The Year Of KISS: Lick It Up (1983)

“It ain’t a crime to be good to yourself.”

September 18, 1983 will go down in history as one of the most pivotal points in time for KISS. Ace and Peter were gone. Record sales and the band’s popularity were low. Creatures Of The Night failed to give the group a boost despite being an amazing album. The group needed something to bring the old fans back and attract new fans. That something was the removal of the band’s signature makeup and the release of Lick It Up. The band, now featuring Vinnie Vincent on guitar, appeared on MTV without their makeup for the first time and announced the release of their new album.

Watching the video of the band’s revelation was awkward in my opinion. Despite telling fans that appearing without makeup was comfortable, Gene appears to be noticeably uncomfortable to me. Paul initially appears uncomfortable but, being the showman that he is, quickly falls into his “promo” mode for the band. Eric Carr and Vinnie Vincent appear to be just fine.

Lick It Up was recorded almost immediately after the band wrapped up their less than stellar Creatures Of The Night tour. Stylistically it is nothing more than a continuation of Creatures to me. It features blitzkrieg fast guitar work by Vinnie Vincent, the same wonderfully powerful drums of Eric Carr, Paul Stanley’s strong vocals and rhythm guitars, and Gene Simmons’ growling bass and vocals. Unlike Creatures it lacks a ballad. That wouldn’t be the case for the band’s next few albums, as the power ballad would prove to be one of KISS’ strong points later in the 1980’s.

The album cover features the band standing shoulder to shoulder in front of a white background. Outside of Gene sticking out his tongue and the classic KISS logo, nothing else about the cover calls back to the band’s first makeup era. It’s the harbinger of a new time for KISS.

The album featured ten tracks. It jumped up to #24 on the US Billboard 200 and peaked in the Top 20 in ten different countries. It went gold by December of 1983 and would eventually hit platinum status in 1990. The album featured two singles, the title track and All Hell’s Breakin’ Loose. Despite amazing album sales, neither single impressed on the charts, with Lick It Up topping out on the US Billboard 100 at #66 and All Hell’s Breakin’ Loose peaking at #71 on the German Singles Chart. Even though it fared poorly on the radio, Lick It Up is a live show staple for the band.

Track Listing:

  1. Exciter
  2. Not For The Innocent
  3. Lick It Up (Single)
  4. Young And Wasted
  5. Gimme More
  6. All Hell’s Breakin’ Loose (Single)
  7. A Million To One
  8. Fits Like A Glove
  9. Dance All Over Your Face
  10. And On The 8th Day

Personnel: Paul Stanley (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Gene Simmons (lead vocals, bass), Vinnie Vincent (lead guitar, backing vocals), Eric Carr (drums, backing vocals), Rick Derringer (guitar solo on Exciter)

After a number of album releases featuring multiple outside artists, it was refreshing to see KISS go somewhat back to basics with the four members doing almost all of the work on the album themselves. Michael James Jackson produced the album along with Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley.

My favorite track on this album is Not For The Innocent. The 1980’s would slowly see Gene Simmons take a step back on KISS’ albums and Not For The Innocent is, at least in my opinion, his last real “Demon” track until the release of 1992’s Revenge and the single Unholy. Simmons has frequently stated that the Unmasked era for the band was a distant time for him. He said that he was more interested in becoming a movie star at the time than for being in KISS and credits Paul Stanley for keeping the band alive during that era.

The title track, despite its hokey post-apocalyptic music video, is also a favorite track of mine. Other standout tracks include the speedy Young And Wasted, the groovy rocker Fits Like A Glove, and the album’s closer, And On The 8th Day. I’m not much of a fan of the rest of the album. It’s okay, but even though it sold much better than Creatures, I feel as if that album is far superior and actually deserved more attention than it received with its initial release.

Of course, you can’t talk about Lick It Up, the No Makeup Era, or the revival of KISS without mentioning the enigmatic Vinnie Vincent. Despite his brief tenure with the group, Vincent deserves a lot of credit for breathing new life into the KISS machine. Vincent not only played on six tracks and co-wrote three songs (including the massively popular I Love It Loud) for Creatures, he also co-wrote eight of the ten songs for Lick It Up including the title track. He was booted from the band in 1984 but eventually returned as a songwriter for 1992’s Revenge. To this day there is a strained relationship between KISS and Vincent.

