KISS Discography - My Life As a Kiss Fan

[dtvoices94]

Tonight it's KISS Rocks Vegas...KISS on the big screen. 
For one night only. On 25 May 2016 Film of KISS' 9 day run of concerts at the Hard Rock Cafe in Las Vegas, Nevada in November 2014. Including exclusive behind the scenes footage.
Anyone checking this out?  Even though I'm not the biggest fan of this lineup, I'm going and I am actually looking forward to it.

[hefdaddy42]

I'm a big Cheap guy. 

Yeah we know.

[King Postwhore]

I'm a big Cheap guy. 

Yeah we know.

I haven't wined and dined you yet.  How do you know?

[hefdaddy42]

That's how I know.

[King Postwhore]

 

Alright, alright.  I'll have to make a trip to NC someday.

[TAC]

Alright, alright.  I'll have to make a trip to NC someday.

You do know that's North Carolina and NOT North Conway right?

[King Postwhore]

Alright, alright.  I'll have to make a trip to NC someday.

You do know that's North Carolina and NOT North Conway right?

I was at the Outer Banks 3 years ago so yes Tim. *Rolls eyes* 

[Cyclopssss]

Listening to The Elder right now. Glad I didn´t bought this when I was 15 or something. Actually like the orchestral stuff.

[King Postwhore]

I was shocked listening to it but over the years I've come to like it.

[Mladen]

I've also really been digging some of it over the last several days. I understand the hate, but some of the stuff is right up my alley.

[TAC]

I know Stadler disagrees, but the production really castrates the energy out of the music. Think of The Oath with Animalize's production. Or I with Creature's production.

[Cyclopssss]

This is definetely true. They should remaster it. On the whole album there's perhaps only two songs I really don't like. Also, Paul's versatillity in his voice really comes through on this album.

[Mladen]

Listening to it right now, tracks like The Oath, Dark light, Only you, Odyssey and A World without heroes are pretty awesome. Mr. Blackwell isn't as bad as I thought it would be, I dislike some of the vocal melodies on the chorus but the rest is groovy. The production is slightly flat, though.

[Lowdz]

Listening to The Elder right now. Glad I didn´t bought this when I was 15 or something. Actually like the orchestral stuff.

I think I was 14 or something. I liked it but it was a bit of a wtf moment compared to what I'd heard from them previously. As a big comic fan I bought into the concept too, which helped.

[jammindude]

Other than the fact that it doesn't really fit with the storyline, I always really liked Mr Blackwell. 

[Orbert]

Music from The Elder was confusing.  I thought it was the soundtrack from some movie that I'd never seen; the title seemed to suggest that.  From the song titles and lyrics, there was obviously a story going on, and I could figure out some of it, but basically it came down to whether or not I liked the music.  Fortunately, I did.  This came at a time when I was getting more into prog, and KISS was holding my interest less and less, so this album helped, as they clearly were trying something different, something more adventurous.

I never did figure out why it was called Music from The Elder if it wasn't from some movie or production called The Elder.  What's the deal there?

[jammindude]

 It's my understanding that an actual movie had been planned, but was immediately scrapped upon the instant failure of the album.

[Mosh]

The idea was to do a movie or some sort of stage production, but that was shelved when the album was poorly received. Basically Gene Simmons wanted his own version of Tommy.

[Stadler]

I know Stadler disagrees, but the production really castrates the energy out of the music. Think of The Oath with Animalize's production. Or I with Creature's production.

Huh.  You like the Creatures production better than the Elder production?    I think it's clear I love the Creatures through Animalize stuff, but it's too trebly and thin for me, and they went back and forth on the drum sound (too heavy on Creatures, and not quite heavy enough on Lick... and Animalize).   

[dtvoices94]

I was 8 when The Elder was released.  I bought it (it was new and it was KISS) and didn't think much of it.  3 years later I bought the A World Without Heroes/Dark Light 45 for $1 at a local record shop.  I loved Dark Light and revisited The Elder and was pleasantly surprised.  I love it for what it is but it's difficult to rate it vs the rest of the catalog because it's such a stark contrast to anything else they've done.  I guess it is comparable to The Astonishing (which I also love for what it is) in that regard.
Ace's leads smoke, Paul is top notch vocally, and Gene's contributions are solid.  Depending on my mood, it's a 7 or 8 out of 10 for me.

[Lowdz]

Other than the fact that it doesn't really fit with the storyline, I always really liked Mr Blackwell.

I couldn't really follow the storyline because they changed the songs around to put the rocker and the single as the first tracks on side one and two. Makes no sense from then on.

[jammindude]

Other than the fact that it doesn't really fit with the storyline, I always really liked Mr Blackwell.

