Bob Kulick has always had a head for big concepts and the guitar skills and production chops to pull them off. He also has a gift for putting just the right players into a musical framework to
Bob Kulick has always had a head for big concepts and the guitar skills and production chops to pull them off. He also has a gift for putting just the right players into a musical framework to make a song blast out of a playback system to become a blissfully vicious earworm you won’t soon forget—even if you’re not a fan of the music itself. (Yeah, there has to be some kind of voodoo going on there, Bob.) But he has deployed all of his magic in the service of concept albums (Immortal Randy Rhoads: The Ultimate Tribute, Butchering the Beatles: A Headbashing Tribute, We Wish You a Merry Christmas and a Headbanging New Year) and productions for various bands.
So, okay then, if he is all that talented and creative, why did it take him more than 50 years to finally make his very own solo album? Like many things that force other things to happen, it was a consequence of love.
His girlfriend, photographer Julie Bergonz, kicked off the whole process that would become Skeletons in the Closet [Vanity Music Group] by encouraging Kulick to not only consider it was time to do something for himself, but she also went out and found the studio—Vegas View Recording in Las Vegas—and introduced him to the album’s co-producer, Bobby Ferrari.
At that point, it was time to pull out his producer’s call list to populate the album sessions with musicians that would bring his collection of new compositions, works from his vault, and a cover of “Goldfinger” to life. By the time Skeletons in the Closet was mixed, 23 players were credited, including Dee Snider, Eric Singer, Rudy Sarzo, and Robin McAuley.
Kulick—who Kiss Army members worship for