During the latest episode of the Mars Attacks Podcast we interview Mark Hunter of Chimaira and Dave Reffett. Mark discusses the band’s new album The Age Of Hell, some of the band’s line up changes, releasing the new album for free in the UK, and what it’s like to have Chimaira associated to shows like Mythbusters, The Farmclub and Deathklok. He also fields a bunch of listener submitted questions.

There isn’t enough I can do to thank Dave Reffett for his help, he has assisted us in obtaining quite a few guests. As a result it is my pleasure to include him in the episode. He discusses his album The Call Of The Flames, what it was like to feature people like George Lynch, Chris Poland, Glen Drover and Mike Mangini, among others that appear on the album, his gear, and briefly touches on future projects he’ll be working on. He didn’t want to mention a whole lot about the latter, but I’m sure it will be cool none the less.

Pictures courtesy of Chimaira and Dave Reffett.

The episode contains tracks off of Chimaira’s Age of Hell, and Dave Reffett’s The Call Of The Flames

The podcast can be streamed or downloaded from here:

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During this episode we have the pleasure if interviewing Jean Beuvoir lead singer/guitarist of Crown of Thorns. Jean has worked with some of the biggest artists of all time, Kiss, Ramones, The Plasmatics and Bruce Springsteen just to name a few. During this interview we discuss why he decided to put Crown Of Thorns back together, what it was like to work with all of the aforementioned artists, and what he’s been up to since the release of the last Crown Of Thorns album Faith. We also veer off of the musical path and talk a little bit about race relations, and how they may have or not have affected him as a person and a musician; as well as how things have changed over the years.

Throughout the episode you will hear the following tracks by Crown of Thorns:

Rock Ready
Cold Blooded Bitch
The Healer
Heartbeat

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This week’s episode of Mars Attacks features an interview with Greg Prato author of The Eric Carr Story and When MTV Ruled the World (among others). The interview is split between both of these books, as both where released around the same time. During the interview he details what it was like to put both books together, what hard rock and metal musicians where interviewed for both (including members of Kiss, Judas Priest, Carmine Appice, Twisted Sister, Anthrax, etc.) and how difficult it was to get them involved in his projects. Some of the other items discussed with Greg are which testimonials (if any) surprised him, why he decided to release both books, and his two upcoming releases, an autobiography of Carmine Appice which he is currently writing alongside the legendary drummer, and Sack Exchange his first non-music related book which is centered around the New York Jets of the 1980s.

Go here to purchase Greg’s Books:

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This episode features an interview with Bruce Kulick. This episode can actually be considered the pilot for Ten, a show in which artists will pick ten songs that they feel define their legacy, or an episode can be based on a specific top, or in the case of this episode discuss a new album at great length. What we did with Bruce is discuss five tracks off of BK3 (sort of, more on this in a sec), and five classic Kiss tracks. I say sort of, because during the heat of the interview we only discussed four tracks off of BK3, but what I did was take a piece from the previous interview I did with him, and splice it into the episode. This way there are five tracks from BK3 discussed! I could give all types of excuses, but I dropped the ball. Oh well, I think the episode came out pretty good, regardless. Hope you the listeners feel the same!

Songs discussed are as follows:

Hand Of The King
Ain’t Gonna Die
I’m The Animal
Between The Lines
No Friend Of Mine
I Walk Alone
Tears Are Falling
Crazy Crazy Nights
Forever
Unholy

You’ll also hear Master & Slave and Dogs Of Morrison played in the background during the episode.

Items touched upon during the episode:

Grand Funk Railroad, Gene Simmons, Family Jewels, Nick Simmons, Eric Singer, Tobias Sammet, Brent Fritz, Union, Edguy, Avantasia, John Corabi, Steve Lukather, Kenny Aronoff, Steak House Studios, A&M Studios, Van Halen, Toby Wright, Paul Stanley, Animalize, Ron Nevison, Michael Bolton, Led Zepplin, Vinnie Vincent, Motown, Steve Vai, Jeremy Rubolino, Keith Moon, Queen, Pink Floyd, Adam Mitchell, Doug Fieger.

