KISS was on the American TV show “Late Show With David Letterman” to promote their new album (Click here to read my post about their album).
I haven’t seen the David Letterman show (or any other American TV show) in many years…but thanks to YouTube, I was able to find out about this and watch it!
Here it is:
In my previous post, I wrote about the new KISS album that will be released in the U.S. on October 6.
According to KISS Online, their upcoming album (titled “Sonic Boom) will be released in the U.S. on October 6…and available exclusively at Wal-Mart.
What does that mean? Regular record stores in the U.S. aren’t going to sell it? It’ll only be sold at one chain of stores?
I’ve never heard of something like that before. Has that become common in America? Why?
In Japan, record stores are still common. I’m sure the new KISS album will be available in every record (CD) store across Japan once it’s released here.
Speaking of which, I wonder when the album will be released in Japan? And when KISS will bring the Sonic Boom Tour to Japan.
Anyways, the album cover artwork for “Sonic Boom” was designed by Michael Doret.
KISS "Sonic Boom" album cover
Michael Doret designed the iconic cover for the KISS album “Rock And Roll Over” back in 1976 and he was asked by Paul Stanley to design their new album cover, too.
KISS "Rock And Roll Over" album cover (1976)
Last April, Michael Doret did an interview with me (Click here)…
and today he did another interview with me!
Click here to read it.
I would describe my design for “Sonic Boom” as “Rock and Roll Over” turned inside out.
— Michael Doret
As I mentioned last month, KISS is scheduled to finally release a new album soon. (Click here to see that post).
Well, according to the “Heavy Metal Addiction” website, the rumors are true.
KISS have announced that the name of the new album is “Sonic Boom” and it will be released in the U.S. on 2009 October 6 (the date that it will be released in Japan hasn’t been announced yet).
It will contain two CDs and a DVD of a live show. One of the CDs will be the songs from the Japan-only release 「地獄列伝」 (“Hell’s Biography“).
KISS Japan-only release 「地獄列伝」
And the other CD will contain eleven new songs. The new song titles will be:
I have been a fan of the band KISS since I was about eight years old in the late 1970s (at the height of KISS‘s popularity in America).
I have a number of KISS-related posts on this site. For example, click here to see one that gets many visitors (I wrote it in 2008 August, and it still gets alot of hits.)
KISS has recently announced that their first studio album since their 1998 “Psycho Circus” album will be released this Autumn (2009).
KISS is getting old. Founding members Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley were in their late-forties when they released their last album eleven years ago, already a bit old for a rock ‘n roll band…but now they’re both almost 60!
Although KISS is notorious for over-commercializing their brand by putting the KISS logo on anything and everything (they sell KISS notebooks, KISS golf equipment, KISS dolls, KISS comics, KISS condoms, even a KISS funeral casket and much, much more!), and KISS bassist Gene Simmons is infamous for behaving like a “dirty old man” (when he was young and single, it was acceptable for him to flirt with young women. But now that he’s old and has a family…he just embarrasses himself).
But, regardless, I’m still a KISS fan. And I’ll be buying the new KISS album when it’s released in Japan (there are about 40 albums in the KISS catalog so far, and I have them all (I have some of them on LP record, cassette tape and CD!)).
I will also see them in concert again if they include dates in Japan on the tour to promote this new album.
KISS has also announced the titles of three songs that will be included on their new album (the album has yet to be titled).
The song titles are:
“Russian Roulette“, “Modern Day Delilah“, and “Stand“.
It was also announced by KISS that on the new album, lead guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer will sing lead vocals on a song each.
This is interesting to a KISS fan because the current line-up of KISS is: bassist Gene Simmons, rhythm guitarist Paul Stanley, lead guitaris Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer…of which, only Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley have ever sung lead vocals.
Current KISS line-up
Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley are founding KISS members…but the lead guitarist and drummer position in the band has changed members a number of times (there have five different lead guitarists and three different drummers in KISS). All of the original KISS members have sung lead vocals on various songs…but of the replacement members, only Bruce Kulick and Eric Carr have been allowed to sing lead (one song and two, respectively). Vinnie Vincent and Mark St. John never sang on a KISS album.
Anyways, I’m looking forward to hearing the new KISS album (and seeing the artwork)!
Have you ever owned a KISS album? Which one? Have you ever seen one of their amazing concerts? Which tour?
What’s your favorite KISS song?
Yesterday, my second daughter’s class took a field trip to 鎌倉 (Kamakura).
鎌倉 (Kamakura) is a city about 90-minutes south of Tokyo. It was the capital of Japan at one time, and it’s an old 下町 (traditional-style town).
鎌倉 (Kamakura) is most famous for the 大仏 (“Great Buddah” statue) that is there.
大仏 (Great Buddah)
Unfortunately, it rained all day yesterday, so my daughter’s field-trip wasn’t as good as it could have been.
We have been to 鎌倉 (Kamakura) as a family many times…Click here to see a post I wrote about a trip we took there last April (with photos of 流鏑馬 (Horseback Archery).
My daughter took the photo above of 大仏 (“Great Buddah“), and these photos:
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Today was my youngest daughter’s 学校公開 (Open School / “Parents Day”). Which is the day that parents can come watch their kids classes.
I watched my daughter’s Cooking Class. The class was right before lunch…they prepared a traditional Japanese meal and ate it for lunch.
They did a good job! 美味しそう! (It looked delicious!)
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In about 1992, a store that I liked opened in Tokyo.
It was called the “Rock ‘N’ Roll Museum“.
The store had sections devoted to The Beatles, The Stray Cats, Elvis, The Rolling Stones, Guns ‘N Roses…and KISS (which is why I liked it!).
