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Most will know Bruce Kulick from his Kiss days, but the started in the late 70's in Meat Loaf's Bat Out Of Hell tour. In the mid-90's he founded Union and in 2001 he joined Grand Funk Railroad. This is his 3rd solo album after Audio Dog in 2001 and Transformer in 2003.
Quite heavy Bruce Kulick kicks off with Fate. The up-tempo rock is a good way to start, coz it's just fun to listen to. Cool solo! But it might mislead you, as it's the heaviest track on BK3! For Ain't Gonna Die he slows down a bit, a mid-tempo rocker where he got joined by his former band mate Gene Simmons. At Friend Of Mine he reunites with John Corabi and together they present an balladesque rocker. The guitar is a bit 80's-like, but shows that Corabi / Kulick were a good union. The rock ballad I'll Survive isn't bad, quite decent tune, but it lacks the special something... Even if I like the Southern Rock elements the guitar adds. For Dirty Girl he got The Knack singer Doug Fieger and they leave the balladesque sounds behind. The riff-based rocker should get some airing on rock radio... Cool riffing, but as soon as the vocals join in it's too polished in my opinion. The melancholy rocker Final Mile is another decent one, but I miss the expressiveness when it comes to the vocals... A bit heavier is I'm The Animal with drummer Eric Singer and on vocals Edguy's Tobias Sammet, a dirty rocker with a dash of Def Leppard... More AOR-based is And I Know ... The song sounds familiar, but I can't fathom it... Actually I would have expected Steve Lukather to join on this song, but he adds his distinguish guitar play at Between The Lines. A very interesting instrumental which has a modern rock touch and due to the lack of vocals give the guitarists enough space to shine! One of my highlights on BK3 and I would like to hear more stuff like that! The last tune is Life, a slow balladesque tune. And again I miss emotional vocals which would make the song shine... As a bonus track you get Skydome which was released in 2001 and is taken from Audio Dog. At the bonus track Kulick shows off his skills.
Fans of Bruce Kulick won't be disappointed, other should check out some stuff at his MySpace. No doubt he's a fantastic guitarist and a good song writer, but it seems to me that the heavier stuff works out better as well as the tunes where he has a guest singer. So I hope that next time he decides to do a heavy rock album with a great voice or an instrumental album with tunes like Between The Lines. Or surprises us with something new...
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