If you were alive in the 1970s then you are most likely familiar with KISS. Even if you've never heard a single note from one of their songs, you can instantly recognize them on sight. Before I knew what they even sounded like, I knew how to draw their make-up designs. I knew their aura colors. I knew their real names and their stage names. I would draw them playing their instruments and have them playing the wrong instruments because I didn't know, I just knew they were a band and they looked cool. They were on TV. They were in my comic books. They were on t-shirts. They were in toy stores and on lunchboxes. KISS was everywhere.
I first became aware of them when I would see ads for the solo albums in some of the comic books I read. This would place it around 1978. I was still pretty young, and as I recall, I wasn't sure if Gene was a girl or a boy because Gene sounded like the neighbor lady's name. One of the older kids at my bus stop had the Gene Simmons solo record with him one day, and this uncertainty was soon cleared up for me.
The first time I heard anything from KISS was when a kid in my class brought in the Paul Stanley solo album and the music teacher put it on the turntable. I don't think we even made it a minute into the first song, I only remembered the first first verse of the intro to "Tonight You Belong To Me" and I can't be certain if it made it to where the guitar riff kicks in. Anyway, that was my first known exposure to their music, even if it was one of the solo albums. I remember thinking it was kind of cool. It was definitely different, as the only music I really heard at the time was what my mom would play in the car, but that was usually stuff like Neil Young and Fleetwood Mac.
It was about a year later that I really heard a complete KISS song. There was a KISS song on jukebox at one of the bars my mom used to frequent... I know what you're thinking, but the 1970s were a different time and we lived in a small town in central Florida and kids were acceptable in some establishments during certain hours. So as I was saying, there was a KISS record on the jukebox, it was "I Was Made For Loving You" with "Hard Times" on the b-side. First I played "Hard Times" because that sounded like a less-mushy song than the a-side. I liked it. Eventually I decided to try the other song. I remember when that disco beat hit, my mom has a sort of "who played this" look on her face. She wasn't a fan of disco. I thought it was alright. I still liked "Hard Times" better.
I didn't really follow up on KISS much for a while. Their star-power had begun to fade around that time and I wouldn't have much exposure to them again until they started performing without the make-up. We didn't have cable TV so I missed out on any of their stuff on MTV, but there was a new local broadcast station, V-32, that played some of their recent songs on their afternoon hard rock and heavy metal show. I was getting into those genres around that time so this started me wanting to listen to KISS again. I think the first KISS album I bought was a cassette of Animalize. I soon acquired cassettes of Unmasked and their most recent album at the time, Asylum. I realize these albums are not representative of the classic era of KISS, but it was the best I could do, your music collection was partially decided by what the stores would have in stock when you had money to spend.
Since that time, I've heard a lot of KISS. I'm not KISS Army level or anything, but you can call me a casual fan. Their music doesn't break any new ground. They are decent musicians, but not phenomenal. One could even argue they were more style than substance. That's not necessarily a bad thing. You didn't listen to KISS to hear eleven variations on a theme, you listed to hear some catchy rock and roll played loud. However, if you want to listen deeper, you can. KISS went through many different phases in their career. The different eras are even conveniently marked off for easy digestion. I hesitated writing this article because I feel like I won't be telling anyone anything they don't already know. Maybe I will, who knows?
The Classic Era
The early KISS albums had a pattern of three studio albums followed by a live album. This wasn't intended, it's just how it happened. Intentional or not, the live albums in this early sequence also gave a glimpse into the future of the band. So there are three albums of new material, followed by a look back and a look ahead. This paradigm would be followed — more or less — until the latter part of their career.
We start with the first KISS album, simply titled KISS. This is my favorite of the first set of albums. It's standard 1970s hard rock but Peter Criss' drumming style sets the sound apart from other hard rock acts of the time. There is a bit of a jazzy style to his drumming that really livens up the songs. The album starts off with "Strutter", which was a great choice to lead with; it's simple but powerful and pretty upbeat. "Strutter" gets you in the mood for the rest of the album. The album ends strong with "Black Diamond", also an excellent choice; the song has a grand finale feel to it. Everything in between is of varying quality, but all in all quite listenable.
The next two albums, Hotter Than Hell and Dressed To Kill don't quite live up to the expectations set by the first album. They were pushed out rather quickly with the third album being released a little more than a year after the first. The material on these two isn't as strong and the production is not as good. There are some good tracks such as "Parasite", "Mainline", and of course the classic, "Rock And Roll All Nite", but overall these albums just lack the energy of the first. The next album would try to fix that.
