The Kiss Studio Albums

[Slim]

I was going to work through the studio catalogue of The Who after completing my Rolling Stones journey, but this morning's reminiscing about hearing Kiss for the first time gave me a rethink. So:

1. Kiss (February 1974)

I hadn't listened to this for years before today, and I've probably listened to it three or four times if that. It wasn't one of the vinyl albums that I bought as a teenager; I bought it in a CD box set of the first three studio albums about 15 years ago. Good to hear it again. This is actually a pretty strong record for a debut, with classics that stood the test of time for many years - Strutter, Cold Gin, Firehouse, Deuce especially. By the time this was recorded they already had a pretty distinctive voice -these tunes are (mostly) powerful and economical but catchy. I hear shades of Zeppelin, shades of the Stones but for sure they have their own identity.

I have to say though - Kissin' Time is a real duffer. It actually reminds me of a sort of Brotherhood of Man or New Seekers tune on steroids. I've just read that it was a cover of an old '50s pop tune, and not included on the first release. Apart from that though it's all good, though some tunes are less focused than others.

I'd say that the selection of tunes from this record for Alive! is about right although I've never been completely convinced by 100,000 Years and generally when they lean too far toward ponderous metal and away from uptempo rock'n'roll they lose their charm (and my interest).

The Love Theme From Kiss instrumental is quite nice but it's not really the sort of thing you put a Kiss record on for. A novel oddity though. I enjoyed it.

None of the band was a particularly stellar musician (IMO) but they were all good enough to carry this stuff. Ace's sub-Page guitar licks sound a bit samey and predictable at times. The drums are maybe lacking a bit of oomph. But generally I'd say it's pretty well recorded and produced.

Here's an interesting thing. On the studio version, the Deuce riff has an odd syncopated treatment. I don't think it does it any favours.

[Thenop]

I need to have a proper sit down for this. Get back to you soon!

[captainkurtz]

You sum it up well...don't think the production or the pace of some of the songs do it any favour, but as a debut, it's very good. 

[David L]

Here's an interesting thing. On the studio version, the Deuce riff has an odd syncopated treatment. I don't think it does it any favours.

Deuce was possibly the first Kiss tune I ever took notice of when Tommy Vance played it on the Friday Rock Show. It was the Alive! version and I was impressed enough to seek out the album. The first time I heard the studio version was when I bought the Double Platinum compilation. I hated what was done to that riff. My first thought was that Ace struggled with it in the studio....or something.
Ruins the studio version for me

[Thenop]

Everyone has one: a defining band, a childhood friend that is always there when needed. A band that thrills you when they get it right.,.again! But also, it is the band that can disappoint the most if they get it wrong (! why? oh why?).

Kiss is that band to me, has always been like that and I cannot explain it. I stopped trying to find a reason for that, I will never find it. It just has an irresistable appeal on me, it's just the way it is. So this is my caveat entering into this thread:

I have all the albums, I know them by heart - for better or worse - I am a fact nerd and have a row of books on the band, their output and all of their quirks. I was an avid ROIO collector and had (at my peak) around 700 shows and demo/outtake cdrs floating around (yes, that means about 666 times Rock and Roll All Nite). I listened to ALL of them. There might be 1 demo out there that Gene Simmons himself hasn't since its conception, but other than that, I heard it all. It is with this baggage I put my foot forward and thank Slim for starting the thread.

Kiss, like any other band, had several tries before they got it right and you'd be surprised how well developed those songs sounded already. There is a whole album out there by a band called Wicked Lester, essentially Paul, Gene and assorted musicians.

The main point I am trying to make here is this: the debut is culled from demos and pre Kiss songs, not always intentionally written for album specific. The 5 track demo recorded with Eddie Kramer prior to the album sounds a lot fiercer than the final product. From that demo (recorded at Electric Ladyland) 4 songs made the cut here: Deuce, Strutter, Cold Gin and Black Diamond. Notice anything?

No? Look again. It is a song for each band member, albeit Ace backed out of singing his own composition (Cold Gin - in my opinion the best song on the album).

The sound on the album, which seems to please most, is a much constrained version in comparison to the demos. Well, Eddie Kramer...he practically built the EL studios with Hendrix, so he knew how to get the best out it! And the album is not produced by Kramer..

The remainder of the songs were songs either written for a specific purpose (Firehouse, fire breathing act), a left over from a far longer live instrumental (Love Theme..was initially named Acrobat and around 6 mins long), 100,000 Years, we all know what was suited for, we heard it on Alive!, Let Me Know was an old demo (that was called Sunday Driver) and Nothin' to Lose. A song the band really liked.

Kissin' Time (a cover) was not on the original album and was added later on insistance of band manager Bill Aucoin and was launched with a kissing contest. I don't rate it very high.

As a whole, as far as debuts go, this is a very good and well balanced album.

