Savage Distortion

Sometimes yesterday’s new thing ain't so bad. I consider myself an intermediate end user. I can program some MS visual basic and Access and all the other MS apps, which gives me some high level theoretical, and a little practical hacking expertise, but when it comes to op systems I call my friendly neighborhood geek for that (my next door neighbor). Like alcohol consumption, I think it's good to know your limitations when funking with a computer below the user level. I've lost more data than you can possibly imagine learning the difference between end user and programmer/support (hack) expert.

Buy Chris tons of beer, make sure other libations are available to him while fixes it all, and promise not to tinker below the end user level of the application again. I'm sure Chris and my neighbor could swap war stories about this kind of Tony/Jackson created drama. I can see both of them doing that alarmed, worn out, eye rubbing thing while we pathetically attempt to recreate our actions for them.

Hope you didn't lose any important projects, or less importantly, any of my lame ones...
 

No projects were lost, just some iTunes playlists and mp3's. Our system is not built on illegally obtained/unregistered software, so we were able to do all of the proper installs - a big reason not to use cracked stuff (other than the obvious big reason, namely you'll go to hacker hell, which isn't a pleasant place to be, I'm sure). Of course, you install, then hop over to the web sites to get the updates, but they won't let you install the newest update without the previously newest update, so it can be a complicate little series of events. On the bright side, it's an entirely fresh install of OSX, so maybe that'll make things run a bit smoother.

Some of the plug in authorizations actually survived the meltdown - Autotune knew that it had already been authorized, which is great. I fully expected it would be gone.

Once everything was reconfigured Digital Performer was able to recreate all of the audio routings, and it's back to business. Now I'm starting to drool over the latest DP update - DP4.5 - which has automatic latency compensation. This is very very big, since latency is probably the thing that affects the purity of digitally recorded sound more than anything else (in my opinion, at least).

Fortunately, I lost all my data years ago, so no worries.
 

I have always supplied copious amountss of refreshment, Chris has been well looked after, so it looks like I'll have to buy DP 4.5 as my pennance.
 

Oh yeah, it's 'thingy', Tony, not 'thing', geez, if you can't get the terminology right you'll always be beholden to Watkins and his IT book of spells.
 

I think we can split the cost on 4.5... but you still owe me your soul, and those 4 hours I'll never get back.

As for my refreshments, lets just say I have a vague memory of something with a German name floating around S&M.
 

Jackson, we will be having a session of OS X file management and such. Afterwards you'll be a pro.

-Ken
 

As per my soul, get on line....
 

I hope you didn't lose Jackson's copy of "Wang Dang Sweet Poontang" from Double Live Gonzo Jackson downloaded from Limewire. How will you ever live?
 

That was actually the best part of the whole debacle, that and the KISS songs gettin' flushed.
 

The Kiss songs will be replaced. Oh yes, they will be.

-Ken
 

I just did the spit reaction to Chris's Kiss comment. Wow. Not a Kiss fan. I didn't know any non-Kiss fans existed until now. Maybe my faith in Scientology has kept me niave to the fact that their are people in this world, as hard as it is for me to beleive, that DON'T like Kiss. That can not grasp what is arguably one of the best records ever made, Destroyer (Jackson, this needs debate BTW).

I don't know if I can go on living now...
 

Non-Kiss fans actually abound on this planet, thankfully Ace has agreed to take us to planet Rock any time we like. There are no non-Kiss fans on planet Rock.
 

When I was a youngster I was a huge KISS fan, I even wrote them little fan letters decorated with flowers. My first two records were "Destroyer" and "The Little Drummer Boy" (guess which one got played more...)

I don't really hate 'em, I'm just always shocked when I hear them - they're really not very good! I realize they're not supposed to be, and I certainly appreciate "rock and roll all night" and all that. I remember being in Caldor looking at the 4 solo records with my mom, estimated age maybe 7, and we decided on the Paul Stanley one 'cause it looked the least evil.

My first guitar was white, plastic, and had a KISS sticker covering the entire body. But that doesn't change anything... the music always makes me laugh, which I suppose isn't a bad thing. These guys are/were huge, without being especially good musicians or songwriters, but that's what rock 'n' roll is all about, right?
 

There's your problem, Chris. You got the Paul solo album. If you had gotten Ace's, then all would be right in your world.

Jackson and I have been known to sing certain songs from Ace's solo album on ferris wheels.

-Ken
 

I'm confused about the ferris wheel episode, but I'm not surprised. Kiss wrote great songs, had a great live show, and they had an image to beat all others. Having said that, Peter Criss is one of the worst rock drummers ever, he only beats Meg White on that list. I love Gene's voice, always will, it's so rich and weird, strained but controled. Ace's guitar playing, well, ok, he's not Schenker or Vai or Gilmour, he's Ace. Never the greatest, but distinctive, and very influential. I will always love Kiss, and will always forgive Paul his gayness (oh yeah, real gay), and Peter his poor timekeeping, hey, they raised me, they are like my parents.
 

