God of Thunder (song)
Encyclopedia
"God of Thunder" is a heavy metal
song by the group Kiss
from their album Destroyer. The song has also been featured on many of Kiss's live albums, including an up-tempo version on Alive II
. Many various sound effects were used to make the song including explosions, clapping, zippers, overdubbed audience chatter and screaming children. Even though the song was written by Paul Stanley, who had every intention of singing it for Destroyer, Bob Ezrin, the producer, suggested slowing down the tempo and handing the lead vocals over to Gene Simmons
. The song was and is Simmons's "theme song" for the band. It was often performed live with blood-spitting, a bass solo, and a portion of the song being performed by Simmons on a high-rise above the audience. The song is not played today as it was replaced by "I Love It Loud
" in 2008. During the Alive 35 tour, however, it was played in Athens, Greece. It was also put back in the setlist on the second leg of "The Hottest show on Earth tour" starting in Everett,WA.The kid in the recording of God of Thunder is Bob Ezrin's son, David.
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
song by the group Kiss
KISS (band)
Kiss is an American rock band formed in New York City in January 1973. Well-known for its members' face paint and flamboyant stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid to late 1970s on the basis of their elaborate live performances, which featured fire breathing, blood spitting,...
from their album Destroyer. The song has also been featured on many of Kiss's live albums, including an up-tempo version on Alive II
Alive II
Alive II is a 1977 live album from Kiss. It is the group's eighth album and second live album.-The songs:The origins of Alive II go back to early 1977 when the band's manager, Bill Aucoin, had the idea to have Eddie Kramer record a live album during the evening show at Budokan Hall in Tokyo on...
. Many various sound effects were used to make the song including explosions, clapping, zippers, overdubbed audience chatter and screaming children. Even though the song was written by Paul Stanley, who had every intention of singing it for Destroyer, Bob Ezrin, the producer, suggested slowing down the tempo and handing the lead vocals over to Gene Simmons
Gene Simmons
Gene Simmons is an Israeli-American entrepreneur, singer-songwriter, actor, and rock bassist. Known as "The Demon", he is the bassist/vocalist of Kiss, a hard rock band he co-founded in the early 1970s.-Early life:...
. The song was and is Simmons's "theme song" for the band. It was often performed live with blood-spitting, a bass solo, and a portion of the song being performed by Simmons on a high-rise above the audience. The song is not played today as it was replaced by "I Love It Loud
I Love It Loud
"I Love It Loud" is a song by the American rock band Kiss, released on their 1982 album Creatures of the Night. The song was written by bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons and guitarist Vincent Cusano, although some versions of the album mistakenly credit the song as written by Paul Stanley and Cusano...
" in 2008. During the Alive 35 tour, however, it was played in Athens, Greece. It was also put back in the setlist on the second leg of "The Hottest show on Earth tour" starting in Everett,WA.The kid in the recording of God of Thunder is Bob Ezrin's son, David.
Song releases
- Original studio version on Destroyer
- Live version on Alive IIAlive IIAlive II is a 1977 live album from Kiss. It is the group's eighth album and second live album.-The songs:The origins of Alive II go back to early 1977 when the band's manager, Bill Aucoin, had the idea to have Eddie Kramer record a live album during the evening show at Budokan Hall in Tokyo on...
- Live version on GoldGold (KISS album)Gold is a 2005 greatest hits collection from hard rock band Kiss. This two-disc set covers the band's recordings from 1974 to 1982. All tracks are previously available.-Track listing:Disc 1:#"Strutter"...
- Alternate studio version on Kiss Killers
- Alternate live version on Kiss Symphony: Alive IVKISS Symphony: Alive IVKiss Symphony: Alive IV is a 2003 live album from Kiss performing with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra . The arrangements were made by David Campbell, who also conducted the MSO. It is the group's fourth album in the Alive series and first release under Kiss Records and Sanctuary Records...
- Remastered version on Double PlatinumDouble Platinum (album)Double Platinum is the first greatest hits album by the American hard rock band Kiss.Many of the songs on Double Platinum were remixed and significantly differ from their original versions...
- Another live version on Kiss Alive! 1975-2000Kiss Alive! 1975-2000Kiss Alive! 1975–2000 is a collection of live recordings from American hard rock band Kiss. It was released by Universal Music on November 21, 2006....