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This episode features an interview with Bruce Kulick. This episode can actually be considered the pilot for Ten, a show in which artists will pick ten songs that they feel define their legacy, or an episode can be based on a specific top, or in the case of this episode discuss a new album at great length. What we did with Bruce is discuss five tracks off of BK3 (sort of, more on this in a sec), and five classic Kiss tracks. I say sort of, because during the heat of the interview we only discussed four tracks off of BK3, but what I did was take a piece from the previous interview I did with him, and splice it into the episode. This way there are five tracks from BK3 discussed! I could give all types of excuses, but I dropped the ball. Oh well, I think the episode came out pretty good, regardless. Hope you the listeners feel the same!

Songs discussed are as follows:

Hand Of The King
Ain’t Gonna Die
I’m The Animal
Between The Lines
No Friend Of Mine
I Walk Alone
Tears Are Falling
Crazy Crazy Nights
Forever
Unholy

Items touched upon during the episode:

Grand Funk Railroad, Gene Simmons, Family Jewels, Nick Simmons, Eric Singer, Tobias Sammet, Brent Fritz, Union, Edguy, Avantasia, John Corabi, Steve Lukather, Kenny Aronoff, Steak House Studios, A&M Studios, Van Halen, Toby Wright, Paul Stanley, Animalize, Ron Nevison, Michael Bolton, Led Zepplin, Vinnie Vincent, Motown, Steve Vai, Jeremy Rubolino, Keith Moon, Queen, Pink Floyd, Adam Mitchell, Doug Fieger.

We also play King of the Mountain in the back ground, and wrap things up with Master & Slave off of Carnival of Souls.

I have been waiting a few months to put this comparison together, ever since I spoke to Bruce Kulick back in December for episode 12. At that time I asked him to give me his opinion on both Anomaly and Sonic Boom. We went over things briefly, and at the time he mentioned that he’d like to see someone compare all three albums once his came out. So here we are, comparing all three. Interestingly enough, both of us share the same opinion of Sonic Boom, more on that in a second.

Kiss is my all time favorite band, I can remember looking at the book that came with Alive II, and seeing the picture of Ace Frehley in his Love Gun outfit with a yellow light shining right over top of him. That image mesmerized me, and made me want to listen to the band, and music in general. Mr. Frehley you are to blame for initially infecting me with music! Kiss as a whole. As a result I have always followed (to the best of my ability) the band, and all of its former members. Now, I don’t have absolutely every album that the former member have put out (I don’t have the White Tiger album, or the majority of Peter Criss’ solo work), but I do have everything Ace, Bruce, and Vinnie have put out, and most of the two Eric’s material. This includes official releases and bootlegs. Long before the internet, there were the tape trading days (some of you remember), there was a small store called Second Sighting Records (Ace reference) that had a nice supply of live or unreleased Ace and Vinnie material on vinyl and cassette (Bruce was still in the band at the time). If I couldn’t get my fill there, well there was the yearly Kiss Expo (back then held in Teaneck, NJ at Fairley Dickinson), that had a lot of bootlegs on CD. I bring this up because I purchased a CD at one of the Expo’s that contains the song “Sister”, which ultimately made it onto Anomaly. At these Expos I have also been lucky enough to meet Bruce, Vinnie, and Eric Singer. As a result I have a signed copy of AudioDog, an album that in my opinion should have received way more attention then it garnered when it was released. “Change Is Coming” was the only song that to my knowledge received any airplay. But this album had “Need Me”, “I Don’t Mind”, and “Dogs Of Morrison” which should have all been on your local station. Especially the first and last tracks that I mentioned.

In any event, on with the comparison, what I’m doing is focusing on the tracks that I really enjoyed off of each album. Each one has a few good to great tracks, and there are two that in my opinion are head and shoulders above the other.

