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Album reviews
I thought this is a great topic and a chance for us all to share how we feel about the great albums KISS has done.....So i will start things off by posting mine and we will go from there! Mitch also had a great idea....name your three fave songs, and name one you would throw away.
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Permalink Reply by KISSmaniac on -
Released June 30.1977
Track listing
# Title Writer(s) Lead vocals Length
1. "I Stole Your Love" Paul Stanley Paul3:04
2. "Christine Sixteen" Gene Simmons Gene 3:12
3. "Got Love for Sale" Simmons Gene 3:28
4. "Shock Me" Ace Frehley Ace 3:47
5. "Tomorrow and Tonight" Stanley Paul 3:38
6. "Love Gun" Stanley Paul3:16
7. "Hooligan" Peter Criss, Stan Penridge Peter 2:58
8. "Almost Human" Simmons gene 2:48
9. "Plaster Caster" Simmons Gene 3:25
10. "Then She Kissed Me" Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich, Phil Spector Paul 3:01
Personnel
* Paul Stanley - lead vocals, rhythm guitar; bass guitar on "Love Gun"[8]
* Gene Simmons - lead vocals, bass guitar
* Ace Frehley - lead guitar, vocals
* Peter Criss - drums, percussion, vocals
Love Gun is the crown jewel of KISS. this was the band at the high point of their career. When they opened their shows with "You wanted the best, you got the best, the hottest band in the world...KISS!" they meant it and by the time Love Gun came out they had proven themselves as a valid and solid rock and roll force to be reckoned with! Shortly after Love Gun's release KISS became the first band ever to have three albums in the Billboard top 100 all at the same time (Destroyer,Rock n Roll Over and Love gun)! the album also features one of the coolest album covers EVER by any rock and roll band. On the cover of this album Gene is seen using the "devil horns" sign for the first time. If you ask Gene he will say he "invented it". that's doubtful as this symbol has been around a long time and Ronnie James dio seems to know much more about it than Gene does.
Love gun was the first album to feature all four members doing lead vocals. Ace's song Shock Me would quickly become a fan favorite and Ace's solo during this song while playing it live is now the stuff of rock and roll legend! Paul's signature song is the albums title track and the song is still a staple of any KISS concert and a big fan favorite. I Stole Your Love is an awesome tune that for a short time was used as the opening song for shows, that song always gives me chills thinking of the band decending on the risers as they take the stage just before all Hell breaks loose! the album features Hooligan which brings out Peter's amazing singing talent. In my opinion this album is the best one by the original lineup and the best one of the entire KISS catalog it scores a perfect 10 from me, I doubt they will ever top this album.
Throw out....the cover tune then she Kissed Me, would of much rather had one or two more KISS written songs. -
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Permalink Reply by KISSmaniac on
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Released November 1, 1976 (shipped Gold) certified Platinum on January 5, 1977
peaked at number 11 on the Billboard pop album chart
1. "I Want You" (Paul Stanley) – 3:04
* Lead vocals - Paul Stanley
2. "Take Me" (Stanley, Sean Delaney) – 2:56
* Lead vocals - Paul Stanley
3. "Calling Dr. Love" (Gene Simmons) – 3:44
* Lead vocals - Gene Simmons
4. "Ladies Room" (Simmons) – 3:27
* Lead vocals - Gene Simmons
5. "Baby Driver" (Peter Criss, Stan Penridge) – 3:40
* Lead vocals - Peter Criss
6. "Love 'Em and Leave 'Em" (Simmons) – 3:46
* Lead vocals - Gene Simmons
7. "Mr. Speed" (Stanley, Delaney) – 3:18
* Lead vocals - Paul Stanley
8. "See You in Your Dreams" (Simmons) – 2:34
* Lead vocals - Gene Simmons
9. "Hard Luck Woman" (Stanley) – 3:34
* Lead vocals - Peter Criss
10. "Makin' Love" (Stanley, Delaney) – 3:14
* Lead vocals - Paul Stanley
One things for sure about Rock And Roll Over....It's one of the coolest album covers in rock! When Magick started a thread in main asking us to post our fave rock album covers this was the 1st one that came to my mind!
this is a GREAT KISS album! I freakin LOVE it!
