Every Kiss Album - Ranked from Least Best to the Best
Ultimately though, I believe that there is yet another reason why I am making this list here. More than most other bands with these many years going solid, Kiss has had a whirlwind of changes befall them. Musically, visually, line-up wise, Kiss has changed with the times and then bounced back again, sometimes album to album. This makes their recording output one of the more interesting out there, to say the least. Every Zeppelin album is great. Every Beatles album is great. Every Queen album is great. Every Kiss album has greatish stuff on them, but there is more to it than that. Quality-wise, there are mountains of differences from say Monster to Creatures of the Night, let alone how pointless Kiss Symphony Alive IV is compared to the first Alive!. Plus Music from "The Elder" sounds like a completely different band then the albums that sandwich it. You get my point, (or do you...?).
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| Did someone say "Elder sandwich"? |
Kiss has twenty studio albums, four solo albums under the band name, and five live albums that I have decided to include here. I am not counting compilations for obvious reasons, even though several of them are worth checking out for the re-edits and re-recordings of hits or flat out "new" songs that appear on them, (mmm..."Let's Put the X In Sex"). Plus, Kiss' initial explosion into the mainstream was because Alive! was so seminal and their live show remains a gold standard, so including such albums in such a list is necessary says me.
Yet another reason, (despite me thinking that I know what I am talking about), which I feel a list such as this is worth a read is because my taste in Kiss is largely removed from the norm . The make-up era is not my favorite, I love Paul Stanley's songs so much that Gene's almost always get half the attention from me, I do not care for Destroyer and love Carnival of Souls, and I rather like Peter Criss' solo album. I also think "Who Wants To Be Lonely" is the best Kiss song of all time, followed fairly closely by "Then She Kissed Me", so clearly my daft opinions on this band's output is worth at least a curiosity glance.
Whatever the status be of you the reader out there, (either a friend of mine who I forced to read this crap or a diehard/casual Kiss fan who stumbled upon all this silliness), I hope some enjoyment is to be had by my words. This is a first for me to rank every album from least to best from a single band and as I have kind of hinted at, I do not believe that I will take on such a project with any other band. Yet as Gene Simmons is always first in line to tell you, A), money is delicious and B), Kiss is not your average band. So on that note...
THE NOT SO GREAT
Blame it on being the baby in the Kiss catalog mayhaps, but besides also being the twentieth and to date latest, Monster is also the weakest. Every Kiss album has at least one song that would rank as one if their best except this and the following entry, (no skipping ahead, you). "Hell or Hallelujah" was the lead-off single and it is fine, but I also hoped that there would be some tastier jams once I heard the entire thing. Alas, this is not the case since Monster is essentially a filler record from beginning to end. The same problems are here that were on Sonic Boom, namely being the non-use of any outside songwriters to help with the "hooks", the punchy and dull production, and to a lesser extent, Tommy Thayer's competent but completely unmemorable solos and vocals. I give this one another try every now and again but unlike Boom, it has yet to grown on me and ergo, it belongs on the bottom.
28. Psycho Circus (1998)
Though I do not loathe it today to the extent that I did when first unleashed, Psycho Circus was the most disappointing Kiss album for me when it came out. I REAAALLLY love Revenge and Carnival of Souls and I went ape-shit when the original line-up reunited and hit the road, so all this combined to have my expectations through the roof for the next studio outing. Not that I expected it to sound like Carnival with Ace and Peter, (and not that Ace and Peter barely if at all ended up playing on it anyway, those bamboozling Gene and Paul devils), but the forced-anthem, primarily hook-less party record we got was just massively disappointing. I went well over ten years without listening to a single track on Circus, but coming back to it more recently, it is not a complete train-wreck. Actually, three of the only songs on it that do NOT seem to be catered to getting the Kiss army to sing along with them are the best ones, being "Within", "Dreamin", and "Journey of 1,000 Years". "We Are One" is kind of a guilty pleasure I have to admit, but the song is certainly still in the lame camp. Speaking of which, "I Finally Found My Way" is easily the worst song Kiss ever recorded and the rest of this album may not make me cringe anymore, but it fails do a single thing else for me either.
BEST SONG: "Journey of 1,000 Years"
LEAST BEST SONG: "I Finally Found My Way"
BEST SONG: "Journey of 1,000 Years"
LEAST BEST SONG: "I Finally Found My Way"
27. Kiss Symphony Alive IV (2003)
Why the world needs an official live Kiss album of the least successful line-up in the band's history is unknown to me. Another Alive IV was set to be released with the reunited line-up and presumably would have been preferable to literally every single Kiss fan then what we ended up with instead. Yet for whatever reason that aforementioned reunion set was only put out in the Kiss Alive! box where you had to re-buy the first three Alive albums to get it, dammit all. So, Kiss Symphony eventually dropped as the final chapter in the Alive series instead. Peter Criss, (who had already been fired/quit depending on who you ask), was dragged back virtually kicking and screaming to do a few dates with an orchestra in Australia since promoters insisted on at least 3/4 of the original team. Ace had officially lost interest and was already off and getting beaten up by ghosts. Tommy Thayer officially stepped in here then and Criss awkwardly, (to put it nicely), plays on a number of songs that he did not originally perform, and it shows. "Forever" in particular, (one of Kiss' very best songs IMO), is largely butchered by Criss' clearly-not-interested playing. Far as the orchestra involvement goes, bah, who cares? I did not give a fuck when Metallica did it, (mostly because Metallica was at their lowest stage musically at that point, which is another story), and Kiss doing it just tickles me not at all. Perhaps I am just jaded to symphonic bombast from watching too many movies scored by John Williams.
