KISS - Rock Bottom - listen and critique please

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Greg_L

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A little background info:

This was an online collaboration between a friend of mine in the Netherlands and myself. He's new to recording, and wanted to lay some guitar tracks. We both love old KISS stuff, so we thought we'd give the long-distance collab a try. He did all of the acoustic and electric guitars, and I did the drums, bass, vocals, and final mixdown. He has to record direct, so we were limited with the guitar tones. He also wanted to EQ and control the overall feel of the guitars himself, so I left them alone. So, all guitars are him, and the drums, bass, and vox are me.

I don't sound like Paul Stanley, and can't even come close, so pardon the vocals. ;)

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/songInfo.cfm?bandID=592804&songID=5034961
 
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Yeah, that works!

No doubt, it's faithful to the original, but I'd like to hear the drums/bass a little more slammin'. It kinda sounds like you deferred to the guitars & pushed yourself back in the mix a bit. Also, there was a stark, in-yo-face quality to those early KISS records that this cut nearly achieves, but not quite. That reflects back to my first statement, that I think the bass/drums combo should be pumped up just slightly more in the mix. Not a lot. It's not grossly out of proportion, or anything. Those are very small nitpicks on a really tight production. You sound enough like Paul Stanley to pull it off, perhaps with more fortitude & singing from your gut, (or more makeup & chest hair!!!~kidding). Just a little extra effort would put you over the top on Paul Stanley vocals, [MO]. It's darned authentic as is, though. Great job!

Yeah, man! :eek: ;)

PS: Bear in mind, that my head's probably not in the right space at 8am, either. Heh.
 
Thanks for the input man. I might have subconsciously deferred to his parts a little. He was really excited about doing this, so I wanted him to be happy with it. I personally think the drums sound pretty good where they're at, but I do agree that the bass could probably come up a little more. I didn't want to butt heads with him too much so I let him pretty much decide on many aspects of the song. I did do some things to it that he doesn't know about though. ;)

Vocally, this pretty much put me at my limit. I'm no singer by any means, so I just did the best I could. We probably should have transposed the music about a half-step lower or something so it would fit my range a little better. But whatever. It's just vocals. :p

Thanks for listening and giving feedback. It's much appreciated. :)
 
Guitars sound pretty good....maybe a bit bright. (the intro part...)
When the main part kicks in, it sounds pretty cohesive. I agree with Dave....a little more punch from the drums wouldn't hurt this tune at all. They sound good, just not as loud in comparison to guitars and bass. If you could mix them slightly louder with killing the tune, that would be cool. I hear the snare pretty good, and the cymbals aren't bad, but a little more kick would add more punch to the song.

Nicely done though....vocals are cool. Not Paul, but that's a good thing. One Paul's enough. ;) Sounds like some dudes having fun playing a Kiss tune. :D
 
Needs more:...

Spandex, high heels & explosions!!! :eek: ;)
 
Dogman said:
Guitars sound pretty good....maybe a bit bright. (the intro part...)
When the main part kicks in, it sounds pretty cohesive. I agree with Dave....a little more punch from the drums wouldn't hurt this tune at all. They sound good, just not as loud in comparison to guitars and bass. If you could mix them slightly louder with killing the tune, that would be cool. I hear the snare pretty good, and the cymbals aren't bad, but a little more kick would add more punch to the song.

Nicely done though....vocals are cool. Not Paul, but that's a good thing. One Paul's enough. ;) Sounds like some dudes having fun playing a Kiss tune. :D
Click to expand...
Yeah, one Paul is more than enough. :p

Thanks for the comments dogman. I'll play with it more tonight and see what I come up with.
 
Very cool:D
Sounding nice. Begining does seem a bit bright. After the intro the song seems a little dark to me over all. I dialed 1 to 2 db in centered around 12khz on my board and it was more to my liking, but I think I am the only one saying that :) Sounds nice either way. Snare is very punchy as is to me. I like it ;) Kick doesn't quite keep up with it.

Very true sounding to me,if I can trust my memory :rolleyes:

Cool stuff as always! You sure can peg the Kiss songs :D


Knights In Satans Service!!! :D :eek: ;)

Keep em comming Greg.

F.S.
 
Thanks a lot FS. The intro is definitely 'bright' - almost to the point of painful ear damage - but thats how he EQ'd it and wanted it, so I left it.

I'm definitely a little surprised that yall find the drums - and kick specifically - to be a little weak in the mix. I was afraid all along that it would be too overpowering. But I did post this for input, and I truly appreciate everyones opinion. I'll play with it more tonight and post up a new version.

Thanks yall. :)
 
Drums and vox sound great. Also the gtrs after the drums kick in.
 
Greg_L said:
Thanks a lot FS. The intro is definitely 'bright' - almost to the point of painful ear damage - but thats how he EQ'd it and wanted it, so I left it.

I'm definitely a little surprised that yall find the drums - and kick specifically - to be a little weak in the mix. I was afraid all along that it would be too overpowering. But I did post this for input, and I truly appreciate everyones opinion. I'll play with it more tonight and post up a new version.

Thanks yall. :)
Click to expand...

Well if you're going for the kiss sound in detail, I wouldn't touch the kick.
It's certainly there.

F.S.
 
Greg - don't know the song so I can't compare much.

The mix is pretty bright on the intro, that's been said.

The bass seems "mushy" sounding to me. It holds the bottom real nice but I'd like to hear some definition. Maybe it's clashing with the kick a bit. Again, I'm not familiar with the orig, so it could be fine, just my take on it.

Guitars after the intro are nice and rockin'

The performance throughout is perfecto mundo....

I'll check out the remix too later.....

:) :D :) :D
 
sounds good here. i haven't listened to much KISS so i don't know what the original sounds like. all the playing sounds nice an tight, vocals work well with the tune. good job man.
 
Yeah the intro guitar is a bit strident. Not familiar with this Kiss number, but it all comes together when the drums kick in. The rythym guitars sound pretty good for direct. Drums are a good level, don't think you'd want them any louder. Your Paul Stanley is very creditable too.
 
Thanks for listening Travis and Bulls Hit. I appreciate the feedback.

Worked with it a little last night. Should have a new mix up later.
 
Yo!

That was much smoother and cohesive mix than before. Thanx!! :eek: ;)
 
Was that the whole song, or just a clip?

Or am I just trippin??? :eek: :eek: :eek: ;)
 
Lol. Thanks guys.

Dave, I don't know what you mean, but the whole song should play.
 
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