CoronaVinyl Day 311 (K): Paul Stanley by KISS

For an explanation of CoronaVinyl, click here.

I'll be out tomorrow and Monday, so I'll see you next Tuesday with the next post, but until then, today's CoronaVinyl category is "K."  Again, the only "K" albums I have left are KISS albums, and though this is the seventh KISS album I've featured on CoronaVinyl, I'm not even halfway through my KISS albums.  Today's selection is Paul Stanley's 1978 solo album that was part of the four solo albums the four members of KISS released on the same day on September 18, 1978.

Though all four of the band members' solo albums eventually went platinum, the general consensus is that Ace Frehley's album was the best of the bunch (and I wholeheartedly agree).  Behind Ace's solo album is Paul's, and then well below that is Gene's, and then well below that is Peter's.

I have all four albums on picture disc, as you can see from above.  The album cover is emblazoned on the vinyl.  Paul's album was the only one of the four that featured all original songs, and a lot of the songs sound like they could have fit right onto a KISS album from that era.  Paul had help on the album from KISS collaborator guitarist Bob Kulick, who has some excellent guitar work on the album and whose brother Bruce would join the band in the '80s, as well as legendary drummer Carmine Appice on one track and session drummers Richie Fontana and Craig Krampf on the remaining tracks, among other backing musicians.

All in all, it's a pretty solid rock album, and Paul has always been the one in the band with the best pop sensibility, so there are some good hooks on the album, though there are a couple songs that are a bit of a departure.  For instance, "Hold Me, Touch Me (Think of Me When We're Apart)" is a schmaltzy soft rock ballad -- which, of course, was the only song from the album that charted on the Billboard Hot 100, reaching #46 -- and "Ain't Quite Right" comes in somewhere between a Journey ballad and yacht rock.  The album itself went to #40 on the Billboard album chart.

Favorite song from Side 1:  "Wouldn't You Like to Know Me"
"Wouldn't You Like to Know Me" is a power-pop gem that could have just as easily have fit on a Cheap Trick, Babys, or Nick Lowe album.  I honestly don't know how this song wasn't chosen as a single from the album because it's catchy as hell.

Favorite song from Side 2:  "Love in Chains"
This is one of those songs that I think could have fit on one of KISS's late '70s albums.  It's a solid rocker that essentially starts off with a guitar solo.  It has some snarling vocals in the verses and a catchy, sing-along chorus.