Gene Simmons Albums (2)
'Speaking in Tongues'
Release Date 9/28/2004
Tracks 1
Label Sanctuary
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
The scattershot gospel according to Gene Simmons is laid out on Speaking in Tongues, a lecture on life by the demon, caught on disc. In an attempt to come off as the Will Rogers of heavy metal, Simmons gives plenty of quips, but it's really nothing you haven't heard from the world of standup comedy (he tests the mic with "Testicle, one, two, three..." for crying out loud). Whether you look at him as the messiah of hedonism or the most misguided jerk in music today, Speaking in Tongues is more entertaining for both sides than anything the man has done with a bass for the past decade or so. Depending on your viewpoint, his stern confidence is either stately or ridiculous, but his jokes are funny or at least outrageous. Kiss Kondoms and Kiss Kaskets are the proof Gene's gonna get your money "comin' and goin'." The cute and feather-haired Australian audience eats it up. He announces the Gene Simmons clothing line (racks and racks of black shirts and white ties!) and plugs his magazine, but he barely talks about Kiss with anything but revisionist history or dreamy nostalgia. He claims to be amazed at all the fame and fortune, but no humility comes out, none at all. He's "take it or leave it" and itching to offend, so take that into consideration. The only thing else you need to know is that the one-track, can't-skip-ahead format of the disc is annoying, and the sound effects that pepper the lecture don't always make sense, as if they were dumped direct from the video without their visual cues. Now, when Paul Stanley gets around to doing these lecture thingies, that's gonna be delicious. ~ David Jeffries, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
"Sweet & Dirty Love," the rocking kickoff to ***HOLE, could be one of the lesser tracks on Kiss' Double Platinum. It rocks, it's simple, it's what Gene Simmons is best at, but it doesn't hint at the album to follow. The can't-believe-it's-so-faithful-to-the-original cover of Prodigy's "Firestarter" is the first clue that the album is overly indulgent, but its sampling/composition credit means that the Breeders' Kim Deal will receive royalty checks, and that's brilliant in anyone's book. That's the thing about ***HOLE: you don't listen and engage with it as much as sit back and marvel at it, as in "how does he get away with it, and on such a grand scale?" There are plenty of epic ballads in the style of the Beatles, freakish rockers with provocative lyrics, and an oddball set of guest stars. Believe it or not, Bob Dylan sat with the Demon and co-wrote the very plain "Waiting for the Morning Light." That tops the bit of trivia that Lou Reed once co-wrote with Simmons, but it doesn't outfreak the fact that "Black Tongue"'s writers' credit reads Simmons/Zappa (that the fabulous, glittery photographer David LaChapelle was hired for the cover is freakout number three). Why Gail Zappa handed over some old tapes of Frank to Simmons is anyone's guess, but he builds an almost worthy rocker around the bit of Frank-on-tape, and the Zappa kids seem to be having a lot of fun singing backup. It's almost infectious, but more so is the singalong title track, even better on the edited version of the album since all the naughty "A" words get replaced with a ridiculous sheep bleat. "Whatever Turns You On (Turns Me On)" is the other singalong, but this time it's groovy with a near jam band feel. Former playmate Shannon Tweed and her family are in the chorus just to make it extra freaky. ~ David Jeffries, All Music Guide
