KISS – The Solo Albums ; Paul Stanley [Japan SHM-CD remastered Limited Numbered] Out Of Print

These have been requested several times; the 1978 KISS ‘solo albums’ from each band member in its Japanese SHM-CD pressing. Many of you reported finding fake SHM-CD rips all over the net, so here’s the real deal, the numbered limited edition of each including full artwork.
Just like Ace, Paul Stanley knew that his strength was in straight forward, guitar-driven rock n’ roll, so even as a solo artist on “Paul Stanley” he didn’t stray very far from the formula that made KISS so successful. “Tonight You Belong To Me” and “Move On” start the album off with a nice one-two punch.

Then Paul opens his heart for other of his favorite styles; Soul and R&B. The disco-infused “Hold Me, Touch Me” (the album’s single) or the Seventies ballad “Together as One” shows he can write interesting stuff.
It’s a varied album, very late Seventies however with all the retro movement out there, still feels fresh today.

KISS was on top of the world in 1977. After breaking through to the mainstream in a big way with 1975’s ALIVE! concert double-LP, the grease-painted, fire breathing hard rock foursome suddenly seemed unstoppable. They released a string of platinum records over the next several years including 1976’s Destroyer (which featured the surprise hit single “Beth”), Rock and Roll Over (late ’76) and Love Gun (June of ’77).

The 1977 Gallup public opinion poll named KISS the most popular band in America and their first Super Special comic book (“printed in REAL KISS BLOOD!”) set new sales records for Marvel Comics.
KISS’ winning streak continued with ALIVE II – a new live set featuring five new studio tracks, which was released in October of ’77 and became another million-seller. It seemed that KISS could do no wrong, and the sky was the limit as they rocketed forward into 1978.

There was just one small problem… the band was beginning to rot from the inside. As KISS got bigger, inter-personal relationships between the four members were getting progressively worse. Where once the quartet’s motto had been “All for one, one for all,” their massive success had seemingly given each member a new philosophy: “What’s in it for me?”

Pinpointing the source of the internal friction naturally depended on which band member you talked to. It’s not exactly a secret that drummer Peter Criss and guitarist Ace Frehley were the two major party animals in the band, and their increasing dependence on narcotics and alcohol was a constant source of irritation to the band’s tee-totaling founders, Gene Simmons (bass) and Paul Stanley (guitar/vocals).
Criss and Frehley, meanwhile, have often described Simmons and Stanley as tight-fisted dictators and control freaks who constantly forced them to toe the “company line” both musically and during interviews.

However the rift began, things apparently came to a head sometime during 1977, when both Frehley and Criss threatened to leave the band and start solo careers.
Simmons and Stanley may not have liked Frehley or Criss very much at that point, but they were smart enough to realize that losing two key band members at the same time would be disastrous.

Thus, KISS came up with an ambitious new plan for 1978: in order for the KISS members to get a much-needed break from one another, all four of them would cut their own solo albums, which would then be released on the same day (backed by a typically massive marketing campaign, of course) with a common cover design scheme to unify them.
All of this hype would provide the perfect lead in to the band’s movie debut, KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park, which was being prepared for NBC-TV as a Halloween special.

To keep KISS’ place warm on music-store racks, Casablanca Records rush-released the Double Platinum 2-LP greatest-hits set, which contained one new track – a dance remix of the debut album’s “Strutter,” re-titled “Strutter ’78.”
It raced up the charts and kept the faithful KISS Army occupied while the band members each slaved away in separate recording studios, working on their solo debuts.

On September 18, 1978, the veil of secrecy was lifted. Casablanca Records shipped 1.25 million copies of each member’s solo album to music stores across America, so that they all instantly qualified for “Platinum” status.

01 – Tonight You Belong To Me
02 – Move On
03 – Ain’t Quite Right
04 – Wouldn’t You Like To Know Me?
05 – Take Me Away (Together As One)
06 – It’s Alright
07 – Hold Me, Touch Me (Think Of Me When We’re Apart)
08 – Love In Chains
09 – Goodbye

Paul Stanley – vocals, guitars, EBow
Bob Kulick – lead guitar, acoustic guitar
Steve Buslowe – bass guitar on tracks 1–5
Eric Nelson – bass guitar on tracks 6–9
Richie Fontana – drums on tracks 1–4
Carmine Appice – drums on track 5
Craig Krampf – drums on tracks 6–9
Diana Grasselli – backing vocals on track 2
Miriam Naomi Valle – backing vocals on track 2
Maria Vidal – backing vocals on track 2
Peppy Castro – backing vocals on tracks 3 and 7
Doug Katsaros – piano, Omni string ensemble and backing vocals on track 7

Out Of Print
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