A few weeks back I did a run-through of the Kiss studio albums made by the original line-up (for the most part, at least). So I figured that now it made sense to also go over all of the other studio albums that Paul and Gene went on to make without Ace and Peter (again, for the most part). And just as a reminder; this review series does not involve any form of ranking, rating, etc. I just simply state the things I like and dislike regarding each entry.
So, without further ado, let’s just jump right in:
1.Music from “The Elder” (1981)
THE GOOD: So when I first listened to this album, I made the mistake of listening to the original track order that was mandated by the record label, against the band’s wishes, and didn’t like it at all. The reason that was a mistake on my part is because this is supposed to be a concept album, where the songs need to be heard in a specific sequence in order for the overall narrative to make sense. Thankfully, the band was able to eventually do a reissue of the album, with the correct order restored. I listened to that version shortly after, and instantly went from hating it to liking it. Is it as stellar as concept records made by the likes of Pink Floyd, Genesis, or The Who? No, of course not! But for those new to the whole concept album listening experience that may be looking for something a little “simpler” to digest, this is a solid starting point.
THE BAD: While I like the record overall, there are still a solid handful of clunker tunes on here that drag it down a bit, sadly. Paul’s “broadway” falsetto voice on tracks like Just A Boy still doesn’t really work for me. Odyssey goes on for way too long. And while I don’t mind the opening instrumental Fanfare (it “sets the tone”), I can see it giving most listeners a pretty bad first impression, and sometimes, first impressions really are everything…
2.Creatures of the Night (1982)
THE GOOD: Whoa! Holy crap… Now we’re talking! After the band’s last few records were poorly received (despite being looked back on as cult classics now), they decided to return to their hard rock roots here, and the result is fantastic! Also, as diehard fans know, while Ace appears on the cover art, he actually doesn’t play on this album at all, as he had already decided to quit after The Elder. Therefore, Paul and Gene decided to use this record as an opportunity to secretly “audition” various potential replacements. All of the uncredited guitarists who play on here were definitely determined to bring their A-game to the table, and it shows! All of the guitar work on this album is absolutely top-notch!
THE BAD: The song Saint & Sinner is definitely the weak link here (it grew on me, though). Also, the track Keep Me Comin’ sounds a bit like a Led Zeppelin ripoff, but a good Led Zeppelin ripoff, at least! Similarly, Killer is a ripoff of Highway Star by Deep Purple, but again, that never bothered me.
3.Lick It Up (1983)
THE GOOD: While Creatures received critical acclaim upon release, it still sold poorly, so the band wiped the makeup away to regain some public attention (shock value sells, after all) and made what could basically be seen as “Creatures 2.” Though not quite as strong as its predecessor, this is still a very solid release! And the guitar work is just as great as last time, Sadly, this is the only record to feature axeman Vinnie Vincent as a full member (which makes sense, since he's a raging asshole), but even though he was only in the band briefly, at least he made his time count.
THE BAD: The last three songs are all crap, and basically ruin what would otherwise be a perfect album, in my opinion. Funny enough, all three of those tracks happen to be written and sung by Gene, so it doesn’t surprise me that they suck, since this was around the start of when Gene prioritized his acting career over his music. As you could probably guess, the whole acting thing didn’t really work out for him, and by the time the 1990’s came around, he was back to focusing mostly on music (along with other business ventures, of course). Shame it took him that long to snap out of it… Another factor to take into account is the fact that, much like how Dynasty represented a shift towards appealing mainly to kids, this record represented a shift towards appealing more so than ever towards teens and adults, which only served to make things even more confusing than they already were!
4.Animalize (1984)
THE GOOD: The first two tracks, I’ve Had Enough (Into The Fire) and Heaven’s On Fire, serve as a solid start, and the rest of the songs all grew on me a bit over time too (expect While The City Sleeps, that shit still sucks).