The store had a large statue of Elvis Presley out front. (Supposedly many Elvis fans contributed to the cost of erecting the statue…including American rock star Jon Bon-Jovi and former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi!)
I am using the past-tense when I refer to the store in this post because I just found out that after being open all these years…the “Rock ‘N’ Roll Museum” closed down about two-weeks ago.
This is right after another landmark store in Tokyo closed recently (Click here).
The last time I went to the “Rock ‘N’ Roll Museum” was on November 2, 2008. I mentioned it in a post (with a photo)…click here to see it.
Canon, the Japanese camera company has a camera called “Kiss“.
They used to have TV and print ads that featured kids dressed in make-up similar to that of the American rock band KISS.
I have a few of the ちらし (flyers), of course.
I didn’t know that the Canon “Kiss” camera is called different names in different countries until I read it on bartman905‘s blog.
I shouldn’t be surprised though. I know American movies often have different titles in Japan, and sometimes Japanese products have different names in America…for example, the Nissan “Fairlady” car is called the Nissan “300ZX” in the U.S.
Anyways, here’s the TV commercial for the Canon “Kiss” camera that used to be on TV here in Japan all the time:
Here’s another one:
And another:
Another TV commercial I remember well was about ten years ago for the 日経エンタテインメント (Nikkei Entertainment magazine):
That one was filmed at a real Anna Miller’s cake shop in Tokyo. The shop stayed open for business during the filming…so the customers were shocked when they walked in the shop and KISS was sitting at a table filming a TV commercial. I wish I went by there that day!
I remember all of these commercials well.
The Japanese toy company Medicom makes Kubrick and Be@rbrick figures in the likeness of famous pop-culture characters.
Click here to see my post about the Star Wars Be@rbrick figures.
Well, thanks to Eric In Sendai that I found out about the KISS Kubrick figures.
When I looked at the Medicom Toy website (click here to visit it), I found that they have KISS Be@rbrick figures, as well:
The Be@rbrick figures can be bought at the Love Gun KISS goods store in Tokyo. (I have been to that store a number of times).
I won’t be buying the KISS Kubrick figures nor the Be@rbrick ones. They’re expensive.
As I’ve mentioned a few times on this blog (for example: here and here), I’m a big fan of the American rock band KISS.
(By the way, I wrote a post about the Japanese KISS-related movie called Detroit Metal City (click here) last August and it’s still the most popular post on my blog!)
Well, I just found out that a new KISS パチンコ (pachinko) machine has debuted here in Japan.
パチンコ (pachinko) is a Japanese game that can be compared to a vertical pinball machine…with many small balls played simultaneously rather than just one larger ball. And unlike pinball, the object is to get the balls into certain holes at the right time. And, unlike pinball, パチンコ (pachinko) can also be compared to a slot machine in that there’s a payout…albeit the jackpot is more BB balls rather than money (due to anti-gambling laws), but the balls are exchanged for prizes (and then “sold” for money). It’s a loophole in the law, and the only reason for the popularity of パチンコ(pachinko).
I’ve already written a post about パチンコ (pachinko)…(click here to see it).
I’ve played パチンコ (pachinko) a few times…I’m not a big fan of the game—especially since I usually lose and the parlors are noisy and smokey from all the smokers (but recently, many パチンコ (pachinko) parlors have begun enforcing “No Smoking” rules to lure more customers)—but if I happen to see a parlor advertising that they have the new KISS パチンコ (pachinko) machine, I may go inside and try it out! Just because it’s KISS.
Wanna see the website for the KISS パチンコ (pachinko) machine? It’s in 日本語 (Japanese)…but it has a cool Flash® intro.
Click here to visit the KISS パチンコ (pachinko) website.
パチンコ (pachinko) machines, like pinball machines, usually have a theme…and it’s often something from pop-culture. Usually it’s Japanese pop-culture…but sometimes, like the KISS パチンコ (pachinko) machine, it’s from Western culture.
Another example (that may interest a friend of mine whose a big Star Wars fan), is the fairly new Darth Vader パチンコ (pachinko) machine.
I guess the machine’s full name is 「Fever STAR WARS ダース・ベイダー降臨」 (“Fever STAR WARS: Darth Vader’s Arrival“).
It has a 日本語 (Japanese) website with a Flash® intro, too. Click here to see it.
Do you know the Japanese heavy metal band “Loudness“?
They were the first Japanese heavy metal band to become popular in America (followed by Japanese bands like EZO). For their U.S. label, they released about five albums in English (including one (“Soldier Of Fortune“) with an American singer named Mike Vescera (because the original singer was fired in the late 1980s…then rehired)…but in Japan, they’ve released many Japanese albums.
I saw Loudness in concert in America around 1987 for their “Hurricane Eyes” tour. (And I also saw the the lead vocalist, 二井原実 (Minoru NIIHARA) singing for the band Ded Chaplin at a concert in Tokyo). Loudness hasn’t been popular in America since the late 1980s (and probably most Americans don’t even know the band…unless they were a heavy metal fan in the ’80s).
But Loudness has released many albums in Japan and have put on concert tours here (in Japan)…until as recently as last October.
Recently, tragedy has struck Loudness. Last April, the drummer of the band, 樋口宗孝 (Munetaka HIGUCHI ), was diagnosed with liver cancer.
Well, he died last Sunday morning (November 30, 2008) about one month before his 50th birthday.
樋口宗孝 (Munetaka HIGUCHI ), R.I.P., December 24, 1958 – November 30, 2008.
(BTW, another great rock drummer died of cancer in his forties around this time seventeen years ago: Eric Carr, drummer of the American rock band KISS from 1980 -1991, died of heart cancer on November 24, 1991 at the age of 41).
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