The Ben Maynard Program
"Tell Your Story". Everyone has a story. Not just the famous. This is a guest driven program but when we are "guest free", It's just YOU and ME! I love music and we will talk a lot about it. Enjoy the ride!
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The Ben Maynard Program
EP. 67 KISS "HOTTER THAN HELL" TURNS 50!
What if your favorite band's concert turned into a completely unexpected experience? Join me as I recount the unforgettable night when KISS rocked the stage as a trio back in 2007. With Paul Stanley absent due to a medical emergency, Gene Simmons took center stage to deliver a one-of-a-kind performance. I'll share the chaos of navigating traffic to Soboba Casino, the rare tracks that filled the setlist, and the surprise announcements from Gene Simmons and Doc McGee that left the crowd buzzing.
Celebrating KISS’s remarkable journey, we honor the 50th anniversaries of two groundbreaking albums: "Hotter Than Hell" and their debut release. Explore the unique production and dark tones that set "Hotter Than Hell" apart, with standout contributions from every band member. Discover how KISS’s visual flair and musical evolution have cemented their place in rock history, and hear how The Beatles' influence permeates their iconic album covers and makeup choices.
Our musical voyage doesn't stop there. Dive into vibrant interactions from our Foreigner Studio Albums ranking episode and see how listener feedback, like Dean 828's insights and JC Storm's rankings, can shift perceptions and spark newfound appreciation for classic albums. Encourage your own engagement by subscribing and commenting on the Ben Maynard Program across all platforms. Connect with us on Instagram and gear up for an exciting Veterans Day episode in two weeks, where we continue to celebrate music and its lasting legacy.#tellyourstory #familymatters #thebenmaynardprogram #podcast #hotterthanhell #classicalbum #paulstanley #genesimmons #petercriss #acefrehley
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Hey there, welcome into the Ben Maynard program. Thanks for being here. Before we get started, a little bit of housekeeping to take care of. As you may or may not be aware, this program is available on all the streaming platforms. No sense in trying to name them all. Just search the Ben Maynard program and you'll see your options. Choose the one you want and go with it. However, if you can't resist this right here and you're watching on YouTube, then thanks for doing that. I just ask that you subscribe to the channel, hit that little notification bell there, give me a thumbs up and leave a comment. I love your comments and I'm going to get into a few of them in just a moment. Love the comments because I read them and I reply to them, let's see. Last but not least, follow me on Instagram. Simply Ben Maynard program. All one word, all right. So there are plenty of ways to take in this show for your dancing and listening pleasure. And with that, let's see. As I said, I was going to read a couple of comments. We had some in, so I thought I would share them, because it kind of pumps me up when I see something pop up on my phone or on my iPad and just like last night when I woke up at 1130 to get ready for work. So let's see Now.
Speaker 1:The latest episode is with my buddy, spaz, and we did our Foreigner Top 20 songs. He brought his and I brought mine. We talked about it and we were doing it to celebrate Foreigner's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and we had a ton of fun doing it. It's a little slow on the traction, so pick it up a little bit, people. All right, it's really good, it's fun. Spaz is always a great guest and it's cool when he comes in because we just I mean, we've been to so many shows together, him and I, and so it's great to just kind of share those stories, relive them a little bit and share them with you, of course, but anyway.
Speaker 1:So there aren't any comments on that episode yet. However, my foreigner studio albums ranked is still getting some comments here and it's funny. They're the. The comments are not directed at me, they are. Well, one of them, one of them is, but they're. They're folks that have watched the episode and they're commenting back and forth, talking to each other, so I thought that was kind of cool. Um, so dean 828 says I'm from louisville, kentucky, johnny edwards remember this was the Foreigner Studio Albums ranked.