KISS was a band that really shined on stage, and they needed to get that point through on an album. The answer to that was their first live album, Alive! Exactly how live this album is depends on who you talk to, but it's generally believed that this was overdubbed heavily in the studio. That's okay though, it accomplished what it set out to do. The live environment, or the studio recreation thereof, charges up some of those songs that were lacking energy in the previous albums. This was key to the KISS sound and would be implemented more effectively in their upcoming studio albums. Alive! acts as both a review of the previous three albums, and a demonstration of what's to come now that they have identified this key part of the KISS formula by trying to recreate the live energy.
Their fourth studio album, Destroyer, picks up that live energy right out of the gate with "Detroit Rock City". This and several other songs on the album sound as though they were intended to be live anthems. Bob Ezrin was brought in as producer for this album; it's difficult to say exactly how much Ezrin contributed to the sound of Destroyer, but credit is definitely due. KISS had already developed their sound to a certain point, but often is the case that a real producer — one who can tell an artist exactly what they need to do in order to make hit songs — is necessary to bring out an artist's best sound. Some great producers will occasionally fail spectacularly at this, but in this case, Ezrin captured that KISS energy enough to where people took notice. Is this a perfect album? No. There are some turkeys on here, but they're overshadowed by several of their better known songs, including the unexpected hit ballad, "Beth", sung by Peter Criss.
Destroyer was soon followed by Rock And Roll Over and Love Gun. While Rock And Roll Over was a bit lackluster in comparison to Destroyer, almost taking a step backwards to their earlier work, Love Gun picks back up and gives us some classics such as "I Stole Your Love", the title track, and Ace Frehley's lead vocal debut on "Shock Me". Ace had been hesitant to sing lead on the songs he wrote, thinking his singing ability wasn't good enough, but he got the job done nicely here. He was probably the weakest vocalist out of the four members, but his voice fit his style of song writing.
As Alive! served as a live summary of their first three studio albums, Alive II would do the same for the second group of three. Alive II is more of an actual live album than it's predecessor, though among the live tracks are a few soundchecks with the audience dubbed in later. What really sets this apart from the first Alive! album is the fourth side of this two record set. We get five brand new studio tracks at the end, which also act as an ominous look ahead to the band's near future. It was around this time that the band had stopped functioning as a cohesive unit. Peter Criss in particular was beginning to lose interest in continuing with KISS, and it would soon be apparent that a break was needed. The songs on side four would foreshadow the coming phase of the band where they became contributing individuals rather than a single band. On three of the five songs on side four, Bob Kulick was brought in to record the lead guitar parts. Ace only appears on the song "Rocket Ride", which he wrote himself and played all instruments except drums.
I mark the end of the classic KISS era with the compilation album Double Platinum. This collection serves as a look back at all six of their studio albums, and like the two Alive albums, gives a preview of what's to come. The opening song, "Strutter '78" is a re-recording of the track from their first album, with the most notable difference being a sort of disco beat with the drums. Disco was pushing rock and roll aside and many bands felt they needed to adapt to remain relevant. KISS was only flirting with the sound a bit here, but it would be a heavy influence on their next studio album.
The Solos
In order to give the members of KISS a chance to do something besides be in KISS, which had pretty much being their entire lives for the past five years, they decided to each work on a solo album. They took a unique approach to these albums in that they were actual solo efforts without contributions from the other members, but they were also KISS albums and each album bore the KISS logo and had each respective member wearing the KISS makeup on the cover.
The solo albums were a good way to show what each member brought to the table. Paul Stanley shows he is the biggest influence on the overall KISS sound as his album is the most indistinguishable from a regular KISS album. Ace Frehley doesn't disappoint, it's the same straight ahead rock and roll you hear in his KISS songs. Gene Simmons gives us a few surprises with a funkier sound than the fake-out intro prepares us for. Most surprising of all is Peter Criss who really draws heavily on his musical background giving us a soulful and sometimes jazzy album.
We don't get a summary of the solo era here, though a compilation featuring three songs from each album was released a couple years later. What we do have though is a hint at what would come next. The following year would see the release of their seventh studio album, Dynasty, which in a way was an extension of the solo albums where each member worked more individually on their own songs. Vini Poncia also comes onto the scene here, as album producer and co-writer on my favorite song on the Peter Criss solo, "You Matter To Me". Poncia would work more with the band on their next two albums and be key in making the first big change to the KISS sound.
