The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, December 06, 1985, Page 6, Image 6
Spotlight * 1
rrr,r-1im-, ? Wsf Friday, December 6, 1985
THE GAMECOCK
Kiss remai
with latesi
by art boerke
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wian niu?i
It would be easy to slag the
latest Kiss record with the
slightest of thought. It would be
even easier to simply dismiss the
group's latest release as the
newest entry into the Biggest
Heavy Metal Excrement of '85
Sweepstakes. It would be easy,
but it would be a mistake.
Kiss is not a typical heavy
metal group. Though loud
guitars and expensive
pyrotechnics have been responsible
for much of the band's
notoriety, Kiss' music has rarely
been overly heavy. Since the day
they first donned the greasepaint,
Kiss has been one of the world's
most successful pop groups.
Asylum, the new Kiss record, is
not a bad piece of vinyl. It's not
great, but expectations were not
exactly flying high.
On the new LP, as on most
Kiss recordings, the vocals arc
split between rhythm guitarist
Paul Stanley and bassist Gene
Simmons. Also following tradition,
Stanley's tunes arc the
stronger ones.
The most significant difference
on this collection is that the everpredictable
tongue wagger, Sim
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couple this time.
Asylum also introduces Kiss'
newest lead guitarist, Bruce
Kulick. Responsible for much of
Stanley's solo disc, Bruce was
recruited to replace Mark St.
John on the band's last tour.
With this lineup change, Kiss
once again finds itself with three
writers and a big guitar punch.
The record opens with one of
the most hard-hitting rockers of
Kiss' career. "King of the Mountain,"
penned by Stanley, Kulick
and Desmond Child, is also
remarkable in that there is no
mention of women, rock 'n' roll
or alcohol.
Any momentum garnered by
the lead-in. however, is nuicklv
wasted with the next track, Simmons'
putrid and unimaginative
"Anyway You Slice It."
"Who Wants To Be Lonely" is
one of Stanley's better compositions,
with good hooks. Cowritten
by Jean Beauvoir, bassist
from Steven Van Zandt's
Disciples of Soul, the song could
be an album rock smash. Stanley
gets to do a little something extra
with his throat on the chorus.
This is followed by "Trial by
Fire," pure re-hash from power
if ilia
and Rob
&T's 60%
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\fter all, you can always th
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you're on the phone,
^et us count the ways you
call weekends till 5pm Sur
111pm to 8am, Sunday thn
you'll save 60% off AI&T's 1
The hard rock group Kisi is entering it!
chord one, and "I'm Alive," the
album's best drum-driven track.
The best move Kiss made was
allowing drummer Eric Carr to
bash a few drum heads
throughout the album.
Side Two opens with the hottest
Simmons tune in years,
"Love's a Deadly Weapon,"
which he penned with Stanley,
Rod Swenson and Wcs Beech,
Wendy O. Williams' stun
guitarist. This one swells with
firepower. The four-string thump
and sandblasted vocals don't try
to carry it; instead, they are
worked into the crunch.
"Tears Arc Falling," the
record's first single, is Kiss' first
bona fide hit in years. Tearing up
airwaves, it is making a dent in
Edbethlfc
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and 409
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t have had to on your s
sonnets Call 1
through
link of one state-toiove
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distance
can save. with ATX
idays, or can satis
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i 11th year of concerts and recordings.
the tight CHR market.
"Secretly Cruel" slips Simmons
down a peg from the side's
lead-in, but leaves him with some
dignity. Typical Simmons lyrics
? "She was all over me like a
cheap suit" ? make it hard to
enjoy, yet not impossible.
The obvious choice for the
follow-up single is the LP's closing
track. Stanley's sexually
energetic grunts combine with anthemic
simplicity to make "UH
All Night" foot-stomping, fistwaving
fun.
With the holidays just around
the corner, Asylum may not seem
the most worthwhile investment.
It is, however, the strongest product
in 10 years from these
onetime hard-pop icons.
orrett
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naterrifc
iterature
itate-to-state calls,
between 5pm and 11pm, S
Friday, and youll save 40?/*
state calls.
hen you're asked to choos<
company, choose AT&T. B
iT's 60% and 40% discoun
fy your heart's desire with
ng your means.
>ut and touch someone^
TOT
ie right choic
Bands to get active tonight
in Russell House Ballroom
By ROBERT O'CONNOR
Staff writer ? Jk
Directly on the heels of REM's triumphant return to Columbia, two
bands, Let's Active and Guadalcanal Diary, will invade the Russell
House Ballroom tonight.
In support of their forthcoming second album, Strike While the
Iron Is, Let's Active will present a new lineup and repertoire. Band
leader and former REM producer Mitch Easter is quick to point out
that although Let's Active seems to be an entirely new band on the
surface, not much has changed.
"Our sound is not very different, but it is not all drum machine this
time around, cither," he said.
The new lineup includes Angie Carlson on keyboards, who replaced
Sarah Romweber earlier this year. Romweber is now 4,in a band called
Snatches of Pink, whose members all have big hairdos," acording to
Easter. Faye Hunter will continue on guitar, and Easter will handle
guitar and vocals.
Let's Activc broke onto the music scene with their EP Afoot, which { A
includes the songs "Every Word Means No" and "Room with a
View." Critical praise and lackluster movement on the sales charts
continued into 1984's Cypress, the band's first full-length album.
"Blue Line" and "Easy Does" stood out on a album of big merit and
promise.
Guadalcanal Diary, formerly seen at The Beat, will open the double
bill tonight. Walking in the Shadow of the Big Man was released
regionally last year and contains the familiar "Watusi Rodeo." The
band includes Murray Attaway on electric guitar and lead vocals,
Rhett Crowe on bass, John Poc on drums and Jeff Walls on acoustic
guitar.
According to Walls, the Guadalcanal Diary sound bears no
resemblance to REM. "Frankly, there is no comparison," he said. _
A new album is in the works for early 1986, and Walls sees no great \. W
plans to stoop to the level of commercial music. "We are going to continue
in the same vein," he said.
Advance tickets for the concert, presented by Contemporary
Sounds, are $5.50 for USC students and $7.50 for everybody else. The
doors to the ballroom will open at 7:45 p.m., and the show will begin
at 8:15 p.m. Admission for everybody will be $7.50 at the door.
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A Positive Point
About Breast Cancer.
, Now we can see it before
unaay you can feel it. When it's no
) Oil VOUf oiRfler than the dot on this
J page.
And when it's 90% curg
3 long a^e- With ^)est c^ance
vt oavuiK uic Uieasi.
CCaUSe The trick is catching it
nf1 early. And that's exactly ^ v
tb, yuu wjiat a mammogram can do. L "
Out A mammogram is a simple
x-ray that s simply the
best news yet for detecting
breast cancer. And saving
lives.
If you're over 35, ask
your doctor about
mammoffraohv.
V 1 / *
Give yourself the
chance of a lifetime:"
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