PAUL STANLEY – One Live Kiss

The group KISS has been around for so long now (even though nobody gave them a shot at making it or turn out to be a major force in the music world) that no one even thinks that the band members are capable of branching out and performing on their own. For most it has been KISS as a whole and only KISS. Of course they all (the original key band members) came out with their individual solo albums way back, September 18, 1978 to be exact. That was the first time that all of the band members of an individual group came out with individual albums on the same day. It turns out that Gene Simmons has put together his own bands and toured outside of KISS, as has Paul Stanley and Ace Frehley. All four members have even had solo careers for all of their fans outside of their KISS days. Now one of the founding leaders of KISS has graced his loyal fans with a Live DVD. It happens to be Paul Stanley (real name Harvey Eisen, born in Queens, NY on January 20, 1952) and the title for this new DVD which was recorded at the House of Blues in Chicago, on November 6, 2006 is One Live Kiss.

If having seen the group KISS perform live probably fifteen to twenty times and not seeing a single show by any of the individual members during any of their solo tours… then curiosity, expectations, nervousness, anticipation, all will play part in viewing this DVD for the first time. If one of the band members of a favorite music group of yours decides to branch out on his or her own, put together a band (not including any of the original band members he/she is from), go on tour to perform as a solo act, you wish for success and want to see them do well and not bomb. Well this experience was almost like that if you can understand what it was like to witness Paul Stanley’s One Live Kiss for the first time.

It turns out that the video is quite good and in some cases, better than expected. It was beautifully shot-not too bright nor too dark. The picture was clear as one could want for a concert setting. The sound was on the money as well. The length was just right and perhaps a little better than most concert videos these days. For this tour Paul put together a group of musicians whom most have never heard of before but were all excellent and put together a tight show. The key players were: Jim McGorman (guitars, vocals), Sasha Krivtsov (bass, vocals), Nate Morton (drums, vocals), Rafael Moreira (lead guitar, vocals), Paul Mirkovich (musical director, keyboards, vocals), and of course Paul Stanley (lead vocals, guitar).

The opening (aptly titled “Prologue”) to the video has a nice touch to it where pictures are flashed in front of you while Paul recollects his past, growing up as a teen, making observations about a variety of things most young people don’t even bother with. He gives a short account of his life and talks about his dreams growing and what he hopes to accomplish some day. He also touches on what the titled song “Live To Win” means to him and how he tries to use its meaning every day in his life and how he strives towards a positive outlook in everything he does.

First, of the nineteen songs performed, eleven are KISS songs; four are from Paul’s Live To Win solo album released in 2006, and the remaining four from Paul’s very first solo album titled Paul Stanley from back in 1978.

The opening song Paul decides to go with is his title track “Live To Win.” It’s a good choice considering it is his most recent project and is the philosophy he tries to go by and use in his every day life. It is nicely done by the band and they sound tight. Then up until “A Million To One,” Paul uses his normal voice for the most part. Here he begins to use his KISS voice for the first time during the concert. Paul is known for his unique falsetto sound while singing for KISS.

Then something that for some reason should have never happened in this lifetime but does for whatever reason. “Got To Choose” which is a KISS classic is ruined for the most part. It will never sound the same again. The reason? Simply this! KEYBOARDS…yuk! Let’s hope it wasn’t you Paul but then again you are the top dog, the man in charge, so you ultimately make the final decision. So what were you thinking here Paul?

“Tonight You Belong To Me” has Paul playing and sounding his best up to that point. He does a fantastic job on this tune. After completing seven songs Paul finally introduces the band to the audience in a pretty comical fashion-didn’t think he had it in him. A nice treat for the audience that night was the fact that the band performs “Magic Touch” which is another well known KISS number that hasn’t been done Live before according to Paul during his intro to the song. The Paul Stanley/Vinnie Vincent collaboration “I Still Love You” is also performed. It is without a doubt one of the top three songs done throughout the entire show. Paul’s voice and his guitar play are impeccable. The band makes this one sound as if KISS were on stage themselves. The song is done with such feeling and emotion that surely tons of bras were coming off and being thrown onto the stage during this one.

“Strutter” along with “Detroit Rock City” are two of the more popular and well known KISS tunes that are done frighteningly close to the versions that are done Live by the actual band. They are really, really good and the band is so tight and on the money with these. “I Want You” is speeded up a bit compared to the original version. There are many subtle changes made in this version-some that work and some that don’t. The ending is dragged out too much by Paul. “Do You Love Me” is pulled off in fantastic fashion with all guitars playing in synch and sounding great together. Sasha has a nice sound with his bass on this one.

“Love Gun” has an amazing opening to it. There is a strong bass foundation and an excellent lead guitar solo in it. The drums are very strong and apparent as well. “Hide Your Heart” has Paul sounding his best once again. There are several short solos thrown in at just the right spots.

“Lick It Up” is probably the last KISS song not mentioned yet. It has Paul going back to his falsetto singing style which of course is a strong part of this song. “Wouldn’t You Like To Know Me?” sounds like a typical Paul Stanley tune and has a title to back that up. It turns out to be off Paul’s first solo album during his early KISS years. “Move On,” off the same album didn’t seem to fit in this group of songs for some reason while “Goodbye” which was chosen as the closer turned out to be a pretty good rockin’ tune with an interesting guitar sound to it. “Lift,” which is off of Paul’s latest solo work titled Live To Win doesn’t have that typical Stanley sound but is completely fresh and new. It turned out to be a good sounding song. “Bulletproof,” again off of Live To Win is a much better choice for a KISS/Paul Stanley tune. It had strong vocals by Paul while he played some nice backup guitar. The last song off the entire set list is “Everytime I See You Around.” It is off Live To Win and definitely has a Paul Stanley presence to it. Not too heavy or hard but yet powerful at the same time.

The DVD ends with an End Credits Montage during which “Where Eagles Dare” and “Live To Win” play in the background. It then closes with a short quote or statement from Paul. “Living to win means you pursue your goals, challenges, and dreams without regard for anyone else’s opinions, failures, or the obstacles in your way. I may not always succeed, but as long as I fail on my own terms…I’ve won.”

All that can be said is that any KISS or Paul Stanley fan will enjoy watching this DVD and will want to purchase it for their collection. On top of that, any Rock fan for the most part will be quite happy owning a copy themselves. The music is good, the sound is good, the picture quality is good, the band is tight and sound like they have been together for a long time. What else can you ask for in a music DVD?