''Gene Simmons'' is a 1978 solo
album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records co ...
by
Gene Simmons, the bassist and co-vocalist of the American
hard rock band
Kiss
A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...
. It was one of four solo albums released by the members of Kiss on September 18, 1978. Reaching number 22 on the US
''Billboard'' 200 albums chart, it was the highest-placing of all the four Kiss solo albums. Mainly a hard rock album, it also features choirs and string arrangements on some songs, as well as incorporating various musical genres including
Beatles-inspired
pop, 1970s
funk, and
rock and roll
Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm a ...
.
Album information
Although he is the bass player in Kiss, Simmons played mainly electric and acoustic guitars on the album, leaving the bass duties to
Neil Jason
Neil is a masculine name of Gaelic and Irish origin. The name is an anglicisation of the Irish ''Niall'' which is of disputed derivation. The Irish name may be derived from words meaning "cloud", "passionate", "victory", "honour" or "champion".. ...
. The album features guest appearances from well-known musicians, including
Aerosmith's
Joe Perry,
Bob Seger,
Cheap Trick
Cheap Trick is an American rock band from Rockford, Illinois, formed in 1973 by guitarist Rick Nielsen, bassist Tom Petersson, lead vocalist Robin Zander and drummer Bun E. Carlos. The current lineup of the band consists of Zander, Nielsen ...
's
Rick Nielsen
Richard Alan Nielsen (born December 22, 1948) is an American musician best known as the lead guitarist, primary songwriter, and leader of the rock band Cheap Trick. He is well-known for his numerous custom-made guitars from Hamer Guitars, inclu ...
,
Donna Summer,
Helen Reddy and
Cher. Though an unknown at the time, backing vocalist
Katey Sagal
Catherine Louise "Katey" Sagal (; born January 19, 1954) is an American actress and singer. She is known for playing Peggy Bundy on '' Married... with Children'' (1987–1997), Leela on ''Futurama'' (1999–2003, 2008–2013, 2023), Cate Hennes ...
would go on to a successful
television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
career.
Simmons re-recorded "See You in Your Dreams" because he reportedly was not happy with the way it was recorded on ''
Rock and Roll Over
''Rock and Roll Over'' is the fifth studio album by American rock band Kiss, released in 1976. It was recorded at the Star Theatre in Nanuet, New York.
Album information
To get the proper drum sound, Peter Criss recorded his tracks in a bathroo ...
''. Simmons said that he covered "When You Wish Upon a Star" because he
related to the song and was a fan of
Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
movies. "When I first heard that song I could barely speak English but I knew the words were true. Anybody can have what they want, the world and life can give its rewards to anyone".
The songs "Burning Up with Fever", "Man of 1000 Faces" and "True Confessions" were demoed in August 1975 for the ''
Destroyer'' album, but rejected by producer
Bob Ezrin
Robert Alan Ezrin (born March 25, 1949) is a Canadian music producer and keyboardist, best known for his work with Lou Reed, Alice Cooper, Aerosmith, Kiss, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, Peter Gabriel, Andrea Bocelli and Phish. As of 2010, Ezrin's car ...
. They were finally released in 2021 on the bonus disc in the 2CD and Superdeluxe box set versions of ''Destroyer''. "See You Tonite" was also demoed in 1975, and the demo versions of all four songs are on the ''
Gene Simmons Vault'' box set, along with a 1976 demo of "Mr. Make Believe"
On the original CD release in 1988 the first two songs are split incorrectly. The introduction that leads into "
Radioactive
Radioactive decay (also known as nuclear decay, radioactivity, radioactive disintegration, or nuclear disintegration) is the process by which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy by radiation. A material containing unstable nuclei is consi ...
" is split at the 51-second mark while the rest of "Radioactive" and all of "Burning Up with Fever" are played in the second track. However, the track listing of the cover lists the two songs as two separate tracks. The rest of the CD is split correctly. The 1997 remastered edition fixes this mistake with "Radioactive" and "Burning Up with Fever" being split as two separate tracks. The introduction played before "Radioactive" is left in as part of the song.
Reception
The album reached number 22 on the US
''Billboard'' 200 albums chart, making it the highest-placing of all the four Kiss solo albums of 1978. It was
certified platinum
Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...
on October 2, 1978, having shipped 1,000,000 copies.
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...
gave the album 3 stars out of 5 and called it an "unpredictable yet ultimately enjoyable release."
Track listing
All credits adapted from the original release.