I like the Way I Want You starts off kinda mellow....Then WHAM! The guitar is in your eye! I loved when they brought this song out of the vault for the tour with Aerosmith
Take Me is a cool song, one I'd like them to bring back
Calling Dr Love ---- Gene's other "signature song" One of my fave KISS tunes.
Baby Driver is a cool tune mostly for Peter's vocals. Same with Hard Luck Woman
Makin Love is an excellent song....chalk it up as another one I'd like to see the band bring back to the live set.
Fave 3: Dr Love,Makin Love,Baby Driver
Throw out See You In Your Dreams...Not that it's all that bad a song....But even Gene said it could of been better which is why he redid it on his 78 solo album
I love this album..... 9 out of 10 -
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Permalink Reply by KISSmaniac on
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Permalink Reply by KISSmaniac on
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Dynasty released May 23, 1979
#9 on Billboard chart
1. "I Was Made for Lovin' You" (Paul Stanley, Vini Poncia, Desmond Child) – 4:33
2. "2,000 Man" (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards) – 4:56
3. "Sure Know Something" (Stanley, Poncia) – 4:01
4. "Dirty Livin'" (Peter Criss, Poncia, Stan Penridge) – 4:27
5. "Charisma" (Gene Simmons, Howard Marks) – 4:25
6. "Magic Touch" (Stanley) – 4:42
7. "Hard Times" (Ace Frehley) – 3:31
8. "X-Ray Eyes" (Simmons) – 3:46
9. "Save Your Love" (Frehley) – 4:40
I remember when I first heard I Was Made For Loving You. I was at an 8th grade dance and the DJ played it. I thought "well that sounds like Paul Stanley, but this is way to discoish to be KISS"
But it was.
I like IWMFLY but it's a much better song live than it was on this album.
Even Simmons said that during the making of this album he "got tired of singing like a girl"
2,000 man is a cool cover of the Rolling Stones tune. and it became one of Ace's signature songs. It sounded great during the Unlugged show and even better during the Farewell tour shows.
Sure Know Something is a cool tune
Dirty Living was Peter's only contribution to this album and the only song he actually played on for this album....the rest of the drums were done by Anton Fig.
When I do put this CD in my car stereo it usually doesn't stay there long...I seldom listen to this one. But it does bring back memories....And the dynasty tour was the first time I saw KISS. the only songs they played from this album on the night I saw them were 2,000 Man and I Was Made For Lovin You
Some of the other songs are cool, I like Ace's songs, best on the album in my opinion.
Fave 3 :.....2,000 Man,Save Your Love, Hard Times
Throw out: X-Ray Eyes
5 out of 10 -
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Permalink Reply by KISSmaniac on
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Permalink Reply by KISSmaniac on
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Lick It Up Released September 20, 1983
1. "Exciter" (Paul Stanley, Vinnie Vincent) – 4:10
2. "Not for the Innocent" (Gene Simmons, Vincent) – 4:23
3. "Lick It Up" (Stanley, Vincent) – 3:59
4. "Young and Wasted" (Simmons, Vincent) – 4:04
5. "Gimme More" (Stanley, Vincent) – 3:41
6. "All Hell's Breakin' Loose" (Eric Carr, Stanley, Simmons, Vincent) – 4:34
7 "A Million to One" (Stanley, Vincent) – 4:17
8 "Fits Like a Glove" (Simmons) – 4:04
9 "Dance All Over Your Face" (Simmons) – 4:13
10. "And on the 8th Day" (Simmons, Vincent) – 4:02
When I 1st heard that KISS had removed their makeup I was visiting a friend over on the Western Slope of Colorado and I thought, "yeah, right....No freakin' way!"
