When you think of Kiss, most people think of the outrageous makeup and elaborate stage shows of the 1970s or, perhaps, the somewhat sad nostalgia act the band later became – starring in reality shows and attempting to relive those glory days with two other guys dressed up like guitarist Ace Frehley and drummer Peter Criss.
The no-makeup period from the 1980s and early ’90s will largely be overlooked and perhaps dismissed as Kiss’ attempt to fit into the hair-band scene of the time. Never mind the fact that a 1970s Kiss performance featured more excess in one song than most of the ’80s bands did in the whole decade.
The truth about the unmasked version of Kiss, though, is that many of their offerings were superior to the classic records from a technical standpoint. Though it may offend some hardcore fans, most of the guitarists and drummers that Kiss had in the 1980s were, if we’re being honest, far more talented than Frehley and Criss. Was the band better with those guys than the original lineup? Well, that’s certainly debatable, but most Kiss followers, myself included, are going to reach for Destroyer or Dressed to Kill before Animalize or Asylum.
That said, there is one non-makeup Kiss record that certainly belongs in the conversation with the band’s best work. Released on May 19, 1992, Revenge came on the tail of two snoozers – 1987’s Crazy Nights and 1989’s Hot in the Shade – that were completely lost in the keyboard-laden, ballad-heavy 1980s radio rock sound. Revenge, though, was a different beast. There were still plenty of mindless sex and party anthems; it wouldn’t be a Kiss record without those. But there was a darker, heavier edge to the album, which was loaded with Gene Simmons’ gruffer vocals.
The first song and lead single, “Unholy,” made it clear that this wasn’t going to be the nice, friendly version of Kiss that had released the previous two records.
A noisy fade in leads to a beefy, squealing metallic riff and Simmons growling like the demon he portrayed in the makeup days. It’s an appropriate vocal, considering the lyrics were written from the viewpoint of the devil. It’s a concept that could have come off very cheesy, and has many times for many bands, but Gene Simmons made it work. The sustained wah-ed out notes by guitarist Bruce Kulick that complement Simmons’ growls in the final seconds of the song provide the icing on the cake – devil’s food, of course. In my opinion, it’s not only the best song on Revenge, but one of the best songs in the band’s catalog.
Having pretty much sworn off Kiss after the previous two records, I heard “Unholy” on KLPI, the student radio station at Louisiana Tech, and immediately went out and bought the record the next day. I was thrilled to hear Kiss finally rocking again, and I didn’t need to hear another song to know I wanted Revenge. It was probably a couple of days later when I finally quit repeating “Unholy” over and over and moved on to the other songs. Fortunately, the rest of the album didn’t disappoint either.
I’ve always preferred Simmons’ vocals over Paul Stanley’s, and Gene’s songs also tend to be darker, so it was a plus that five of the 11 songs with vocals had Simmons up front. For me, those are the high points of the record, particularly the down-and-dirty rock ‘n’ roll of “Paralyzed” and the cool groove of “Domino,” which is surprisingly reminiscent of Tony Joe White’s “Polk Salad Annie” in the opening moments.
Paul Stanley, though, has his moments. As always, his songs tend to be a little more upbeat and glam. The two best here are “Heart of Chrome” and “I Just Wanna.” “Heart of Chrome” features an infectious chorus that has just a little bit of a disco feel – but a cool disco feel, if that’s possible.
“I Just Wanna,” well, it’s pretty much what you expect from the title, but it’s an absolutely perfect three-chord rock ‘n’ roll song with a big verse melody and an even bigger chorus. The hook here is the gloriously unrefined stuttering refrain “I just wanna fuh … I just wanna fuh … I just wanna forget you,” and I remember this song causing a huge argument with my parents when I accidentally left it in the tape deck of my mom’s car while we were on vacation. It’s particularly funny now because the song is so innocuous these days. If only they’d heard some of the other stuff I was listening to at the time.
The album also included an instrumental tribute to long-time drummer Eric Carr, who died in 1991 of a rare heart cancer, with the final track “Carr Jam 1981.” It’s a version of a song called “Breakout” written by Carr and Frehley in 1981 and later recorded by Frehley’s Comet. For Revenge, Frehley’s parts were re-recorded by Kulick – perhaps signaling the start of a trend in later years.
