The Kiss Studio Albums

[captainkurtz]

Totally agree there - DTK is an out and out classic for me - perhaps second to Rock and Roll Over..

[Thenop]

Glad you like it, but I am the polar opposite.

For starters, the polished and thin production does not resonate with me at all.
And the songs...well..
Love Her All I Can and She were Wicked Lester Songs (find the versionof She, it has horns and flute.. then again, maybe not find it).
What is there then that I do like?
Well, I think the best song here is C'mon and love me, only being bettered on Alive! by being a lot heavier. the Gene duo Two Timer / Ladies in Waiting has none of the riffing I like Gene for, his darker side. She on the other hand get's the heavier treatmenet here that I like, and would be ablive staple in the early years.
Criss' sung Getaway (written by Frehley) may have been quirky, but that's its only redeeming feature then.
Stanley came up with Anyting for my Baby, by his own admission on e of his least favourite Kiss tunes, and Lover het all I can, like said a WL leftover. There's also opener Room Service, I recall hearing the album first and when Room Service opened there was this immediate feeling of disappintment. I don't think I ever got over that initial disappointment.
Like said, I really do like C'mon and Love Me, Rock Bottom is nice, with a Frehley penned intro tacked onto a Stanley song that does sound like it was half done. She has the Kiss DNA I always looked for and then, well the big one.

Rock and Roll All Nite was written by Simmons and Stanley together upon insitgation from Bogart who told the needed and Anthem. (Simmons quote: we never heard of the word Anthem except for the Ayn rand novel - there's a Rush cnnection for you!). The song is almost over before it begins, it is that short and it's  fun burst of energy. I really do like RnRaN, perhaps because I heard it so many times and seen what the song does live with people had added to this).

But I can't help shake the feeling this is not a complete Kiss album, the 2 WL leftovers, 30 mins playing time. You could call it my A Farewell To Kings Kiss experience..
 

[David L]

I'm more in agreement with Thenop on this one. A lot of 'poppy' dross on here but Rock Bottom and C'mon And Love Me are the standouts.

[Slim]

Rock and Roll All Nite was written by Simmons and Stanley together upon insitgation from Bogart who told the needed and Anthem. (Simmons quote: we never heard of the word Anthem except for the Ayn rand novel - there's a Rush cnnection for you!).

That's odd isn't it? Surely every American is familiar with the term "national anthem".

[Thenop]

Rock and Roll All Nite was written by Simmons and Stanley together upon insitgation from Bogart who told the needed and Anthem. (Simmons quote: we never heard of the word Anthem except for the Ayn rand novel - there's a Rush cnnection for you!).

That's odd isn't it? Surely every American is familiar with the term "national anthem".

It is a quote on record in one of the books I have. Maybe just not in the context, as an anthemical (is that a word?) song.
They seem to have been quite naive though in their formative years by all accounts I have heard and seen.

[Slim]

I see that they've been performing Love Her All I Can live in recent years; Frehley's band does it as well apparently.

I really wish they'd played it live when I'd seen them in 1983 (forty years ago this month!). Would have been a real, and unexpected highlight.

I get why they often preferred the more bludgeoning stuff in a live setting. Playing to their audience perhaps, but not really to their strength.

[Thenop]

It was only done on a few occasions: acoustic it works well and they have the Kiss Kruises where they break out the more obscure stuff. The band has always maintained that the 'normal' shows should be as recognizable to everyone, hence the absence of more deep cuts. 

[Slim]

4. Destroyer (March 1976)

What a record. This must surely be the definitive, and easily the best Kiss album. Released only 12 months later than the excellent Dressed to Kill, but a very different proposition indeed. This is not unpretentious, spiky rock'n'roll - this is pure theatre. Again this is an album I bought as a teenager and played to death. Forty-whatever years later, it has aged beautifully.

I think this is the Kiss Sergeant Pepper. It represents a clear and obvious elevation in songwriting and composition. It feels like a journey, a single coherent statement. It's an album that's as much about the production as the songs. It's punctuated with sound effects; the introduction to the first track even comes across as a sort of audio drama. And while it might not be a transcendent moment in popular culture like the eighth Beatles album, it is undoubtedly a high water mark in the Kiss canon, just as Pepper was for the Fab Four.