I couldn't really follow the storyline because they changed the songs around to put the rocker and the single as the first tracks on side one and two. Makes no sense from then on.

Ya but how long has it been since that version has been available?

[Orbert]

Strange.  I seems like the soundtrack would only be released upon success of the movie or play, not the other way around.  It's cool to write a concept album and be ambitious about it becoming a full-blown production, but the music also has to speak for itself.  With KISS, their style was so firmly fixed already that a major departure from that could be fatal, as it apparently was.  But Tommy was an album first, as was Quadrophenia, so what do I know?

Personally, I don't really think Music from The Elder sounds completely different from earlier stuff; just KISS trying something new, and I have no problem with that.  I can understand if some fans did, though.

As usual, it seems that the suits are at least partly responsible for the failure of the album.  You can't just fuck with the track order of a concept album, for one thing.  Obviously there's an order that makes sense with respect to the story.  This isn't just some batch of songs which can be rearranged randomly or in order to put the lead single first or whatever.  Also, I don't remember seeing any promotion for this album, and certainly nothing to clarify that it was a concept album.  I won't lower myself to use some cliché about KISS fans not being able to understand a concept album or be willing to indulge something other than a random batch of songs, but I'm sure that there was at least some of that factoring in.

[King Postwhore]

The real blame was on Gene and Paul.  Ace wanted to do a rock album.  He was outvoted by Gene and Paul.  Their popularity was waning and coming out with a concept album that was not rocking killed it at the time for Kiss.

[hefdaddy42]

Music From the Elder has been discussed more in this thread over the last two days than it has been anywhere else in the universe in the last two decades.

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

I'm curious to see what the end result would have been if Ace had gotten his way.  I mean, I love MFTE, but Ace always seemed to have the proper vision.  Solo album?  Rocked.  Frehley's Comet?  Rocked.  He just has that rocker vibe and feel and style that he wasn't entirely willing to deviate from.  Paul and Gene were willing to, and it bit them in the ass.

Music From the Elder has been discussed more in this thread over the last two days than it has been anywhere else in the universe in the last two decades.

[King Postwhore]

Don't say that too load Hef!

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

Don't say that too load Hef!

That's a loaded statement.

[Mladen]

The real blame was on Gene and Paul.  Ace wanted to do a rock album.  He was outvoted by Gene and Paul.  Their popularity was waning and coming out with a concept album that was not rocking killed it at the time for Kiss.

This made me think. What if Creatures of the night had happened before Music from the elder, would have the situation been different? The fan base would have been brought back to the fold and the band would have been able to try something new. More people would've probably checked it out and appreciated it for being different yet realized it has its share of heavier, classic sounding songs.

Going back through the albums I know (now it's the first 10 - thanks, Stadler), listening to the debut. These are the songs that made me fall in love with the band all those years ago. 

[King Postwhore]

Don't say that too load Hef!

That's a loaded statement.

Oh Shit. Loud!  Loud!

[King Postwhore]

The real blame was on Gene and Paul.  Ace wanted to do a rock album.  He was outvoted by Gene and Paul.  Their popularity was waning and coming out with a concept album that was not rocking killed it at the time for Kiss.

This made me think. What if Creatures of the night had happened before Music from the elder, would have the situation been different? The fan base would have been brought back to the fold and the band would have been able to try something new. More people would've probably checked it out and appreciated it for being different yet realized it has its share of heavier, classic sounding songs.

Going back through the albums I know (now it's the first 10 - thanks, Stadler), listening to the debut. These are the songs that made me fall in love with the band all those years ago. 

Probably not but at the time it was a nail in the coffin.  They had to cancel a tour because no one wanted to see that live.  Creatures tour was bad filling only 5 to 8 thousand a night.  Though the word was out that Ace wasn't in the band anymore.

[Orbert]

That makes sense.  Hardcore fans would've been put off by it.  But it worked for me since as I said I'd kinda moved on and was entering my prog phase, and I saw it at the record store one day and thought "I wonder what the boys are up to these days" and it looked like a soundtrack or concept album or something, so I thought "Cool!" and bought it on the spot.  And I wasn't disappointed.  But no, it's definitely not Destroyer or Hotter than Hell.

[BlobVanDam]

Music From the Elder has been discussed more in this thread over the last two days than it has been anywhere else in the universe in the last two decades.

[King Postwhore]

Talking about the Elder is cathartic.  We are all now admitting we like it but couldn't back then.

[Orbert]

It's my wife's favorite KISS album.  Actually the only one she likes.  She caught the famous Fridays episode where they played "A World Without Heroes" and she thought it was a great song.  She's a rocker, but KISS in general is a bit too primal for her.