I was once again disappointed when I finished listening to another post-reunion Kiss album as Sonic Boom hit more like a thud than a boom. One reason was the inevitable anticipation since it was the first studio Kiss album in over ten years. That long of a wait for any band and you want the results to blow you off your toilet. Boom was also the first studio recording from the current line-up of Kiss, plus the first to so-called be returning to the band's 70s sound and vibe as a straight-ahead, ballad-less, not-at-all-jumping-on-trends rock record. Also, the first song any of us heard from it, "Modern Day Delilah" is penty solid, Paul's eyebrow raising high screams aside. Yet similar to the follow-up Monster, Filler City would have been a more accurate album title. Now this being spoken, Boom has definitely grown on me, to the point where "Say Yeah" and "I'm An Animal" are on-par with "Delilah" me thinks. "Animal" in particular has one of the sickest Gene Simmons-penned riffs of all time. Still, when compared to the album's very similar follow up, all of the other jams on Boom are better than all of the other jams on Monster. Plus "I Finally Found My Way" is not on it, so it also gets the nod over Psycho Circus.
BEST SONG: "Modern Day Delilah"
LEAST BEST SONG: "When Lightning Strikes"
BEST SONG: "Modern Day Delilah"
LEAST BEST SONG: "When Lightning Strikes"
Ooo boy. There may not be a Kiss fan alive, dead, or yet to be born who is not/was not/will not be disappointed by Gene Simmon's first solo album. The spooky-as-shit intro to opener "Radioactive" ends up being nothing more than a cocktease as the rest of that song and the album are anything but adhering to Gene's demonic persona. As opposed to Peter's boogie-woogie tinged solo joint, the female back up singers, piano, and borderline dance feel of Gene's just seems clashing. Gene has always said that he never censors what he writes, meaning that his wide-ranging, non-hard rock influences get just as much attention as his "Rarr I'm a horny monster" jams do. He's penned countless songs that show a blatant love for the Beatles, (the only band besides Kiss that he probably listens to), most of which have never been released. Yet a few such Fab-esque tunes wind up on this album and they are easily the best ones. "See You Tonight" and "Mr. Make Believe" are exceptional, plus the album's other ballad "Always Near You/Nowhere To Hide" is commendable for the wailing falsetto vocals that he busts out near the end, (seriously, I was surprised to). Elsewhere, the album is overstuffed with guest stars, bloated arrangements, and just too many instruments clamoring for space on the ball-less mix. I dig "Man of 1,000 Faces" a lot and "Burning Up With Fever" has a pretty tasty riff, but Kiss' collaborative force or just possibly Eddie Kramer as producer could have done wonders to heavy-up everything. It also goes without saying that his re-do of a two year old Kiss song "See You Tonight" and obviously his Disney cover are the two must unnecessary songs in the entire Kiss catalog. Now let us never speak of them again.
BEST SONG: "See You Tonight"
LEAST BEST SONG: "When You Wish Upon A Star"
THE DECENT
You
goddamn right number 24. I have been a Kiss fan for twenty years now and never once in those two decades have I agreed with the masses,
critics, and the band themselves that Destroyer is the ultimate
Kiss album. As you can read, not by many a mile says me. Far from the best original line-up record, it is in fact the weakest. Now I love Bob Ezrin as any Kiss, Alice Cooper,
and Pink Floyd fan would, but the production on Destroyer is a
detriment. Big boomy drums where you somehow cannot even hear the kick drum half of the time, plus a wall-of-sound approach suites the band's material poorly. Ultimately though, it is some of the songs themselves that fail to impress. You shant get an argument from me that "Detroit Rock
City" and "Beth" deserve to be two of the band's most famous tunes, plus "God of
Thunder", "King of the Night Time World", "Sweet Pain", and "Do You Love Me" boast some agreeable hooks even if the ones that were recorded live sound better that way. Yet "Flaming Youth" and "Great Expectations" are lame sauce, plus "Shout It Out Loud" is "Rock and Roll All Nite" Part II,
meaning that I will never voluntarily listen to it again in my life and would go as far as to rank it as my second least favorite Kiss song. Stay
tuned folks. My preferences get more and more silly!
BEST SONG: "Detroit Rock City"
LEAST BEST SONG: "Shout It Out Loud"
Are there great songs on Hot in the Shade? A few. Are there unforgivably terrible songs on Hot In the Shade? Maybe. Are there a whopping fifteen songs on Hot in the Shade? Uh... Are those songs largely comprised of merely competently recorded demos? Also, uh... There lies the problem. Now if all fifteen of these songs knocked it out of the park, that would be one thing. Yet when those many songs are on average just in the ballpark of "sure I guess" and yet the listening experience still takes almost an hour to get through, then unfortunately the album becomes its own worst enemy. It also hurts that HITS, (ha, I just realized that), lacks a producer and the aforementioned demo quality gives the whole thing an unfocused, "clear out the vaults" kind of feel. Ultimately none of that hogwash matters so long as the jams are good and again, there are a few such gems here. "Forever" and "Hide Your Heart" rank as two of the band's best and "Little Caesar" is the second of only two Eric Carr vocal performances released in his lifetime with the band and a solid one at that. Maybe everything else here could have just used some tweaking.