Speaker 1:So Johnny Edwards was the lead singer for the Unusual Heat album. So he says I'm from Louisville, kentucky, johnny Edwards hometown. He still lives there and has a band that plays out in the area 90% originals. He has a great musical resume. He sang with King, cobra and Montrose plus his own band after Foreigner, royal Jelly. He seldom plays any Foreigner with his band now, occasionally a radically revamped Urgent and never anything off of Unusual Heat. Okay, that's unusual. He still has a tremendous voice and plays killer harmonica. He's very humble and super approachable, zero rock star attitude. Oh, last year he did go to South America on a package tour with other former singers, like John Elefante from Kansas. He did sing Foreigner greatest hits on those shows, but obviously that was business and probably for good money. Don't blame him at all. Let's see, all right. So that was that one. And yeah, that's good to know that Johnny Edwards is still out there. Let's see. What else do we have? Oh, now, let's see. Here we go, just trying to get them all.
Speaker 1:Now there was somebody who commented and I guess I'll just go through and read it JC Storm. He had commented on the list and he left his list, which was number nine, mr Moonlight. Number eight, unusual Heat. Number seven, can't Slow Down, number six, agent Provocator. Number five, inside Information. Number four, double Vision, number three, the Debut Album, number two, foreigner 4, and his number one album was Head Games. So he says surprise how low. You had Head Games at number six, which that's where it was on my list.
Speaker 1:But we all hear things differently. I guess most people wouldn't put it first either. It normally comes in about third or fourth. In other ranking videos I've seen Insight information is underrated. I agree, and it is. It's tremendously underrated.
Speaker 1:I know Lou doesn't sing on Can't Slow Down, but it is a definite step up from the previous two albums in my opinion. I may be a little biased, however I saw them on that tour, Love your passion man. So I did comment to that and I read it previously. The only reason why I'm reading his comment is because somebody was replying to his comments. I wanted to bring the context, you know, bring it all together. Let me see here. So Dean 828 says move Mr Moonlight to number seven, then unusual heat. Johnny Edwards is a much better singer than Kelly Hanson and has a much better musical resume and he mentions King Cobra and Montrose. Uh so, and I, I don't know, from whatever, for whatever reason, it's not popping up here. So I looked at it on my phone, cause that's somehow that's where I first got it.
Speaker 1:But JC storm 76 commented last night. He says just listened to the entire discography again, I'm definitely moving up Agent Provocator one or two spots from my original ranking. It's better than I remembered. Surprised how much it rocks too. I guess I was judging it too much by the two hits. Yeah, and that's that's right. I mean, I dig it. That's kind of the purpose of this. You know, these exercises top 20s, ranking the studio albums, whatever it is, the purpose is that you know, you take an interest in it, you go back and you visit some or all of these albums in your collection, all of these albums in your collection, and it's all good stuff and you just you know, we all know that music just brings back memories in our life. You hear a song and it takes you right back in time. That's what this is all about, just about having some fun, good time, and I like the engagement. It's great. So thanks for the comments.
Speaker 1:So real quick a programming note, next week there will be no show. Friday I'm taking off work and Catherine and I have a wedding to go to it's her nephew and his bride to be, so we've got that to tend to. And then Saturday morning we leave early and we fly to Portland Oregon for another wedding, that's Tess's girlfriend and her husband-to-be let's put it that way, huh, so yeah, so we've got two weddings next week, so no show. No show next week, but you definitely want to be coming back the following week and I'll tell you later on. Okay, I'll fill you in back the following week and I'll tell you later on. Okay, I'll fill you in.
Speaker 1:Um, so, before we get into why, uh, or today's episode, uh, just kind of wanted to touch on this because it is a piece of my childhood and it's, um, that it's. I'm not going to bring anybody down, I don't. That's not the purpose of this, but it's sad, okay. But if you're familiar with Fernando Valenzuela, he was a Dodger. He's a very famous Dodger, so much so that you know he began this phenomenon, called Fernando Mania, here in Los Angeles when he broke with the Dodgers. Well, he passed away this week at the age of 63. So I just wanted to make mention of that. It's a little bit sad.
Speaker 1:I have a lot of good memories of Fernando pitching for the Dodgers and, man, what a warrior he really, really was, during a time when okay, we're not going to go off on a sports tangent here, I promise but during a time when athletes were athletes, I mean, they were just, they were like real men, you know, and in baseball there was no such thing as a pitch count. Okay, it just that was unheard of. And so, as I promised, no sports tangent, I'm going to leave it there. Fernando was the man and, yeah, it was just some sad news. So what I thought I would do is I have my Cin Rival, extra Añejo tequila, extra añejo tequila. So I am going to, as I block my face from the camera, I am going to post, let's see, come on, come on, come on. Now.
