UNION: Hired Guns No More
By Pat Egan of Good Times - March 1998
When a member of a superstar band leaves to pursue other musical outlets (usually when they start believing their own press) the results are usually unremarkable. Anyone remember "Carved In Stone" by Vince Neil? Any of the solo albums released by Peter Criss? I didn't think so. So I can understand any apprehensions you may have about UNION, the new group formed by Bruce Kulick and John Corabi along with Brent Fitz and Jamie Hunting. Let me cast aside any doubts you may have. This band is the real deal and their self titled debut rocks and will surely wind up in my year end top 10.

Both John and Bruce were let go from their previous bands for one word - greed. Their former band mates saw fit to reform because someone was waving millions upon millions of dollars in their faces. UNION is not about two bitter former sidemen with big egos who finally get to do their own thing. This is about two very talented musicians who found two other compatible musicians to form a band, an equal partnership with all four members, plus producer Curt Cuomo, having a hand in the song writing. With this said, I'll leave it up to Bruce and John to discuss what is up with UNION.

After 12 years as the guitarist for KISS how does it feel to have more freedom and to be in control of your career? "Well, in KISS it was always Gene and Paul's band and the buck stopped there. Now the responsibility is squarely on John and my shoulders. I'm experienced enough, I've learned a lot from Gene and Paul. I still get along great with them." What can the fans expect from UNION? "The direction of the band is definitely geared toward straight ahead rock-n-roll, and John and I think it's close enough to please fans of our former bands." Bruce then went on to let us know how UNION was formed. "Of all the people, it was Nikki Sixx who introduced us and we hit it off great. In September of 1996 we got together and started writing songs with Curt Cuomo, a producer I had previously worked with in KISS, at his studio. We felt we needed another opinion in regards to lyrics as I'm mainly a riff and chord guy. We then found Brent through a singer that I did some shows with at Foundations and in Europe. He is a really talented drummer. Jamie is a Pasadena boy who used to play with David Lee Roth. Brent and I saw him in a club and we knew instantly that he was the guy for the band."

As my time with Bruce was running out, I needed to ask a few more questions and get some parting words of wisdom. I asked if he ever considered using Eric Singer for UNION? "When the thing with KISS came to an end Eric wanted a chance to spread his wings and do what he wanted. We are still great friends and he is actually a good friend of Brent's!" Bruce wanted to let us know that UNION "will play anywhere for anyone. I have no problem with playing clubs, I like the intimacy." Bruce also let it be known that he always reads Good Times when he's in New York and promptly asked me for a subscription.

Next up was the raspy, whisky soaked voice of John Corabi, who seems to be like a kid in a candy store when talking about his 3rd chance at rock-n-roll stardom. For those who don't know, John was the lead singer for The Scream, an LA metal band from the early 90's who were one of the first signings to Hollywood Records. More recently he replaced Vince Neil in Motley Crue. While that record and subsequent tour did not set the world on fire, do yourself a favor and pick up the self titled "Motley Crue" CD for a dose of good rock-n-roll with superior vocals than your usual Motley Crue stuff. Well, they say the third time is a charm so let's roll the tape and find out why this time will be different.

"Being on a label like Mayhem is great because they have good distribution and if I need to get Paul Bibeau, GM and VP of Marketing for Mayhem, on the phone at home I can. I couldn't believe it when he gave me his number! Plus, he was so into the music that he was willing to sign us before seeing us play live. When he did fly out to see us, he really seemed to be blown away. The people who work there are fans of the music, they're not the stuff suit and tie type." I asked John about his distinct voice and told him how I felt he sounded like old Rod Stewart, the late great Steve Marriott, and a touch of Paul Rogers. "Well I'm definitely into those guys, and I'm a huge Steven Tyler fan. I don't purposely try to sound like any of them. I wanted to take elements of all those bands because the great thing about them is that they were so diverse."

John then went on to discuss some of the cool tunes that are on the UNION disc. "Robin's Song," a bitter-sweet ballad, is a song that features John alone with an acoustic guitar. "Basically, the song is a letter I wrote to a girl I had lived with for over 3 years that I never sent." "Get Off My Cloud" is an angry rocker about which John states, "I was really pissed off when we recorded that song and I think it shows." "Heavy D" is my favorite track on the CD, and John has some interesting comments on the track. "I originally thought that it would be a track that guys would dig, but it turns out my ex-wife and her friends love the song." The story gets better. "I have a friend who is a stripper, and she said all her friends at the club where she dances strip to this song, and when it gets to the part about Jesus they start playing with themselves!"

As for the future, expect to see UNION live soon and their set list will surely excite you. At a recent in-store performance at Slipped Disc in Valley Stream Bruce and John played a rocking version of "Beth." John also let me know they will play a lot off the UNION CD, plus some KISS and Motley Crue songs. UNION is in stores now, so make sure you go pick it up and play it loud!