ALBUM OF THE WEEK # 198 KISS - KISS (40TH ANNIVERSARY - 1974)

[RJhog (Admin)]

Artist: Kiss

Genre: Rock

Country Of Origin: U.S.

Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Member: Yes (in less than a month)

Album: Kiss

Producer: Kenny Kerner/Richie Wise

RJ's Top 5 Tunes: 1. Black Diamond...2. Let Me Know...3. Deuce...4. Strutter...5. Cold Gin

Disclaimer:  All "facts" come from wikipedia.com unless otherwise noted.

The run through the 80's is over, so it's back to normal.  This is the first weekend of the month, so you get an anniversary album this week.  And I'm going with an album that was very instrumental in my musical life, the debut by Kiss.  It's hard to believe that it has been forty years since this album was released.  Here are a few tidbits regarding it:

• The album is certified Gold by the RIAA.
• It reached a kool 87 on the Billboard chart.
• Three singles were released, with Nothin' To Lose and Strutter failing to chart.  Kissin' Time, which was added for a second pressing (I'd love to find a kopy of the LP without that song on it) cruised all the way up to 83 on the chart.
• The album kover was similar to Meet The Beatles, which was the visual effect the band was looking for.
• Ace spray painted his hair silver for the photo shoot.
• In the late 80's, the album was repressed with a live version of Nothin' To Lose in place of the studio version.  I remember the kassette I had (probably still have it) had the live version, which I didn't understand.  I had no idea what a repressing was.

So what do I think?  I think this album is a klassic.  Strutter, Nothin' To Lose, Firehouse, Cold Gin, Deuce, 100,000 Years and Black Diamond are all Kiss klassics that are still played in concert to this day.  The riffs on Strutter, Deuce and Cold Gin are also klassic. It's a shame Ace was too scared to sing, I'd love to hear a studio version of Cold Gin with him on lead vocals.  Ace, that would be a great bonus track for your album later this year.  

So there you have it.  A klassic album from a klassic band.  A band that will be in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame shortly, forty years after their debut.  A band that shocked and rocked the world.  My band, Kiss.

Side One:

1. Strutter

2. Nothin' To Lose

3. Firehouse

4. Cold Gin

5. Let Me Know

Side Two:

6. Kissin' Time

7. Deuce 

8. Love Theme From Kiss

9. 100,000 Years

10. Black Diamond

[RJhog (Admin)]

[RJhog (Admin)]

[Scott]

Love the little Casablanca logo in the lower right hand corner of the album cover image.  Brings back a tons of memories, and that particular version of it meant that you were a fan from the beginning because they changed it a little while later.

Strutter was always a favorite of mine, loved the 78 remake as well.  Criss also mentioned that he loves playing it live recently on That Metal Show.  I simply love the tone of Frehley's guitar on Cold Gin's.  One of the best ever, and clearly the best track on this album. 

Lets not talk about the well know tunes... Let Me Know is a pretty good tune actually.  They even include a demo version of it in the Box Set that's not bad either.  But rather, lets talk about the strange addition of Love Theme From Kiss and Kissin' Time.  To quote Jerry Seinfeld, "What's up with that?"

No seriously, what's up with those two songs?  Its as if the label forced them onto the album and the band refuses to even mention their names ...  The thing about Kissin' Time is that it was such a blatant attempt at a Top 40 hit that it sounds out of place.  Not acknowledging this song but passing yourself as a brand seems bit hypocritical..  My opinion.

In reality this is a good debut that was missed by pretty everybody.  I caught on when The Originals came out.  My friends had played for me, cant remember which album they put on, most likely Dressed to Kill.  But it was right before Destroyer came out because I clearly remember KISS Army stickers on their lunch boxes and seeing it heavily marketed in the record store.  It was also my first KISS album...

Great post (I don't care what Jon says) - Great memories with every beat....

[RJhog (Admin)]

I remember that all of the albums I had had the tan label, but my cousin's albums had the blue label.  I had no idea why they were different.  And I remember picking up the "Originals" album in Kmart, looking it over, thinking it was cool as hell, then putting it back down because I didn't have any money.  

[Niels (Mod)]

I didn't get this album until late ´77, meaning after I had got all the other KISS-albums released at that time. Because I knew the live-versions of most songs from the album by heart, and that the original versions wasn't as good, especially Ace's guitar, I never really got into this album at all, also since I only got it on cassete, never an album.

The 3 tracks, that wasn't on Alive, was a big dissapointment, but it actually is a strong debut-album.

It sounds much more as a collection of songs, though, than "Hotter Than Hell", that might not have as many strong tracks, but HTH is really an ALBUM, and imo much better, probably my favorite KISS-release. 

[Jon]

This is funny in how shocking it is. 

Guess they actually had their minds working on the lyrics, there aren't that many "yeahs". Still, some of this is incredibly juvenile. 

However, the geetar is incredibly good. For such simplistic lyrics, the geetar is completely opposite. Most of these songs I've heard before and I must admit that I have always liked "Deuce" and the stuttering geetar.

Maybe this was shocking back then, but it sounds extremely tame to me. Actually never saw this album when growing up, don't know what I would have thought.

It's a good album, I have to admit that. Yet it and nothing else by Kiss comes remotely close to their magnum opus, "The Elder". What a wasted opportunity. What shame. "Love Theme From Kiss" could fit somewhere in "The Elder", but they need to change the title; it's kind of tacky to call it that.

Decent listen, but this in no way changes how I feel about Kiss. Nice try but epic fail!

[RJhog (Admin)]

Alas, probably the best I could hope for from Jon Boy.

[Jon]

At least I didn't call it krap.