KKB – Got To Get Back  
TWENTY4 Records
www.kulick.net

Rating: B

The obvious reason most people who will be interested in this release is that guitarist Bruce Kulick has been a member of a band with the largest rock and roll army in the world. Kiss Kollectors will Kough up Kash for nearly anything, and this writer is willing to bet that many of the KKB copies sold will be to Kiss fans.

That said, if you’re a Kiss fan then this CD might not be for you, unless it is for your Kollection. However, if your musical scope goes wider than guys named “Gene and Paul” and you’re an actual fan of Bruce Kulick, then this one is worth picking up. 

Before becoming a member of Kiss, Bruce Kulick was a guitarist in New York City.  While honing his craft he was heavily influenced by British Rock bands like the Who, the Beatles and Led Zeppelin.  He learned their styles and added a bit of his own as he dreamed of the day he would get his shot at the big stage.

KKB was Kulick’s first band formed in 1974 in Jackson Heights, New York.  Joining Bruce on this venture were his friends Guy Bois on drums and Mike Katz on bass/lead vocals. On September 13, 1974 the band went to Sudden Rush Studios in New York and recorded their first and only album. Sadly, the band never got to play together ‘live’ as all members went their separate ways.

In 2013, Mike Katz found the original tapes from Sudden Rush Studios and contacted Bruce. Kulick and Katz remastered and remixed their, until recently, long, lost music. Inspired by this backwards trip through time, Kulick and Katz created a new song "Got to Get Back." The song was recorded with all three original members in very different locations.  Kulick recorded his parts in Los Angeles, Bois in Paris and Katz in New York City. The song remains true to the spirit of their past work and sounds like its right out of 1974!  It is also the best song on the disc as Bruce’s guitar playing is dead on for the time period; Mike Katz’ vocals are incredible, as well.

Other strong tunes on the disc are "My Baby" which sounds like it could be a song from an early Alice Cooper album. The guitar on this one is out of this world, and the lyrics are incredible too. "Trying to Find a Way" and "You’ve Got a Hold on Me" have some of Bruce’s best guitar tracks. The track "Someday" features a string quartet scored by Jeremy Rubolino, one of Bruce’s longtime collaborators.  The strings give the ballad a unique sound and feel that it could never have had back in 1974.

If you’re lookin’ for some great ‘70s throwback music, then this is more than worthy of a listen.

TRACK LISTING:
1. GOT TO GET BACK
2. I`LL NEVER TAKE YOU BACK
3. MY BABY
4. SOMEDAY
5 TRYING TO FIND A WAY
6. YOU WON`T BE THERE
7. YOU`VE GOT A HOLD ON ME

By James Rozell