Review: Bruce Kulick ‘BK3′
As the title implies, BK3 is guitarist Bruce Kulick’s third solo album, and it’s a dramatic step forward for the former KISS/current Grand Funk Railroad member.
Not that there’s anything wrong with either Audio Dog or Transformer, Bruce’s previous solo efforts. Both are very solid representations of his capabilities, but in some ways each of them was constrained by Kulick’s own limitations. I don’t mean that as disparagement; it’s just that each of those albums had more of a tight focus on Kulick’s own strengths, the greatest of which is his guitar playing. There were more instrumental tracks on those albums, and that always tends to limit the commercial appeal of a project to a die-hard community. And on the tracks that had vocals, Kulick performed most of those vocals himself, with sometimes mixed results. His is an emerging voice; Kulick is not a bad singer, but he’s inarguably a much better guitar player and writer.
The strength of BK3 lies in its accessibility and in the diversity of the tracks. This is by far Kulick’s most fully-realized solo effort to date, comparable sonically and in its production to the best of the work he did in KISS or Union. There are a lot of different moods here, from the heavy rock riffs, to melodic pop, to instrumental rock, to what could almost be termed psychedelia/progressive rock. Part of what I really like about this album is that it seems like it might have been pitched on some levels toward an audience that appreciates KISS and Union, but not in an obvious, calculated way; instead, it just seems like the work of an artist who understands what his fans want and knows how to give it to them.
There are some great guest appearances as well, which really help to give the album its depth of character. Kulick’s former KISS band mate Gene Simmons lends his voice to “Ain’t Gonna Die”, and the results are better than most of the music the pair made together in KISS. But the real revelation here is Gene’s son Nick Simmons, making his recording debut on the first single “Hand of the King”. Let’s face it, that could have been a cheesy promotional move, but the track is actually one of the strongest on the album.
Other standouts include “No Friend Of Mine”, sung by former Union vocalist John Corabi; Knack front man Doug Fieger singing “Dirty Girl”; legendary guitarist Steve Lukather going toe-to-toe with Kulick on the instrumental “Between The Lines”; and the album’s final cut “Life”. Sung by Kulick himself, the acoustic-based track is unexpectedly Beatle-esque with its string arrangements and uplifting message. Throw in some sitar and you could almost picture George Harrison playing along. It’s an interesting step outside of the kind of songwriting we expect from Bruce Kulick.
Overall, BK3 is an album that should please fans of Bruce Kulick’s past efforts, and it’s strong enough to warrant a listen from any fan of heavy rock, guitar-driven rock, or even melodic rock. I think some fans who expect this to be a self-indulgent solo outing from a guy who mainly plays guitar in a band will be very surprised by its diversity and quality.