Obviously Bob Ezrin made a massive difference; it's a real production job with all the double tracking, judicious use of reverb, EQ, various effects, stereo mix and whatnot making this record sound very different from a rock'n'roll band plugging into their amps and playing, which is pretty much what you get on the first three albums. It's a glorious, kaleidoscopic wall of sound. It even has a choral arrangement and an orchestra.

All the tunes on this album work really well, even Beth which interjects a welcome subdued moment of reflection; to me it works a bit like a quiet passage in a powerful classical music piece. It's all killer. Highlights though - Detroit Rock City for sure. The audio drama, if I can call it that, that introduces it is a masterstroke. So is the segue into King of the Night Time World, via a very loud car crash. What else .. Shout It Out Loud is an absolute banger.  Flaming Youth has a pleasingly anthemic feel and a lovely energy in the rhythm guitar - I think it owes something to The Who.

You surely can't fail to be entertained by the lyrical content on Great Expectations. And just to drive home the point that this record is a sort of Pepper-esque art record as well as a powerful rock album, there's an atmospheric, other-wordly short piece that closes the whole record out (and interestingly the first time I heard the CD, this took me by surprise - I do not remember it being on the original vinyl album and although I still have it, I have no way to check).

I listened to the original CD release rather than the Resurrected version, although I have both. I was interested to read that the lead guitar part on Sweet Pain (again what a fantastic rhythm guitar sound) was played by Alice Cooper's guitar player. Ace's own take (which is on Resurrected) doesn't sound that bad, but the other lad definitely does it better. Actually I've just read that he plays a bit on some of the other tunes as well. Dick Wagner.

What an album.

[Thenop]

Yes, indeed. Kiss' crowning achievement. After the succes of Alive!, where they finally got hold of some money and the idea of being a hardcore rock and roll band was in the rearviewmirror, the show aspect took over (for a while at least). Hiring Ezrin was a mastermind idea, the band wanted to 'be taken more seriously' and the record company was laughing all the way to the bank.

Here's 3 things not everyone knows about this album:

1. the big guitar sound comes form Ezrin bag of tricks, there are grand piano chords under the guitars, toned to the point where only the body is audible and fades into the guitar. Great trick.
2. God of Thunder was written by Paul Stanley. Yes boys and girls and it ran a lot faster too. Stanley was obviously disappointed but of course, it's now Simmons' signature song. he must be pissed not coming up with it himself
3. King of the Night Time World is a cover. Wait, what? Yes, Stanley changed the arrangement just enough to get a songwriting credit for it.

The original:

Now, the music on this album is very dear to me. The only small distraction for me is Beth, I am just not a fan, but it's short enough to listen through and I could not imagine hearing the album without it after so many times hearing it.

Detroit Rock City is perhaps Kiss' most iconic song, used on more than half the shows they did as opener. The dual guitar lead in the middle was thought up by Ezrin on acoustic, who had a flamenco style solo in mind. The drumparts are fantastic, the drive is phenomenal, amost as if Criss isn't playing on this one. But he was, Ezrin slaving him until he honed his part to perfection.

KotNTW: like said, a cover but what a song! Unconventional in terms of arrangement and again the double guitar part in used. Not that often played live, it feels like it since it was on Alive II, but it is a rare song in the live set. They revived it for the initial '96 Reunion tour but it as retired after again.

God of Thunder, well the studio version is really just that: a studio marvel. The whole bag of tricks opens up here. Criss's drums were recorded in a large open space to get the big sound. The kids in the middle section are Ezrin's kids btw, he used them on more than just this production (also on Lou Reeds Berlin). They wore helments with built-in walkie talkies and were running around the studio.

Great Expectations. That's the Brooklyn Boys Choir on there..on a Kiss album! This was a clear precursor to Simmons' solo album.

Flaming Youth: yes that is Dick Wagner playing the solo there. And what a solo, fantastic! They are also hired a calliope, that's the effect in the chorus you hear  Indeed an anthemic song, rarely played live though.