Let me start out with Sonic Boom, tracks I really enjoyed:

- Modern Day Delilah
- Say Yeah
- All For The Glory

First of all I was pumped to hear Kiss was finally going to put out a new album. I was also thrilled to hear that Tommy and Eric were going to sing on the album as well. The opinion that I shared with Bruce was that the album was originally supposed to be a 70′s sounding album, which it isn’t. What I also agree with is that this album can be a launch point what is to come next with the band, which is a good thing. Now I see this album fitting in more with the Hot In The Shades, Animalize and Asylums of the catalogue. Which isn’t bad, but to me albums like Creatures, Revenge, and Carnival of Souls still tower above it. Detractors for me are the fact that all of Gene’s lyrics are practically the same, nothing wrong with that, but due to this the songs don’t hold up like the others on the album. There are also moments where the band inadvertently copies themselves, or others. I don’t think this is done on purpose, but it’s still there. I still would have preferred an angry or defiant Gene or Paul on this album, but it is what it is. I have personally always found Kiss’ rebellious lyrics to be very empowering. The line in Creatures where Paul says “Remember when the clock strikes 12, the losers always win” captivated me the first time I heard it. It spoke to me, it made me feel that no matter how down I was, that there would be a time where the tables would be turned. “I Love It Loud”, “Unholy”, etc. angry songs, with attitude that made me want to get behind them and…..Say Yeah! The album is good, but I just don’t feel that, outside of the three songs listed above.

With Ace’s Anomaly, tracks that enjoyed are:

- Foxy & Free
- Outer Space
- Pain In The Neck
- Too Many Faces
- Sister
- Space Bear

Twenty years had passed since Trouble Walking, my favorite Ace album. And although this album does show a kinder side of Ace, it also still shows his hard rocking side as well. All of these songs show off Ace’s meat and potatoes no non-sense hard rocking sound. The second I heard “Outer Space” I was hooked, hearing Ace tune down to D (something I hadn’t noticed in any of his other recordings) sucked me in. The album sounds fresh, with an edge. All of the songs listed above really kick ass. As a bonus I was able to see Ace at the Viper Room back in September, he did play “Sister”, “Space Bear”, and “Outer Space” during the show. “Sister” is a song I’ve enjoyed since I originally heard it on the bootleg CD I mention above, it is one of my favorite Ace tunes. “Too Many Faces” incorporates some signature Anton Fig playing, which brings songs like “Torpedo Girl” and “Whipped Out” to mind. “Foxy & Free” has a great groove to it, while “Pain In The Neck” has a chorus that is bound to get stuck in your head.

So, I was chomping at the bit to finally listen to BK3, and see if it at least to measured
up or surpassed the other two. I also wanted the album to at least live up to Audio Dog, or the Union albums Bruce had released. I initially purchased the EP he released on iTunes, and once I heard John Corabi sing on “No Friend of Mine”, I knew things were going to be alright! Here are the tracks I enjoyed off of BK3.

- Fate
- Ain’t Gonna Die
- Hand Of The King
- No Friend Of Mine
- I’m The Animal
- And I Know

First off this album is chalked full of guests, Corabi (as mentioned above), Gene and Nick Simmons, Tobias Sammet, Eric Singer, Steve Luckather, and Doug Fieger. “Ain’t Gonna Die” is the best Gene Simmons track since Unholy, it has that attitude that is missing from Sonic Boom. “Hand of The King”, with Nick, also sounds better than any Simmons related material since at least Carnival of Souls. If you’re not privy to the fact that it’s Nick you’d swear it was his dad. The melodies in “No Friend of Mine” remind you how good Union actually was, and leave you clamoring for a continuation of this partnership. I’m not the biggest Edguy fan, but “I’m The Animal” is one of the best tracks I’ve heard in a while, again an infection chorus that has Eric Singer backing Tobias up. Wrapping things up are two tracks sung by Bruce “Fate” which was written by Kevin Churko (Ozzy producer, makes you wonder if Zakk was in mind when the song was written), a fast paced hard rocking track and “And I Know” which harkens back to Bruce’s previous two albums.