Speaker 1:It hasn't been reported yet, at least nothing that I've heard or seen as to the reason of his passing or what it was. But I know that earlier this year, this baseball season, the Dodgers had retired his jersey number and it was reported that he didn't look really well during that ceremony. But that's about all I know. Like I said, to my knowledge, nothing's been reported. I haven't seen anything, I haven't heard anything, and it doesn't matter. None of that matters.
Speaker 1:Fernando was a great ball player. He was a great pitcher. He was a great Dodger ball player. He's a great pitcher, he was a great Dodger and, um, you know, I'm sure the the Dodger family is uh, I'm sure they will. They will do right by him. Um and uh, celebrate him, and we'll do it here really quick too, all right. So, as Vince Scully said in 1990, when Fernando tossed a no-hitter against the St Louis Cardinals, he said if you have a sombrero, throw it to the sky. So here's to you, fernando. Yeah, good stuff. Yep, a toast to you, Fernando, all right.
Speaker 1:So let's get into it. This is why we're here today. Okay, you can see, let me stand up. You can see, I've got my KISS t-shirt on. Yeah, there we go, you get a better look at it. And I've got this one hanging up. And there's a reason why Because what we're going to be talking about today has to do with this lineup here, not this lineup here, this t-shirt right here, the one I'm wearing was from 2007.
Speaker 1:And the band really didn't do much. Oh, by the way, this is Kiss. Yeah, the band didn't do much that year in the way of touring or really anything else, but they had a and it really was a hit and run. They had what they called a hit and run. They did three shows that summer. They were all in California and they were all at Indian casinos, so they called it a hit and run. In fact I think it says it on the back of the t-shirt. I'm not going to stand up and show you, but, but the reason why I wore this one versus that one is I wanted to tell you this short story. This one versus that one is I wanted to tell you this short story.
Speaker 1:This particular show that I was, that I attended, was at a casino called Soboba. It is, it was and it still is the only show that Paul Stanley did not appear or did not play in, the only time the band ever in any form at all, any lineup, the only time the band played as a trio. It was real interesting. I remember being at the show standing around. Actually, I remember first driving into the casino.
Speaker 1:Now, it's a ways from here. It's probably a good 70 miles from where I live and it's to the east, so I don't remember what night, it was probably a Friday. But anytime you're going east in Southern California you're running into a lot of traffic during the late afternoon, early evening hours. But I remember heading out there and it's kind of a remote area and the roads are small, two lanes, one each way, and I remember the traffic was backed up forever. And I'm talking we were three, four miles from the casino I mean I could see it from where I was and it took forever to get there. But I remember driving up as we got closer.
Speaker 1:I remember seeing an ambulance drive off from the casino. I didn't really think much of it, not at the time, but then we finally got in, parked, went into the arena and standing around for a while and the show is now late. The show is probably I want to say probably an hour late right now and anybody knows KISS does not go on late. Kiss is always right on time. And I remember Doc McGee walks out on the stage. I'm still not me myself.
Speaker 1:I'm still not aware of what's going on, other than the fact that the show is starting late and Doc McGee comes, walks out on the stage with Gene Simmons and makes an announcement to the crowd that Paul has having some medical issues, um, and he was transported in an ambulance. He's doing okay, so on and so on and so on. This is something he's been dealing with his whole life, um and so then Gene gets on the mic and says something about do you want us to stay? If you want us to stay, we'll stay and we'll play. If not, that's okay. And at the time I was like I don't want to be like, how do I describe it? I don't want to say morbid, but I don't want to think, oh yeah, no, I'm here, you got to play. I was like, no, forget it, you know, you got better things. There are bigger things to worry about than playing a show. So, but Gene's, you know, the crowd's getting ramped up a little bit. So Gene says, okay, we're going to play, we'll play as a trio, and that's what they did.