Well I went to my local record store and yeah I saw the album, I picked it up and looked at the cover and I was like: "Yeah, OK that's clearly Gene Simmons, and yeah, that's Paul.....OK the guy with GOBS of hair is Eric (LOL) but who the Hell is that other guy? That's not Ace". that's how I found out Ace was no longer in KISS....I was so damn bummed out.
I admit I had not really been following the band very closely. I hadn't seen them live since 79 and the last few albums all had let me down (Creatures was cool, but Dynasty,Unmasked, and the Elder had left me going oh please enough!) so I was not really in the know of what was up with the band.
I took it home and put it on my turntable (some of us remember those! LMAO) and I liked Exciter right from the go! Cool song, I liked the feel of it and Paul's vocals were cool......No doubt left in my mind I was listening to a KISS album!
Not For The Innocent.....It's an OK song....not great but OK
Then the title track came on and I kid you not...I was up and dancing! I rember thinking "JACKPOT" KISS has a winner here! and I was right, that song was all over MTV and the video was cool. It's still a big part of the live set (I loved it when the originals played it!) and it's just really a fun song!
All Hell's Breakin' Loose also got my attention....Great tune, awesome live and a kick ass video.
Really like A Million to One, this is an awesome Paul tune!
Dance All Over Your Face is a cool Gene tune with some bad ass lyrics.
On The 8th Day....this really is one of my very favorite KISS tunes. why the Hell it's never been played live is just beyound my understanding! OK imagine this .....Encore tunes for a killer KISS show.
1) God Gave Rock & Roll To You
2) On The 8th Day
3) Rock & roll all night
Listen to those three songs together ,in that order, and you'll see what I mean!
all in all I really like this album. It is my favorite (next to Revenge) of the non makeup years. My best friend got into KISS because of this album. It's one I still crank up often, I love the whole thing.
Fave 3 : Lick It Up, A Million To One and On The 8th Day
Toss out: Fits Like A Glove
7 out of 10 -
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Permalink Reply by Thomas 1964 on -
yep it's my favored kiss album and boy in the day's just befor the end yep kiss will play On The 8th Day
yep i hope -
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Permalink Reply by KISSmaniac on
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released 3/15/76
Destroyer is to me the ultimate KISS album. Every song on this one is special and most are still performed live. Detroit Rock City is so awesome and for most of the shows I have seen this was the opening song. Great tune!
King of the Night Time Word is so freaking cool.....The guitar at the begining then the way it pretty much puts the guitars right between your eyes!
God Of Thunder became Gene's signature song. However it was written by Paul! The original version (with Paul on vocals) can be heard in the boxed set, it's VERY different from what your used to! For example one line I remember: "I was raised by the women, I live for pleasure and fun" or "Daughter of Aphrodite, we make love till we bleed" Their producer heard the song and said "Great tune, Gene will sing it" Gene rewrote the lyrics and slowed down the tempo. The intro to the song is said to be Bob Ezrin's kids playing on walkie talkies after being told to "sound scary" A great version of this song is on Alive II...Also the symphony version from Alive IV is outstanding.
Great Expectations is cool. Only performed live once! On Alive IV I like the song, not one of my biggest faves but it's still cool....If I were going to throw away a song from Destroyer this would be it.
Flaming Youth.......OH YEAH!!! I LOVE this tune! Wish it was one they played more often
Sweet Pain.....Gene again shows us his darker side, cool lyrics and I like the way he sings this one, kinda evil like with a bit of a growl, cool tune!
Shout It Out Loud.....this song could of been Rock and Roll All Night part II And I think that's what they wanted to achieve. Another great sing a long song that is still a highlite of their shows.
Beth......Peter's signature song. Now this is one time I feel that this song should be left alone. Anyone but Peter singing it is just wrong in my book. I love Peter and I love this song. It's a big fan favorite. On ALIVE IV (which according to the original or nothing gang is worthless) Peter sang it with the Melbourne Symphony ensamble as a back up! If you have never heard this version check it out. In the video you can tell Peter was overwhelmed by the entire show but this was his special moment and it shows!
