CHAPTER 36 - Asylum
(1985)
“Asylum” Album Notes:
Produced
by Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons. Recorded and mixed at
Electric Lady Studios,
36.01. King Of The Mountain
A
song which started out life during the “Animalize” tour with Bruce Kulick and
Paul Stanley working on ideas. The ideas culled from the
free time on the tour would be pulled together with contributions by Desmond
Child. While featuring a bombastic Eric Carr drum introduction this song
emphasized that the band had finally figured out how to capture the drums with
the sonic fury of Michael James Jackson. According to Paul, “a song like ‘King Of The Mountain’ says that everyone’s got the right to feel
that they’re Number One” (Rock Scene Spotlights #2).
36.02. Any Way You Slice It
Gene would initially offer
this song, he’d written with Howard Rice, to the band Heavy Pettin’
(along with several other songs) who had opened up for KISS on the European leg
of the Lick It Up tour, though eventually it would be recorded by KISS. The
writing of the song dates it to around 1982/3. It was offered to Heavy Pettin’ while Gene was on location filming “Runaway.”
36.03. Who Wants To Be Lonely
This power-ballad would be
the third video from the album, but was only released as a single in
36.04. Trial By Fire
Written by Paul Stanley and
Bruce Kulick, this song was originally called “Love Fast, Die Young.”
36.05. I’m Alive
Another song which started
out life during the “Animalize” tour with Bruce Kulick and Paul Stanley working
on ideas with later input from Desmond Child.
36.06. Love’s A Deadly Weapon
While Paul and Gene had
written “Deadly Weapons” back in 1980/1 the song’s transition to the form it
would take in 1985 was rather drastic. Taking the chorus of the original demo,
“Love’s a deadly weapon / And murder’s on my mind
(murder’s on my mind) / I don’t wanna threaten / I’m leavin’ you behind” only the first two lines would survive,
though some of the music would be incorporated in the new song.
In 1984, as work began on
the follow-up to Wendy O. William’s “WOW” album, “Kommander
Of Kaos,” Gene Simmons was
again considered for the role of producer. While he would have to pass due to
the other projects he was working on, he would do some pre-production work with
the band and heard a demo of a song by Rod Swenson and Wes Beech, called
“Party.” Gene liked the riff from the song and borrowed it (hence why Swenson
and Beech are credited on the album even though they didn’t sit down with Gene
and Paul to write the song). With a little arrangement of the old and new
parts, Gene had a song with an interesting history!
36.07. Tears Are Falling
This ballad, written by
Paul Stanley (one of the few songs he’d write on his own in the 1980s) and
inspired by Stevie Wonder’s “Uptight,” would be the
primary single released off the “Asylum” album. In the
While Paul and David do
much of the video planning over the phone, Paul recalled arriving in
36.08. Secretly Cruel
According to Gene this song
was inspired by a “girl who used to write in and describe all the great things
she would do with my pictures. She had this giant poster of me standing sideways
then she would position herself in a certain way and that was her thrill”
(Kerrang #155). Gene has also expanded that during a particular liaison on tour
with a groupie they went back to her house where he saw all of the pictures of
himself covering the walls of her room. He continues, “this girl, after our,
uh, liaison, she wanted more. And it was obvious if she couldn’t – you know,
Hell hath no fury like a groupie.... scorned” (Creem
Collector Series 2, 1).
36.09. Radar For Love
There has long been discussion
about just how much of a tribute to Led Zeppelin’s “Black Dog” this song is.
Paul has easily deflected the question, “there’s some
wonderful people like Willie Dixon and John Lee Hooker and a lot of people who
certainly influenced the people who wrote ‘Black Dog.’ And I think it’s a tip
of the hat to anybody, I think my heroes – at least I have taste! I don’t think
there’s anything necessarily revolutionary and new under the sun. It’s
reminiscent of it, sure, who’s going to deny it? But then
‘Whole Lotta Love,’ that old song – who did it?
Willie Dixon” (Creem Collector Series 2, 1).
36.10. Uh! All Night
It would take Paul Stanley,
Desmond Child and Jean Beauvoir to come up with this
song which includes lyrics that go: “Well, we work all day / And we don’t know
why / Well, there’s just one thing that money can’t buy / When your body’s been
starved, feed your appetite / When you work all day, you gotta,
Uh! all night.” Paul justifies the nature of the song,
“son of ‘Heaven’s On Fire’ meets ‘Tomorrow And
Tonight’ in a dark alley. Not necessarily a bad song. Definitely the best I
could do in this genre at that time. I’ve always wanted us to have anthems,
songs that were singable for anybody, whether they
could actually sing or not. So the choruses tended to be
simple enough that they were somewhere between chanting and singing” (Box Set
Liners).
Jean would play bass on the
recording and sing backing vocals. This song would be the second promotional
video issued off the album and had filmed in
36.11. Heaven’s On Fire (Live)
One of the very few B-sides
ever issued during KISS’ career. Released in
36.12. Love Fast, Die Young
The title of a track
mentioned in Kerrang for inclusion on the “Asylum” album. This song would
become “Trial By Fire” on the album.
36.13. Are You Tough Enough
The
title of a Gene Simmons song mentioned in Kerrang for inclusion on the “Asylum”
album.
36.14. We Won’t Take It Any More
Long considered to simply
be a Gene demo from “Asylum.” It wasn’t, and seems more like the early stages
of a demo work out rather than a completed idea. “We’ve been fooled so many
times / We can’t take it anymore // And it’s over
before it’s begun / And we just wanna even up the
score.” From the sound of the demo it would seem likely that Eric Carr is on
drums. Whether by Gene using a loop is not clear. The writing of the song dates
it to around 1982/3. It was offered to Heavy Pettin’
while Gene was on location filming “Runaway.” This demo runs
36.15. 100%
What appears to be more of
a scat vocal on this
36.16. Any Way You Slice It
In its original
36.17. Hello, Hello
Rough
36.18. I Have Just Begun To Fight
A very partial song idea
only lasting some 1:34. However, the drums seem “live” and the track includes
bass and some lead guitar. This brief piece includes vocal harmonies.
36.19. Nobody’s Perfect
At
36.20. Nobody’s Perfect (Instrumental)
Simply
an instrumental version of the track.
36.20. Russian Roulette
Another
rough demo running
36.21. Secretly Cruel
At
36.22. Take It Like A Man
Definitely
a work in progress in the
36.23. What You See Is What You Get
It is more than likely that
this demo dates from before “Animalize.” The song was written by Gene Simmons
and Mitch Weissman. Eric Carr played drums on the
36.24. Reason For Living
While the title is similar
to a track which Gene would record in the early 1990s with Silent Rage, and release
on the audio CD box version of “Sex Money KISS,” this song would be written by
Gene and Mitch Weissman in the period prior to
“Animalize.” This song is based on the main riff of “It’s Gonna
Be Alright.”
36.25. Eat Your Heart Out
This song would be written
by Gene and Mitch Weissman in the period prior to
“Animalize.” The demo recording would include Eric Carr on drums.
36.26. Daily Planet (Version #2)
Also circulating on the
“Asylum” demo tape is a short
36.27. Untitled Instrumental
A
short