Sweet Pain.. aahhh, Wagner again indeed. The story about this is that Ace was playing cards and refused ot show up studio duty. Whether that's true or not? We'll never know. Hardly ever played live.

Shout it Out Loud, a live staple, next to Rock and Roll All Nite their most anthemic song. The band had covered (in their earlier Wicked Lester incarnation) a Hollies song called (we wanna) Shout it Out Loud, and Gene figured he'd use the title. I like the bassline, that pumps and pushes instead of laying it down in the verse.

Beth, written by Criss (well, maybe..) and a former bandmate, originally titled Beck for a former girlfriend of that band (band was Chelsea, they released a not so great album). The acoustic guitars you hear somewhere buried in the mix? Dick Wagner. Was an encore song for many tours to come. Problem...well, Criss couldn't really carry a tune, much to Simmons dismay.

Do You Love Me, largely written by Kim Fowley (songwriter) and arranged by Ezrin. It's a real Paul Stanley song, it's one of his favourites, bells and all..

Indeed, what an album, in whichever incarnation. I have the various versions as well, original vinyl/cd, remastered, the resurrected (great job by Ezrin btw). If there's one album they should be remembered by it's this one.

[The Picnic Wasp]

I'm really enjoying these reviews. My only real connection with Kiss was buying and enjoying the Kiss Symphony DVD. I can't honestly remember what brought it to my attention at the time but it's something I like to watch now and again. This has certainly made me curious to hear more.

[Slim]

5. Rock and Roll Over (November 1976)

Another album that I bought as a teenager, some time after I bought Alive II. This time though, I can't claim to have played it regularly. I played it twice, maybe three times. Then I put it away and didn't bother with it again. Meh.

Listening to it again today for the first time in over four decades, I must say I was pleasantly surprised. A bit. It's decently recorded and produced but after the full-on, powerful sophistication of Destroyer, it seems very ordinary. The production especially is very basic compared to its predecessor even if (arguably) a bit more professional than the first three. It's a big step backward in ambition.

Still - I can't be too hard on an album that provided Alive II with some of its best moments, I Want You and Calling Dr Love especially. And as a whole, it was better than I remembered. But the other tunes aren't that special. It sounds a bit louder than Dressed To Kill but it doesn't really sparkle the way that album does and it bears no comparison whatever with Destroyer.

Did Gene pay Nigel Tufnel and David St Hubbins to write the lyrics to Love 'Em and Leave 'Em?

I must say Ace plays really well on this record - he knocks out some pretty nimble solos. Speaking of operating a guitar, I once owned a Kiss chord book and according to that, the first line of the chorus of Ladies Room is

Meet, meat you in the ladies' room

.. possibly not the spelling you expect on the second word there. That book was next to useless; never attempt to play Kiss songs using the cowboy chords.

I knew Hard Luck Woman was intended to be touted to Rod Stewart but I'd forgotten how heavily it borrows from Maggie May. It doesn't merely have a Xerox copy of the ascending acoustic guitar motif, it even has hints of Ronnie Wood's brilliant solo.

Anyway nice to hear it again, but honestly I don't really feel like I've missed much by ignoring this record since the 1970s.

[Slim]

It's not Maggie May that Hard Luck Woman steals from. It's You Wear It Well. But I think some of the solo guitar pluckery is nicked from Maggie May, in terms of style anyway.

[Thenop]

The direct response by the band to the very produced Destroyer because, by Stanley's admission, "They chickened out" at the thought of taking it further. Besides, Ezrin was otherwise engaged.
Whereas Destroyer was a Stanley/Simmons album, this was much more a Frehley/Criss record. Which is odd if you consder there's no Frehley composition on this one. But he enjoyed imself tremendously on this one - he got along very well with Eddie Kramer, the producer of duty. Kramer, much more than Ezrin had very much a live philosophy and that 's clearly audible. This album is sonically exceptional, not just for the time, but still today. It has a depth and warmth to it that I struggle to find on any hard rock album recorded back in '76.
it was recorded in an empty theater in the round making use of nearly all space they had to their disposal.

