Editorial Reviews Music Review:
Music Review
Surrender [CD-single] [Import]
Renaissance Choral Masterpieces, Vol. 5
Merry Blues [CD-single] [Enhanced] [Import]
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These tribute albums worked a lot better when they were in the hands of indie labels like C/Z, who released the first Kiss covers album, Hard to Believe, four years ago. Whereas that release was filled with a bunch of young fresh-faced punks (including Nirvana!) doing various interpretations of songs they probably grew up with and loved, Kiss My Ass seems to be making a mockery of some of the gloriously shocking rebelliousness these gems once represented. Toad the Wet Sprocket turn "Rock and Roll All Nite" into a lazy country drawl, while other poorly chosen acts such as Gin Blossoms, Extreme, Dinosaur Jr., and the Lemonheads tread through the tunes with little excitement or energy. Only Lenny Kravitz (with Stevie Wonder on harmonica), Anthrax, and, surprisingly, Garth Brooks seem to attack the songs with the fire they once embodied in the '70s when Kiss were the nastiest band around. -- Adem Tepedelen