With Lick It Up, KISS was back in the news, back on the charts, and making waves once again. Vinnie Vincent injected new life into the group but his personality proved to be too much for the other members of the band. Gene Simmons was about to seek fame on the big screen, leaving Paul Stanley alone to run the show. Eric Carr, ever the professional, was content with pounding the drums for the group and being perhaps its most fan-friendly member at the time. What was next for the group? Find out next Friday when I return with another installment of The Year Of KISS.

Thanks for checking out my post. I’ve got some wonderful updates coming very soon and even more KISS related posts waiting in the wings. See you soon!

Day Shift (2022)

DAY SHIFT. (L to R) Dave Franco as Seth and Jamie Foxx as Bud in Day Shift. Cr. Parrish Lewis/Netflix © 2022

“Mowing down vamps with my best friend, Bud.”

Jamie Foxx, Snoop Dogg, and Dave Franco team up to take down Karla Souza in J.J. Perry’s Day Shift. In the film, available only on Netflix, Foxx portrays Bud Jablonski, a down-on-his-luck vampire hunter who gets Big J (Snoop Dogg) to convince the vampire hunting union to reinstate him so that he can collect enough fangs to pay off his daughter’s school tuition and get her fitted for braces so that she and his estranged wife won’t move to Florida. Despite numerous past violations, the union boss, Ralph (Eric Lange) allows Bud back into the union but only if he hunts with a union representative watching his every move. That representative, Seth (Dave Franco), has to tag along for all of Bud’s hunts despite never having stepped foot out of the union office.

The duo soon find themselves the target of Audrey San Fernando (Karla Souza), an ambitious vampire that plans to take over the city by using real estate to build a vampire community. As the hunters become the hunted, Bud and Seth battle it out with Audrey and a number of other vampires. They team up with the Nazarian Brothers, another vampire hunting team, at one point as well. Does Bud manage to prevent his wife and daughter from leaving for good? Does Seth become a field man? Does Snoop save the day? Find out in the hilarious action yarn Day Shift!

Perhaps it is the fact that I set a very low bar for this film but I really, really enjoyed it. The action sequences are simply amazing and surprisingly light on CGI. Contortionists were used for many of the fighting sequences involving vampires, giving them an even creepier vibe. All of the action takes place at a neck breaking pace and serves as a wonderful bridge between plot developing scenes.

There’s also a ton of humor in this film. It’s laced throughout the story at perfect intervals, allowing viewers to take a break from the action and story development, laugh a bit, and then jump right back into the action. The film, despite being about vampires, doesn’t have a lot of horror elements (primarily gore), but that does not mean that it isn’t a horror film. It’s a great blend of horror, comedy, and action and I believe that J.J. Perry did a fine job directing all of it.

The cast was great. Foxx was funny but never too over the top. Franco was hilarious as well. Snoop Dogg’s role is limited but very enjoyable. Souza does a good job as Audrey, but never comes across as an unstoppable beast thanks to the injection of humor into the film. Meagan Good and Zion Broadnax portray Bud’s estranged wife, Jocelyn, and daughter, Paige, respectively. Zion is especially fun to watch on the screen. Eric Lange’s Ralph Seeger is hilariously annoying and I could easily see him become an enemy in a sequel. Oliver Masucci provides a ton of muscle as Klaus, Audrey’s right hand man. Natasha Liu Bordizzo has a small but significant role as Heather, Bud’s new neighbor. Steve Howey and Scott Adkins give Bud some muscular backup as the Nazarian Brothers in one of the film’s biggest action sequences.

I also have to mention the amazing soundtrack for the film. Featuring everyone from Body Count and Ice Cube to A.C.E. and The Blackbyrds, this film has great music that perfectly fits into each scene. There’s also a new track by J. Young called Bob (Mowing Down Vamps), which might just be my favorite track in the whole movie.