As a side note, it was around this time that the made for television movie KISS Meets The Phantom Of The Park was broadcast and it really served as a metaphor for what the band was going through at the time. The band played their stage personas in the movie, and their performances came off as rather cartoonish, complete with superpowers. KISS was in every home, retooled to entertain children, and this was starting to prove too much for some of the members. Peter Criss didn't even come back to record his dialog for the movie. Ace was kind of there, but wasn't really taking it seriously with much of his dialog being him making weird noises. Then there's Ace's stunt double, who they try to pass off as Ace, but it's obviously not him, rather like they hired Bob Kulick to stand in for Ace in some of their recent songs. While life may imitate art, art also imitates life, especially in the music business.
Changes
The next phase in the career of KISS would see changes to their sound, look, and line-up. The less cohesive functionality of the band that began the previous year continued with their 1979 effort, Dynasty. Despite that lack of cohesion, Dynasty is a really good album. It starts of with the disco-esque hit "I Was Made For Loving You", which was more of a Paul Stanley solo effort, co-written by producer Vini Poncia. Next is the first of three Ace Frehley songs, also basically solo efforts on his part. Throw in a couple Gene Simmons songs, again, basically solo efforts, and one Peter Criss song... well, the only Peter Criss song and, in fact, the only appearance by Peter and his final appearance on a KISS song until 1998. The most consistent player on this album is session drummer Anton Fig, who was brought in to replace Peter on the album as Peter wasn't thought to be up for the task. This was a post-solos KISS and there was more of it to come.
The next album was called Unmasked, also produced by Vini Poncia. Peter Criss only appeared on the cover. In spite of his absence, this is an amazing album. It starts off with a decent pop-rock Paul Stanley track which may or may not feature other KISS members. This is immediately followed by "Shandi", perhaps the smoothest song KISS ever recorded... well, it's more of a Paul Stanley solo, but it's great. Ace gives us more Ace, which is not a bad thing at all. Gene's contributions are all decent, though he hits it out of the stadium with "Naked City". Paul has two more smashes on side two with "Tomorrow" and "Easy As It Seems". There are one or two songs on the album that are skippable, but overall this shows how a band that is almost not a band anymore can put out the most interesting and widely accessible album of their career.
Then they made a concept album with Bob Ezrin. It introduced their new permanent drummer, Eric Carr. Music From "The Elder" is not terrible. It's not good, but it's not terrible. Moving on.
This odd era closes out with another compilation album called Killers. Most striking is their new, refined, ready-for-the-eighties look on the cover, though it didn't last long. Paul Stanley contributes four new songs on the album, all featuring Eric Carr on drums, but absent on the new tracks is Ace. In fact, Ace wouldn't be appearing on any more KISS songs until 1998. So our look ahead here is a KISS without Ace and Peter. Next, KISS would embark on a new, heavier direction.
Hard Rock To Glam Rock
The final album before KISS stopped wearing their makeup was Creatures Of The Night from 1982. This record acts as sort of a bridge between the chaotic phase from which the band had just emerged, and the more focused and mature phase that was to come. It could be considered a holdover due to their still wearing makeup on the cover, and because Ace is shown on the cover even though he does not appear on the album. Creatures Of The Night features the debut of new guitarist, Vinnie Vincent, though he is not credited on this album. The sound of the album, however, is much heavier than what had come before and isn't looking back. The hard rock sound of the 1970s was evolving into a bigger, more polished sound. Eric Carr's heavy drumming style would fit in perfectly with this new direction, and KISS was kind of born anew for the 1980s.
The no-makeup era officially began with the next album, Lick It Up, which continued the heavier sound from Creatures Of The Night. Vinnie Vincent did manage to appear on the cover this time, though he wouldn't be in the band much longer. He was considered an employee of the band and not a full member, which lead to some tensions and resulted in his eventual dismissal, to put it briefly. For the 1984 album Animalize, guitar duties would be handled by new guitarist Mark St. John, though medical issues would cause his time with the KISS to be cut short, and Bruce Kulick would soon take over.
Animalize and the next two albums, Asylum and Crazy Nights, would see the band jumping onto the glam metal bandwagon that the latter half of the 1980s is known for. This wasn't a bad thing, necessarily. KISS handled glam metal rather well, being one of the tougher looking and sounding bands of the genre. This wasn't classic KISS but it was still good KISS.