(Best Buy exclusive track) - Original demo version sung by Paul Stanley on The Box Set
Personnel
- Gene SimmonsGene SimmonsGene Simmons is an Israeli-American entrepreneur, singer-songwriter, actor, and rock bassist. Known as "The Demon", he is the bassist/vocalist of Kiss, a hard rock band he co-founded in the early 1970s.-Early life:...
- lead vocals/bass guitar - Ace FrehleyAce FrehleyPaul Daniel "Ace" Frehley is an American musician best known as the lead guitarist of the rock band Kiss. He took on the persona of the "Spaceman" or "Space Ace" when the band adopted costumes and theatrics...
- lead guitar/backing vocals - Paul StanleyPaul StanleyStanley Harvey Eisen , better known by his stage name Paul Stanley, is an American hard rock guitarist, singer, musician, painter and songwriter best known for being the rhythm guitarist and primary lead vocalist of the rock band Kiss. He is the writer or co-writer of many of the band's...
- rhythm guitar/backing vocals - Peter CrissPeter CrissGeorge Peter John Criscuola , better known as Peter Criss, is an American drummer and singer, best known as the original drummer for the rock band Kiss...
- drums
- David and Josh Ezrin - voices
Cover versions and appearances
- Death released a cover of the song as a bonus track on the Japanese version of their 1991 album Human .
- The American doom metalDoom metalDoom metal is an extreme form of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other metal genres...
band Rigor SardonicousRigor SardonicousRigor Sardonicous is an American death inspired doom metal band from Long Island, New York. Coined as "raw, apocalyptic doom", Rigor Sardonicous is one of the earliest American doom metal bands that are still active today among Novembers Doom and Evoken...
released a cover of the song on their album Risus Ex MortuusRisus Ex MortuusRisus Ex Moruus is an album by the US doom metal band Rigor Sardonicous. It was released in 1994 and then re-recorded by the band and re-released in 2006 by a Russian label Endless Desperation.-Track listing:# "Prooemium" – 2:04...
. - White ZombieWhite ZombieWhite Zombie was a Grammy Award-nominated American heavy metal band. Based in New York City, White Zombie was originally a noise rock band. White Zombie are better-known for their later heavy metal-oriented sound...
released a cover of the song as a vinyl-only single in 1989, entitled God of Thunder. - The Swedish death metalDeath metalDeath metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It typically employs heavily distorted guitars, tremolo picking, deep growling vocals, blast beat drumming, minor keys or atonality, and complex song structures with multiple tempo changes....
band EntombedEntombed (band)Entombed is a Swedish death metal band which formed in 1987 under the name of Nihilist. Though Entombed began their career as an early pioneer of Scandinavian death metal which initially differed itself from its American counterpart with its distinct guitar tone, by the early 1990s their sound had...
covered this song on the Out Of Hand single, and was later released on the EntombedEntombed (album)Entombed is a 1997 self-titled compilation album by Swedish metal band Entombed that contains reedition of tracks previously released on EPs.-Track listing:* Tracks 1-3 taken from the Out of Hand EP* Tracks 4-6 taken from the Stranger Aeons EP...
compilation and Sons of Satan Praise the LordSons of Satan Praise the LordSons of Satan Praise the Lord is a compilation album by the death metal band Entombed. It contains most of the studio covers that the band has ever performed on a double disc compilation .-Disc one:-Disc two:...
compilation. - A supergroup consisting of Rob ZombieRob ZombieRob Zombie is an American musician, film director, screenwriter and film producer. He founded the heavy metal band White Zombie and has been nominated three times as a solo artist for the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance.Zombie has also established a career as a film director, creating the...
(vocals), SlashSlash (musician)Saul Hudson , known by his stage name Slash, is a British-American musician and songwriter. He is best known as the former lead guitarist of the American hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s and early 1990s. During his later years with Guns N'...
(guitar), Ace FrehleyAce FrehleyPaul Daniel "Ace" Frehley is an American musician best known as the lead guitarist of the rock band Kiss. He took on the persona of the "Spaceman" or "Space Ace" when the band adopted costumes and theatrics...
