Following the recent discussion about Kiss in the “Classic Lineup” thread, and in particular the discussions about the various eras and phases, I thought it might be fun to run down the discography. A couple ground rules to start off with:
• Only studio albums, no live albums;
• Having said that, I am going to include the studio tracks from the various Greatest Hits packages (but not the remixes, since almost every Kiss hits package dicks with the original recordings)
• I’m including the 1978 solo albums, but no subsequent solo albums
I count 27 studio albums:
27. Peter Criss (1978)
26. Carnival of Souls (1997)
25. Smashes Studio Tracks (1988)
24. Crazy Nights (1987)
23. Asylum (1985)
22. Psycho Circus (1998)
21. Revenge (1992)
20. Animalize (1984)
19. Killers Studio Tracks (1982)
18. Hot In The Shade (1989)
17. Gene Simmons (1978)
16. Love Gun (1977)
15. Ace Frehley (1978)
14. Monster (2012)
13. Dressed To Kill (1975)
12. Sonic Boom (2009)
11. Unmasked (1980)
10. Dynasty (1979)
9. Alive II Side 4 (1977)
8. Music From The Elder (1982)
7. Paul Stanley (1978)
6. Lick It Up (1983)
5. Kiss (1974)
4. Rock and Roll Over (1976)
3. Destroyer (1976)
2. Creatures of the Night (1982)
1. Hotter Than Hell (1974)
For the record, I’m a lifelong Kiss fan and sometimes apologist. The first record I ever bought with my own money was Alive II on release, and I have been a fan ever since. I’ve met the Lick it Up band once, and Paul again individually, and think the world of both Paul and Gene. I do NOT think they are ‘fooling’ the fans with the current lineup, and while I feel I can be objective, I do not automatically assume that everything they do is a “ca$h grab”.
You wanted the best, you got the best. The hottest band in the world… KISS!
27. Peter Criss (1978): One of the four infamous “solo” albums, and by all accounts - including mine - the least favorably regarded. It is the only official Kiss release I don’t own on CD, and while I am keeping my vinyl copy (with poster) for collection purposes, I haven’t listened to this since… 1979. I sort of liked Tossin’ and Turnin’, because I liked the original, but this was very far from Kiss. I could have then (and would now) accept that; it's kind of neat to see people's influences and what makes them tick individually and not in the band. But in hindsight, I felt like the album was very indicative of Peter’s relative cluelessness, and was "different" more because he's lazy and didn't put in the work rather than wanting to genuinely show a different side of him. Most of the songs were actually written pre-Kiss – he couldn’t be bothered to come up with ten new songs of his own – and he could only be bothered to play drums on about half the album. Trivia: only one of the solo albums to have TWO singles released.
26. Carnival of Souls (1997, recorded in 1995): This is the album that we SHOULD love, right? Departure for Kiss, bootlegged heavily, released by the demand of the fans… but for me, it didn’t connect. It's technically a great record - I LOVE the song “Childhood’s End”, and "I Confess", "I Will Be There", "I Walk Alone" are all very strong - but as a Kiss, album, it’s a tough listen. I like Kiss because it’s visceral, in a good way. Plays to our baser instincts with no apologies. This album thinks too much. Gene’s songs fare better, because of his voice, but Paul is like Sammy Hagar, he is very talented (and an artist, as opposed to say a David Lee Roth) but he clearly has his sweet spot, and that is self-affirming, fist in the air arena rock anthems. This is grunge by the numbers. As least you know Layne Staley lived it, motherf*****er; it's just a little too much to hear "Hate" from a guy that appears in footie pajamas in his reality show. I just don’t buy into angst from the guy that sang “Do You Love Me” and “C'mon And Love Me". One bonus: the only lead vocal from Bruce Kulick on a Kiss record; its better than it should be (he sounds like a cross between Joe Perry and Ace Frehley). Trivia: Gene continues the Van Halen connection; “I Confess” was co-written with Sammy Hagar’s cousin, Ken Tamplin, a well-known Christian rocker.
25. Smashes, Thrashes, and Hits Studio Tracks (1988): I’m always fascinated by the additional studio songs from Kiss. On this album and Killers (more later) they are written by Paul, but Gene is notorious for bringing in 20 or 30 songs to each album session. I think it speaks to the degree to which Kiss is really Paul’s baby at this point, and has been since the early ‘80’s. These songs are run of the mill Kiss. They aren’t bad, but it’s Kiss, so there is so much better in the catalogue. I don’t mind the overt sexual lyrics from Kiss; for me, though, these can’t decide if they want to be clever (both titles are rather ingenious double entendres) or just crass. By putting them on this compilation, they are treated as throwaways, and so that is what I consider them. Kiss isn’t as good/bad (depending on your perspective) as Dream Theater with regards to their “spot the influences”, but there’s an obvious one in “Let’s Put The X In Sex”; the guitar figure in the end is cribbed from “It Must Be Hell” from Undercover by the Stones (1983).