This movie is fun. It has great action, tons of humor, and excellent production quality. I keep seeing professional reviewers refer to it as a B-movie but they have it all wrong. This film could have easily been released on the big screen and would have made a solid chunk of money. It’s an excellent film that never tries to be more than it is: a buddy comedy/action/thriller/horror film. I’m just happy to see that it’s available on Netflix, and I believe that you need to watch it. It’s right up there with Bright as one of my favorite Netflix films.

Let me know what you think of the film in the comment section. I really like it and hope that you enjoy it as well. Thanks for reading my post. I’ll see you again real soon!

They/Them (2022)

Respect, Renew, Rejoice….

As soon as I saw the trailer for Blumhouse’s They/Them (pronounced They Slash Them), I knew that it wouldn’t be just another run of the mill slasher film. Yes, it has a cast filled primarily with LGBTQIA+ actors and takes place at a gay conversion therapy camp, which automatically makes it unique as a horror film, but that’s not what I believed would set it apart. I thought that it might utilize the horrors of conversion therapy as the catalyst for the horror and ultimately attempt to teach us about the evils of conversion therapy, discrimination against LGBTQIA+ people, or something along those lines. Instead, the film is more of a “hunter becomes the hunted” type horror thriller that, well, lacks thrills.

Spoiler-free review ahead!

The film follows a small group of LGBTQIA+ campers as they spend time at Camp Whistler, a conversion camp headed up by Owen Whistler (Kevin Bacon), his wife, Cora (Carrie Preston), who is the camp therapist, two activities directors, Zane and Sarah (Boone Platt and Hayley Griffith), and the brand new camp nurse, Molly (Anna Chlumsky). Initially, Owen and his brood of conversion counselors appear to be friendly and accepting of the campers. As the week progresses, however, the facade begins to chip away to reveal a sinister group of people intent on scaring the gay away from the campers.

While that might be scary in and of itself, the real horror comes in the form of a slasher that begins to take out individuals. Without giving too much away, the killer targets specific people to eliminate, and the film goes from being a potentially excellent reflection of the horrors of conversion therapy and the struggles of LGBTQIA+ in the world to a generic slasher film with an underwhelming and predictable conclusion.

I picked out the villain almost immediately. Certain characters were alluded to as the potential killer, but they were so forced that I was drawn to another character who, not surprisingly, was also blatantly obvious as the killer. The whole film has a forced tone to its horror, and the movie suffers as a result.

Don’t get me wrong. There were some amazing performances in this film. Monique Kim stood out from the pack as Veronica, the cooler-than-cool kid who eventually reveals their heart in the movie. Quei Tann, who portrayed Alexandra in the film, also gave a stirring performance. The rest of the young cast, especially Darwin del Fabro and Austin Crute, also gave great performances. Sadly, Theo Germaine, who played Jordan and was the focus of the film, delivered one of the weaker performances of the young cast members. Of the veteran actors in this film, Kevin Bacon pretty much phoned in his performance and Anna Chlumsky wasn’t given much to work with overall. Carrie Preston was sinister as the camp therapist and I wish that we would have had more of her on the screen.

This film wasn’t an entire bust. The performances of the young cast carried it enough that it held my interest. There’s a brilliant twist featuring one of the campers as well. As for the slasher, the mask was amazing and there’s definitely potential for a sequel. I just hope that if there is another They/Them film, it will either fully embrace the slasher angle or pursue exposing the evils of discrimination against LGBTQIA+ people. It’s worth a watch if you have Peacock, but it’s not a must-see film.

Thanks for checking out my review. I have a few more reviews up my sleeve that will be coming soon and next week I’ll be post my next entry in The Year of KISS. See you soon!

Spin Master “The Batman” Figures

The Bat and the Cat…..

On my local toy shelves, Spin Master has been in a bit of a rut. The pegs are littered with multiple Batman figures from the company’s last few lines and a few Robin and Batgirl figures as well. The only new figures added to the pegs have been from The Batman film. That collection itself is pretty limited, with a few different Batman, Catwoman, and Penguin figures and a couple of playsets (one which features Lt. Gordon, who I hope to get one day). Those figures don’t seem to be moving that well. It’s probably because the film is a lot darker than most of the shows and toys that interest Spin Master’s target audience. With that said, The Batman figures have started hitting clearance shelves and I’m swooping in to grab as many of them as I can. This particular line didn’t really interest me (except for Gordon and the Batcave) so I never pulled the trigger on a full price purchase. Now with prices dropping, my interest in the line has increased.