As with any Kiss record, Revenge is not without its stinkers. The chief offender is the reworking of Argent’s “God Gave Rock ‘n’ Roll to You,” recorded for the soundtrack of Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey and included largely because it was the last track that Eric Carr played on. The song is overbearing to the point of obnoxiousness. Naturally, it was a hit. There’s also the generic 1980s ballad “Every Time I Look at You,” co-penned by producer Bob Ezrin, which is completely disposable. But those are the only two skips of the 12 tracks.
Bruce Kulick shreds all over the record, as he did with most Kiss albums he was involved in, and drummer Eric Singer, who still plays with the band in Peter Criss’ makeup, provided a rock-solid base for the songs. This lineup of the band was, perhaps, the most potent – and it gave fans like me hope for yet another new and heavier era in Kisstory. It had the combination of the commercial appeal they’d always enjoyed with the added bonus of a little musical integrity and respectability, which they hadn’t previously had.
Unfortunately, it was during the recording for the second album from this lineup, Carnival of Souls, that the band reunited with Ace Frehley and Peter Criss during an MTV Unplugged taping, leading inexorably to the full reunion and donning the makeup again.
After demand from fans, a version of the second record from this lineup, titled Carnival of Souls: The Final Sessions, was quietly released with very little effort put into the presentation and practically no fanfare or marketing. Carnival of Souls, while a good record, was not quite as strong as Revenge, leaving fans to wonder whether this lineup could have been something great or if Revenge was just a strange and wonderful accident.
Kiss continued with Eric Singer on drums and Tommy Thayer on guitar through their final tour, seemingly comfortable to roll out the same tricks they’d been doing for decades, act like it’s still the 1970s and pretend that fans don’t know the guys in the spaceman suit and the cat suit aren’t Frehley and Criss. They pretty much became a tribute band to themselves, which always left me with mixed feelings.
On the one hand, I’m glad that I had the chance in the late 1990s to see the original lineup and the full stage show that I was too young to catch in the ’70s. On the other, I’ve always wondered what would have happened if they’d continued down the path laid out on Revenge. Maybe the unmasked version of the band would have caught up to the classic version – or maybe, just maybe, Gene and Paul might have been more interested in making music than selling coffins and condoms.
- The ‘Sheer Heart Attack’ Song That Confirmed Queen’s Metallic Genius - November 8, 2024
- Blackberry Smoke – ‘Be Right Here’ (2024) - June 10, 2024
- Why That Self-Titled 1994 Album Is the Best Motley Crue You Never Heard - March 18, 2024
Great article, Fred! I could have written this, our thoughts on Revenge and the overall post-makeup are so much alike. Now I need to give Revenge a spin…
When you think of a nostalgia act, I must ask a question of the aether of this volume. Sonic Boom debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200, selling 108,000 copies and this album was the first album to feature the current lineup. I personally am unaware of any nostalgia act that does that. If there is a nostalgia act act that does that then I myself would consider them a lagit act.
I looked up some nostalgia acts that I know of and found that none sold a million albums when you put all their albums together in a lump sum, where Sonic Boom sold the mentioned above 108,000 copies in one week. I found that from the “Sonic Boom” album the video “Modern Day Delilah” was a top 10 video for it’s genre in the US, Eorpeain and Japan and the songs it self peaked at #50 on the Billboard Rock songs chart in the US. It went much higher in other countries and the Billboard Rock Airplay charts it went as high as no#11.
Lets mention Monster the follow up. The album sold 56,000 copies in its first week of release in the United States and 116,000 copies outside of the domestic US in its first week. Agian these numbers we be car career for any of the nostalgia acts I looked up. The album had sold over 200,000 copies as of the start of 2014. That was the most current numbers I have been able to find. HOWEVER, calling and talking to someone I know that works with a company that makes Gold and Platinum awards and he checked and told me that they had issued a “Gold Certification” set of awards to the record company so this means that “Monster has sold at least 500.000 copies. The single “Hell or Hallelujah” made it to #6 in the US and top 10 in various other countries. This would be unheard of from any nostalgia act that I am aware of.
Now we could go on and mention the tours for both of these records. But I think we have established that this article has some amount of bias towards a predetermined effort that this writer had in his mind to write an article that would be more negative toward KISS rather than state some facts in his writing. As I understand it is an opinion article and yes everyone is entitled to their said opinion. What gets under my skin is that this writer has a complete bias in knocking KISS as a nostalgia act because he is unhappy with the state of the people whom are in the band currently. Even if this writer thinks of KISS as it currently is should be referred to in such a way he should at least state some facts for the record. Stating those facts are what I decided to do for future readers that would like to see an opinion backed up with facts.