The Deuce riff, well I highly doubt Ace played the riff. Initially written by Simmons it is a bit of an oddball riff and song structure, Simmons had that knack early on in his career. Stanley was the designated riff player in Kiss, Frehley hardly played rhythm in the studio. In fact at some point, he hardly played at all in the studio (but that's for a later story). It might very well be Simmons played the riff himself.

Funny enough Frehyley has gone on record naming it his favourite Kiss song. It was written before he joined the band and he auditioned over it, playing (by his own admission) a 4 minute solo over the main riff, it got him the gig. Probably an urban legend though, the band seem to make their own up.

So recap, for me Cold Gin gets the nod as best song, Deuce, Black Diamond, Strutter follow suit. The rest I rate a bit lower.
My biggest struggle with the debut is the fact that everything is so slooowww. Luckily Alive! put that right for me.

Stanley, by the way, was a big Humble Pie fan and thought the world of Steve Marriot. He found of lot inspiration there in the early years.

[Slim]

I was thinking about Deuce last night and I had this thought - If Brown Sugar had never been written, I don't think Deuce would have either. I don't think it's a ripoff, but I definitely think it's in the DNA.

[Thenop]

It's well doocumented all 4 Kiss members are Stones afficionados. Maybe Simmons the least and Frehley the most, but all of the early Kiss stuff were near rip offs of some sort.
So yes, I think you are right.
I always found Strutter the most Stones sounding track, with a certain swagger about it

[The Picnic Wasp]

Makes me wonder if Dutch TV has a version of Mastermind. No doubt about the specialist subject.

[David L]

I was going to comment on the early Kiss stuff and Thenop has answered a few questions and/or made some comments about their sound/style that I was going to touch on. I'll carry on and say what I intended to anyway.

The earliest Kiss studio record I have is Dressed To Kill. It has a couple of songs on there that I always liked but I've always felt that a lot of their studio stuff is a bit, for want of a better word, wimpy. I think the early albums suffer most from this. I listened to the debut, probably for the first time, a few days ago after Slim started his run-through. Since discovering Kiss through Deuce, I was constantly disappointed that their studio output never matched their onstage bombast, how could it? A lot of their stuff just wasn't heavy enough. Every record had a few solid tracks but a lot of 'hokey' stuff too (the sort of thing Rush flirted with on In The Mood and, to a lesser extent, Finding My Way). On Kiss we have a couple of songs that a 'real demon' would never have gone anywhere near (Kissin' Time, Let Me Know). It does, however contain at least five songs that would be perennial live favourites and fit the heavy rock description when played live. Like all the early studio albums these songs lack guts here.
Hotter Than Hell, IMHO, is an improvement. A little heavier, less of a 'pop-rock' sound and a bit more direct. One thing I did notice on these records was that stylistically, the songs seem quite close to glam rock. The Slade influence is definitely there to be heard.
Until Creatures Of The Night, Kiss never really recorded a completely heavy record (but, of course, that wasn't recorded by the classic line-up and featured a lot of outside writers). Even Destroyer (which is considered to be a career-defining record) gets off to a great hard-rocking start with Detroit Rock City and King Of The Night Time World but is then let-down by the inclusion of Flaming Youth, Great Expectations and Beth.
I'd be surprised if any Kiss fans were truly happy with any of the first half a dozen studio records. Likewise, I'd be surprised if any fans were disappointed with any of the two live records (Alive II's studio side notwithstanding). Having said that, Kiss occupy a special place in my heart as they represented something distinctly exotic and other-wordly when I was younger and slightly obsessed with all things American.
I've never got into The Stones but found Slim's run-through of their studio records a good read but I'm really looking forward to the rest of this one.

[David L]

One early recollection I forgot to mention. On first hearing Paul Stanley's vocals, I thought he sounded like a black guy 

[Thenop]

One early recollection I forgot to mention. On first hearing Paul Stanley's vocals, I thought he sounded like a black guy 

Him being a huge souls fan will probably want to thank you for that. He released a an album with a group of musicians called Soul Station I think 2 years ago.

[Slim]

2. Hotter than Hell (October 1974)

Again, this is one I'd listened to probably three times at the most before I gave it a metaphorical spin on the bike yesterday.

To me the band sounds a bit tighter than on the debut and I think it's a bit better recorded despite a few flaws. The production is pretty basic but it does mostly get the best out of the guitar sound.

And once again, unsurprisingly, the best tunes are the ones that turn up on Alive!.

I was a bit disappointed with the vocal on the title track, it doesn't have the oomph of the live version.

At this point they're still flirting with slower, heavier metal tunes rather than the supercharged rock'n'roll that better suits them. I've got to admit though, Watchin' You is a real highlight, it really packs a punch. But to me Let Me Go, Rock'n'Roll - a sort of precursor to Rock'n'Roll All Nite, I think - is more their thing although in itself a bit unexceptional.