Oddly enough the Catwoman figure that I picked up was on clearance for five bucks but the Batman figure was still full price. The Penguin figures were on clearance for seven dollars. I’m not sure why Catwoman was cheaper, but I’ll take it. I decided against buying a Penguin figure because it looks exactly like the one that I received in my Batcave set awhile back. I didn’t see any point in buying a duplicate.

Neither figure looks very much like their live action counterpart from the film. Both of them come with three accessories. Catwoman comes with a knife, her signature whip, and a pair of claws that look ridiculous when placed on her hands. Batman comes with a chest plate, a Batarang, and a red, oversized grappling gun. Both figures also come with a mystery card that reveals “evidence” for play. I actually like the cards but don’t see kids getting much mileage out of them.

The figures feature the standard POA for all of Spin Master’s four-inch line. Batman’s cape was creased and looked as if it was about to come off of his shoulders. Both figures do look really nice on my Batcave stairway, though, and I’m ultimately very fond of both of them. I might go ahead and snag the Wingsuit Batman if the price goes down soon, as that’s the only other figure in this line besides Gordon that I’m interested in collecting.

While these figures are definitely not on the same level as Spin Master’s standard Batman and DC lines (those figures are so much fun), they are worth checking out for purchase. The Penguin and Lt. Gordon figures pretty much look like two average citizens, but that actually makes them cooler in my book.

Thanks for checking out my review. Let me know what you think about these figures in the comments section and be sure to share any of my posts that you enjoy. I would really appreciate the support!

Calcasieu SerialFest Chapter 8!

Welcome To The Jungle!

Calcasieu SerialFest made its triumphant return to Sulphur, LA on July 30th! After a small event in 2020 due to COVID-19 restrictions and no event at all last year due to the total destruction of the Brimstone Museum in Sulphur after Hurricane Laura hit southwest Louisiana, retro film fans were hungry to visit classic serial cliffhangers. The Henning House hosted SerialFest this year in place of the Brimstone. Both buildings are part of the same property, so while we definitely miss the Brimstone, the Henning House was a wonderful place to hold the event.

Deacon William Necessary was in attendance yet again and he brought along a number of his classic cosplays. Throughout the day, Deacon Necessary suited up as The Phantom, Captain Africa (below, next to a dashing jungle explorer), Captain Marvel, The Green Hornet, and the Lone Ranger. Between chapters of serials, Deacon Necessary would give the audience historical information and trivia tidbits, all while in costume. He also posed for pictures with anyone that asked and was happy to discuss how he created each costume.

This year’s event was the best attended ever if my memory serves me correctly. We had a number of visitors throughout the day who watched serials, ate popcorn, and talked about their favorite characters and serials. They also helped themselves to some wonderful freebies including stickers, 8″x10″ prints of The Phantom, Phantom rings, Green Hornet rings, and festival masks. They also got a sneak peek at a few of the items that will be on display during the Henning House’s upcoming Chaos Theory art event. I won’t post any photos of the Chaos Theory display, as I don’t want to spoil the surprise for anyone that plans on attending the event.

This year’s lineup of chapters.

Calcasieu SerialFest continues to grow and I’m proud to say that Ken’s Alternate Universe was a sponsor in kind this year and will remain so for as long as the event takes place. If you’re in southwest Louisiana in July, be sure to swing by and check out this wonderful event!

Thanks for checking out my post. See you again real soon!

Houston Horror Film Festival 2022!

July 22-24, Houston, TX

I ventured a few hours into the Lone Star State on Saturday, July 23rd, to attend the Houston Horror Film Festival for the first time. Thankfully it took place at the Westchase Marriott, a hotel that I attended another event in a few years ago. That came in handy, as I was already familiar with the layout of the property. Once I arrived I headed to the back of a very long (but swiftly moving) line to pick up my wristband.

