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 The roots of the spinoff heavy metal band Hellyeah date back to a 2003 tour by Mudvayne and Nothingface, after which singer Chad Gray and guitarist Greg Tribbett from the former combined with guitarist Tom Maxwell and bassist Jerry Montano from the latter in a songwriting session. Conflicting schedules kept the project on hold for several years, until, during hiatuses from their usual commitments, the musicians reconvened with former Pantera and Damageplan drummer Vinnie Paul. The result is not exactly a "supergroup," but it is a collection of musicians who came in knowing what they were doing. Their album is a competent example of its genre, in which Tribbett and Maxwell combine to create crushing riffs over the pummeling rhythm section of Montano and Paul, while Gray howls typically enraged, expletive-littered lyrics to songs with titles like "Hellyeah," "Goddamn," and "Rotten to the Core." The aggressive attitude gives way on "Star," a song of romantic devotion as unfettered in its expression of gentle feelings as the other songs are of belligerent ones. Also dialed down from the usual thrash is the hard rock ballad "Thank You," a sort of musical version of the extensive acknowledgements section that occupies as much space in the CD booklet as the lyric sheet ("Thank you! Mother/Thank you! Father/Thank you! Brother," etc.). It's easy to imagine Hellyeah becoming a main occupation for the bandmembers, even though the music doesn't constitute a notable variation from their other affiliations.
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 Love Gun was Kiss' fifth studio album in three years (and seventh release overall, peaking at number four on Billboard), and proved to be the last release that the original lineup played on. By 1977, Kiss merchandise was flooding the marketplace (lunch boxes, makeup kits, comic books, etc.), and it would ultimately lead to a Kiss backlash in the '80s. But the band was still focused on their music for Love Gun, similar in sound and approach to their previous straight-ahead rock release, Rock and Roll Over. It included Ace Frehley's lead vocals on "Shock Me" as well as one of Kiss' best and most renowned hard rockers in the thunderous title track. The album's opener, "I Stole Your Love," also served as the opening number on Kiss' ensuing tour, while "Christine Sixteen" is one of the few Kiss tracks to contain piano prominently. "Almost Human" is an underrated rocker and features a great Jimi Hendrix-esque guitar solo from Frehley (no doubt due to ex-Hendrix producer Eddie Kramer manning the boards again), while "Plaster Caster" is a tribute to the famous groupies of the same name.
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| Kiss - Destroyer (1976) |
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 The pressure was on Kiss for their fifth release, and the band knew it. Their breakthrough, Alive!, was going to be hard to top, so instead of trying to recreate a concert setting in the studio, they went the opposite route. Destroyer is one of Kiss' most experimental studio albums, but also one of their strongest and most interesting. Alice Cooper/Pink Floyd producer Bob Ezrin was on hand, and he strongly encouraged the band to experiment, there's extensive use of sound effects (the album's untitled closing track), the appearance of a boy's choir ("Great Expectations"), and an orchestra-laden, heartfelt ballad ("Beth"). But there's plenty of Kiss' heavy thunder rock to go around, such as the demonic "God of Thunder" and the sing-along anthems "Flaming Youth," "Shout It Out Loud," "King of the Night Time World," and "Detroit Rock City" (the latter a tale of a doomed concert-goer, complete with violent car-crash sound effects). But it was the aforementioned Peter Criss ballad, "Beth," that made Destroyer such a success; the song was a surprise Top Ten hit (it was originally released as a B-side to "Detroit Rock City"). Also included is a song that Nirvana would later cover ("Do You Love Me?"), as well as an ode to the pleasures of S&M, "Sweet Pain." Destroyer also marked the first time that a comic-book illustration of the band appeared on the cover, confirming that the band was transforming from hard rockers to superheroes.