BEST SONG: "Forever"
LEAST BEST SONG: "Cadillac Dreams"
For whatever reason, I have always had a soft spot for Peter's solo album. Meaning this one of course, Out of Control, Let Me Rock You, and One for All on the other hand = RUNAWAY! Perhaps it is my tolerance level for schmaltzy yacht rock being higher than that of the average Kiss fan, yet I do generally dig a band's mellower tunes. PC has some killer ballads in the form of "Don't You Let Me Down" and especially "Easy Thing", plus the other handful on here I can more than stomach. This album also has one of the greatest song titles of all time, obviously referring to "That's the Kind of Sugar Papa Likes", a line that I am just waiting for the right opportunity to deliver to a female acquaintance of mine. "I'm Gonna Love You" is definitely one of my favorite Peter songs and also goes a-ways in my wanting to put this album on since it kicks off the whole thing. Yes, it is unmistakable to anyone who has ears that this is the least Kiss sounding Kiss album there is, (at least Gene's had SOME heavy guitars on it), but I have and will continue to ignore such a fact because, so? Peter's voice suites this kind of grandpa rock to a tee, the production from Vini Poncia is on point, and the material is easily the strongest that Criss would ever have in his solo career. Sometimes Ace Frehley solos are not required; just good ole piano and female soul back-up singers to get the job done.
Mark St. John's sole Kiss-membership album Animalize falls shy of Asylum, Crazy Nights, or it's immediate predecessor Lick It Up, but there is some good stuff here. "Heaven's On Fire", (besides having one of the greatest intros any song has ever had), is another in what would end up being a continuous stream of stellar Paul Stanley penned and sung singles during the decade, plus "Thrills in the Night" is a successful follow up as well. "Get All That You Can Get" is another hidden gem in the Kiss catalog, made even more classic by the demo version that has surfaced on youtube featuring gibberish Paul Stanley-ism sounds in place of actual verses. For real, shit is comic gold. Many an eyebrow hath been raised over Gene's "Burn Bitch Burn", one of my favorite such burns being when Chris Jericho interviewed Paul Stanley recently and asked him what it was like in the 80s to have Gene come in with a songs like that, to which Paul naturally responded "Oh it was horrible!". As is the case with most all of Gene's phoning-it-in 80s material, it is actually no worse or better than the lot of them and at least worth a chuckle in hindsight. All of the Paul songs are highlights because of course they are, plus Mark St. John's busy-bee playing is more interesting than off-putting as the album ultimately stands out as Kiss' only shredder record.
Mmm...Paul Stanley's thong. Though Kiss may have ditched the neon Aslyum-drag and thrown back on some leather jackets here, musically this is as poppy as their hair-metal period ever got. Nights is more keyboard than guitar heavy, but that being said, Bruce Kulick drops a virtuosic spectacle on the Gene track "No, No, No" with an "Eruption" worthy wankfest that is worthy of his dated yet impressive technical prowess. The album's three Paul, (of course), singles are, (of course again), all good. "Crazy Crazy Nights" is my least favorite if I got to chose, but the product-of-its-time ballad "Reason To Live" is cheese-grade gold, probably do the the fact that my favorite Kiss co-writer Desmond Child was involved yet again. "Turn On the Night", (the Dianne Warren of all people collaboration), is also worth singing along to when no one is looking, plus "I'll Fight Hell To Hold You" would be the best non-singles Paul moment herein. The Gene jams are filler as they always were during this period, but good enough filler, "Thief In the Night" probably the best of 'em. Production-wise, the drums are given the full, 80s cathedral reverb treatment and the keys make it reek even more of the decade that it was made in, but this is still a testament to Kiss delivering above-average hair metal in an era full of the forgettable kind. Not saying much since most hair metal is crap, but still.
BEST SONG: "Reason To Live"
LEAST BEST SONG: "Good Girl Gone Bad"
THE SEXY
Most critics stand by the claim that Ace Frehely made the best solo album out of the original four and he did have the only hit out of the bunch with "New York Groove", but I have never showered his solo debut with THAT level of ass-smooching, deserving as it may mostly be. Ace had been contributing songs to the band since the beginning, but at this point, he had only taken a crack on lead vocals with "Shock Me" and "Rocket Ride", both within the previous year of the solo album's releases. So getting a whole album from him, vocals, riffs, and all, definitely proved that he was in the well-rounded, rock songsmith league at least where the music was concerned. This is of course because Ace has and remains one of the worst lyricists in all of popular music and his vocals have always teetered on the edge of being bad enough to laugh at, getting by more on his New Yawk, spaced-out swagger than anything. It is really the riffs, leads, Eddie Kramer's production, and Anton Fig's stellar performance that knock this one out of the park. "Rip It Out", "Speedin' Back To My Baby", "Snow Blind", and "Fractured Mirror" are classic Ace tunes and the album's strength is that pretty much every other song is just about on par. "New York Groove" is awesome, but the live treatment that added an extended Ace solo section destroys the studio one. Shame that it was never released as a proper live version, but at least we got bootlegs.