Speaker 1:Came out played, if I remember correctly I mean, I don't remember the set list, of course, that was back in 2007. But they did play all Gene's songs and that I remember and it wasn't bad, it was different. It was definitely, you know, visually and the sound as well, because there was no trade-off between Paul and Gene on the songs. It was all Gene. I remember they played like Christine 16, which they don't play, that song, they don't do that song. I do remember that.
Speaker 1:I'm trying to remember something else that I thought, wow, they kind of have to play this one. You know they're reaching into the, you know into the bag for this, this stuff here, but it was very interesting. It took me about four or five songs to kind of get into it, cause I was like am I supposed to be happy about this? Should I be celebrating the fact I'm seeing you know, my favorite band right now? I don't know, but you know the band was doing their thing and so I thought, well, they're doing their thing, I may as well enjoy myself. So it was odd, but it was pretty good. It was pretty good for what.
Speaker 1:It was the one and only time Kiss played as a trio. So, anyhow, uh, I, why am I wearing Kiss t-shirts? Why do I have Kiss t-shirt hanging up on the back wall there? Because this week, uh, where'd it go? That's right. This week, right here, this album, kiss know, um, but hotter than hell turns 50 kisses, second album released um October 22nd 1974. Um, what was? I don't know what was interesting, I guess the cup. Well, at the time you don't realize it's interesting because it's the second album, but it does have a very interesting cover when you, when you compare it to all other covers that came after it, and, um, you know, they have this japanese writing on here to to give it a Japanese flavor, almost making it seem like they may have gone to Japan to record it. So I just, you know, I don't know, I know, when I saw it I was a little confused.
Speaker 1:The back cover, the back cover is interesting. It's got this. You know what? Hang on a second. I have this right here. I have this handy Kiss Originals. The Originals, yeah, this was a set that was put out after Kiss Alive. Sorry about the text message. That's actually actually I'm trying to confirm, trying to confirm a guest for the show. That's where that text came in. So Kiss Originals that was released after Kiss Alive and it was. It was a package that had the first three albums in there, so this is a little bit larger.
Speaker 1:So, as you can see, there's there's the front cover, black and white, white photo and apparently Ace was in an automobile accident, like one or two days before this photo shoot here. So, even though you can't tell on the picture, only half of his face had makeup on it. So I think they however you do it now we use Photoshop and however they did it back in 1974. That's, you know, they they put the rest of his makeup on because I apparently had some, some stitches or something in his face, anyway. So you see the picture there, the guys, and maybe that's why he's sitting down too. Maybe he just couldn't really stand up because maybe he had something else going on because of the accident. So, and then here's, here's the back cover, and then, yeah, there we go. I think it's a pretty good shot of it, sort of.
Speaker 1:Anyway, you can see that in each corner of the cover there's a picture of each band member and then this funny face here that's got a hybrid of kind of like all their makeup. You got some, you got a cat nose and cat whiskers, get Gene Simmons tongue sticking out, and you've got a little bit of Gene's eye makeup over here, and you got a little Paul eye makeup over here, you got a little Ace makeup down here, so whatever, but in each area there's these photos of each of the band members, and apparently there was a big party that Casablanca had thrown and maybe one or more of the members of the band got drunk during that party. And that's kind of where some of these photos came from, and just kind of odd photos. I mean, paul is. Where's Paul in this one here? Because I remember everything's backwards. I think Paul is right.
Speaker 1:Nope, yeah, no, that's Peter. Peter is like sitting on a throne with a naked lady, kind of looks like she's oh, she's like sitting like in front of him and he's holding back one of her arms. Of course, to get a PG rating they had to put a star over her exposed nipple, but you know whatever. And then you've got Paul. Looks like he's over here getting busy with a girl that looks like she's painted silver. I don't know what kind of party this was, whatever. And then down here you've got um, jean. Looks like he's, uh, spitting fire and he's wearing something. I've never seen him. I'd never seen him wear anything like this. I mean it looks like he's just got this. I don't want to be breastplate on here, it's just odd looking. And you know the cover. You have the album, I'm sure you do. And then Ace. Ace looks like he's wearing a foil dress right here. It's bizarre. He actually looks kind of like a spaceman right here. Really really bizarre. So I don't know what was going on at this party, but whatever.
