Gene Simmons (Asshole) 2004

Gene Simmons (Asshole) 2004 

Front Cover

Back Cover

Continuing onward with some solo stuff from those in and out of KISS, which brings us to...

Asshole, his first solo effort since 1978. I'm not sure if Gene actually sat down to write specifically for this album or if it's just a bunch of songs that he has written over the years that he kept to himself. Whatever the case may be, it's all over the place. Some songs are really bad (Asshole and Whatever Turns You On). And some of the bad songs I hated before actually have grown on me (see Whatever Turns You On). Wtf! I'm pretty sure that it's just a grab bag of songs with the liners notes having co-writters Frank Zappa on Black Tongue and Bob Dylan on Waiting for the Morning Light. 

Just like his 1978 Solo album, the songs are diverse to say the least. On that one he went from one extreme to the other (Radioactive to When You Wish Upon A Star). So, Asshole falls into the same category, only there's more misses than hits. But there are a few really good ones that makes this one above average at best. But I can actually see the rating going up if I keep listening to it. But this is nowhere close to the near perfect '78 album.

Really not sure why he decided to do a cover version of Prodigy's Firestarter.  Lead guitar courtesy of Dave Navarro. Also, Bob Kulick lends a hand on Now That You're Gone. My two favorite songs here without question are Dog with is cool groove and awesome lyrics. How can you go wrong with "You're breaking my balls, you're making me crawl?" That is awesome stuff right there. Love it. Haha. The other song that is really cool is Waiting For The Morning Light. It's nothing like anything you would expect from The Demon. A really cool melody can be found within' this song. :)

Fave Songs: Sweet & Dirty Love, Wating For The Morning Light, Now That You're Gone, If I Had A Gun, 1,000 Dreams. Dog gets the MVP nod for best song here.

Album cover is weak. If you're gonna put chicks on the cover, at least get hot chicks. 

Rating: 3 1/2 Stars out of 5 

Review by Chiprocks1

Asshole Music Videos

Gene Simmons - Firestarter