"Naked City" Trivia: Despite playing on three of the five studio songs on Alive II, all four new songs on "Killers", and several solos on "Creatures" that didn't make the final album, all uncredited, this is the only OFFICIAL Bob Kulick credit in the Kiss catalogue (and he didn't play on the song!).
9. Alive II Side Four (1977): A departure from Alive! – which purported to present a full Kiss show across four album sides – Alive II was a collection of live songs from the three post-Alive! albums, albeit also presented in a loose “concert” order, and not always “live”. The fourth side consisted of five studio songs, recorded in September of 1977, about six months after Love Gun. Two songs from Paul (one a cover), two songs from Gene, and one from Ace. Ace’s “Rocket Ride” gets all the publicity – at this point, only the second lead vocal from Ace, after “Shock Me” – and it’s a very good song, but for me, the other three originals are the highlight. I love “All American Man”, and thought it was Kiss at its arrogant, swaggering best. “Rockin’ In The U.S.A.” is sort of jokey, but it’s a good song in the vein of “Let Me Go Rock and Roll”, and “Larger Than Life” is what “Got Love For Sale” or “Almost Human” SHOULD have been, vintage Gene. The sound on these tracks - they were recorded in a theater in New Jersey (as were two songs that were presented as 'live' on the live portion of the record) - is excellent, and marks the first appearance of Bob Kulick on a Kiss record, albeit uncredited. I liked “Any Way You Want It” because it was different and kind of a better sequel to “Then She Kissed Me”. For those familiar, it’s very close to the Dave Clark Five original, and is all Paul.
Trivia: What were the two songs from these sessions that were later passed off as "live" on the live portion of the record?
8. Music From The Elder (1981): This is another album that is of it’s context. At the time, I was a massive Kiss fan, but I had just had my heart broken by them. Peter Criss did not play on the last two records! Ace was MIA! But, as fate has it, I was just getting into prog, having been introduced to this odd band called “Genesis”. So when my favorite – but slightly estranged - band decided to make a concept album? This was like the best of all worlds! I’m in! I was still unsure about this new guy, “The Fox”, but when I heard the opening notes of “The Oath” (the US LP has a different track list/order than the international and subsequent CD versions), I was convinced. I could live with Paul's falsetto as long as the music kicked as like it did (and it did). Of course, the less said about “fanfare” (in lower italics on the sleeve; artsy!) the better, but then came “Just A Boy”, which could have been lifted directly from Paul’s solo album (a good thing). Likewise, several of the Gene songs could have been outtakes from his solo album. There are still issues; there’s a ton of guitar on there that isn’t Ace (though allegedly he plays on all but two songs), and I could do without “Mr. Blackwell”, another of my top five least favorite Kiss songs – though in all fairness, when I listened back, the vocal and lyrics are lame, but the background music in the second half of the song is better than I remember. The album clearly tries too hard, and it’s clearly Kiss out of their element (Lou Reed?) but it’s a testament to how good the band really is that they could extend so far and yet still have a number of classic, powerful tunes. I think the “Only You”/”Under The Rose” sequence – even with the copped riff in “…Rose” - is as good a pairing as “Detroit…”/”King…”. I’m serious.
Trivia: What are the three instrumentals in the Kiss studio catalogue?
7. Paul Stanley (1978): Clearly, my favorite of the solo albums, and one of my favorites in the entire catalogue. Other than “Hold Me, Touch Me” which I can’t stand, this album is strong top to bottom. There are no “token” songs, there are no cover songs (the only one of the solo albums to say that) and very few co-writers (Mikel Japp co-wrote three of the nine songs). Unlike some of Paul’s later work, it sounds timeless and it is one of the albums I still listen to regularly to this day. Favorites for me are “Take Me Away”, “Love In Chains”, “Goodbye”, and “Tonight You Belong To Me”. There’s really not a lot to say about this album; it’s not star-studded – though Carmine Appice drums on one song - there isn’t a lot of controversy about it, and he doesn’t stretch too far out of his sweet spot, but for a band like Kiss, this is really the charm of the record.
Trivia: Three women sing back up on the second song, “Move On”. You don't have to name them, but what role do they play in bigger picture of “Kisstory”? Bonus question: What is unique about “Dark Light”, from “…The Elder”?
Topic: KISS Discography - My Life As a Kiss Fan (Read 62388 times)