Five albums had now gone by since their last compilation record, so they were due. The result was called Smashes, Thrashes & Hits. This was a retrospective of their entire career, but the older songs were remixed to make them sound more contemporary (i.e. gated drum reverb). Two new songs were included, and somewhat controversially, a new version of "Beth" with Eric Carr on vocals. This album breaks the paradigm a bit and doesn't really offer much of a look into where the band was going. Musically, they were going with the flow and their next album would continue flowing that way.
The End Of One Road
By 1989, glam metal had completed its transformation into pop metal, and that's where you find the next KISS album, Hot In The Shade. This was to be the final album to feature Eric Carr on drums before his death in 1991, though he would appear on two songs on the following album, Revenge, which was in production when he died.
This began another odd era for the band. We see the sound go from the pop metal of Hot In The Shade, back to the heavier sound of Revenge. A line-up change from Eric Carr to Eric Singer on drums. The return of Vinnie Vincent, but only as a songwriter on the Revenge album, which brought back Bob Ezrin as producer.
This era is punctuated by a new live album, naturally named Alive III. The whole look ahead paradigm is out the window at this point. This is a good retrospective of their entire career, but it definitely did not predict where they were going. No one could predict what was yet to come. Well, maybe...
KISS did a set on MTV's Unplugged, performing acoustic versions of their classics. The album KISS Unplugged soon followed. This concert and album are notable for the return of Ace Frehley and Peter Criss to perform a couple songs. This gave Gene and Paul the bright idea of reforming the classic KISS line-up with makeup and all. I kind of wish they hadn't because but was handled incorrectly, but what's done is done, and it proved to be a success for the band.
An epilogue to this era came in the form of Carnival Of Souls: The Final Sessions. The "grunge" sound was all that anyone in the rock and roll business were talking about, and KISS made an attempt. It was... alright. I wasn't really a fan of the whole grunge sound, and I dismissed the album as misguided at the time. It wasn't the first album to attract that criticism. There are some decent tracks on it but overall it's unmemorable. It's like the musical version of a "What If..." comic book. What if KISS was a grunge band from Seattle? Well here's your answer. For me, this is where KISS ended. The evolution of the original KISS had come to an end. For all intents and purposes, that band broke up.
The KISS Product
KISS is well known for their merchandising. The joke is that Gene will make a buck with anything he can possibly put the KISS logo on, except it's not really a joke, it's a business model. It was around this time that KISS stopped being a band and became purely a product. Members Bruce Kulick and Eric Singer were dismissed and founding members Ace Frehley and Peter Criss were hired back as salaried employees of KISS. The makeup and costumes returned and KISS went on tour and released a new album, Psycho Circus. It wasn't the old KISS, it wasn't the next era of KISS, it was Paul and Gene selling nostalgia under the name KISS. The album is certainly listenable. The tour, I'm sure, was fun for those who attended. It was just very obvious that this was a nostalgia cash in, which was quickly coming into style because us lame kids from the seventies wanted to relive the stuff that we were too young to experience fully at the time.
I thought it would be great if they did the reunion tour and album, and then picked up back where they left off with Bruce and Eric. That never happened though. What followed after the very mediocre Psycho Circus, was more touring and more lackluster albums with Eric Singer and sometime Ace stand-in, Tommy Thayer wearing the respective Cat Man and Space Ace makeup. Once new members started wearing the former members' makeup designs, KISS truly became a production rather than a band. Anyone was now replaceable, the band had become the stage personas. At this point, if Gene and Paul so desired, they could establish a Las Vegas residency and have "KISS" perform with new members replacing the old ones under the makeup when they become unwilling or unable to continue performing. Finding replacement members might become tricky, as Paul Stanley has a distinctive voice, but it can be done. I'd be willing to bet that Gene and Paul have already discussed this possibility.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not here trying to tell KISS how they should have handled their career. They did just fine. They are KISS and I am simply spouting some opinions into the void, so no one should be taking any advice from me on this matter. Maybe Psycho Circus and the reunion tour were needed for KISS to survive through the nineties and beyond. Maybe the grunge KISS and whatever would evolve after that would have been a road to nowhere. A big part of KISS' success was the spectacle, so stick with what works, I guess. I'm glad a new generation got to experience a version of the classic KISS, even if they'll never know how cool it was to open up the Double Platinum album and do rubbings of the bas-reliefs of each member in their aura colors.