BEST SONG: "Speedin' Back To My Baby"
LEAST BEST SONG: "What's On Your Mind?"
When it comes to set lists, Alive III easily has the best out of any of the other albums in the series. The early 90s line-up of Kiss is probably my favorite when alls said and done, so hearing said incarnation tear through some of the make-up era stuff is a refreshing treat. Case in point is the dusting off of "Watchin' You", though I have to say that I miss Gene's high scream in there. "I Was Made For Loving You" gets an ass-whooping treatment in particular, heavier than it ever was or would be again. Ultimately though, it is the 80s-era songs that benefit from the heftier, (presumably studio enhanced) live treatment. "Heaven's On Fire", "Lick It Up", "I Still Love You", "Forever", and especially "Creatures of the Night" are damn-near superior in this setting. "I Love It Loud" still borderline sucks though, as does "Rock and Roll All Night" of course, but when does it not? Not at all surprisingly, the Revenge tunes are spot-on as the Paul, Gene, Bruce, and Eric S line-up comes off like a muscular, well-oiled machine with the band's then-contemporary material suiting the stage as good as. So if you crave to hear several different Kiss eras rawked at their heaviest with enthusiastic crowd-noise added, make this the go-to.
BEST SONG: "I Was Made For Lovin' You"
LEAST BEST SONG: "Rock and Roll All Nite"
The pinnacle of Paul Stanley's dominance over Kiss' input and excellence in the 1980s is Asylum. All three of this album's singles are three of my very favorite Kiss jams. In fact, "Who Wants To Be Lonely" IS my all time favorite Kiss jam, plus "Tears Are Falling" and "Uh! All Night" are both better than every hair metal song that any other band ever spewed forth upon us. The other three Paul cuts deliver as well, "King of the Mountain" as good as the singles. Gene's songs here are still the equivalent of a classic rock band playing "something off our new album" live so that people can go get a hot dog or hit the bathrooms, which are the only moments that knock the record down several pegs. Desmond Child, (the perpetual fifth Kiss member during this decade), co-wrote half of the album and this highly contributes to Asylum's excellence. If it were up to me, Child would still be throwing in his two cents with the band now to get those chorus' back up to their glory day standards, even if he did so on Paul's Live to Win album to lackluster effect. You also cannot mention this album without mentioning what the band looked like at this period, which is to say more ridiculous than they ever did in superhero make-up form. Ergo, you cannot mention THAT without mentioning that the music videos that the band produced for Asylum, (again "Who Wants To Be Lonely" being chief among them), are unintentional humor masterpieces of the highest order.
BEST SONG: "Who Wants To Be Lonely"
LEAST BEST SONG: "Any Way You Slice It"
Ah, finally we get to one from the band's first era, the pre-Alive! period. Kiss' first three studio offerings, (all of which came out in just over a year of each other, good ole contract obligation-dominated 70s), have endured all of these decades later, to the point where the band has been playing most of the songs off of them from the reunion till now. Neil Bogart, Casablanca's head himself, produced Dressed To Kill as Kiss was rushed back into the studio in a desperate attempt to get a hit album out as their label and management was losing money left and right keeping the stage-show on the road and blowing up the live competition. Strapped for some tunes, Gene and Paul dipped back into their Wicked Lester days to dust off "She" and "Love Her All I Can", wisely so. What I particularly dig about Dressed is that it has the best drum sound that Peter Criss ever got. In fact Pete's playing in general was probably never better, "Love Her All I Can" being the Catman's finest two minutes and forty seconds behind the kit. Also, "C'mon and Love Me", "Room Service", and "Rock Bottom", (at least the intro), are more easy highlights. Dressed is the first album though where the Gene songs are the weakest compared to Paul's, "Two Timer" and "Ladies In Waiting" providing some filler. "Rock and Roll All Nite" of course made its debut here, which is certainly a double-edged sword as it was the hit song the band clearly needed once the Alive! version got re-released, but it is also one of the most played-out signature songs from any band ever.
Watching any footage of Kiss during the Love Gun tour, (specifically the Houston Summit show), is a far more rewarding experience than listening to the accompanying Alive II. Not only was the band's live show at its then-visual peak, but moments like Gene's blood-spitting, Ace's solo spot, and Peter's drum solo work infinitely better in their unedited form, both visually and sonically. Ultimately, "I Want You" is the only live version that I prefer to the studio one on Alive II, compared to the first Alive! where a significant number of those variations dwarf the original album cuts. Still, "I Stole Your Love", "Calling Dr. Love", "Love Gun", (lotta "love" going on indeed), and the rest here certainly still sound solid, post studio enhancement and all. "Hard Luck Woman" is interesting for being a bit faster and "heavier" here for lack a better word, but something like "Tomorrow and Tonight", (which is a filler track anyway), provides wasted space unless you are just dying to hear it without the female backup singers. It is really Alive II's last side in vinyl form that kicks some serious ass. Well, "Rockin' In the USA" is dreadful, but "All American Man", "Larger Than Life", and "Rocket Ride" are masterpieces. Peter's drums never sounded more huge than they do on "Larger", to the point where it does not even sound like him playing it, (though no one has been able to conform this all these years later). "Anyway You Want It" is no "Then She Kissed Me", but it is still better than most Gene and Peter filler at least from the period.
