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Dressed to Thrill: A Tribute to KISS with Female Vocalists (2014)



Dressed To Thrill: A Tribute to KISS with Female Vocalists

Dressed To Thrill:
A Tribute to KISS
with Female
Vocalists

 

.

As a fan of KISS and a fan bands with female singers, I was instantly onboard when I was asked to review Dressed to Thrill: A Tribute to KISS with Female Vocalists.  However, even though I immediately thought it was a great idea for a CD, I also wondered if they'd be able to pull it off.  I have to say, I was definitely pleasantly surprised by the results.  The song selection includes several of the standard, classic KISS songs that you'd expect to see on any KISS Tribute CD (Rock and Roll All Nite, Parasite, Detroit Rock City, etc.), but there are also quite a few deeper cuts that I never would have expected like See You Tonight from Gene Simmons' 1978 solo album and A World Without Heroes from The Elder.  There are a couple of songs that aren't as strong as the rest, but you seem to get that with any tribute CD.  Overall, this is a very solid disc and one of the better tributes to KISS that I've heard.

The CD starts out with Radio Cult's cover of Detroit Rock City which I had heard before on their Grooves From The Grave CD (read my review of that album here).  It's a rockin' cover with excellent vocals from lead singer Bambi Lynn.  The second track is one of my favorites on the CD; the band Killer Kowalski plays the song Ladies Room with a raw energy that KISS hasn't had since the first Alive album!  This track rocks so much that it would be difficult to follow up, but the next track takes us in a totally different direction.  The band Mantlepiece does a really solid acoustic cover of See You Tonight that is much closer to KISS' Unplugged version of the song than the version from Gene's solo album.  Next up we have another awesome rocker with the band Viva La Venus blazing through the song Parasite!  Excellent vocals and ripping guitar make this a standout track on the CD.  The fifth track on Dressed to Thrill was not one I was particularly looking forward to hearing because it was one of the songs from KISS' attempt at a rock opera: the Music From The Elder album.  Like most KISS fans, I'm not a fan of that album or this song in particular.  However, this turned out to be the biggest surprise on the album for me.  The band October Layne does a beautiful acoustic version of A World Without Heroes complete with violin!  This is the first time I've every been able to enjoy anything related to The Elder album!  After that, we're back to rockin' with the band Hollywood Groupies and their down and dirty version of C'Mon And Love Me.  The band Confession Box follows with another unexpected song selection: the song Forever from KISS' 1989 Hot in the Shade album.  The song reached #8 on the charts back in 1989, which was their highest charting song besides Beth back in the 70s, but it's certainly not a song I think most KISS fans have in their Top 10.  Speaking of songs not on most KISS fans Top 10 lists, the next track on the CD is KISS' disco disaster, I Was Made For Lovin' You.  Although the band Karma Ling does a good job on this song, I was never a fan of KISS going disco and this version stays too true to the original to convert me.  The band Radio Cult brings us back to classic KISS with their second track on the CD, Rock and Roll All Nite!  Once again, Bambi Lynn's excellent vocals and the band's tight performance make this a very enjoyable track!  Willem & Dakota follow with their version of Hard Luck Woman.  Musically, this version is a straightforward rocker, but the quirky vocals took me a few listens to really get into.  The disc ends with the song that's probably my favorite song on the disc.  The band Killer Kowalski absolutely knocks it out of the park with a blazing cover of Love Her All I Can.  I can't say enough about how much I love their version of this song!

I put this CD in my car so that I could listen to it once or twice for this review, but it's been in there ever since.  I don't even know how many times I've played it at this point, but it has definitely had more spins than I originally intended.  Despite the fact that I wasn't familiar with most of the bands, this is undoubtedly one of the best KISS Tribute CDs out there.  If you're a fan of KISS, you should definitely pick up this disc!

Visit the Genterine Records website for more info. or to buy the CD:

Dressed to Thrill: A Tribute to KISS with Female Vocalists