(guitar), Tommy LeeTommy LeeThomas Lee Bass , best known as Tommy Lee, is an American musician and founding member of glam metal band Mötley Crüe. As well as being the band's long-term drummer, Lee founded rap-metal band Methods of Mayhem, and has pursued solo musical projects...
(drums), Gilby ClarkeGilby ClarkeGilbert "Gilby" Clarke is an American guitarist and record producer best known for a 3-year tenure as the rhythm guitarist of Guns N' Roses, replacing Izzy Stradlin in 1991 during the Use Your Illusion Tour...
(Guitar) and Scott IanScott IanScott Ian Rosenfeld , better known by the stage name Scott Ian, is an American musician, best known as the rhythm & lead guitarist for the heavy metal band Anthrax. Ian is also the guitarist and a founding member of the crossover thrash band Stormtroopers of Death...
(Bass) played a cover of the song for the VH1 Rock HonorsVH1 Rock HonorsThe VH1 Rock Honors were an annual ceremony paying homage to bands who influenced the sound of rock music. The events began in 2006, and the final event took place in 2008. The general format of each show is for modern bands to "pay tribute" to classic greats of the rock/metal world , after which...
of Kiss. - Iced EarthIced EarthIced Earth is an American heavy metal band from Tampa, Florida. Originally formed under the name "Purgatory" in 1984, Iced Earth has released a total of ten studio albums, one live album, three EP's, two compilations and boxsets...
covered "God of Thunder" on their album Tribute to the GodsTribute to the GodsTribute to the Gods is a tribute/cover album by heavy metal band Iced Earth. It is notable as the last Iced Earth album featuring Larry Tarnowski on lead guitar, and the last featuring singer Matt Barlow on vocals until his 2007 return, and their last album with Century Media...
. - Raging SpeedhornRaging SpeedhornRaging Speedhorn were a British metal band, founded in Corby, Northamptonshire.-Career:Raging Speedhorn were formed in 1998 from the merging of the bands Soulcellar and Box...
covered "God of Thunder" on their album How the Great Have FallenHow the Great Have FallenHow the Great Have Fallen is the third album of by UK sludgecore band Raging Speedhorn.-Track listing:*1. A Different Shade Of Shit*2. Oh How The Great Have Fallen*3. Dead Man Walking*4. Master Of Disaster*5. Snatching Defeat From The Jaws Of Victory...
. - The Melvins covered the song for the Kiss tribute albumTribute albumA tribute album is a recorded collection of cover versions of songs or instrumental compositions. Its concept may be either various artists making a tribute to a single artist, a single artist making a tribute to various artists, or a single artist making a tribute to another single artist.There...
Hard to Believe: Kiss Covers CompilationHard to Believe: Kiss Covers Compilation-Various labels:Waterfront Records DAMP-121 Southern Records DAMP-121 Records C/Z Records CZ-024 -External links:* Amazon... - Quintron and Miss Pussycat covered the song on their 2005 album Swamp Tech
- RipperRipperRipper may refer to:* Jack the Ripper, a pseudonym given to an unidentified serial killer active in the largely impoverished Whitechapel area and adjacent districts of London in the latter half of 1888...
covered the song on their 2009 album The Dead Have Rizen on Black Widow RecordsBlack Widow RecordsBlack Widow Records is an Italian record label founded Genoa in 1990 and taking its name from the British progressive rock act Black Widow. It was originally a rarities shop focusing on collectable records and reissues... - The song is featured in the movie HalloweenHalloween (2007 film)Halloween is a 2007 American slasher film written, directed, and produced by Rob Zombie. The film is a remake/reimagining of the 1978 horror film of the same name, the first in the rebooted Halloween film series and the ninth Halloween film in total. The film stars Tyler Mane as the adult Michael...
and in the videogames Tony Hawk's UndergroundTony Hawk's UndergroundTony Hawk's Underground, abbreviated to THUG, is a skateboarding video game, available for the PlayStation 2, GameCube, Game Boy Advance, and Xbox platforms released in 2003. A PC version was released exclusively in Australia as a budget release in 2005. This version was ported by Beenox. In 2004,...
and Brütal LegendBrütal LegendBrütal Legend is an action-adventure/real-time strategy game created by Double Fine Productions and published by Electronic Arts for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The game was released during October 2009 in North America and Europe...
.