Swedish metal band Hammerfall recently released a new album only consisting of cover songs. The album is called ”Masterpieces" and among the songs you can find a great version of "Detroit Rock City". Lead guitarist and founding member Oscar Dronjak is known to be a Kiss fan so I had a chat with him regarding Kiss that went something like this:
SO OSCAR, HOW BIG A KISS FAN ARE YOU?
I'm a huge fan! And I am the only real Kiss fan in the band. When I was growing up Kiss meant a lot to me. I had (and still have) Originals 1. And I dreamt of getting hold of Originals 2 but that never happened. I have got all the extras to Originals 1 such as the postcards. It felt so cool to have that when I was a kid.
HOW MANY TIMES HAVE YOU SEEN KISS PERFORM LIVE?
It's a total of three times. The first time was September 16th 1988 at Frölundaborg in Göteborg, Sweden. That was actually my first real concert ever. It was absolutely amazing and I was totally blown away! Me and my friend couldn't even speak afterwards, we were so blown away. We went to a store and bought a Fanta and after that we slowly could start speaking again!
WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE KISS MEMBER?
I have to say Ace. He is the reason I started playing the guitar. It's not like I wanted to be him but he woke my interest for playing the guitar. It's also hard not to have Gene is a favorite, he is so impressive on stage. I have actually done two shows wearing Gene make-up. I also like Vinnie Vincent a lot, he is so underestimated. But overall Ace is my favorite. Without him, I would never have started to play the guitar. Wolf Hoffman of Accept is the ultimate guitar player in my opinion but Ace is so unique and special.
WHICH KISS ALBUM IS YOUR FAVORITE?
That's "Revenge". I have given this a lot of thought and I have come to the conclusion that no Kiss album is better than ”Revenge”. It's so complete all the way from the first song until the last one. The only album that could compete with "Revenge" is "Lick It Up".
WHEN AND WHERE DID YOU RECORD YOUR VERSION OF "DETROIT ROCK CITY"?
We did this in JM Studios in Göteborg while we were doing the pre-production for our "Crimson Thunder" album. This was back in April 2002.
THIS ISN'T THE FIRST TIME THIS SONG IS RELEASED, CORRECT?
That is correct. The first time it was released in 2002 as a bonus track on the American version of "Crimson Thunder". We did ”Detroit Rock City” on the US version, Yngwie Malmsteen's "Rising Force" on the European version and Loudness' "Crazy Nights" on the Japanese version. We recorded all those songs at the same time during the pre-production. The year after our label Nuclear Blast released a Kiss tribute called "Creatures Of The Night" where the song also is featured. But it was as bonus track for "Crimson Thunder" that we recorded the song.
WHY DID YOU CHOSE ”DETROIT ROCK CITY”?
It was actually our drummer Anders Johansson and former bass player Magnus Rosén who suggested this. ”Detroit Rock City” is obviously one of the the classic Kiss songs and it's a bit more metallic than most other Kiss songs. That is something that we thought should suit Hammerfall and I think it did.
SO WHAT IS HAMMERFALL UP TO NOW?
Today (August 11th) we are entering the studio to record our new album. This will be released in February 2009 and the release will be followed by a world tour.
THANKS FOR YOUR TIME OSCAR AND GOOD LUCK WITH THE RECORDING
Thanks!
For more details regarding Hammerfall, check http://www.hammerfall.net/ or www.myspace.com/hammerfall. The "Masterpieces" album can be ordered here:
SO OSCAR, HOW BIG A KISS FAN ARE YOU?
I'm a huge fan! And I am the only real Kiss fan in the band. When I was growing up Kiss meant a lot to me. I had (and still have) Originals 1. And I dreamt of getting hold of Originals 2 but that never happened. I have got all the extras to Originals 1 such as the postcards. It felt so cool to have that when I was a kid.
HOW MANY TIMES HAVE YOU SEEN KISS PERFORM LIVE?
It's a total of three times. The first time was September 16th 1988 at Frölundaborg in Göteborg, Sweden. That was actually my first real concert ever. It was absolutely amazing and I was totally blown away! Me and my friend couldn't even speak afterwards, we were so blown away. We went to a store and bought a Fanta and after that we slowly could start speaking again!
WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE KISS MEMBER?
I have to say Ace. He is the reason I started playing the guitar. It's not like I wanted to be him but he woke my interest for playing the guitar. It's also hard not to have Gene is a favorite, he is so impressive on stage. I have actually done two shows wearing Gene make-up. I also like Vinnie Vincent a lot, he is so underestimated. But overall Ace is my favorite. Without him, I would never have started to play the guitar. Wolf Hoffman of Accept is the ultimate guitar player in my opinion but Ace is so unique and special.
WHICH KISS ALBUM IS YOUR FAVORITE?
That's "Revenge". I have given this a lot of thought and I have come to the conclusion that no Kiss album is better than ”Revenge”. It's so complete all the way from the first song until the last one. The only album that could compete with "Revenge" is "Lick It Up".
WHEN AND WHERE DID YOU RECORD YOUR VERSION OF "DETROIT ROCK CITY"?
We did this in JM Studios in Göteborg while we were doing the pre-production for our "Crimson Thunder" album. This was back in April 2002.
THIS ISN'T THE FIRST TIME THIS SONG IS RELEASED, CORRECT?
That is correct. The first time it was released in 2002 as a bonus track on the American version of "Crimson Thunder". We did ”Detroit Rock City” on the US version, Yngwie Malmsteen's "Rising Force" on the European version and Loudness' "Crazy Nights" on the Japanese version. We recorded all those songs at the same time during the pre-production. The year after our label Nuclear Blast released a Kiss tribute called "Creatures Of The Night" where the song also is featured. But it was as bonus track for "Crimson Thunder" that we recorded the song.
WHY DID YOU CHOSE ”DETROIT ROCK CITY”?
It was actually our drummer Anders Johansson and former bass player Magnus Rosén who suggested this. ”Detroit Rock City” is obviously one of the the classic Kiss songs and it's a bit more metallic than most other Kiss songs. That is something that we thought should suit Hammerfall and I think it did.
SO WHAT IS HAMMERFALL UP TO NOW?
Today (August 11th) we are entering the studio to record our new album. This will be released in February 2009 and the release will be followed by a world tour.
THANKS FOR YOUR TIME OSCAR AND GOOD LUCK WITH THE RECORDING
Thanks!
For more details regarding Hammerfall, check http://www.hammerfall.net/ or www.myspace.com/hammerfall. The "Masterpieces" album can be ordered here:
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