July 6, 2019
By Ryan Porzl
I've been a KISS fan since 2001 and they were the first band I got into. For 45 years, the band has released 20 studio albums as well as other material. When a band releases that much stuff and has such a long and rich history, they're bound to stumble once and awhile. With KISS embarking on their End of the Road tour, I figure I do some articles on KISS' work. The first will cover the few times KISS missed the mark. I'll mostly focus on studio albums not the Alive! albums or compilation albums with some new songs like Killers or Smashes, Thrashes, and Hits. This will not be in any specific order.
Animalize (1984)- Amazing how much can change in two years. While Creatures of the Night was an example of when you're down, you can't do anything right, Animalize proved that when you're up, you can't do anything wrong. Animalize was KISS' second album after taking off their signature make up and the band was on a comeback as a result. As is universally known to KISS fans, Gene wasn't fully committed as he was more focused on Hollywood projects since he no longer had to worry about hiding his face or keeping up a mystique. As a result, Paul perhaps summed up his songs best saying Gene went into a studio and crapped out some demos as fast as he could and then was off to film a movie leaving Paul with a pile of mostly unusable junk. Many KISS fans will tell you Animalize has Gene's worst stuff and while I won't completely agree, it's definitely up there though "Burn Bitch Burn" and "While The City Sleeps" are decent. The album also suffers from the departure of Vinnie Vincent who was a big part of the previous two albums co-writing three songs on Creatures of the Night and eight for Lick It Up meaning he co-wrote 1/3 of Creatures of the Night and 8/10 of Lick It Up. This album marked the only one to feature Mark St. John on guitar and while St. John was as talented as the past and future guitarists, he wasn't much as a songwriter the other KISS guitar players like Ace Frehley and Vinnie were or Bruce Kulick and Tommy Thayer would be so that's another thing going against the album. Though he co-wrote "Under the Gun", Eric Carr's stuff wasn't used much either so with all of this, we basically had Paul to carry the album and he is only one man. Thankfully, he does get some help in the form of former Plasmatics bassist Jean Beauvoir and the return of the brilliant Desmond Child which results in the three best songs in "I've Had Enough (Into The Fire)", "Heaven's On Fire", and "Thrills In The Night" with "Heaven's On Fire" being a KISS classic while the other two are very underrated. Unfortunately, not all of Paul's stuff is great as "Get All You Can Take" is nothing special and "Under the Gun" is ok. All in all, Animalize was a speed bump in KISS' comeback that thankfully didn't affect the comeback in a bad way and KISS fortunately went on to put on excellent albums for the remainder of the 80s.
KISS (1974)- Sometimes a first album can be amazing and a classic like Van Halen's self titled debut or Guns N' Roses' Appetite For Destruction. Some first albums show a band/singer's potential but proves they have a ways to go and sadly, KISS is in that category. I understand the originals look back on this album fondly with Gene saying it's his favorite because it's their first album and dreams were coming true but if you forget the sentimental value, it's not a good album. I would say the only good songs on it were Paul's "Strutter" and Gene's "Deuce" while everything else is a dud. Ace's "Cold Gin" is a KISS staple and classic but Ace had way better stuff. "Love Theme From KISS" and Paul's "Let Me Know" are forgettable and "Kissin' Time" is a cover that shouldn't have been on here and apparently was only on due to Casablanca boss Neil Bogart. Gene's "Nothin' To Lose" isn't that good. Shockingly, Paul's the weak link in this album and I'm amazed at how far he's come as a songwriter. Usually, Paul has two or three songs that can buoy a bad KISS album but his stuff was the worst. "100,000 Years" and "Firehouse" are two of the most overrated KISS songs ever and should've been retired by the end of the 70s. Why they're still played to this day when they have no business on a setlist, I have no idea. "Black Diamond" has potential but feels like it needed much more work as it probably could've used more lyrics and the songs seems to end on a thud. Another problem was the poor production which plagued the first three KISS albums and thus, the albums don't have that sound that helps make a song better.