Speaker 1:But getting back to the album itself, I remember when I first put it on. Let me start with this. I first heard the songs on hotter than hell from hotter than hell on kiss alive. That's where I first heard these songs. Well, if you have this album right here, you know they sound way different than they do on kiss alive, way different than they do on Kiss Alive. So when I first got Hotter Than Hell and I put it on, you know the first song is Got To Choose Great song. It's actually one of my favorite Kiss songs of all time and so it just it sounded.
Speaker 1:Everything sounded so slow and so I don't know so dark or dirgy, you know, it was just different, it was just different. Somebody's at my door Hold on a second. Isn't this great? Isn't this so professional? This is professional here. Yeah, while we're recording the show this is great, I know who it is. So I'm just going to leave a text and tell whoops, dang it. And tell them come on in there, okay, come in Recording. So good, Hi, there we go Recording. There we go and then he calls me anyway. So, um, yeah, I just the, the sound. The sound was so different. The um, the and the production is really crazy. Um, it does, it sounds. It sounds heavy, but it everything sounds so slow. It does sound like I said I don't know if it's a great word to describe it it does sound dirgy, it sounds dark, especially when you compare it to the first album, and we may talk about that one a little bit. But, yeah, just different, but great, great songs.
Speaker 1:I actually have gotten very used to the production on this and it's the production on it. I mean not the production, but the song list. The track list is awesome. So it starts off with Got to Choose, Like I said, one of my all-time favorite Kiss songs. Love it, love it, love. With Got to Choose, like I said, one of my all-time favorite KISS songs, love it, love it, love it, love it. My favorite version of this song might be on KISS Unplugged and if you haven't seen the episode, way, way back I ranked the KISS Live albums and of course, I had to include KISS Unplugged. I think that one is my favorite version. That is such a great version.
Speaker 1:Okay, then Parasite Going Blind. Hotter Than Hell. The title track. Such a cool song. Such a cool song. Let me go rock and roll.
Speaker 1:I would say I don't know why. I don't know why, because that is a really good song, but it gets knocked around, it does. It gets a lot of crap. Maybe because that song has pretty much been in the Kiss live set ever since, has pretty much been in the Kiss live set ever since. Pretty much. Maybe not so much in the 80s, but yeah, it's been in the set ever since. So I don't know if that's why, I don't know if it's because they extend that song out. They always make it, you know, a five, six minute song. I'm not sure it is a good song, it is a really good song, but it does catch a lot of crap.
Speaker 1:Then the first track on side two, if you're listening to vinyl, is All the Way. That's an interesting song. Not one of my favorite Jean songs, but it's okay, it's good. Um, then watching you. Oh yeah, good, god man, such a good song. Um, mainline. Now that's a Peter song, peter, uh, I'll stop here.
Speaker 1:Paul wrote the song, but Peter sings it, and out of all the songs that Peter sings throughout his Kiss career. That might be my least favorite, I don't know why, I don't know. Just that one might be my least favorite. Oh, and then Coming Home. Coming Home, both Paul and it's a to co-write Paul and Ace on that one man that is. That's a killer song.
Speaker 1:And I'm going to say that my favorite version is on Kiss Unplugged. It is, it's just, it is. I love it. It opens the show on that album, on the video, whatever. It's a. What a good song. So so, so good.
Speaker 1:And then the real dark and heavy Strange Ways written by Ace. But as we all know, if you're Kiss fans, ace did not. He wrote but he didn't sing, didn't feel comfortable taking on lead vocals until the Love Gun album. But what a great song. And Peter Peter sings this one also. So he does such a killer job on it. And maybe, maybe one of Ace's best guitar solos in Kiss. Oh man, it's so good, so, so good.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so this album here, hotter Than Hell, turns 50. Well, I shouldn't say turns. It already happened like two days ago, but it's this week it turns 50. It really is a good album. I like to go back and listen to it.
Speaker 1:I've really gotten used to the production on it. Um, it's just, uh, it, it is different. It's different, um, even even um, how do I say it? It's even different than more different than the debut album, which I'm going to get into, and I'll tell you why. But the production on Hotter Than Hell is even far different from the debut and it had the same two producers. Was it Kenny Kerner and Richie Wise? Turner and Richie Wise?