Personnel
;Artist
*
Gene Simmons –
vocals
Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...
,
guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...
s,
acoustic guitar, bass
;Additional personnel
*
Neil Jason
Neil is a masculine name of Gaelic and Irish origin. The name is an anglicisation of the Irish ''Niall'' which is of disputed derivation. The Irish name may be derived from words meaning "cloud", "passionate", "victory", "honour" or "champion".. ...
–
bass
*
Elliot Randall
Elliott Randall (born June 15, 1947) is an American guitarist best known for being a session musician with popular artists. Randall played the well-known guitar solos from Steely Dan's song "Reelin' In the Years, Reelin' in the Years" and Irene Ca ...
– guitars
*
Allan Schwartzberg
Allan Schwartzberg (born December 28, 1942) is an American musician and record producer. He has been a member of the rock band Mountain, Peter Gabriel's first solo band, toured with Brecker Brothers' Dreams, B.J. Thomas, Linda Rondstadt, Stan Get ...
–
drums
*
Sean Delaney –
percussion
A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...
,
backing vocals
A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are ...
*Ron Frangipane – symphonic arrangements and conductor of Members of the New York and
Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestras
*Gordon Grody, Diva Gray,
Kate Sagal, Franny Eisenberg, Carolyn Ray – backing vocals
*
Eric Troyer
Eric Lee Troyer (born 10 April 1949) is an American keyboardist, singer, songwriter, and occasional guitarist, best known as a member of ELO Part II and its successor The Orchestra. Troyer was a founding member of ELO Part II, having been rec ...
–
piano
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...
and vocals on "Radioactive" & "Living in Sin"
*Steve Lacey – guitars on "Radioactive"
*John Shane Howell – classical guitar, segue between "Radioactive" & "Burning Up with Fever"
*Richard Gerstein – piano on "True Confessions" & "Always Near You / Nowhere to Hide"
*
Joe Perry – guitars on "Radioactive" & "Tunnel of Love"
*
Bob Seger – backing vocals on "Radioactive" & "Living in Sin"
*
Rick Nielsen
Richard Alan Nielsen (born December 22, 1948) is an American musician best known as the lead guitarist, primary songwriter, and leader of the rock band Cheap Trick. He is well-known for his numerous custom-made guitars from Hamer Guitars, inclu ...
– guitars on "See You in Your Dreams"
*
Helen Reddy – background vocals on "True Confessions"
*
Jeff "Skunk" Baxter – guitars on "Burning Up with Fever", "See You Tonite", "Tunnel of Love" & "Mr. Make Believe"
*
Donna Summer – background vocals on "Burning Up with Fever," & "Tunnel of Love"
*
Janis Ian
Janis Ian (born Janis Eddy Fink; April 7, 1951) is an American singer-songwriter who was most commercially successful in the 1960s and 1970s. Her signature songs are the 1966/67 hit "Society's Child, Society's Child (Baby I've Been Thinking)" an ...
– backing vocals on the "Prelude to Radioactive"
*
Cher – spoken word phone call on "Living in Sin"
*Mitch Weissman & Joe Pecorino (
Beatlemania) – backing vocals on "Mr. Make Believe", "See You Tonite" & "Always Near You / Nowhere to Hide"
*
Michael Des Barres
Michael Philip Des Barres (born 24 January 1948), the 26th Marquis Des Barres, is an English actor and rock singer. He appeared as Murdoc in the original '' MacGyver'', Nicholas Helman, Murdoc's mentor, on the new reboot of '' MacGyver'' (2016 ...
– background vocals on "See You in Your Dreams"
*
Richie Ranno – guitars on "Tunnel of Love"
*The Citrus College Singers – chorus on "True Confessions" & "Always Near You / Nowhere to Hide"
;Production
*Gene Simmons – co–producer
*Sean Delaney – co–producer
*
George Marino
George Marino (April 15, 1947 – June 4, 2012) was an American mastering engineer known for working on albums by rock bands starting in the late 1960s.
Biography
Marino was born on April 15, 1947, in the New York City borough The Bronx. He at ...
– mastering
*Eraldo Carugati – album artwork
Charts
Album
Singles
Certification
References
Footnotes
Citations
External links
*
KISSONLINE.COM Discoography- Gene Simmons Accessed on July 28, 2008.
{{Authority control
1978 debut albums
Gene Simmons albums
Albums produced by Gene Simmons
Casablanca Records albums