Asshole is the second solo studio album by Kiss's Gene Simmons and it was released in 2004 on Sanctuary Records. Its controversial title does not appear on the front cover. On the side of the CD case the title reads "asshole". "It's just another way of me saying, 'I don't care what anyone says about me," Simmons declared. "I'm preempting what people say and therefore diffusing the power of my detractors."

Background

The album contains a song cowritten by Bob Dylan. "A lot of Bob Dylan's lyrics just make me take a breath and go, 'Okay, I will never be in that class," Simmons remarked. "If you look at the lyrics to one song – The Times They Are a-Changin' or Blowin' in the Wind – that's a lifetime achievement." "Black Tongue" was based on an unfinished song of the same name composed by Frank Zappa. Simmons licensed a recording of Zappa playing the initial riff and built a new composition around it, with playing by Dweezil Zappa and backup vocals by Dweezil, Ahmet Zappa, Moon Unit Zappa and Frank Zappa's widow, Gail. Dave Navarro plays guitar on the Prodigy cover "Firestarter".

Track listing

Personnel

Charts