KISS me hello

I absolutely love when I get to discover music by complete accident. It's one thing when I seek out a song to download it. It's another when I just hear it out of the blue, get hit upside the head by how good it is, and then can't wait to buy it. It doesn't happen very often, but when it does, it's great.

I had one of those moments last week. I was in Best Buy looking for a DVD that had just come out. If you've ever been in the Best Buy at Wolfchase in Memphis, you know that they play songs from new albums to let you know what's in stock (and hopefully to get you to buy the disc.) Anyway, this particular day, I was determined to go in and get right back out without spending any extra money. However, I heard a song start over the loudspeakers, and it just hit me a certain way. I just stood there listening for a while.

I'm a big fan of 80's arena rock, and I unabashedly admit that I loved hair bands, cheesy metal ballads, and songs that would probably be used on various Rocky soundtracks. You know the kind... songs that talked about fighting, coming out victorious, winning it all...the kind of songs that the grunge era eschewed and nearly wiped out.

This song, however, was all about winning. "Live to win!" it screamed. "Till you die, till the light dies in your eyes, live to win, take it all, just keep fighting till you fall!" I loved it. I had to have it. The voice sounded familiar, but I couldn't peg which artist it was.

It turned out to be Paul Stanley. That explained a lot. Paul Stanley, for those of you who don't know, is the legendary frontman of KISS, a band that I've been a huge fan of for some time. He was the voice behind songs like "Forever," "Love Gun," and "Detroit Rock City."

I bought the CD on the spot. I rarely ever do that.

In the past, KISS members' solo projects have been a mixed bag for me. I sort of liked Ace Frehley's stuff and some of Gene Simmons' songs were okay, but this one by Paul is very awesome. I don't know if it's the fact that Paul's voice reminds me of older KISS favorites. A lot of it has to do with the fact that his style of music is classic and upbeat, but still gritty and raw at the same time. He mixes the gruff and grumbly with the glam and glitzy and it comes out in just the right mixture.

A couple of tidbits about the album: Paul's backing band is the house band that played for CBS's Rock Star (both years.) This is Paul's first solo album in 25 years.

I highly recommend purchasing the album, but if you need more convincing, you can listen to four tracks on his Myspace profile. (If having KISS on Myspace doesn't legitimize the site, then I don't know what would.) You can hear the songs "Live to Win," "Everytime I See You," "Wake Up Screaming," and one of my favorites "Lift."

Rock on!