BEST SONG: "Rocket Ride"
LEAST BEST SONG: "Shout It Out Loud"
Hotter Than Hell really only has one strike against it from arguably being the best original line-up studio album, be it a big strike. That is of course the borderline unlistenable production; not only the worst in Kiss' career but arguably the worst on any rock album from the 1970s. It has been said then and now that the band tried to capture their live sound here, yet the results were far from satisfactory. Material wise though, Hell probably has my favorite collection of songs out of the first three albums. The title track, "Goin' Blind", "Let Me Go, Rock 'n' Roll", and "Strange Ways" remain live and/or fan favorites, but "Got To Choose", "Parasite", "Watchin' You", and "Coming Home" trump even those. Again, the sound of Hell sucks so bad that nearly all of these songs are preferable to listen to in any other setting, be it on Alive!, Double Platinum, or best yet Unplugged. Yet the quality of writing goes a long way, Kiss easily delivering a worthy batch of new jams to follow up the debut from a mere eight months prior. Ace also steps up to the plate nicely with two songs and a co-write, plus Peter gets a bone thrown his way in singing "Mainline" and"Strange Ways". An interesting side note is that Criss pulled a prima donna moment in recording a drum solo for the latter song and then demanded that it be included on the album lest he quit the band. I cannot imagine if his ill-advised bluff got taken seriously as it is hard enough to stomach the butchered drum sound keeping a beat, let alone being front and center in drum solo form. A bullet dogged, that one.
BEST SONG: "Got to Chose"
LEAST BEST SONG: "All the Way"
Love Gun is an example of extremes in quality. Meaning that there are some turkeys on here but also some of the best songs that Kiss ever did. The only horrible one is "Hooligan", the worst thing Peter Criss managed to get recorded while a Kiss member, with lyrics so bad that they would make Ace embarrassed. "Christine Sixteen" and "Plaster Caster" from Gene are both eye-brow raising and lame, "Tomorrow and Tonight" is that rarest of filler moments from Paul Stanley, and the studio version of "Shock Me" is pointless to listen to. That is because the Alive II one released later that same year features an extended jam not found here, as well as what many understandably consider to be the best axe-shredding in Ace's career. All this being said, "Got Love For Sale" and most definitely "Almost Human" are Gene at his very best, plus "I Stole Your Love" and the title track are Paul at HIS very best. Love Gun is significant for me most of all though for containing "Then She Kissed Me"; my most idiosyncratic favorite Kiss song that most people ignore. I have said my words about Kiss' version of this Crystals number in my "100 Favorite Songs" post last year and yes, that is a list that it belongs on. To date, me and my brother are the only two Kiss fanatics who think so, which leads me to believe that either we or everyone else out there is on drugs.
Kiss' debut remains one of the most beloved of the band's albums. Just check out every set list since the reunion tour on to prove how fond of the material they are. "Deuce", "Strutter", "Firehouse", "Nothin' to Lose", "Cold Gin", "100,000 Years", and "Black Diamond", have been either consistent or very often re-occurring songs live, as they should. They also hold up and showcased that such a band of New York glam weirdos had the material to back up the gimmick, even if hardly anyone picked up the record when it was initially released. The awesome ending riff to "Let Me Know" would find a better home on the Alive! version of "She" and "Love Theme From Kiss"is notable as a rare instrumental and the only song in their catalog to be written by all four original members. Also the Melvins covered it, as they are wont to do. "Kissin' Time" is the only dud on here, well-acknowledged by the band themselves as they were bullied into recording it by Casablanca label-owner Neil Bogart who was on enough cocaine at the time to think that it would be a hit. Otherwise, this is about as consistent as a Kiss album can get. The only thing that keeps me from listening to it all that often and ranking it higher is that honestly, I have heard most of these songs more than any other Kiss songs due to their perpetual live presence. Certainly not a bad thing though and certainly not even close to being a bad album.
BEST SONG: "Love Theme from Kiss"
LEAST BEST SONG: "Kissin' Time"
THE GREAT
This is another "debut" album of sorts, of course meaning that it is the first Kiss album to feature the band sans make-up. It is also unique in having eight of its ten songs co-written by Vinnie Vincent, the most songs written by a non-original member on a single album until Bruce Kulick pretty much ran the show on 1997's Carnival of Souls. The Ankh Warrior does a hell of a job too, providing the band with some serious hooks to get their next phase in solid motion. LIU could be called Creatures of the Night Part II as it is similar in style, plus Vinnie's influence can be felt on both, be it here more officially. Yet to call it a weaker Creatures, (though technically true), is an injustice. I should hate the title track as much as I hate "Shout It Out Loud" but for whatever reason, it still works on me. The Gene songs are great, with "Not For the Innocent", "Young and Wasted", and "Fits Like a Glove", (the later of which contains some of the best screams Gene ever laid down), come pretty damn close to standing up to Paul's "Exciter" and "A Million To One". "All Hell's Breakin' Loose" though is not only one of Kiss' best songs, but also contains Paul Stanley rapping AND the very best Kiss riff. Also from what I have gathered, none other than Eric Carr is believed to have conceived of said killer riff. Let us see Peter Criss pull off something like that. Not that he would be remotely interested in doing so, but still. Eric Carr is awesome, is what I am jivin' at.
