Bruce Kulick - BK3 (2010)
Bruce Kulick, ex-guitarist of KISS from 1984 to 1996 and current member of Grand Funk, gives us his third work as a soloist, BK3, a record that I find very varied: it has very rocking songs, others half “grunge”, eighties, ballads, half times, and an instrumental theme.
An outstanding feature of this record is the participation of guest musicians, such as John Corabi (Mötley Crue and Union), Gene Simmons and his son Nick, Toto’s guitarist Steve Lukather, the great Tobias Sammet of Edguy and Avantasia, Eric Singer (current drummer of KISS), and the recently deceased Doug Fieger (The Knack).
Being a varied disc, it takes you through a series of musical styles that Bruce knows how to handle very well in most cases, leaving his excellent guitar stamp on each of them, from "No Friend of Mine" much like Union, and the best of the disc, "Hand of the King", or "I'm The Animal" the heaviest.
It even approaches the rock of the eighties with "Dirty Girl", and not forgetting the “KISS” style very far, like Carnival of Souls, for example, in "Is not Gonna Die" the album also has the luxury of incorporating flutes and violins in one of his songs. Not a disc you can say that is spectacular, but I think that is his best solo delivery over "Audiodog" (2001) and "Transformer" (2003).
It is a serious and well worked disc in all its aspects, and is very noticeable the compositional maturity reached by Kulick. A disc that can be heard easily; it has its ups and downs, but surely all lovers of good rock are going to enjoy it much at certain times.
Recommended songs: No Friend of Mine, Hand of the King, Final Mile, Between The Lines, Life.
Tracklist:
01. Fate
02. Ain't Gonna Die (featuring Gene Simmons)
03. No Friend Of Mine (featuring John Corabi)
04. Hand of the King (featuring Nick Simmons)
05. I'll Survive
06. Dirty Girl (featuring Doug Fieger)
07. Final Mile
08. I'm The Animal (featuring Tobias Sammet & Eric Singer)
09. And I Know
10. Between The Lines (featuring Steve Lukather)
11. Life