Do You Love Me I like this one a lot and I loved it when they played it on the "farewell tour" with a slide show showing a history of the band, it was excellent, love Peter's drumming on this track
9 out 10 rating on this one, this is the album I usually recommend to people who are first getting into KISS, this is KISS at their very best. -
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Permalink Reply by KISSFAN on -
WHAT CAN I SAY ABOUT DESTROYER THAT KISSMANIAC DIDN'T ALREADY SAY???
KISS HAD EVERYTHING RIDING ON THIS ALBUM AFTER THE SUCCESS OF ALIVE!
KISS HAD TO MAKE IT WITH THE NEXT STUDIO ALBUM IN ORDER TO SURVIVE, THEY
COULD NOT MAKE IT ON THE SUCCESS OF ALIVE! ALONE...
KISS PROVED TO EVERYONE THAT THEY MEANT BUSINESS WITH THE RELEASE OF DESTROYER...
I POSTED ABOUT KING OF THE NIGHTTIME WORLD BEING A COVER SONG A FEW YEARS
AGO, WHICH NOT MANY FANS WERE AWARE OF, DUE TO PAUL STANLEY BEING ON THE
WRITING CREDITS, WELL ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS CHANGE SOMETHING AND YOU GET
CREDIT...
KIM FOWLEY WHO HAD SOMETHING TO DO WITH KISS DURING DESTROYER, WAS INVOVLED WITH A BAND CALLED THE HOLLYWOOD STARS IN THE EARLY 70'S, RIGHT ABOUT THE SAME TIME KISS WAS STARTING OUT IN NYC... KIM FOWLEY, AND MARK ANTHONY GUITAR/VOCALS WROTE A SONG CALLED KING OF THE NIGHTTIME WORLD...
AFTER KIM STARTED WORKING WITH KISS, HE FELT THAT KING OF THE NIGHTTIME WORLD WOULD BE A PERFECT FIT FOR DESTROYER, THEY REWORKED THE SONG, AND BAM!!! AN INSTANT KISS CLASSIC...
IF ANYONE IS INTERESTED IN HEARING THE ORIGINAL VERSION BY THE HOLLYWOOD STARS, GO TO THE FOLLOWING LINK, YOU WILL SEE THE SONG ON THE LEFT SIDE...
9 OUT OF 10 STARS
http://www.rubendefuentes.com/ruben_hollywoodstars.htm -
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Permalink Reply by KISSmaniac on
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Music From The Elder
Well, this is the album that some KISS fans wish had never happened. I'll start by telling a bit of the background story, from Gene himself:
"From the initial meetings in Hollywood, I came up with the idea for The Elder. I wasn't sure wether it would be a record or a movie. All I knew, at first, was a line that stuck in my mind 'When the earth was young, they were already old'. I conceived of a race of immortal beings, energy based beings, a take off of Marvel's Watcher. These beings were more observers than participants. They didn't interfere with human choice, and as a result people were ultimately responsible for their own deeds, good and bad. The more I worked on it, the more I thought this would be a strong movie pitch. When Bob Ezrin read my short story, he said, 'Well this is great. We should do a concept record about your short story'. Ezrin made this announcement to the band and said we were going to try to make all our songs fit around this one central idea. We put all the songs in the pot and got busy rewriting some lyrics, and soon enough we had a rough story line. The work went quickly because we knew what we wanted: our own Tommy. This was the first KISS project were someone--in this case Bob Ezrin--talked the band members into the notion that credibility and respect from critics are as important as respect from the fans. As a result it was a very serious record for us. It was a bit surprising for Eric (Carr), I'm sure. When he first joined the band was expecting to do a straight rock and roll record, so he was a little caught off guard. He was necessarily a big fan of the idea. Also, as much as Paul and I trusted Bob's instincts and supported his idea, Ace opposed it. He was completly against it, to the point he refused to show up yet again. He wouldn't go up to Toronto and said he would phone in his solo. As it turned out, whenever Ace appears on that record, it's a result of that process."