BEST SONG: "All Hell's Breakin' Loose"
LEAST BEST SONG: "Dance All Over Your Face"
Even critics who still scoff at Kiss can recognize that Alive! is a benchmark live rock album in an era ripe with them. It is the record that made Kiss a household name, saved their record company, made them all millionaires, and sealed the band's fate as an act that seemingly is not going anywhere, possibly ever. Now in virtually all cases, I never prefer live albums to studio ones and hardly ever even listen to or buy live albums from my favorite bands. Being renowned for having arguably the greatest live show in the history of rock music though, it makes sense that Kiss live albums in general are worth taking notice of. Yet besides just the visual spectacle which of course you are never going to get when listening to it, Kiss has always tweaked and more often improved their arrangements and performances on stage. Of course studio trickery was used on Alive!, (and pretty much every "live" album released by the band since always), but Peter Criss's performance by all accounts is raw and he tears it up better than on most of the band's studio albums. His solo in "100,000 Years" was the first one that I ever learned how to play and when Paul comes in and starts doing his rock and roll preaching to the audience, you cannot help but to get caught up in the spectacle. A whole bunch of other jams have their superior version here as well though, with "Parasite", "She", (another contestable entry as Ace's finest hour on lead guitar), "Black Diamond", and "Let Me Go Rock 'n' Roll" all killing their studio counterparts.
BEST SONG: "She"
LEAST BEST SONG: "Rock and Roll All Nite"
As good as Alive! is, this be the best live Kiss album right here. Void of studio interference for a change, (by all accounts), these songs just sound great stripped down and acoustic. Even Eric Singer's drum kit never sounded better on any recording that I have heard. The set list is fantastic, with "See You Tonight" and "A World Without Heroes" making wonderful surprises that still virtually never turn up anywhere in the band's set unless you catch a Kruise. "Comin' Home", "Sure Know Something", "Goin' Blind", "I Still Love You", (the lead vocal of Paul Stanley's career), and "Beth" are all superior here to their studio counterparts. "2,000 Man" is a hoot for being the first song in years that any of us had heard to feature the original line-up together again and "Nothin' To Loose" is interesting as well for featuring duel vocals and playing by Eric Singer and Peter Criss for the only time in ever. I still refuse to listen to even this version of "Rock and Roll All Nite" even with Ace and Peter singing lead on it, but it is still another noteworthy moment for being Bruce Kulick's last live performance with the band. For those who want to dig further, they played more songs at this gig besides the fifteen that we got for the album, most awesomely "Spit", (which was not even busted out for the Revenge tour), "C'Mon and Love Me", "Got To Choose", "Heaven's On Fire", and "Hard Luck Woman" with Paul on vocals. They also attempted a country version of "God of Thunder", which is as hilarious as it sounds.
BEST SONG: "Comin' Home"
LEAST BEST SONG: "Rock and Roll All Night"
Outside songwriters to the rescue! Kiss once again tapped Peter Criss solo album producer Vini Poncia to helm Unmasked as he had also done Dynasty the year before, which is ironic in that Peter plays not a note on here. Instead, Ace's solo album and Dynasty ghost drummer Anton Fig once again tears it up accordingly. Even more so this time, the slick, pop-sheen is brought to the forefront, making Unmasked the least-heavy Kiss album by miles. Yet does nine out of eleven songs featuring at least one non-Kiss member co-write and none of them cranking up the distortion make for a weak record? Not at all. Kiss' noble attempt at new wave-tinged power-pop, every song is above average here, with Paul, Gene, and Ace all delivering equally. "Is That You?" kicks off the album and is an anomaly in that it was written by NO Kiss members whatsoever, yet is technically not a cover. "Tomorrow", "Easy As It Seems", and "Shandi", are Paul at his finest, with Australian audiences eating up the later. Gene ups his input with three songs instead of two, (see Dynasty), and "Naked City" is a classic, followed ever so closely by "She's So European" and album closer "You're All That I Want". Ace though keeps his three tracks per album thing going for the second time, (also see Dynasty), and he is arguably the star of the show here. "Talk To Me", "Two Sides of the Coin", and "Torpedo Girl" are all great, though one cannot ignore that they also have atrocious lyrics as Ace has often been one to "brag" about writing his words as quickly as possible. It sure comes off that way.