Love Gun (1977)- This may be considered sacrilegious but I stand by it. Yes, Love Gun is supposed to be one of KISS' greatest studio albums and possibly the second best behind Destroyer but the truth is that I just don't see it. Members of the KISS Army have long decided that Animalize features Gene's worst stuff but if that's the case, Love Gun isn't far off by a long shot. "Christine Sixteen" is overrated and not that special while his other stuff "Plaster Caster", "Got Love For Sale", and "Almost Human" are completely forgettable. Ace and Peter weren't much better as they only gave us one dud each instead of four. Ace's "Shock Me" is his signature song but like "Cold Gin", he had much better especially in the next several albums while Peter's "Hooligan" was another forgettable song but that was the story of most his stuff outside "Beth". Paul carries the album and gives us the only redeemable songs on the album with his three songs. "I Stole Your Love" is an excellent way to open the album and get the blood pumping which KISS' Detroit Rock City movie showed and should've been a concert opener much more. The title track is an excellent KISS classic and "Tomorrow and Tonight" is a fun song with Paul successfully capturing the spirit of Rock and Roll All Nite though it sadly faded in obscurity.
Dressed To Kill (1975)- Dressed To Kill is kind of a sad album because it had too many things that derailed it. The first big issue was the release as it came out March 1975 which makes this not only KISS' third album but their third in 13 months. For a bunch of 20 somethings with little experience, that's asking a lot. Even though KISS shined with Hotter Than Hell, it was probably too soon for them to churn out a third album. Another issue was the band was really lacking that producer that could bring the best out of them like Bob Ezrin did on the next studio album Destroyer as the album was instead produced by Neil Bogart who was mostly focused on keeping cost down. Because of this stuff along with only recording the album in ten days, it feels like the album needed more time and was clearly rushed given the terrible production and the album barely clocking in at a half hour (30:07 to be exact). In fact, Paul brought up how they had to do long pauses after the songs to extent the album's length. The songs that are on here are decent as "Rock and Roll All Nite" is obviously KISS's signature song. Paul's "C'Mon and Love Me" and "Room Service" are good as is Gene's "Two Timer" and Ace's "Getaway" which are also catchy. "Rock Bottom" is a mixed bag as Ace's guitar intro is great but the rest of the song is blah which is weird as I usually don't care for long instrumental openings like Metallica's "For Whom The Bell Tolls" and Ozzy Osbourne's "Zombie Stomp". Gene's "Ladies In Waiting" and "She" along with Paul's "Anything For My Baby" and "Love Her All I Can" are forgettable. Sadly, the album also has poor production which plagued the previous two albums (though it wasn't so bad for Hotter Than Hell) and as a result, the songs lack the punch they needed. This is especially notable in "C'Mon And Love Me" and "Rock and Roll All Nite" which suffer greatly as they come off flat. It's this reason why I hate when this version of "Rock and Roll All Nite" is played over any of the Alive versions which capture the fire much better. As mentioned, Dressed To Kill is a victim of horrible timing. If it had someone like Bob Ezrin or Vini Poncia producing and helping with the songwriting, the songs could've been tighter and the sound much much better getting the perfect sound the songs needed. I guess it's not a bad album and the band does an admirable effort but too many issues drag it down and it almost makes you wonder "what if?".
Peter Criss (1978)- Peter Criss is one of the infamous four solo albums the band did back in 1978. Sadly for Peter, the album was a very bad omen of things to come and that he was never destined to have an awesome solo career. The album is flawed in many ways as most of the songs just aren't that good or memorable or catchy. There aren't many songs with a catchy hook or chorus that you want to keep listening to or gets stuck in your head. Of the 10 songs, only 3 songs are worth listening to as "Tossin' and Turnin'" is catchy and "That's The Kind of Sugar Papa Likes" is really good. However, the best song was saved for last in "I Can't Stop The Rain" which is excellent and plays to Peter's strengths which is ballads. In fact, why this wasn't a single, I have no idea. The style also may not be for many KISS fans as Peter came from a swing/big band background instead of rock n' roll and it shows as much of the guitar stuff is low and there's plenty of horns. While it's admirable for Peter to take a risk with a style he's most comfortable with, it was also a double edge sword that KISS fans might not be into and I'm not into it. Unfortunately, Peter Criss would be a sign of what's to come for Peter as a solo artist: a few gems but mostly forgettable.
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