The songs then, well there's some things I like a lot and some less than so. So is it all fresh material?
No. baby Driver was a song Criss had from a former band (Lips), it was sped up a bit and he hated that but relented, he needed a song on the album no? Not very good though... The other Criss sung song, Hard Luck Woman, has always been a bit of a sore spot for me. It was a live song at all (the Alive II version was also not part f the set and was not recorded live). On the other hand, Criss' instrument contribution was great: his drumming on his album is very, very good. Maybe the best he ever did, or would do.

The live version of I Want You was for the longest time, my favourite Kiss song and hearing it today I still like it a lot. It is well stuctured, played very tight, has a fantastic guitar solo and is just well thought out.
Stanley also brought in Take Me, Mr. Speed and Makin' Love. All more or less cut from the same cloth.  I like Makin' Love the best, Take Me is quite ok (and was part of the live set for a couple of years) and Mr. Speed, well, an album needs to be filled, right? The main riff is very cool though.
A short note on Makin' Love, you can hear a little squeek in the chorus, that is the bassdrumpedal. Wait, where did we hear that beofre? Ah yes! Led Zeppelin! The band were big fans...
Simmons meanwhile dove into his box of demos and used the same demo (Rock and Rolls Royce) he used for Sweet Pain for Love 'em, Leave 'em. Listen to them side by side, same guitar lick in the verse. Not a great song, See You in Your Dreams, another quick, almost Dressed to Kill like track, Ladies Room, well, the tempo doesn't do it any favours here. The Alive II version has so much more energy. The big one is Dr. Love of course and I love that one. It is so good, I'd almost forgive them for what they did to the intro on Double Platinum.

What is interesting to note is that this was recorded little over 6 months after Destroyer and what a huge difference! The 6 month turnaround was because the record company couldn't handle returns. In those days it was customary to return unsold albums after about 6 months, because the momentum was over. But if there was a new album, well then they needed catalogue material in the store. It wore the band down though...

What is very prominent on this album though is that Simmons and Stanley mainly were developing themselves as songwriters , Simmons being the most prolific of the 2. Not to be confused with the having the best quality songs.

So, more to the point, decent songs but overall to me a little less than Destroyer.

[David L]

I quite like Rock and Roll Over. I'd read before that the band wanted more of a 'rock' record with a live feel to it and that's just what Kramer gave them. If they'd not "chickened out" we could have got The Elder at the time rather than years later!
Thee are songs on here that are real, proper hard rock. Making Love is the best and is probably the closest to their heroes, Led Zeppelin, they ever got. The riff and the guitar sound is pure Jimmy. I agree that I Want You is a good song where they play the old 'dynamics' trick of quiet passages punctuated by riffola. Ladies Room is good but, I agree, far too slow. Having said that, I do think that the songs on Alive II are played too fast and they lose a little power for that reason. It almost feels like they are in a race to reach the end of the 'gig'.
Unfortunately there is also some typical Kiss rubbish on here too. Imagine if they'd have released just one record in 1976, it would have been awesome. (their 70s studio albums always seemed to portray, in songwriting terms,  a battleI between  Zeppelin and early Beatles and Rock and Roll Over suffers too from this). I guess that the best songs from Destroyer would have sounded like the Double Platinum versions but a record with the best (heaviest) tracks from both records would have been truly spectacular. Bill Aucoin missed a trick there IMHO.

[Thenop]

Bill Aucoin missed a trick there IMHO.

Aucoin was a visionary but a bad manager financially. It was Neil Bogart, president of Casablanca that pulled those strings. He had his nose so far up the Columbian product all he could see was money or the lack thereof. Hence the abundance of albums in those days.

On Bogart: maybe some of you have seen the 10 episode show Vinyl with Bobby Cannavale. It's a bit over dramatized, but it paints a good picture of the record industry in early 70s America. Bogarts character is brought up in one of the episodes his main contribution being 'bringing the coke'. His habit was well known...

Last thing on Bogart, he was the president of Buddha records prior to Casablanca. And of course he named his own venture that... Well you know why. A man and his ego.