BEST SONG: "Shandi"
LEAST BEST SONG: "Two Sides of the Coin"
Ask many a Kiss fan what they honestly think of the band's most infamous album and you will often get a good amount of praise spat towards it. There is still plenty who agree with the actual band that Music from "The Elder" is their most embarrassing moment, but these people are wrong. Yes, Paul, Gene, Ace, and producer Bob Ezrin included. The most atypical Kiss album by most accounts, letting that deter you from liking it is a big ball of stupid. A good album is a good album and this is a damn near great one. First off, "The Oath" is the band's more-than-solid attempt at NWOBH and features some falsetto wailing from Paul that would be right up King Diamond's alley. "Mr. Blackwell" is as weak of a Gene Simmons song as has ever existed, but elsewhere and flimsy concept album story line aside, "The Elder" has nothing bad going for it. The one-two punch of "Only You" and "Under the Rose" are glorious, as are "Just A Boy" and "A World Without Heroes". Ace was not on board for the pretentious concept album and let it be known by recording all of his parts at his home studio, mailing the tracks in presumably with a smirk and a "I'll be able to say "I told you so' later" attitude. Yet his "Dark Light" is a beast for having the most shred-worthy solo that he ever played, plus "Escape from the Island" is another rare Kiss instrumental that has the even more incredibly rare songwriting "team" of Ace, Eric Carr, and Bob Ezrin. Art rock Kiss may have embarrassed themselves at the time, but this is the most like fine wine that their material ever got.
BEST SONG: "The Oath"
LEAST BEST SONG: "Mr. Blackwell"
The best original line-up Kiss album, (where all four original members played everything on it mind you), is Rock and Roll Over. For once my tastes do not seem to be far off from the masses as fans, critics, and the band themselves all think highly of it. Peter's "Baby Driver" is a dud, though said track is comparatively not as abysmal as the following album's "Hooligan" at least. Every Gene song except "Calling Dr. Love", (one of his classics), are weaker than the Paul ones as usual, but "Ladies Room", "Love 'Em and Leave 'Em", and "See You In Your Dreams" are far, far from bad. Really, it is just that they get their asses handed to them by Paul kicking out the jams with half of Rock and Roll Over's cuts. "Hard Luck Woman" has always been one of my ten favorite Kiss songs and has one of the finest vocals that Peter ever did. "Take Me", "Mr. Speed", and "I Want You" can do zero wrong, but it is definitely "Makin' Love" that sends this album through the roof. It is my favorite make-up era Kiss song and damn near the best Kiss song period. Also, there are only a small handful of guitar solos in history that I would say can beat Ace's in it, any of his own included. Also a considerable plus was that Eddie Kramer was back in the Kiss camp again, stripping the band's sound bare-bones and giving them arguably the best sounding album that the had yet had at that point. It is thankfully the sonic opposite to Destroyer, clearly being a good move for the band to get back to rocking out with their cocks out.
BEST SONG: "Makin' Love"
LEAST BEST SONG: "Baby Driver"
THE MASTERPIECES
Once again, people who have some idea of what Kiss is supposed to sound like and then dismiss any album by the band that deviates from this "ideal" sound is something that I simply cannot relate to. I take albums for what they are, right or wrong, ill-advised or not. Kiss has always had the balls to dabble in whatever is hip at the time, be it disco, hair metal, art rock, power pop, or in this here case, grunge. They were hardly alone in doing this BTW as you can point to almost every other band that did not sound like Nirvana and were popular BEFORE Nirvana, all of a sudden stuck in a rut and forced to TRY and sound like Nirvana, less they die a commercial death in the process. Many of them did make embarrassing records in such a vein, but Kiss in my humble opinion delivered the best Seattle-tinged rock album out of any band that jumped on the wagon. This simply has some of the best material and easily the only mature material that Kiss ever did. Lyrically for sure, Carnival of Souls, (I refuse to call it "The Final Sessions"), is Kiss' high water mark. The band was never known for offering up thought-provoking lyrics, (proudly not known mind you), yet there is absolutely nothing resembling getting laid, party anthems, or any kind of rock and roll lifestyle going on here. Just proving that Gene and Paul could write about through-provoking things is admirable in and of itself. That said, Bruce Kulick is definitely the hero here. He co-wrote every song except two of them and if he is the guy responsible for most of the riffs, then hats off indeed. "Hate", "Master and Slave", "Rain", "Jungle", "In My Head", and the lot of 'em all smoke. Since the reunion tour ultimately got in the way of what could have been for this album, (which admittingly, probably would have gotten ignored by the mainstream), Carnival remains a sadly neglected and under-appreciated gem.
Leave it to Kiss to make the best disco record of all time. Dynasty was one of the very first Kiss albums that I bought and I have listened to it as much if not more so than others. Nostalgia aside, how solid the songs are is what matters, not how hard the songs do NOT rock. For the first time since "Beth", Peter Criss' sole writing contribution, (and the only song here that he played drums on and the last studio Kiss song that he would ever play drums on until Psycho Circus' "Into the Void" nearly twenty years later), is excellent. "Dirty Livin'" is at once a highlight and also better than anything on his solo album from the year before. Gene only got two tracks on Dynasty, but I mind this not at all, both because "Charisma" and "X-Ray Eyes" are awesome and also because Gene songs since Dressed To Kill were always weaker than Paul's anyway. No worries though since Ace steps in with three of 'em, clearly on a roll after scoring the only hit out of the four solo albums with "New York Groove" and well comfortable writing and singing his own jams. Well, he did not write "2,000 Man" of course since his name is not Mick Jagger or Keith Richards, but for the second time in a row, Ace was able to make a cover his own. "Hard Times" and "Save Your Love" are even better though, horseshit lyrics aside. Sorry to keep harping on that, but goddamn, words in songs are not Ace's strong suite. My love for Paul Stanley flows freely though, since two flat-out masterpieces are present in "Sure Know Something" and "I Was Made For Lovin' You". I can hear the later a billion times in my life and it still will not be enough. "Magic Touch" kicks ass as well and I got to see the man perform it during his Live To Win solo tour, much to the delight of the on-looking crowd.
