Posted | December 23rd, 2009

LOS ANGELES - If you ever play Six Degrees of Bruce Kulick, the former KISS/current Grand Funk Railroad guitarist’s résumé will keep you happily busy for hours. Having been tapped by artists as diverse as Meat Loaf and Kanye West, the veteran axeman’s boundless creative energy permeates his third solo LP, BK3. In the works for nearly six years and produced by Jeremy Rubolino, BK3 delivers explosive hard rock arrangements and addictive pop melodies that honor both Kulick’s singular past and bright future. And then there’s the jaw-dropping guest list, boasting members of KISS, the Knack, Toto, Mötley Crüe and more.

 “Bruce was to KISS what Ronnie Wood is to the Stones,” says Rocket Science GM & Fanboy Enterprises A&R executive Ken Gullic. “The new guy to one generation, and the long standing stable horse to another.”

 After getting his solo feet wet with 2001’s Audio Dog and 2003’s Transformer, Kulick—the often unheralded driving force on 12 years of classic KISS records, from 1984’s Animalize to 1992’s Revenge—assembled his own rock ‘n’ roll dream team. The roster: KISS icon Gene Simmons and up-and-coming son Nick (each vocally appearing separately), longtime friend John Corabi (Mötley Crüe, Kulick’s own Union), Knack mainman Doug Fieger, Toto axe authoritarian Steve Lukather, Edguy power metal stalwart Tobias Sammet and even current KISS drummer Eric Singer.

“Many albums lack cohesion with different vocalists, but I know that my guitar playing is the glue on BK3,” Kulick says. “There was the clear goal of making absolutely the best record that I could put together. I feel like this is my Revenge.”