Here’s a fact for you: Paul can’t sing very well at all any more. Look up on YouTube the “concert” they did after an appearance on Letterman…it’s horrid. Should have quit right after that last album was released, in my opinion. The stats you reference don’t mean anything as to the quality of the material, which is sketchy at best. A couple of good cuts (maybe four) out of both Sonic Boom and Monster, but, holy cow, the cheese, what with all of Tommy’s “space” songs…I really don’t mean to be confrontational, but, come on, man…sales figures? Sure, Gene will tell you that’s what matters, but, to re-record the “Klassic” KISS songs, and do it so badly…I just don’t get it. Second go-around for a lot of those songs also, considering “Smashes, Thrashes, and Hits,” which was light-years ahead of Disc 2 of Sonic Boom.
Chuck,
It’s not at all surprising that Kiss’ albums would sell well during their early release. They’re a band with a 40-year history and legions of very loyal fans, many of whom are going to buy a new album as soon as they can get their hands on it. It’s the same concept when metal bands that get no real airplay or recognition make a splash on the charts in their first week because loyal fans rush out and buy it. Numbers, though, don’t speak to the quality of a record. All you have to do to prove that is follow the charts.
To me, Sonic Boom seemed like an attempt to recapture the sound and feel of one of their 70s records, and it fell completely flat. It was lifeless and boring. Monster was a bit better, but neither have ever returned to my playlist in the years since their release. Going back one more, Psycho Circus is just a mess. I traded it in at a used CD store the first week I owned it. The most recent Kiss record that I ever listen to is Carnival of Souls.
The Thayer/Singer masquerade is really only a small factor in my opinion on the modern-day version of Kiss. The last time that I saw them live was, far and away, the worst of many Kiss shows I’ve seen — both in and out of makeup. Prior to this show, Kiss had always been a blast live, but I almost left this one before it was over to beat the crowd. There was no energy at all. They were going through the motions, delivering all the same old stage gimmicks. It was a paint-by-numbers nostalgia act.
My agenda in writing this piece was to praise Revenge and share how much I enjoyed it. That comes, I think naturally, with the what if question of what would have happened had the band stayed on this path. I’m not fond of the Thayer/Singer masquerade, but I’m not opposed to those guys being in the band, either. Some of my favorite Kiss records — Revenge, for example — came from non-original lineups, and the original lineup definitely released its share of crap. I just think they should have developed their own characters like past members.
If the band was still making good music, though, even that probably wouldn’t matter to me.
I didn’t get any responses because of my email filter. My whole issue with the article is about the phrase ” nostalgia act” because so many bands change members over the years and not much is ever said. But with KISS they get called a ” nostalgia act”. I think it is because of the show and makeup a lot of people have always jumped on everything and anything they can find when it comes to KISS. Even with bands I don’t like that have made it for 40 years then I recognition them for they talent in making it as long as they have. But for KISS to make it the 40 years they have your article was so negative. KISS still plays sold out arenas and sells a lot of records even though most people these days buy digital downloads but your negativity while I read your article just got under my skin so much because the bias was so obvious.
I myself would prefer that the four originals be in the band but then Ace and Peter did sell out to Gene and Paul so to me that was the end for them. The other wearing the makeup should be allowed to contribute more but I thought that about Ace and Peter also. Some of the bands music lacks balls but some of it is balls to the walls rock.
My comments were to counter your obvious bias for any future readers. You are welcome to have your opinion no matter how bias it is. Bias is what we get so much in the press these days and not fair two sides of the story reporting. You have your thoughts and it was your article so write away. I am glad that I had my say and hopefully people will read both of our thoughts and be able to find a truth in each in some manner.
In the mean time I am looking forward to seeing another “nostalgia act” ACDC .
Gee, I kinda like Sonic Boom and Monster….”impostors” and all. Revenge was a mighty fine return to form indeed. Definitely a shot in the arm after several years of mediocrity at best.
Sonic Boom and Monster were both solid albums. Are you sure you didn’t overdose on Windex as a child from licking too many windows? Could also explain the hair loss issue..