The event was well attended despite a number of late and popular cancellations. Rachel True (The Craft), Tiffany Shepis (Abominable), and William Forsythe (The Devil’s Rejects) were just a few of the celebrities that cancelled their appearances. Thankfully the festival managed to snag some amazing replacements including William Ragsdale (Fright Night, Herman’s Head) and Amanda Bearse (Fright Night, Married….With Children) that helped soften the blow of missing out on those that cancelled.

There were two vendor areas, both of which also included celebrity guest areas. Vendor Room One featured a number of great guests, artists, and vendors. It was also the hottest room in the building. The second vendor room was much nicer. It was larger, well cooled, more open for walking, and divided into two areas. One part of the area featured greenish lighting that gave a pretty cool effect to photos. It was in this area where I got to meet both William Ragsdale and Amanda Bearse. Both of them were amazing but Amanda Bearse went above and beyond with her kindness. “Marcy loves you, too!” was the last thing she said to me as I left her table, autograph and selfie in tow. She was so lively and fun. If you get the opportunity to meet her I highly recommend it. William Ragsdale was laid back and very nice as well. I also recommend meeting him if you have the chance.

The vendor area was loaded with items featuring all of the major properties including Friday The 13th, A Nightmare On Elm Street, Scream, Halloween, and Saw. There were also quite a few vendors selling KISS related items. Surprisingly, I couldn’t find a lot of Universal Monsters items with the exception of just a few vendors. One vendor in particular had a lot of Universal Monsters items and I managed to snag two beautiful ornaments that i mistook for busts. I am now the proud owner of an Invisible Man ornament and a Wolf Man ornament.

Due to the limited amount of time that I had I was unable to meet some of the other guests but I did get to enjoy Purgatory Park’s Stranger Things display and I also saw a ton of cool cosplays. The entire event was set up well and ran smoothly. I plan on attending again next year with the intention of staying at the host hotel for the entire event.

I really did have a great time at this festival. They’ve already started teasing upcoming pop up markets and next year’s event. Thanks for checking out my review. Hopefully I’ll see some of you at the Houston Horror Film Festival next year!

The Year Of KISS: Paul Stanley (1978)

“You keep your love in chains….”

Of the four KISS solo albums released in 1978, Paul Stanley is, at least in my opinion, the one that sounds the most like a KISS album. Loaded with power pop and rock, a few Ace-like hooks, and Paul’s voice exploring its range, this album sounds like KISS both past and present. I can hear bits and pieces of KISS, Dressed To Kill, Love Gun, and Rock And Roll Over and the soon-to-come pop sounds of Dynasty and Unmasked. I can even hear hints of KISS’ mid-1980’s sound.

The Starchild relied on more musicians than Ace Frehley but used about half as many as Gene Simmons and Peter Criss. He handled most of the guitars on the album, utilizing Bob Kulick on a few tracks on lead guitar and split the bass duties between two bassists, Steve Buslowe and Eric Nelson. The most recognizable name on the album outside of Stanley and Kulick is most likely drummer Carmine Appice, who added his drums to Take Me Away (Together As One).

The album shows the strength of Stanley as not only a singer and guitarist, but as a songwriter and producer as well. It is the only album of the four solos to feature completely original material. Stanley wrote all of the songs except for Move On, Ain’t Quite Right, and Take Me Away (Together As One). Mikel Japp co-wrote those tracks with Stanley. Jeff Glixman produced four of the album’s tracks with Stanley handling the rest. Stanley and Mike D. Stone mixed the album. This foreshadows Stanley’s producer credits on future KISS releases such as Hot In The Shade, Sonic Boom, and Monster.

Stanley knows how to write excellent power pop and rock tracks, and this can be heard throughout the album, especially on tracks like Love In Chains and Move On. He also shines on power ballads like the slightly sappy Hold Me, Touch Me (Think Of Me When We’re Apart) and the punchier, rock-tinged Tonight You Belong To Me. There are some very Ace Frehley-like sounds heard on the solos for Move On, Goodbye, and Ain’t Quite Right which makes me wonder just how much of an influence Stanley had on Ace’s style of play and vice versa.

