Borrowing the title from
Lou Reed's classic 1972 solo set, ex-
Kiss guitarist
Bruce Kulick issued his sophomore solo set,
Transformer, in 2004. And while his solo debut, 2001's
Audio Dog, was extremely
Kiss-like in sound and approach,
Kulick stretches out far more the second time around, as several of his influences can certainly be detected throughout --
Van Halen in the album opening "Jump the Shark" (whose title comes from a popular website),
the Beatles in "If Love's the Answer," and
Jimi Hendrix in "Inn of the Mountain Gods." Elsewhere, the melodic "Truth or Dare" sounds quite
Foo Fighters-esque, while "Against the Grain" shows that
Kulick is just as adept on the acoustic guitar as he is on the electric. A solid follow-up to his debut, and further proof that perhaps
Gene Simmons and
Paul Stanley should have let
Kulick contribute a bit more in the songwriting department circa
Kiss' 1984-1996 era.