Speaker 1:Again, this album here, the debut album from Kiss, oh, wait, hold on, hold on, hold on, I've got this right here, so let's do this. There it is. Yeah, oh, that's not that one, it's this one here. Yeah, may as well. Right, I did it for hotter than hell, may as well, do it for this one. But the debut album, yes, right there, okay, same two guys produced hotter than hell, produced this one here. So it it's, it's similar in sound, but, uh, the reason why I bring it up is this album here also turned 50 this year. It was released on February 22nd 1974. So I figured, if I'm going to talk about hotter than hell turning 50, may as well talk about the debut album turning 50, right, may as well. Do that too.
Speaker 1:Um, the cover, the cover on this album. You can see, the layout is kind of taken from the uh, the Beatles album. It's very, very similar to the Beatles album with the Beatles and, as you know, the Beatles were a major influence on Paul and Jean. So, yeah, so that's kind of where that cover comes from. But let me get back to the larger the album cover here instead of the CD.
Speaker 1:You know, all the guys in the band did their own makeup, except Peter, and this is the only time you see makeup like this on Peter. Peter did not do it. A professional makeup artist was hired to do his makeup and that's what they came up with Terrible, and I'm sure Peter hated every moment of it because he went right back to what he had created on his own. After this photo shoot. And then you see Ace has frosted hair why, but I don't know. He wanted, I think he was looking to like impress Gene and Paul, so he sprayed his whatever kind of paint in his hair and frosted it up a little bit for this the only time you see Ace looking like that.
Speaker 1:So yeah, a little different, but I remember dropping the needle on this and I got this very similar feeling on this as I did on hotter than hell. And it was like, oh my gosh. I mean I was thinking, wait a minute, is there a slower speed than 33 on my table? Because it just seems slow motion, especially when you hear the versions of these songs live and you have all that energy behind them and they're, they're, they're played a little faster and they're played a little more aggressively and they just sound so so much different and so much better and um, the you know. So, again, these were very slow, just like stuff on Hotter Than Hell, but nonetheless, you still got to dig it. It's your band, you know, and so you forge your way through it and that's what I did. I still, you know, to this day, I still like the album. You know, to this day, I still like the album. It's uh.
Speaker 1:When I ranked the, uh, the Kiss studio albums, this was number one, not because the terrible production, which is actually pretty thin too, it's, it's, it's, it is, it's really thin. And you think, for as heavy as Kiss has been and had been, the, the sound on this is just a little bit thin. Oh, you know what I'm gonna do. Hang on, I haven't done this yet and we're like halfway through the show. We're almost done whatever. Let's see. Ah, wait, where is it? There, is that it? Yeah, there it is, and I'm done talking about hotter than hell, but there it is.
Speaker 1:So, um, the track listing. Let's go through the track listing on this. Okay, the first song Strutter. We all know that that's the lead track and of course you know the best version of this is on Kiss Alive. Then it follows up with Nothing to Lose, which is a real interesting song, because you've got Gene and Peter trading off on this one. Wait, I think let me see. Yeah, yeah, yeah, gene and Peter trading off on this one, and it's good. It's good. I like Peter's energy. I, you know, I like Peter's voice. Peter has a, it's just, it's rough, but it's good. It's not bad, it's rough and he's able to carry a tune and sing melodically and all that stuff. I dig Peter's voice and he does a fine job. On Nothing to Lose, firehouse great song and a great song live as well. My favorite version is going to be from Kiss Alive, of course. Version is going to be from kiss alive, of course. Um, and that's a song that is.
Speaker 1:It's been in and out of the set over the years, of course. Uh, early on it was always in the set because that's the song when gene uh spits fire. But there's been times when they've taken it out and I believe they put War Machine in its place and then Gene will spit fire after War Machine. So actually I've seen Gene spit blood after War Machine. No, god of Thunder. So very interesting, let's see. Actually he didn't spit after War Machine, it was beforehand. But you get where I'm going with it. Let's see.
