Music: Bruce Kulick: BK3

Our Take

Chances are you may know the name Bruce Kulick, but if you don’t he has been the guitarist for both Kiss and Grand Funk Railroad at various points in time. In addition to working with other groups, Kulick has also maintained a solo career over the years and recently put out his third effort BK3. This album finds him collaborating with all sorts of musicians and vocalists to create a mixture of hard and melodic rock songs. There are definitely tracks that are more memorable than others but Kulick has demonstrated that he is still a great guitar player.

With the exception of the instrumental track “Between the Lines”, Bruce Kulick takes the lead guitar role on every song on BK3 and he takes plenty of time to demonstrate his writing ability. There are some great riffs and solos throughout the course of the album, and although it isn’t that different from what you’ve heard before there are enough hooks to keep listeners interested. The songs tend to range from hard rock to more melodically oriented alternative rock, but occasionally some other genre influences pop up that help to add some variety. Considering that BK3 is more of a collection of tracks rather than a truly cohesive effort, there are songs that really stand out and some that are just okay but overall if you enjoy Kulick’s guitar playing or hard rock music you’ll like what is offered here.

For this album Kulick hooked up with a variety of different singers, including Gene Simmons and his son Nick. This gives each song a very different sound as each vocalist brings his own style to the table and it is quite clear that Bruce’s guitar work can be adapted to fit any pitch. The song that Gene Simmons is on is surprisingly lighter than listeners might be expecting, but it is definitely one of BK3’s highlights. The other vocalists are great as well and it is clear that a lot of thought was put into who would sing on each track (plus the fact that there are some appearances from Tobias Sammat and John Corabi certainly helps).

There is so much hard and alternative rock out there right now that it can be hard to keep track of it all, but the quality riffs and noteworthy guests should give Bruce Kulick an edge over much of the competition. Although there are a few weak songs on the album, it isn’t enough to bring the effort down and listeners will still find a lot to like. He may have been best known as the guitarist for other groups, but with more efforts like this Kulick’s solo career could really take off.

http://www.kulick.net/

Chris Dahlberg
February 11, 2010