The album featured nine original tracks. Hold Me, Touch Me (Think Of Me When We’re Apart) was the lone single. It managed to reach the 46th spot on the US Billboard Hot 100 edging out Gene Simmons’ Radioactive as the second most successful single from the four solo albums. The album itself peaked at #40 on the US Billboard 200 chart, making it the third most successful album of the four solo releases.

Track Listing:

  1. Tonight You Belong To Me
  2. Move On
  3. Ain’t Quite Right
  4. Wouldn’t You Like To Know Me
  5. Take Me Away (Together As One)
  6. It’s Alright
  7. Hold Me, Touch Me (Think Of Me When We’re Apart) (Single)
  8. Love In Chains
  9. Goodbye

Personnel: Paul Stanley (lead, rhythm, and acoustic guitars, lead vocals, backing vocals, EBow), Bob Kulick (lead and acoustic guitar), Steve Buslowe (bass), Eric Nelson (bass), Richie Fontana (drums), Carmine Appice (drums), Craig Krampf (drums), Diana Grasselli, Miriam Naomi Valle, Maria Vidal, and Peppy Castro (backing vocals), Doug Katsaros (piano, strings, backing vocals), and Steve Lacey (guitars).

Stanley spends a lot of the album talking about love, broken hearts, and emotions. The single, Hold Me, Touch Me (Think Of Me When We’re Apart), is my least favorite track on the album and, in my opinion, the sappiest. The title is also long and awkward. This one tracks slows the album down considerably and almost derails the whole record. Thankfully it is book-ended by two of my favorite tracks on the album, It’s Alright and Love In Chains. The rest of the tracks are amazing as well and the album is wrapped up nicely by the guitar-driven Goodbye.

While Ace’s album is my favorite, Paul’s album is a very close second. Both albums deserve to be in any KISS fan’s collection. Paul’s solo album proves that he was and still is the heart and soul of KISS and its driving force.

Thanks for reading my post. Next month I’ll be returning to the band’s regular studio albums beginning with the first album of the No Makeup era, Lick It Up. Let me know what you think of the Year Of KISS so far in the comments and tell me what you’d like to have me cover in later installments in this series.

The Year Of KISS: Gene Simmons (1978)

“I’m burning up with fever….”

Of the four solo albums released in 1978 by the members of KISS, Gene Simmons is arguably the most anomalous of the bunch. Sure, Peter Criss’ solo effort strayed the farthest from KISS’ traditional sound, but it was also consistent. Gene’s album was a mishmash of different styles of music. A few tracks sounded similar to KISS, but others mixed in gospel harmonies, funk, and R&B. One track in particular, See You Tonite, could have easily been recorded by The Beatles.

The fact that the album is all over the place with its sound actually proves to be a strong point. Simmons fully embraced the opportunity to play with different genres. He also brought in a number of big names to bolster his album. Cher, Donna Summer, Joe Perry, and Bob Seger are just a few of the artists that contributed to this album, and if taken as individual songs, you can definitely tell that the album’s production was a step above the rest of the solo albums.

Simmons primarily tackled lead, acoustic, and rhythm guitars on this album. Session player Neil Jason handled bass. Jason had only been active as a session player for a couple of years at the time but his career has included collaborations with artists such as Gladys Knight, John Lennon, Hall & Oates, Cyndi Lauper, Mick Jagger, Michael Jackson, and many, many more legendary artists. Elliot Randall handled many of the other guitars and Allan Schwartzberg tackled drums (and also played on Criss’ album). Both of these artists have recorded and/or toured for numerous popular acts such as Steely Dan, Peter Frampton, Frank Sinatra, Jimi Hendrix, and more.

Simmons wrote all of the songs on the album with the exception of When You Wish Upon A Star (Ned Washington, Leigh Harline) and Living In Sin (Simmons, Sean Delaney, Howard Marks). He also covered See You In Your Dreams (which he wrote) from KISS’ Rock And Roll Over Album. At least four other tracks on the album were written for Destroyer but ultimately not used on the album. This made many believe that Simmons put in very little effort to come up with new and original material for the album. Tacking on When You Wish Upon A Star at the end of the album also came across as a joke for many fans of the band, but Simmons has insisted over the years that the song has a deep meaning to him and I personally believe him.