Speaker 1:Then the Ace Freely penned Cold Gin, great songs, like still in the set right up until the time Kiss called it, quits Still in the set. Let Me Know, I like that one. It's a bit different but I like it. The Big Kiss fans, you all know that song was written way back when during the Wicked Lester days, uh penned or called uh Sunday driver. But uh, that's, this is a cool song. And that little I don't know what they call it at the end, uh, call it a little ditty, I don't know, or Coda, whatever they call it. The musical stuff at the end of that that was incorporated later on into she at the end of she. It was all kind of incorporated into Ace Frehley's guitar solo at the end of she. But good song, I like that song and then, of course, the cover of what was it Bobby Rydell, I think, performed the song Kissing Time.
Speaker 1:A lot of people hate this song and I dig this song I do. It was not on the original pressing of the debut album but after I think it was after I don't know know a couple months. The album wasn't doing very well and so the record label had the boys go back into the studio and cut Kissin' Time and then it was released as a single and then it was put on to future pressings of the album and it's been on every pressing since. But Kissin' Time, I dig that song. It's just got some cool lyrics to it, it's got a cool groove and I don't know why people hate on it. I think it's a fun song and I like how Paul, gene and Peter sing on the song. Good stuff, just really good stuff.
Speaker 1:Then, of course, the show starter for most of Kiss's career, and that's Deuce. It seems like it's either Deuce or Detroit Rock City. I know there's been a few times where they've started with it, began a show with other songs, but it's, I would say, probably 90 percent of the time it's Deuce or Detroit Rock City and Deuce what? Yeah, first of all, what a show opener, what a great song. Just dig the song, dig the groove. But I have to say I actually hate this version of the song. I hate it because it sounds so wimpy compared to any live version of the song out there, and I think that my favorite version of Deuce is probably on Kiss Alive 3. I think that's my favorite version of it because it's dynamite. It is dynamite, dynamite, it is dynamite.
Speaker 1:Um, and and the, the guitar solo in that bruce, bruce, he, he, he plays the original licks from ace, but then he incorporates some of his own stuff into there too. So he makes it, he makes that guitar solo his own good stuff. And then another one that catches a lot of crap and that's the love for love theme from kiss. And it's like what is love theme from kiss? What? What is that? As he, as a as a you know, 12 year old kid listening to this, I didn't know what love theme from kiss was, other than it was an instrumental. There were no lyrics to it.
Speaker 1:But I dig the groove, I really do, and it gets panned. It gets panned Really. People just can't stand it. A lot of the diehard Kiss fans cannot stand this tune and I dig it. I just do so much. And then, of course, um, a hundred thousand years, and it's a good version. But seriously, yeah, you know what I'm going to say. There's nothing compares to the alive version of a hundred thousand years, but it's a good song. Dig that song. Yeah, boy, that alive version, man, it's so good. And I just love Paul's stage raps, you know, during Peter's drum solo and all that, and then kind of bringing it back into, you know, back into towards the back end of the song. Just dig that stuff. His stage raps are so awesome. So, so, so good. But yeah, that's definitely the version of the song. I think. I've heard a couple other live versions. Usually they're not 10 minutes and 26 seconds or whatever it is on Kiss Alive. Usually they're a little bit shorter, but yeah, nothing like the Alive version, okay.
Speaker 1:And then the album closes out with again one of my absolute favorite KISS songs of all time and that's Black Diamond. That is such an awesome song. It starts out with an acoustic thing by Paul and then he starts out singing the song and then he, you know, kicks in. You know, one, two, three hit it and, man, that song just punches you in the face. It is so good. And then Peter, I think. I think that Black Diamond might be Peter's best song vocally and I like most of Peter's songs that he sings. He's done some tremendous ones over the years with his time in Kiss and I think this one might be the best one. It's my favorite, my favorite Peter song. But what a great song, great way to close the album out.