THE BAD: While I no longer hate this record as much as I used to, it still feels a bit “flawed” to me. Why didn’t it work? I think part of it has to do with the fact that this was technically Paul’s first time producing on his own, and he clearly still had a lot to learn in that regard (the whole album sounds like shit, from a production perspective). Also, one-time guitarist Mark St. John (RIP), despite being talented, just didn’t fit with the band, I’m sorry to say. I’m not surprised that this ended up being his only outing with them…
5.Asylum (1985)
THE GOOD: After stumbling on Animalize, the band got back on track with this album. Paul improved a ton as a producer! Guitarist Bruce Kulick made his “official” debut here, and made sure to deliver the goods! The singles Who Wants To Be Lonely and especially Tears Are Falling are some of my favorite songs in the band’s entire catalog (terrible music videos, though, since the band outfits were atrocious during this era!). And there are plenty of other underrated tracks on here, most notably I’m Alive (seriously, why isn’t that one talked about more?!).
THE BAD: There are three tracks on here I don’t like. Two of them are Love Is A Deadly Weapon and Secretly Cruel, both of which are sung by Gene who, once again, was still phoning it in a bit at this point. The other track I dislike on here is Radar For Love which, like Keep Me Comin’ from Creatures, sounds like a Zeppelin ripoff, only this time, not a good one. Some of the other Gene songs like Any Way You Slice It and Trial By Fire aren’t necessarily bad, but still far from his best. Also, Uh! All Night is catchy, but a little too cheesy.
6.Crazy Nights (1987)
THE GOOD: So I actually avoided listening to this one for a long time cause I saw that it was ranked either dead-last or second-to-last on most people’s rankings, and I also heard it described as “Kiss Jovi” (and I’m not really a Bon Jovi person). I finally listened to it recently and while I understand why most people rank it so low, at the end of the day, I’d still much rather hear Gene and Paul sing than Jon Bon Jovi…
THE BAD: Aside from a few of the Gene songs (Hell Or High Water and Thief In The Night in particular), the rest of this record sounds very dated. Which is surprising, since Gene was apparently still focusing mainly on his movie career, at this point. I think on stuff like The Elder and Carnival of Souls, he was the one concerned with chasing trends, whereas on this record, it was Paul. Also, a bunch of label executives apparently gave this album a standing ovation when they first heard it. I guess I can see why it would’ve sounded cool way back in 1987, but it certainly hasn’t aged well…
7.Hot in the Shade (1989)
THE GOOD: This album, the last to fully feature drummer Eric Carr (RIP), is certainly a standout in the band’s catalog, with one of the biggest reasons being that it’s basically just a bunch of demo recordings with some “polish” on them. Most people would see this as a bad thing, but I actually kinda like it! The lo-fi quality helps the record to feel much more unique, when standing next to the rest of the band’s discography. This album also marks a nice return-to-form after Crazy Nights and those two god-awful bonus songs they did for that compilation in 1988!
THE BAD: At fifteen tracks in total, this record is certainly long in the tooth. Almost half of these songs would’ve fit better as b-sides, rather than album tracks proper, and Read My Body (a shameless ripoff of Def Leppard's Pour Some Sugar On Me) should've been deleted from existence altogether…
8.Revenge (1992)
THE GOOD: Damn! With Bob Ezrin returning to the producer chair, and Vinnie Vincent briefly back (as an outside songwriter), the band were able to recapture their “hard rock roots,” just like they did a decade earlier with Creatures (too bad neither record sold well, though). And once again, the result is fantastic! I love this album! It’s still not quite as strong as most of the makeup-era records, of course, but it comes pretty damn close, as far as I’m concerned! A nice return to form.
THE BAD: Parts of the song Spit sound like a ripoff of Led Zeppelin’s Whole Lotta Love, but that song was also a ripoff, so who cares? The only tracks I really dislike on here are Heart Of Chrome (who thought singing two different choruses at the same time was a good idea?) and Every Time I Look At You (most generic ballad ever).