The album featured eleven tracks, the most of any of the solo albums. The lone single was Radioactive. It topped out at #47 on the US Billboard Hot 100. The album peaked at #22 on the US Billboard 200 which makes it the highest charting of the four solo albums at the time. Over the decades it has been overtaken by Ace Frehley’s solo album as far as sales are concerned.

Track Listing:

  1. Radioactive (Single)
  2. Burning Up With Fever
  3. See You Tonite
  4. Tunnel Of Love
  5. True Confessions
  6. Living In Sin
  7. Always Near You/Nowhere To Hide
  8. Man Of 1,000 Faces
  9. Mr. Make Believe
  10. See You In Your Dreams (cover)
  11. When You Wish Upon A Star (cover)

Personnel: Gene Simmons (lead vocals, lead, acoustic, and rhythm guitars), Neil Jason (bass), Elliot Randall (guitars), Allan Schwartzberg (drums), Sean Delaney (percussion, backing vocals). Numerous other artists were used on the album. Refer to the album’s liner notes for a complete list.

Simmons utilized twenty-seven different artists on the album. Of special note are those mentioned earlier in this post along with Rick Nielsen of Cheap Trick, Janis Ian, Eric Troyer of ELO Part II, Helen Reddy, and Kate Sagal (of Married….With Children and Sons of Anarchy).

As already mentioned, Simmons was a bit all over the place with the sound on this album. That being said, you can clearly hear the influence of bands such as The Beatles. You also get a glimpse into Simmons’ world with songs like Man of 1,000 Faces (a blatant Lon Chaney reference) and When You Wish Upon A Star (referencing both Disney and being a dreamer/immigrant kid). As always, Simmons also talks about the subject he seems to love the most: sex. Tunnel Of Love, Burning Up With Fever, and Radioactive make no attempts at hiding their subject matter.

Although I do like this album overall, it’s my least favorite of the four solo releases. I really like Man Of 1,000 Faces, Radioactive, and See You Tonite. I also enjoy listening to When You Wish Upon A Star. Other than those tracks, however, there’s not much on this album that I find myself listening to with any regularity. I like the fact that the album is all over the place but I also find myself expecting more from it as well. It would have been great to hear at least one snarling, evil Demon-themed track, but that’s nowhere to be found on this album.

The Demon will always be the most recognizable face in KISS. He’ll always draw the most attention on the stage as well. He won’t, however, find a spot at the top of my list for the solo albums. While it’s a pretty good effort, it ultimately does nothing to make itself rise to the top of the list.

Thanks for checking out my review. I have one solo album left to cover before diving into the “No Makeup” era of KISS!

Bandai Stranger Things “The Void” Series: Eddie

“I didn’t run away this time, right?”

Don’t worry, kids. I won’t be spoiling the latest season of Stranger Things in this post. Well, maybe if you’ve been living under a rock and didn’t know that Eddie Munson was a new character added this season, I just spoiled that with the above photo, but I promise that I won’t spoil anything else besides giving this brief description of the character: Eddie Munson is a metal head, a dungeon master in Dungeons & Dragons, and leader of the Hellfire Club, his own D&D group, at Hawkins High School. He’s become fast friends with Mike, Dustin, and Lucas and will soon find himself being hunted down for a crime that he didn’t commit. He also found himself in action figure form thanks to Bandai.

I was lucky enough to find Eddie’s Stranger Things “The Void” Series 7″ Action Figure from Bandai on clearance at one of my favorite Walmart locations. He was (most likely strategically) placed all of the way at the back of a row of about five Eleven figures. I couldn’t believe my eyes. The figure is available online but this was the first and only time that I’ve seen the figure in an actual store. Top it off with the fact that I snagged him for half of the original retail price (suck on that, scalpers), and I was a very happy fellow.