Speaker 1:I'm not crazy about how it kind of drudge no, it doesn't drudge, it kind of trudges, or how do I I don't even know if that's a word. Did I just make up a word? I don't even know. But it plods, let's put it that way. It's almost like you are stomping through mud towards the end of the song. You know it just slows down and slows down, and slows down and I don't know, even as a 12 year old I never cared for it. But I think that might have to do with the fact that, remember all of these songs on these two albums I had already heard before buying these. I had heard them on Kiss Alive and those are some awesome versions on Kiss Alive. Oh my gosh, just awesome. So you know, when you compare, I mean there is no comparison.
Speaker 1:But getting back to Black Diamond, though, I think that my favorite version of that song and you're going to hate on me people, but I think my favorite version of that song and people you're gonna hate on me people I think my favorite version of that song is on kiss alive 4. That's the symphony album and there's something to it. I just it's just. When you hear these hard and heavy kiss songs backed up by an orchestra, a full orchestra, I think it makes those songs even more powerful, even heavier than they were. That's my opinion, that's the way I hear it and I dig it, but I do. I think that's my favorite version of Black Diamond. It's a good version. And that guitar solo I don't care if it's Kiss Alive, kiss Alive 4, whatever, but that guitar solo is. So it's just an awesome solo, just great song Again one of my absolute favorite KISS songs of all time.
Speaker 1:One of these days I'll do my KISS top 20. But it's funny, I took I don't know five, 10 minutes and I was thinking, oh, you know what, I'll do a KISS top 20. This was I don't know a few months ago. I took a piece of paper and I started scratching out. I was up to like 60 songs and I'm like, okay, all right, all right, and I'm supposed to whittle this down to 20. Yeah, right. So you know the top 20s that I've done in, you know, previous to this, those were absolutely brutal. So what's going to happen with the Kiss Top 20? It's going to be more of the same Absolutely brutal, and I'll be punching myself and kicking myself and everything. So it's like I don't know if I want that aggravation right now. I don't know if I need it. I don't know if I need that stress about trying to put a Kiss Top 20 together. So it's been on the back burner for a while. So, anyway, so two albums here, okay, Kiss. Hotter Than Hell and its predecessor, kiss, the debut album turning 50, did turn 50 this year. Ok, I just felt like you know what I'm going to celebrate them, going to come up here, I'm going to talk to you people and we're going to celebrate Kiss and Hotter Than Hell together, you know, and hotter than hell together, you know. So, before I let you get out of here, I want to let everybody know that, coming up, I really really, really need you guys to hang out during Veterans Day.
Speaker 1:Okay, veterans Day is November 11th I think that's a Monday, but I've got some stuff planned for Veterans Day. I'm trying to get three guests and we'll do separate we'll do separate shows for each of those guests. I have two. I'm trying to book the third and that's what this one, that's what this text message that came in earlier was regarding. Um, it was regarding, uh, getting them in and schedule them for veterans day or to to do the shows for Veterans Day. I'll certainly record them before then and I'll get them published and posted prior to Veterans Day.
Speaker 1:But you know, I've talked about it a little bit in the past. I love our veterans, love our veterans, have so much respect for our veterans, for our military and our first responders and all the people that put their lives on the line for you and me, and so I want to celebrate them coming up this Veterans Day. So that's what we're going to do. So stay tuned, okay, stick around. It's going to be some good stuff. Okay, last, and then I'm kicking you out of here. All right, I'm kicking you to the curb. How's that? Remember, no show next week? Okay, got two weddings. I just I got to get to them, all right, so I won't have time to do a show. It's just not going to happen. Cut me some slack, okay, thanks, appreciate it, all right. So with that, it's a wrap.
Speaker 1:People, as you know, this program is available on all of the streaming platforms out there. Just search the Ben Maynard program and just pick your option. You're going to have pages of options, okay, but if you like to watch this mess and you're watching on YouTube then please subscribe to the channel, hit the notification bell, give me a thumbs up and leave a comment, because you know I will read them. You know that I will reply to them, okay, so get it done. People. Last but not least, follow me on Instagram. All one word Ben Maynard Program. That is it. We are out. Thank you very much for being here, for tuning in and helping to celebrate a couple of albums from KISS that are 50 years old, all right, so I will see you back here in two weeks. Two weeks, we're going to celebrate Veterans Day. Thanks a lot, people. This is the Ben Maynard Program. Tell a friend.