A live performance that really draws you in…
Released on 14 July 2017 by AFM Records and reviewed by Stephen Brophy
Celebrating their 10th Anniversary at a sold out show in their home town, Germany’s Kissin’ Dynamite are releasing a live DVD/Double Album and Blu-Ray/Double Album of that particular show, containing a total of 25 tracks from those first 10 years. Hard to believe that these guys are still in their 20’s, a very talented bunch.
The band plays hard rock with a really nice edge to it. Sometimes you can be a bit sceptical of any band that has had success in their own country but maybe not so well known in this part of Europe. But that should never sway opinion on a band, take a listen to their output and just go with it. These guys know how to kick some serious ass.
When you have a release like this for me there’s no need for an ‘Intro’ track, it rarely serves a purpose, the crowd can be heard anywhere on a track, the set Intro itself doesn’t need to be redone on the album, but it’s a really small quibble. The music here is good enough that you just want to get stuck into it. A testament to any live recording is that you feel it was a hell of a show and you wish you had been in attendance, or if you were there that it’s a great representation of that night and floods your mind with brilliant memories, and this album certainly does that. Even without the DVD, the CDs paint a vivid picture.
Songs of the calibre of ‘If Clocks Were Running Backwards’, which has a really strong AlterBridge feel to it, are just top notch. There’s a nice mix in the set between rockers, anthems and beautifully crafted slower songs. The real opening track ‘Generation Goodbye’, the title track from the latest studio album released last year, is a bombastic rocker, and what you get from most of this album is the engagement with the crowd and their enthusiasm for the band and their music. This is powerful stuff. Other highlights would include ‘Money, Sex & Power’, from their 2012 album of the same name, the haunting beauty of ‘Only The Good Die Young’ which showcases their ability to switch between styles, and ‘Supersonic Killer’ which is a bloody beast of a song, yes there’s a touch of Priest in a number of tracks, but damn, with the energy they bring, that’s no problem. The closer ‘Flying Colours’ also rocks along and you can almost visualise the sea of arms in the air right through it.
The variety in how they put together their set is terrific, it ebbs and flows beautifully. The band are as tight as it gets and although I’d heard of them before it is a shame that further investigation wasn’t made. Fast aggressive riffs and powerful vocals, if they haven’t appeared on your radar to date, get listening to Kissin’ Dynamite. This is music that brings joy to your face, makes your head move and fists pump in the air. Last December, Stuggart certainly had a roof blown off a venue, and these guys are now most certainly on the ‘to see’ list.
Track list:
- Intro
- Generation Goodbye
- Money, Sex & Power
- DNA
- Highlight Zone
- Running Free
- Love Me Hate Me
- If Clocks Were Running Backwards
- She’s A Killer
- Deadly
- She Came She Saw
- Somebody To Hate
- Operation Supernova
- Only The Good Die Young
- Out In The Rain
- Against The World
- Masterpiece
- Supersonic Killer
- Sex Is War
- Hashtag Your Life
- Steel Of Swabia
- Ticket To Paradise
- Six Feet Under
- I Will Be King
- Flying Colours