Of the non-Alive! tunes I thought All The Way was OK. Goin' Blind is a poor song despite the pleasingly sordid lyrical content. Mainline is very ordinary and I don't like Peter's vocal really. Comin' Home is a bit better but it has a clumsy, repetitive middle eight and even a last minute key change on the outro doesn't quite rescue it.

Strange Ways is an interesting one - listening to it I thought it was Ace on the lead vocal but according to Wikipedia, it's Peter again. The vocal on this tune especially sounds poorly recorded to me in any case. Ace plays through a phaser for his solo on this, which gives it a distinctive Hendrix sound and invites a comparison which does him no favours.

Is it stronger than the debut album? I'm not sure. Very decent (if patchy) second album though.

[Slim]

This is the collection of the first three albums that I bought some time in the noughties; I was annoyed to discover that the plastic inserts that hold the CDs have come completely unglued from the cardboard on the inside. But I ripped them to FLACs years ago.

[Thenop]

HTH was recorded in Los Angeles. The producer duo Kerner/Wise had moved away from NYC and wanted the band to come to them. In hindsight, not the best of ideas. They made 85 dollars each a week by now and shacked up in a cheap hotel. They were homesick, all of them being New York boys.
The gritty production suits the songs somehow, at least it's less clean than the debut.
Watchin' You was track no. 5 from the original Eddie Kramer demo,it's no wonder it is a highlight here.

The throwaways for me have always been Mainline, All the Way and Comin' Home. The latter being an actual highlight and opener for the Unplugged sessions in '96.
Let me go RNR is an interesting one. I never liked it, but I do see the appeal. But it's just mundane, Simmons by numbers.

The title track was modeled after Free's Alright Now and I find the main riff a work of art.
Got to Choose is also a great song and a fantastic album opener. It's actually one of Stanley's favourite Kiss songs.
Goin' Blind has long been hailed by many grunge band citing it as major influence. The hilarious lyrics always make me chuckle. Again, the acoustic version 20+ years later gave it a new lease of life.
And that brings us to the main highlights: Strange Ways, with indeed Criss on vocals because Frehley was still not sure of his singing voice (his first vocal would only be on the Love Gun album), the solo was done in one take, Ace standing in front of his amp in the studio room rather than the control room.
But my winner here is Parasite with a monster of a riff. It is intentionally sloppy played, and Ace went on record he doesn't like the latter day versions that sound polished and straightened out. He is so right.

Overall, already this early in their career, tensions arose between Simmons/Stanley on one side and Frehley/Criss in the other. Criss would threaten with quitting each time he wanted his way and somehow he won every time until 1979. Streetwise and older than the rest, the least amount of talent, had a hold over the rest it seems.

The best stories though are always those that include out of character things. The photo shoot for the front and back cover were done with the intend to create a party like yet theatrical setting. They succeeded.

The Japanese lettering was also deliberate, designed to create a buzz in Japan, that worked as well although it would be a couple of years before the band broke there.

The best story is how Paul Stanley got so drunk during the shoot, that when they were done they had to lock him in a car to stop him from doing stupid things. He was so drunk that even though they did not lock the car, he could not figure out how to open the door!

Anyway, album #2, largely written on the road in about 6 months. The second release in 1 year. Impressive..

[Slim]

3. Dressed to Kill (March, 1975)



I love this album. I bought it when I was 18 and I've played it dozens of times. I've played it twice today, as well.

This is a real step up in songwriting and consistency from the first two and despite being produced by the band themselves and Neil Bogart, who owned their record label and wasn't a record producer, it sounds better too.

I'm not at all sure that the songs that were used for Alive! are the best that this album has to offer, but then again - Dressed to Kill is all killer, no filler.

This is not a heavy rock album - it's spiky, quirky rock and roll with bags of character and attitude. I think it shares some of that New York punk / glam DNA. It has more in common with the New York Dolls than with Sabbath or Zeppelin. The energy is in the theatrical, extrovert spirit of the performances.

Above all, it's fun and for that reason the cover art suits it perfectly.

Paul and Gene each invest the preposterous lyrics about banging groupies and what not with a delightful over the top vocal persona.

If I had to criticise it I'd perhaps point out that it loses momentum with She, which although enjoyable in itself does spoil the party a bit by leaning into the heavy and ponderous.

This of course is the album that gave birth to the quintessential (and brilliant) Kiss tune Rock and Roll All Nite but there's some wonderful stuff on here that didn't make Alive! like Love Her All I Can - which is as catchy and punchy as anything; it bounces along joyfully.

Favourite tunes: Rock Bottom, Ladies in Waiting, Love Her All I Can, Rock and Roll All Nite. But they're all belters.

To me this is easily the second best Kiss studio album, second only to .. ah but perhaps that's a story for another day.