ALBUM OF THE WEEK #162 KISS - REVENGE (1992)

[RJhog (Admin)]

Artist: Kiss

Genre: Rock

Country Of Origin: United States

Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Member: No

Album: Revenge

Released: May 19, 1992

Producer: Bob Ezrin

Best Single: Unholy

Best Album Cut: Take It Off

Additional Hidden Gems: Tough Love/Spit

Filler: Thou Shalt Not/Every Time I Look At You/Paralyzed/Carr Jam 1981 

Lyric Of The Week: "I was there through the ages, chained slaves to their cages/I have seen you eat your own/I'm the cycle of pain, of a thousand year old reign/I'm suicide and salvation, the omen to nations/That you worship on all fours/I'm the infection and famine, that's knockin' at your door" - Unholy

Well, we are beginning to wind down our tour of the 90's.  I think we are gonna visit the decade of grunge for two more weeks, so I'm gonna have some fun.  This week I have an album from my favorite band for you.  Revenge was released by Kiss in 1992.  It was a comeback album of sorts.  The band started the 80's in the pop world (Unmasked), then made a visit to the world of concept (Music From The Elder) and then made their first comeback (Creatures Of The Night).  Next, they re-invented themselves by unmasking (Lick It Up) and spent the rest of the 80's in the world of glam with Paul Stanley keeping the ship afloat while Gene Simmons dreamed of glorious Hollywood.  

Fast forward to 1991.  Shockingly, Eric Carr, who had taken over for Peter Criss, passed away.  Eric Singer became the new drummer and the band released this album.  Surprisingly, a Gene Simmons song led off the album (Unholy).  And it was a return to form for the Demon.  The video for the song reinforced this return to form, showing a pretty evil looking Simmons, which was sorely needed after his 80's appearance.  

The album is a good one.  The band definitely succeeded in regaining some menace. But I don't think that, as a whole, it's as good as many diehards seem to think.  I think the first seven songs are terrific.  But after that, it's a real disappointment for me sans I Just Wanna, which I do like.  I'd like to know what you folks think of it.  Here are some facts, figures and opinions regarding the album:

• The album reached number 6 on the U.S. charts, the first album since Dynasty to break the Top 10 in the U.S.
• The album is certified Gold by the RIAA.
• Four singles were released, but nobody cared (none charted in the U.S.).
• Four videos were produced, I'll include three of them below.
• The album's credits are full of names from the past and future of Kiss, as noted below.
• Bob Ezrin produced the album (he had previously produce the albums Destroyer and Music From The Elder).
• Dick Wagner performed the guitar solo for Every Time I Look At You (he was a ghost performer on Destroyer).
• Kevin Valentine performed drums on Take It Off (he was a ghost player on Psycho Circus).
• Kiss alumnus Vinnie Vincent co-wrote three of the tunes (Unholy, Heart Of Chrome and I Just Wanna, all songs that I like).
• Tommy Thayer performed some backing vocals.

1. Unholy *

2. Take It Off

3. Tough Love

4. Spit

5. God Gave Rock 'N' Roll To You II *

6. Domino *

7. Heart Of Chrome

8. Thou Shalt Not

9. Every Time I Look At You *

10. Paralyzed

11. I Just Wanna *

12. Carr Jam 1981

[Scott]

I have a great story about the song Unholy.  It involves beer, cigarettes, a lawn mower, and a Mormon church.  Very interesting indeed!

[RJhog (Admin)]

The lawn mower and the Morman church intrigue me...share?

[Scott]

Seems that back in the 90's a friend of mine built a home directly across the street from a Mormon church, this being in Utah and all, each Sunday people would park in front of his house, block his driveway, and then they were always be dropping in asking to borrow things, cup of sugar, telephone etc...  Since his family wasn't Mormon this was problem.  So one Sunday he got an idea and block off his driveway with a Saw horse and big sign saying "Please do not block driveway", then he pulled his speakers out on on the lawn and when the people started arriving for church, he'd light up, crack a beer and start mowing his lawn in short shorts, all while Unholy played in the background.  Dont think he ever had that problem again!

No offense to any Mormons...

[RJhog (Admin)]

That was a sure fire cure for your buddy.  Unholy is a pretty demonic song.

[Jon]

I had sworn of Kiss after the abysmal pile o' crap titles "Asylum". But I wasn't really a Kiss fan (except for "The Elder", of course) so didn't really care about them when this came out.

Years later a friend of mine had this playing and he demanded that I listen to "Domino". Surprisingly, it was a really good song and the rest of the album wasn't that bad. It's certainly heavy, really not much pop metal here and I still kinda like it. 

Maybe I'm missing something, but is there a complete absence of "yeah"? Seriously there's gotta be at least one somewhere. Right?

"Take It Off" and "I Just Wanna" are kinda silly, but it's Kiss so I guess ya gotta expect silliness.

For a Kiss album, this is pretty good. However, for a Pet Shop Boys album this would completely suck.

What's with the album cover? Is it an airplane with bullet holes? Silly album cover. Don't knw what it has to do with revenge, but I'm sure a Kiss fan would know (not that I care, really).

[Niels (Mod)]

This was the first "new" KISS-album, that I didn't buy, after quite a few dissapointments, "Unmasked" being the first one, and "HITS" was where I said stop. I don't think, I've heard all of this album before, maybe just once 20 years ago, but I don't really feel like listening to it now. "God gave..aso" was/is rather good, and I liked the video a lot, because it had all the vintage footage of the band, but it really wasn't their song, was it?! "Thou shall not" is a crappy Gene-title, and one of the many things, that made me grew very tired of this band, was crappy-Gene-titled songs. That, and the music, and the fact, that I grew up, and developed a different taste in music. As in GRUNGE :-)

[Scott]

Hot In The Shade went completely ignored by me, I grew tired of the band at that point anyway.  They were in a funk and I completely disconnected.  Revenge also went ignored until the reunion and unplugged stuff, that's when I thought I would give Kiss a second chance.  The disc is actually pretty good, it has some spunk and shows signs of the band trying to move in the right direction.  Its interesting to note that Vinnie Vincent gets co-writing credit.  I still to this day think he was the shot in the arm the band needed back in the COTN/LIU time frame.  Shame he was such a jerk because the 80's could have been a totally different story with him!  oh well...

Today this album sits in my collection gathering dust, its just not a CD i think of pulling to play anymore.  However, the inclusion of Carr Jam 1981 was classy move and is probably the most compelling reason a fan would want this.  

[Scandal 2000]

I am not much of a KISS fan, but this one has three or four songs I really like.