9.Carnival of Souls (1997)
THE GOOD: Recorded in early 1996, but shelved for a bit to avoid conflict with the original lineup reunion at that time, this is Kiss’s “grunge” album (they were still chasing trends, at this point). They even went as far as to recruit Toby Wright, producer of Alice in Chains’ seminal Dirt, which is funny since AiC have cited Kiss as an influence, in more ways than one. Most people see this record as a step too far, but I actually like it! Is it because I grew up on grunge? Probably, but at the end of the day, all I really care about is whether I like something or not. I try not to concern myself too much with the politics behind something…
THE BAD: Rain is a ripoff of AiC’s Rain When I Die, but once again, in this case, I don’t really care. There are only three tracks on here I truly dislike. Two of them are Childhood’s End and Seduction Of The Innocent (both sound really “desperate” to me). The other one is the closing track, I Walk Alone, which guitarist Bruce Kulick sings, and quite frankly, his voice sounds terrible. To be fair, I’ve never heard him sing anything else, so maybe his voice has improved since this recording…
10.Sonic Boom (2009)
THE GOOD: These last couple of records are gonna be hard for me to talk about cause they were made by “Poser Kiss.” For context, when the original lineup reunited in 1996, they also put the makeup back on. Eventually, Ace and Peter were replaced again by other people; the band’s tour manager Tommy Thayer and a returning Eric Singer, respectively. Only this time, Paul and Gene had the two of them maintain the makeup and costume designs that Ace and Peter once wore. I can only speak for myself, but I have very mixed feelings about this, but it would be too much to go through here, so I’ll save that for another day… As far as this album itself goes; I enjoy about half of the songs (mainly on the second side). I surprisingly like All For The Glory, which Eric sings. He did a good job capturing the “spirit” of Peter there, in my opinion.
THE BAD: Aside from Modern Day Delilah and Hot & Cold, all of the songs on the first side of this record sound like total trash. There’s also a song on the second side I dislike, and that’s When Lightning Strikes, which Tommy sings. Unlike Eric, I think he failed to capture the spirit of Ace (at least on this album in particular, he failed)…
11.Monster (2012)
THE GOOD: Wow… I can’t believe I’m saying this, but the “posers” actually made a decent album here. Guess they needed to make a “practice record” in the form of Sonic Boom before finding their own chemistry as a band for this one. Even Tommy finally figured out how to properly capture Ace’s character on the track Outta This World, while Eric continued to channel Peter’s character on For The Love Of Rock & Roll. On top of that, Paul and Gene sound full of energy here! Even the bonus track Right Here, Right Now kicks ass! This ended up being the last studio album before the band announced their farewell tour (I’m pretty sure they mean it for real this time). Not a bad way to end things, I’d say…
THE BAD: Back To The Stone Age is a ripoff of MC5’s Kick Out The Jams, but once again, I don’t really mind. The only track I legit don’t like is The Devil Is Me. It’s not bad, necessarily, just kinda boring, is all… Also, I enjoy Wall Of Sound, for the most part, but I also feel like something is missing on that track, in particular…
So there you have it! Overall, I like all of these other versions of Kiss too. While I complained last time about Kiss “chasing trends,” in a way, I’m kinda glad they did so, particularly on these records. It allowed each release to “stand out,” while also showing the band’s persistence to grow and evolve. I respect them for that. It’s sad that none of the lineups ever got more recognition for their actual talent…
It was also while listening to these specific records, however, when I started to notice just how repetitive Kiss can be sometimes. The older records had this sense of repetition as well, but at least Ace and Peter were also there to “balance it out.” Eric Carr was a good vocalist too. I kinda wish they would’ve had him sing more, back in the day. Maybe that would’ve helped. Oh well. Too late now. I guess if there’s something Poser Kiss did right, it was having the posers actually sing at least one song per record…
At some point in the future, I’ll talk about the 1978 solo albums and maybe also the live albums. But for now, just like with Star Wars, I kinda need a break from Kiss too…
Peace!
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