Artist: Stanley, Paul
Label: Universal Music Group
Released: 2006
Rating: 4/5
Only a second solo album, after a break of more than 25 years since the debut? Well, fine, so be it! Especially when it comes from a seasoned old tomcat of show business who knows how to serve this stuff up. Then the rest of us can only keep quiet. We’re talking about one half of the creative brain of the even more famous mega-band KISS, Paul Stanley. This fact alone speaks volumes: Kiss have sold more than 100 million albums over the course of their career, and the number keeps climbing steeply year after year. The aptly titled and long-awaited album is called “Live to win” and it’s the author’s personal confession, from a guy who likes to call himself a “Slave to Love”.
Unlike Gene Simmons (the driving force of Kiss), the “pretty boy” Paul Stanley has always been the icon of the more sentimental side of the Kiss camp, so on his solo project you can expect a product of that persuasion. The Kiss man wasn’t in any particular rush making this album (I assume Paul doesn’t have trouble paying the bills on time 😉 so he took all the time in the world to finally deliver an album with the status of “Live to win”. As for the production, Paul handled that all by himself too, and he did a more than excellent job. For help with the lyrics this time he brought in none other than Desmond Child, better known in the music world by the nickname “Midas” (after the Phrygian king). Child is known for his long collaboration with Kiss and other US super bands, and the saying goes that everything he touches turns to gold, which is where the nickname comes from. Besides P. Stanley, the other songs on the album also carry the signatures of Marti Frederiksen, Andreas Carlsson and John 5. Basically, it’s a crew and a mix of talents roughly responsible for the successes of acts like Bon Jovi, Aerosmith, Ricky Martin, Marilyn Manson and, last but not least, Britney Spears. Ex-Kiss guitarist and good friend of Paul’s Bruce Kulick also shows up on the album as a guest guitarist. After Ace Frehley left Kiss, he filled his spot more than successfully, among other things.
The opening and title track “Live to win” is kind of an essential quintessential rock ballad. The song has a punchy rhythm and sharp guitar riffs. In it, Stanley plays the hero “Rocky Balboa” who has just rescued a small child from a burning building. In other words, in this song Stanley is the so-called star hero who has nothing left to prove.
Hmm, a more than telling start, followed by the sentimentally tinged “Lift” with a groovy rhythm and crunchy vocals. In other words, here Stanley shows what he does best: seducing girls!
“Wake Up Screaming” is the next poetic track, with a clearly funky foundation. The song is catchy and subconsciously gets the listener humming the melody. It’s one of those tunes you hear on the radio in the morning and it keeps ringing and bouncing around your head all morning long.
“Every Time I See Your Around” is simply the kind of love song that only Stanley and his ilk are capable of writing. It slightly recalls the Kiss song “Fever” and, like that one, it expresses a string of unresolved conflicts in love. It keeps moving forward, but it’s still right here, and at its core it combines beauty and tragedy.
“Bulletproof” is a heavy track, superbly produced with a well-rounded guitar solo, a textbook example of a classic rock song.
“All About You” is sexist-heavy and hard-hitting, while “Second To None” is a shamelessly fragile-vocal ballad.
The timeless “It’s Not Me” is simply a solid rocker, paying no attention to current trends, while “Lovin’ You Without You Now” expresses heartfelt devotion.
The album closes with “Where Angels Dare,””, which strongly recalls the opening “Live To Win” in its renewed proclamation of strength and the will to live. An album rounded off like this makes a closed circle and, at best, takes us on the journey of life all over again.
The album’s philosophy is clearly laid out already in the opening track, with a crescendo guitar riff and accompanying lyrics that go something like this:
“You ask me how I made my way, You ask me every where and why,
You hang on every word I say, But the truth sounds like a lie…
Live to win, Till you die, Till the light dies in your eyes,
Live to win, Take it all, Just keep fighting till you fall”
A deep and varied album that offers a window into the author’s life philosophy and mission. It shows us the life, heart and soul of an artist outside his home band Kiss, an artist determined to break through, create and hold on to success at any cost. (the American way)
How typically American!
Lineup
Paul Stanley – vocals, guitar
Corky James – guitar
John 5 – guitar
Bruce Kulick (ex-Kiss) – guitar
Harry Sommerdahl – keyboards
David Campbell – bass
Victor Indrizzo – drums
Tracklist
1.Live To Win
2.Wake Up Screaming
3.Lift
4.Every Time I See You Around
5.Bulletproof
6.All About You
7.Second To None
8.It’s Not Me
9.Loving You Without You
10.Where Angels Dare