Weren't we at some fair and singing Ace songs on the ferris wheel? Maybe in Piermont?

G-g-girl....

-Ken
 

With their production team, it's hard to figure what they "wrote" and performed vs. Ezrin, Acoin, et al, but they made a couple of great records. I remember getting the first live album back in 76 and wearing the grooves out of it. By the time I actually got the first three, I was disappointed in the studio versions of the same tunes. Then Destroyer was released and I was totally blown away all over again. Rock N Roll Over was the last Kiss album I bought before moving on, so the solo records weren’t a factor in my listening development. I relied on Jackson to filter the dreck for the good stuff on Love Gun and beyond.

Peter Criss is a deplorable drummer. I too had the same cringing reaction after dusting off my old Kiss records for the first time a decade or so ago, but he manages to get through the records with his standard 4/4 beats and childish fills. Who knows if he's even playing on the Ezrin/Acoin records.

My three favorite Kiss songs of all time in no particular order are:

Detroit Rock City - Simply amazing guitar sounds, tremendous rock vocal. This is a brilliant song. The rest of the album is great, but this is one of the best opening tracks of all time.

Black Diamond (1st live album) - I've seen some video detailing the in studio tidying up that this song under went that disappointed me a great deal, but it still sounds awesome (I hope it was only the vocals). Just a great live and loud song.

Deuce (1st live album) - Like Detroit Rock City, you just can't NOT drop the needle on the opening track of the first live album and not get totally pumped up. "...the hottest band in the land KISS!!!" I remember looking at the album cover and just imagining what that energy must be like standing in front of all those amps. I would have sold my soul to have been at that Cobo Hall show.
 

Ace had Anton Fig on his album.

Didn't Anton also play drums on one or two later albums because Peter Criss broke his arm?

The live albums are indeed awesome, but I think overall Hotter Than Hell is my favorite. When I was about 3 years old, my cousin gave me The Originals, and I must have worn out the grooves playing Parasite over and over again. Rocked my little world. I recently digitized that very album, snaps, crackles, pops, in all their glory.

-Ken
 

THE ORIGINALS!!! Got that for Christmas in 1976. That's how I got ahold of the those first three records. Three disc set, with paper record jackets of the original covers right? Came with a totally badass Kiss Army sticker I think. Man, you're bring back memories now.

I haven't listened to Dressed to Kill, Kiss, or Hotter Than Hell in 15 years or more, but I do remember HTH being on the turntable the most out of the three. My brother and I liked "Think I'm Going Blind" a great deal (I think that's on HTH?).

I remember trading that collection for Led Zep's Presence, and the fourth record in 8th grade. I'd love to have the sticker back.

Jackson,

If you can, please pull down the original three Kiss albums from Limewire so we can give them a listen next time I'm in town now that you have all that disc space available in the iTunes folder:-)
 

Tony, that's exactly it. I still have it, too. Terrible condition, but more sentimental value for me than almost anything I own. I also have the "Second Edition" in much better shape that I got many years later.

Anyway, you're welcome to a copy of the Hotter Than Hell that I digitized. I'll get it to Ted. Kiss is one of those bands I could never listen to without all the static of the vinyl. Parasite would never work.

-Ken
 

The first record has some good songs, Cold Gin, Black Diamond, 100,00 Years, and Duece, but the production is not very Kiss, I forget who did that record, but Eddie Kramer did Hotter Than Hell, and that's my favorite Kiss album next to Alive, which I think we can all agree is the best Kiss record - regardless of how much of it is actually 'live'. 'Going Blind' is my favorite Kiss tune, but 'Watching You' is fairly badass, and of course 'Parasite'.
As songwriters, Kiss always wrote their own, Ezrin helped out on a couple of tracks on 'Destroyer', but Toronto Bob will do that. Bill Aucoin was there manager, and Gene's partner in the merchandising of Kiss, which kinda killed the band in my eyes. As far as I know, Bill never wrote a thing. By the time that they started work on Dynasty, saession drummers were used, and Peter left after the next, and underated album, 'Unmasked'. I recently dug it out, and if you skip 'Shandi' you might find it's not such a bad record. 'Torpedo Girl' is just fantastic. Of course on the next record, 'The Elder', Toronto Bob was back with a monkey on his back, and they (Bob, Gene, and Paul) ignored Ace's pleas to make a 'Rock and Roll' record. so Ace quit, and that was the end of Kiss and the beginning of the Gene Simmons/Paul Stanley band that had so many embarrasing videos in the eighties. I must admit that however misguided 'The Elder' was, I do love it. Gene especially wrote some great melodies, and Lou Reed was a guest writer on that record along with Toronto Bob.