All-Star Tribute to KISS - Spin The Bottle
 by Keavin Wiggins

All-Star Tribute to KISS - Spin The Bottle
Label: Koch
Rating: 
 

Tracks: Detroit Rock City - Dee Snider Love Gun - Tommy Shaw Cold Gin - Mark Slaughter King Of The Night Time World - Chris Jericho I Want You - Kip Winger God Of Thunder - Buzz Osborne Calling Dr. Love - Page Hamilton Shout It Out Loud - Lemmy Kilmeister Parasite - Doug Pinnick Strutter - Phil Lewis I Stole Your Love - Robin McAuley

Purchase this CD online

If you are like me, you visit the used record store often, hoping to catch a gem in the middle of all the muck. It never fails, every time I sort through the used CD bin I always come across a half a dozen copies of the “official” KISS cover album Kiss My Ass and GNR’s “Spaghetti Incident”.  Luckily, for fans, Spin the Bottle, is everything that Kiss My Ass wasn’t. In other words, if you buy it, you are not as likely to trade it in. 

Instead of trying to pander to the mainstream with artists that are riding the charts at the moment (Gin Blossoms), for this tribute the bands called upon to contribute should have more credibility with the KISS Army.  How can you go wrong with Lemmy, Dee Snider, Page Hamilton or Phil Lewis?  Much better choices then Toad The Wet Sprocket, Gin Blossoms or Garth Brooks. 

The disc starts strong with Dee Snider kicking out a version of “Detroit Rock City” that puts the Mighty Mighty Bosstones cover to shame. Tommy Shaw follows up with a strong version of “Love Gun,” the only real problem with this one is some of the lead guitars are a bit over the top and Tommy doesn’t really stay true to the original vocal melody. Former Vinnie Vincent Invasion frontman Mark Slaughter (yeah he headed Slaughter too) delivers a rippin’ version of Cold Gin. He actually delivers the vocal with a lot more attitude than you might expect given the tone of Slaughters music. This is a surprisingly good cover with plenty of balls. 

Fozzy frontman and Pro Wrestler Chris Jericho takes on “King of the Nighttime World” and is probably the closest to Paul Stanley’s vocals. This is one of my personal KISS favorites so I might be a little harder on anyone trying to cover it but Jericho does a faithful cover aided by Fred Coury, Mike Inez and Rich Ward. 

Kip Winger’s version of “I Want You” really sounds like Winger, in other words dated. Buzz Osborne from the Melvins on the other hand really takes “God of Thunder” and makes it his own, sounds a bit like Rob Zombie and features former KISS axeman Bruce Kulick, Blasco and Carmine Appice. A truly kick ass cover! 

Helmet’s Page Hamilton checks in next with a pretty cool cover of “Calling Dr. Love” but is really overshadowed by the next track from Lemmy! Yes, the god of metal Lemmy just kills with a raw rendition of “Shout it Out Loud.” You cannot help but love it and he’s ably backed up by Samantha Malony and Jennifer Batten. This is not what you might expect but is memorable. 

Doug Pinnick of King’s X is next up and backed by a name every KISS fan will recognize, Bob Kulick. Not as cool as the Anthrax cover on “KISS My Ass” but it’s cool and Doug actually sounds a lot like Lemmy on the vocals. Next up L.A. Guns frontman Phil Lewis gives us “Strutter”. His backing band Gilby Clarke, Jeff Pilson and Bob Rock give the song a distinct feel and Phil does a great job on the vocal that pretty faithful to Paul’s vocals. Gilby struts his stuff at every opportunity, but it works here. 

The disc concludes with former MSG frontman Robin McAuley backed by C.C. DeVille, Tony Franklin and Aynsley Dunbar for a fun cover of “I Stole Your Love”, however Robin seems to fall off on a couple of the lines but overall it’s a pretty cool cover. 

So, all in all, this is a very worthy tribute. There are many KISS tributes out there, but this one ranks among the best and would definitely add to any KISS fan’s library. 

But leave the CD aside for a minute - The bonus DVD alone is worth the price of admission. It features some cool interviews with the musicians on the tribute talking about their personal KISStories and thoughts about the “hottest band in the land.”  The Bob Kulick penned liner-notes are a nice touch. 

The only real complaint I have and one I typically have with tribute albums, I would have loved to seen lesser-known songs covered. Can you imagine Lemmy doing “Going Blind”?