Now, getting down to my actual review of the figure, the likeness of it to Joseph Quinn is pretty good. The figure is wearing a jacket, a Hellfire Club tee, and Eddie’s iconic denim vest. As far as details go, the vest itself features a number of blank pins and patches and on the back of the jacket we get a Hellfire Club patch instead of the Dio The Last In Line patch featured in the series. I actually don’t mind this as I can imagine that it would have been expensive for Bandai to come up with licensing fees for Dio, W.A.S.P., and any other bands featured on the vest. It doesn’t ruin the figure at all.

I also like the fact that Bandai included the rag hanging from the left back pocket and the wallet chain on the right of Eddie’s pants. They also included slight rips in the jeans at the knees, rings on Eddie’s fingers (all of which are flesh toned) and a few other neat touches. Sure, some of them could have looked better but I’m okay with them overall.

The only things that really disappointed me about this figure were the fact that there were zero accessories and the tongues of his shoes were molded and painted into the bottoms of his jeans instead of on the shoes. It would have been cool to have Eddie’s guitar, maybe a D&D handbook, some twenty-sided dice, or perhaps an extra head with different facial features or another set of hands. The tongues make it difficult to pose Eddie in any fashion where his foot is pointed at an angle since the tongue is permanently in a forward position.

The figure comes with eighteen points of articulation. At least that’s how many I counted. He lacks peg holes in the bottoms of his feet, so you can’t use a standard NECA-style peg stand for this figure. He does stand just fine on his own. The box looks pretty cool. I’m especially fond of the backdrop used inside of the packaging.

Overall this isn’t a bad figure, especially considering that I have seen very little Eddie Munson-specific merchandise in the wild. I haven’t looked online for any Eddie stuff, but now I might have to see if there’s a better figure out there. Let me know what you think of the figure in the comments section and, as always, thanks for checking out my post.

Eddie and the gang!

Upcoming Events!!!

Will I See You There?????

I have two full weekends coming up beginning on July 23rd! I’ll be attending the Houston Horror Film Fest at the Houston Marriott Westchase in Houston, TX, and will then be attending Calcasieu Serial Fest on July 30th at the Henning House (Brimstone Museum) in Sulphur, LA. The HHFF looks like it is going to be amazing and I can’t wait to see all of the wonderful guests and check out some sweet independent horror films as well. The official Facebook event for the festival can be found here. Be sure to let them know if you’re attending or are interested in going to the event. More information about the festival guests, films, panels, cancellations, and more can be found on the festival webpage.

Due to a few late cancellations, a few new guests have been added to the festival’s lineup. If you’re a fan of Fright Night, Herman’s Head, Justified, or Mannequin 2, you’re in for a surprise. William Ragsdale has been added to the lineup THIS WEEK. Another amazing guest added this week is Fright Night and Married….With Children star, Amanda Bearse! I cannot wait to meet her! She’s always been one of my favorite actresses and a great director as well.

The festival will take place July 22nd through July 24th, but I am only able to attend on Saturday, the 23rd. If you happen to be attending that day, be sure to visit the Ken’s Alternate Universe Facebook page on Friday to find out the secret word that I’ll be revealing in a special live update at 9PM that evening. Find me at the festival on Saturday and mention the secret word and I’ll give you a free KAU sticker AND an additional special horror-themed sticker. I’ll have a limited number of KAU stickers, so find me early!

I’ll have one week to rest up for a second weekend of fun. I’ll be attending Calcasieu Serial Fest on the 30th. It will take place from 10AM to 5PM. It’s a free event that will feature chapters from classic serials from the 1930’s and 40’s. Popcorn and drinks will be served as well. An official list of serial chapters to be shown has not been published yet, but expect plenty of jungle-themed adventures as this year’s event is dubbed “Welcome To The Jungle.” I’ll be assisting with the festivities but feel free to talk with me about the event or anything else that interests you. This is expected to be the festival’s biggest year yet, and hopefully it will continue to grow.

I hope to see some of you at both of these events. If you plan on attending, comment below, DM me on the KAU Facebook page, the KAU Instagram page or hit me up on Twitter. Don’t forget to check for the secret word next Friday!

As always, thanks for checking out my post. See you soon!