From KISS and Makeup...page 181
Track listing:
1 Fanfare
2 Just A Boy
3 Odyssey ]
4 Only You
5 Under The Rose
6 Dark Light
7 World Without Heroes, A
8 The Oath
9 Mr. Blackwell
10 Escape From The Island
11 I
Released 1981
Personally I like this album. It's not one I crank out often but I do like it. Have to admit however that the first time I heard it I almost cried. I was like "what the Hell is KISS thinking?" So here we (KISS fans) were recovering from Dynasty and Unmasked, hoping we'd get a killer album from our heroes, knowing full well Peter was gone, and we got.....The Elder.
Ace made it pretty clear how he felt about the whole thing. And I have read that when he got the final copy of the album he smashed it against a wall. This would be Ace's last album with KISS (yeah his pic is on the original cover of Creatures of the Night but he didn't play on it) and fans would be dealt yet another blow. This album is the weakest seller in the KISS catalog.
Rarely have any of these songs been done live. I liked when they did World Without Heroes on the Unplugged show, that was cool. But even though some fans have begged for these songs to work their way into the live set list, the band refuses.
My faves: World Without Hereos, Darklight, and I ..........Song I'd toss out...Mr Blackwell
And whoever it was that told Paul the purple bandanna was cool should die a slow and painful death!
Overall I like the album.......4 out 10 from me...This one could of been so much more.
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Permalink Reply by KISSFAN on
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MUSIC FROM THE ELDER
I REMEMBER 16 MAGAZINE REALLY HYPING THIS ALBUM, THEIR
TAG LINE, NEW ALBUM, NEW MUSIC, NEW LOOK, NEW MAKE UP
OF COURSE I EXPECTED NEW MAKEUP...
THEN IT HIT THE STORES, AND I BOUGHT IT WITH EXCITEMENT!!!
RIGHT OFF I LOVED THE OATH, BUT THEN IT WENT INTO A DIFFERENT
DIRECTION, I WASN'T SURE WHAT TO THINK, BUT I DIDN'T HATE IT...
I HAVE NEVER DISLIKED THE ELDER, I HAVE ALWAYS LOVED IT...
I HAVE ALWAYS PUT THE ELDER IN IT'S OWN CLASS, THE SONGS
ARE BRILLIANT IF YOU THINK ABOUT THE STORYLINE, THEY FIT PERFECT...
THE PRODUCTION IS AMAZING...
NOW THE ELDER DOES NOT COMPARE TO THE FIRST 6 STUDIO ALBUMS, OR
THE BEST ROCK AND ROLL ALBUM OF ALL TIME, ALIVE!
HOWEVER IN IT'S OWN RITE, THE ELDER HAS SOME AMAZING SONGS, I REALLY LIKE IT...
I DON'T LISTEN TO IT OFTEN, IT'S ONE OF THOSE ALBUMS THAT DESERVES ATLEAST
ONCE A YEAR, AND IS ALWAYS WELL WORTH THE WAIT...
THE HARD ROCKIN' OF THE OATH IS GREAT, BUT I ALSO LIKE JUST A BOY
ODYSSEY, ONLY YOU, UNDER THE ROSE...
MR BLACKWELL IS OK, NOT MY FAVORITE, I HAVE ALWAYS THOUGHT OF FASHION GURU
MR BLACKWELL, WHEN I THINK OF THE TITLE, AND SINCE MR BLACKWELL WAS
DISLIKED BY MOST, MR BLACKWELL, WAS MEAN AND ROTTEN TO THE CORE, SO
WHY NOT WRITE A SONG ABOUT THAT...
SINCE I DO PUT THE ELDER IN IT'S OWN CLASS, I HAVE TO GIVE IT 8 OUT OF 10 STARS... -
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Permalink Reply by KISSmaniac on
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good point! If you put The Elder in a class by itself it deserves at least an 8! I love the album I really do.
Have you ever wondered how cool it would be if another band was allowed to redo this album? think of these songs redone by Queensryche! -
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