BEST SONG: "I Was Made for Lovin' You"
LEAST BEST SONG: "Hard Times"
Right off the bat, this easily has the best Kiss album cover. Not the other inaccurate one featuring Bruce Kulick that was on the 1985 re-release mind you, just so we are clear. Otherwise, what can you say about Creatures of the Night that is not undeniable upon hearing it? The heaviest Kiss studio album by miles, it may have the loudest drum sound in the history of recorded music. Creatures was almost entirely ignored when originally released, yet it was the ass-kicking hard rock album that they needed to make at the time. It has often been speculated what would have transpired had Kiss de-make-upped on this album instead of the next year's Lick It Up. Probably nothing much different besides the fact that this would have sold more records and gotten the attention that it easily deserved. Still, COTN has stood its ground as a landmark record for the band, almost always hailed as one of their five best or even THE best studio album that they have. For the first and only time, Gene has more songs than Paul and for the first time in a long time, they are all on par. "War Machine" and "Rock and Roll Hell" are both co-written by Bryan Adams, (yes, THAT Bryan Adams), and are both fist-pounding beasts. "I Love It Loud" has joined the ranks of "Shout It Out Loud" and "Rock and Roll All Nite" unfortunately for me as a Kiss song that I never want to hear, but it is only partially the song's fault, being just overkilled over the years. The title track is as good as any Kiss song could ever be and speaking of which, it is damn near criminal that "Keep Me Comin'" is never talked about by anyone as one of the best Kiss songs of all time. The riff alone kills virtually every other riff in every other song. I can go on and on, but I certainly hope that I am preaching to the choir at this point as to how solid this is.
BEST SONG: "Keep Me Comin'"
LEAST BEST SONG: "I Love It Loud"
Revenge was about a year old when I became a Kiss fan. Before I made the plunge, I remember my cousin having just picked it up and showing me it, saying that it was the best album that they had done in years. A true statement this is. Along with Destroyer and Creatures of the Night, Revenge is that other Kiss album that marked a turning point for the better. Every trace of 80s-ness was gone on Revenge, but even without Desmond Child helping out, they still delivered the album of their career. I love this era of Kiss more than any other. Eric Singer is the best drummer they ever had, Bruce is technically their best guitar player and has laid down almost as many memorable guitar solos as Ace, says I, plus Paul and Gene are just firing on all cylinders here. For the second time in Kisstory, another Russ Ballard song gets re-worked, (the first was "New York Groove"), with "God Gave Rock 'N' Roll To You II", which is the best anthem of many in the band's catalog. Gene gets' his first single since "I Love It Loud" with "Unholy" which has gotta be the best song that he ever wrote. "Domino" and "Paralyzed" kick ass as well. Gene and Paul both share lead vocals in the Spinal Tap nod "Spit", Paul's "Take It Off", "Tough Love", "Heart of Chrome", and "I Just Wanna" are flawless, plus "Every Time I Look At You" is a wonderful successor to the band's best ballad "Forever" from the previous record. Rounding out the stellar-ness is "Car Jam 1981", a perfect ode to Eric Carr who had died just over a year before Revenge was released. It features a short yet fantastic drum solo and one that I was allowed to play during basketball games in my high school band days. Again, Eric Carr is awesome.
Anyone who has talked Kiss, music in general, things that are sexy, or has just been to my house should be aware that I love me some Paul Stanley. Paul's songs in the Kiss catalog are the best songs so naturally it makes sense that the only album baring the Kiss moniker that is 100% loaded with Paul Stanley originals would be my pick as the finest Kiss album ever made. So on that note, welcome to my number one! Paul had years and years left in him still to pen many a phenomenal song, (in fact my two favorites of his were a ways from being written at this point), but he was also on a flawless role in 1978, consistently delivering gold as he did here. "Tonight You Belong To Me" and "Take Me Away (Together As One)" are epic rock jams, the later of which features the great Carmine Appice on drums, tearing up the fills during the fade out most nicely. "Move On", (Paul Stanley's sole single), is oddly my least favorite song on the album if I had to say. Still though, it is at least better than Gene and Peter's singles off of their albums. "Hold Me, Touch Me (Think of Me When We're Apart)" cracks me up as it is as fruity as Fred Schneider, but I love me some ballads anyway. If "Goodbye", "Love In Chains", or "Ain't Quite Right" were on a regular Kiss album than they would be highlights, but here they are relegated to almost filler. That is how good "It's Alright" and "Wouldn't You Like To Know Me" are in comparison. It is fun to think of a world where if only Paul Stanley murdered the charts when released and he up and said "well shit, I'm off then" and went solo, I think it is safe to say that he would have done just fine for himself. I would certainly still be hanging his posters from 16 Magazine on my wall with a tremendous sense of pride. True story.
BEST SONG: "Wouldn't You Like To Know Me"
LEAST BEST SONG: "Move On"