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| Kiss - Dressed To Kill (1975) |
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 By the release of their third album, 1975's Dressed to Kill, Kiss were fast becoming America's top rock concert attraction, yet their record sales up to this point did not reflect their ticket sales. Casablanca label head Neil Bogart decided to take matters into his own hands, and produced the new record along with the band. The result is more vibrant sounding than its predecessor, 1974's sludgefest Hotter Than Hell, and the songs have more of an obvious pop edge to them. The best-known song on the album by far is the party anthem "Rock and Roll All Nite," but it was the track "C'Mon and Love Me" that became a regional hit in the Detroit area, giving the band their first taste of radio success. Since the band was on the road for a year straight, songs such as "Room Service" and "Ladies in Waiting" dealt with life on the road (i.e., groupies), and a pair of songs were reworked from Kiss' precursor band, Wicked Lester ("Love Her All I Can" and "She"). With Dressed to Kill's Top 40 showing on the Billboard charts, the stage was now set for Kiss' big commercial breakthrough with their next release.
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| Kiss - Hotter Than Hell (1974) |
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 Although Kiss' self-titled debut performed respectably on the charts, it was not the blockbuster they had hoped for. With the album fading on the charts in the summer of 1974, Kiss was summoned back into the studio to work on a follow-up. Producers Richie Wise and Kenny Kerner were onboard again, and even though the sonics are muddier (and more filler is present composition-wise), Hotter Than Hell is another quintessential Kiss release. Many of the songs have been forgotten over the years (few are featured in concert anymore), but there are still more than a few gems to be found. It's unclear if the members of Kiss were having problems with their personal relationships at the time, but it's a common thread that runs through the songs. The plodding "Got to Choose" and the rapid-fire "Parasite" deal with love gone bad; the title track is about unobtainable love, while "Goin' Blind" is a disturbing tale of a 93 year old having an affair with a 16 year old. Also included are the early favorites "Let Me Go, Rock 'n' Roll" and "Watchin' You," as well as the original electric version of "Comin' Home" (an acoustic version was the opener of 1996's MTV Unplugged) and "Strange Ways," which contains one of Ace Frehley's best guitar solos. Even though Hotter Than Hell actually fared worse on the charts than the debut, it has become a revered album among Kiss fans over the years ? and rightfully so.
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 Kiss' 1974 self-titled debut is one of hard rock's all-time classic studio recordings. Kiss is chock full of their best and most renowned compositions, containing elements of Rolling Stones/New York Dolls party-hearty rock & roll, Beatles tunefulness, and Sabbath/Zep heavy metal, and wisely recorded primal and raw by producers Richie Wise and Kenny Kerner (of Gladys Knight fame). Main songwriters Stanley and Simmons each had a knack for coming up with killer melodies and riffs, as evidenced by "Nothin' to Lose" and "Deuce" (by Simmons), "Firehouse" and "Black Diamond" (by Stanley), as well as "Strutter" and "100,000 Years" (collaborations by the two). Also included is the Ace Frehley alcohol anthem "Cold Gin," "Let Me Know" (a song that Stanley played for Simmons upon their very first meeting, then titled "Sunday Driver"), and one of Kiss' few instrumentals: the groovy "Love Theme From Kiss" (penned by the entire band). The only weak track is a tacky cover of the 1959 Bobby Rydell hit "Kissin' Time," which was added to subsequent pressings of the album to tie in with a "Kissing Contest" promotion the band was involved in at the time. Along with 1976's Destroyer, Kiss' self-titled debut is their finest studio album, and has only improved over the years.
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| Metallica rock am ring 2008 |
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01 - Intro 02 - Creeping Death 03 - For Whom The Bell Tolls 04 - Ride The Lightning 05 - Harvester Of Sorrow 06 - Bleeding Me 07 - No Remorse 08 - Devil's Dance 09 - ... And Justice For All 10 - Fade To Black 11 - Master Of Puppets 12 - Whiplash 13 - Nothing Else Matters 14 - Sad But True 15 - One 16 - Enter Sandman Encore 17 - Princess Of The Night Tease (Saxon) 18 - Die Die My Darling 19 - Motorbreath 20 - Seek And Destroy
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