Guitars

LOVE GUN (1977)

All the women gathered to hear the ponderings of the great philosophers...

Spoiler Alert:
This album is good.

I don't even know where to start. Maybe the start of the album? Would that make the most sense?
'I Stole Your Love' is probably the 2nd best opening track Kiss have ever done - as much attitude as B.A. Baracus, and a duelling guitar solo as well! More please... 'Christine Sixteen' is Gene being the dirty old man he is and singing about picking up a school girl or something - doesn't matter, because that song is really cool. 'Got Love For Sale' is probably the biggest unappreciated gem in the entire Kiss catalog. It has so much groove and coolness, yet people seem to forget it exists. Listen to it once and you'll be hooked like me. Or I'll hook your face with a pointy guitar!

'Shock Me' is the first Kiss song with Ace singing vocals. Oh and he played bass and guitars on it, so it is more of an 'Ace & Peter' track, but whatever. That happens a lot from here on. Strange that Gene was the one that convinced Ace to sing on the song, but Gene never plays bass on any of Ace's songs. Not sure whose decision that was... oh yeah, the song rules. Unless Tommy Thayer is playing it. Then I boo him off the stage (or at least try to).

'Tomorrow and Tonight' is one of the weaker songs on here; the whole thing just reeks of 'trying to make an anthem' but not really succeeding. Don't worry, this isn't the first time and it sure won't be the last. Or worst.

This brings us to the title track... one of the best Kiss songs ever. Period. If you disagree, you are welcome. But as far as music, lyrics, vocals and everything else goes this song is pure Kiss-perfection. Ace's solos just bring so much attitude to this song at the end as well... Awesomeness personified.

Peter Criss makes his appearance with 'Hooligan' and I dig it. Some people hate Peter, but those people can suck my balls. He wrote some cool songs and in the Kiss setting they were able to make them rock a bit more than if he had been a solo artist (see my future reviews of his solo albums for more). 'Almost Human' just sounds like 'God of Thunder Part 2' - I'm not a huge fan of the original, so a re-visiting doesn't do much more for me. 'Plaster Caster' is another super great classic Kiss song that just captures everything about this band I love. In fact, it is the 2nd Kiss song I ever learnt to play and perform live. They should play that song live more often.

The last song on the album is the odd covering of 'Then She Kissed Me'. It is OK. While not at all terrible, it is a weird way to end one of the greatest rock albums of the 70's. Not only that, this was the last Kiss studio album to truly feature the original lineup. Things would change forever after this...

But what a way to end things.

Highlights:
I Stole Your Love, Christine Sixteen, Got Love For Sale, Shock Me, Love Gun, Hooligan, Plaster Caster

Lowlights:
Not getting the same recognition as Destroyer.

Verdict = 5 Smoking Les Pauls