Apr 292022
 
coheed and cambria love gun

“Love Gun,” the title track to KISS’ 6th album, is not one of their bigger hits but is regarded by lead singer Paul Stanley as one of their signature songs. Like most of KISS’ repertoire, it’s fairly straightforward arena rock with lyrics that don’t leave much to the imagination. But it features a fun, scale-climbing solo by Ace Frehley, some bolero-esque breaks and the bass part practically dances.

Contemporary progressive rock legends Coheed and Cambria are known for their fusion of progressive rock musicianship and ambition with influences from post-hardcore, metal and pop, among other things. They are also known for having a little fun with acoustic versions of their songs.

For their new cover of “Love Gun,” Coheed and Cambria slow things down considerably. And they take inspiration from the original’s funky bass, leaning into the groove a lot more. Lead singer Claudio Sanchez takes the lyrics completely seriously and sings them quite soulfully. Though performed on acoustic instruments (and without a proper drum kit), there are some studio touches with a vocal echo and some amplification on one of the guitars. They threaten to break out for the solo, but it never happens.

The result is a sincere kind of acoustic soul cover of a sexed-up arena rock song that feels like a rethinking of the song – with more in common with the original song’s inspiration (Albert King’s “The Hunter”) than with ’70s arena rock. Check it out below:

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