I honestly think that both Anomaly and BK3 have surpassed Sonic Boom. Ace and Bruce have shown us different facets of their writing and playing ability, and have matured with both of these albums. Sonic Boom is good, but it leaves me wanting to listen to some of their other material to get my fill of the band (been listening to a lot of Asylum as a result). I can’t say the same for BK3 or Anomaly, I put each of these albums on, and I’m right there start to finish. At no point do I think, let me listen to Trouble Walking, or “Dogs of Morrison”. It is also hard for me to choose between either one of those albums, as I enjoy both of them immensely.

Buy don’t pay me no mind, check out all three albums out, and determine for yourselves which of the three you enjoy the most!

In the latest episode we have a very special interview with former Kiss and current Grand Funk Rail Road guitarist Bruce Kulick. During this episode Bruce discusses the making of his upcoming solo album BK3, the special guests that appear on the album which includes Gene Simmons, Eric Singer and John Corabi among others. He also touches upon some of his favorite Kiss moments, the recording of several albums including Revenge and Carnival of Souls, dispels some rumors pertain to the recording of both albums, talks about his memories of Eric Carr, and his involvement in various Rock And Roll Fantasy Camps. He also goes on to discuss his relationship with Paul Stanley and former members of the band Peter Criss, Ace Frehley, and Vinnie Vincent.

Throughout the episode you’ll hear songs Bruce played on from Kiss, Union, and some of his solo work.

These are all of the items touched upon:

Kiss, Grand Funk Rail Road, BK3, Jeremy Rubolino, John Corabi, The Blue Room, Union, Niki Sixx, Revenge, Ferrari, Marshall P90, Les Paul, Orange Tinny Terror, Tears Are Falling, Forever, Unholy, Rain, Carnival Of Souls, Bob Ezrin, Steve Luckather, ESP, Tobias Sammet, Edguy, Gene Simmons, Nick Simmons, Eric Singer, Doug Fieger, Kevin Churkey, Ozzy Osbourne, Black Rain, Five Finger Death Punch, Tommy Thayer, Eric Carr, Ace Frehley, Vinnie Vincent, Peter Criss, Paul Stanley, Mark St. John, Sophie Simmons, Shannon Tweed, Family Jewels, Anomoly, Sonic Boom, Tom Petty, Genghis Khan, Fox On The Run, Slade, Rob Zombie, The Elder, Tail Of The Fox, Rockology, Reunion Tour, Rock N Roll Fantasy Camp, Jack Bruce, Cream, Roger Daultry, Pete Townsend, Ron Wood, Audio Dog, Transformer, Judas Priest, Les Binks, Scott Travis, Dave Holland, Wikipedia

The following song are played during the episode:

Bruce Kulick (w/John Corabi) – No Friend Of Mine – BK3
Union – Tangarine – Live At The Galaxy
Kiss – I Walk Alone – Carnival Of Souls
Kiss – Unholy – Revenge
Kiss – Love’s A Deadly Weapon – Asylum

Behind my banter you will hear:

Bruce Kulick – Behind The Lines – BK3
Union – Do Your Own Thing – The Blue Room

In this episode we tackle the extended Kiss family tree. Tunes played are the following:

Vinnie Vincent – Euphoria

Peter Criss – The Truth

Bruce Kulick – Need Me

Union – Jungle

Eric Singer Project – Foxy Lady

Jam Pain Society – The Ride

Doro – Only You

Wendy O. Williams – Ain’t None Of Your Business

Eric Carr – Eyes Of Love

Richie Scarlett – Too Far Gone

Ace Frehley – Pain In The Neck

Arch Enemy – The Enemy

We also touch upon the following:

Robert Fleichman, Andre LaBelle, Mark Slaughter, Paul Stanley, Psycho Circus, Audio Dog, Criss Cat #1, Mike Stone, Queensryche, Live At The Galaxy, John Corabi, Insanity Of Life, Rockology, Rock Heads, Warlock, Gene Simmons, The Elder, Creatures Of The Night, Lick It Up, Lany Cordola, House Of Lords, Anomaly, Reginald Van Helsing