Gene Simmons here. You might think you know all about me, but believe or not there’s more…
After years of being in the spotlight with KISS, I’ve decided it’s time to share another side with you, a more personal one. With The Vault, I’ve created a 50-year time capsule, a soundtrack to my life, filled with songs I’ve written, but have never been able to share until now. That’s 150 songs that I’ve kept tucked away, waiting for the right moment, tracks with artists like Bob Dylan, Eddie and Alex Van Halen, Joe Perry and of course, my bandmates from KISS. As an obsessive music fan and collector myself, I’ve packed The Vault with exclusive mementos created just for The Vault – a new Gene action figure, an “In Gene We Trust” oversized commemorative coin, a deluxe 160-page book with dozens of unseen photos from my personal collection and track-by-track commentary on every song included — and a one-of-a-kind gift from my very own archive.
With The Vault, I’m inviting you and guest to join me on a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I will personally hand you your very own Vault in your area and we’ll take a deeper look at the unheard and unseen side of my legacy. http://ticket.warnermusic.com/events/25912
Hopefully someone will up load them somewhere so we can all check them out.,..
It sucks that he’s charging so much for the box set… It would be interesting to hear, but I doubt it will be that good. His solo stuff wasn’t great, that’s for sure./..
I also heard a rumor that he might make some kind of documentary type thing and include footage of people who buy it. Nice incentive but $2,000 – Geez!!!
Gene Simmons Recalls Recording Demos With Van Halen Brothers Martin Kielty Tue Oct 31 2017 08:46
Gene Simmons recalled how he wound up recording three demo tracks with Van Halen brothers Eddie and Alex during an overnight studio session in 1977.
He talks about the session in a new video, which includes “Christine Sixteen” demo as backing. The rough recordings of that future Kiss track, along with “Tunnel of Love” and “Got Love for Sale,” are included in the new Gene Simmons Vault collection. You can watch the clip above.
“In the middle of the night, I wanted to go in and record the three songs that I’d written,” Simmons said. “I called up Edward — he likes to be called ‘Edward’ — ‘You guys want to help me put this demo together?’ ‘Sure!’ And literally in the middle of the night, the Van Halen brothers came down, and it was a trio, the Van Halen brothers and Simmons. I guess the only time that’s ever happened. We recorded those three songs in about two hours … and the solo Eddie played on CS was so wonderful that I, unfortunately for Ace [Frehley], forced him to play note-for-note that solo.”
Simmons played a significant role in establishing Van Halen. “The band has obviously gone on to do well,” he noted.
In a section of sleeve notes shown in the video, Simmons explained that the inspiration for “Christine Sixteen” came from the kind of “brotherly kidding and kibitzing” he carried out with bandmate Paul Stanley. “Paul would say, ‘Gene, all you ever write about are monster songs. Like ‘God of Thunder,’” he recalled. “And of course, he went home and wrote that song, as a semi-parody of a Gene song. Ironically, I wound up singing it, because our then producer Bob Ezrin said he couldn’t envision [Paul] singing those words convincingly. And I countered, ‘Oh yeah, all you ever write are teenage girlie songs like ‘Christine Sixteen.” And as soon as I heard myself say that, I quickly wrote it.”
