KISS - Dynasty

Dynasty finds KISS making a major departure from their signature '70s Hard Rock sound...

... and Hard Harry412 finds that this experimentation in pop rock and disco is not that bad!!!

'Dynasty' is much maligned by some KISS fans because of the bands new musical direction, but really there is alot to like from 'Dynasty'.  Space Ace sings on three songs!  Also the Catman sings on one song as well!  There is a diversity of singers on here that one doesn't really find on past KISS releases where it is just Stanley and Simmons singing only which frankly can get a little old after awhile when listening to a whole album.

Some of the songs on here are good too!  'I Was Made For Loving You' has actually stood the test of time and doesn't sound totally cheesy as a disco song!  'Sure Know Something' has a pretty rocking chorus!

Even though over-all the album is enjoyable I just don't care for the bright pop production values that it has.  It is nothing like the Hard Rock 'Destroyer' sound that I like and that most hard-core KISS fans like.

Also other forms of media from this album (music videos on youtube, promo pictures) are marred by KISSes new 'Dynasty era' costumes.  They started wearing colored capes and other stuff!  It looks like the Starchild actually stole Hugh Hefners bath robe!!!

Like most KISS fans I prefer the 'Destroyer' era costumes and this is what I automatically think of when I think of KISS in the 1970s and also it seems like the band themselves recognized the popularity of the 'Destroyer' era costumes because that is the style they wore when I saw their reunion tour in like 1996 / 1997!!!

The only 'Dynasty' era costume I like is Space Aces!  It is blue which is my favorite color and also looks fairly cool!

KISS - Peter Criss

How does probably the least popular KISS 'solo' album fare?

Well Hard Harry412 likes it!

Have always liked Peter Crisses voice and his songs on regular KISS albums have almost always been highlights of those albums to me.  Probably the only exception would be 'Black Diamond', though there have been cover versions of that song that I have liked so I give credit to Peter Criss for writing it!!

Hard Harry412 just likes all four of the original members of KISS, including The Catman!  Dude they just rocked the '70s!  So much talent and all four of them could sing to and had their own distinctive styles that just kicked all possible ass!!!  (not to mention the massive influence KISS would have on Heavy Metal and even Alternative Rock, remember Kurt Cobain liked KISS!!!)

Also when I saw the KISS reunion tour in like 1996/ 1997 (can't remember which year) one of the greatest aspects of that show was Criss coming out and singing 'Beth', dude it was just awesome.  Here it is like 17 years after the band had broken up.. and *BAM* they are back and singing some of their legendary songs, including 'BETH'!!!  Heck 'Beth' was almost in 'Reality Bites'... that is how totally cool that song is.

So anyhow 'KISS - Peter Criss' is more of a pop album and even has some disco flavor, but you know what, every now and then I like to listen to just a little of that kind of jam so I will reach for 'KISS - Peter Criss' the next time I get that hankering.  HAIL CATMAN!!!

KISS - Paul Stanley

The Starchild delivers!

On his 'solo KISS' album Paul Stanley shows he can rock on his own.  Back in the day he had a good voice!  Also he is a dependable rhythm guitarist   He also has A LOT of ballad songs on here as well.

The rockers are good, and so are some of the ballads.

However after listening to this thing I was really annoyed by the track listing, it just went like this:

1.) Rocker

2.) Ballad

3.) Rocker

4.) Ballad, etc.,,,

There was just no real flow to the track listing and I kept feeling all jarred and stuff listening to 'Paul Stanley'.  Someday I may have to come up with my own playlist for this album on my Itunes...

KISS - Gene Simmons

Hard Harry412 had never listened to any of the KISS 'solo' albums until recently when I decided it was time to complete my KISS Kollection of albums...

... and Genes solo album leaves me a little bewildered.  Certainly was not what I was expecting.

This is more a '70s R & B album then anything close to hard rock.  Heck I could imagine Prince churning this thing out during his early period!  

Ok so to me the whole '70s R & B vibe sounds incredibly dated.  (Hey I am not much of an R & B fan and just call it how I hear it!)  Also someone else is playing the bass guitar on here!  It is not Gene and it DOES NOT sound like Gene which sort of bums me out.  

There is some good points though.  It certainly seems like the musicians enjoyed themselves making this thing.  I bet Gene Simmons enjoyed getting to have a chorus of female background vocalists to aid in making interesting arrangements.  Make no mistake the members of KISS are good song-writers... Don't believe Hard Harry412... well then listen to someone with real Alternative Rocker musical gravitas: BUZZ OSBOURNE!!!:

So 'KISS: Gene Simmons' is alright, perhaps I shall warm up to it a bit more with some more listens, but I can't help feeling that maybe if Gene himself had laid down the bass to anchor this baby that perhaps it may have turned out a little better!

KISS - Ace Frehley

An astounding showcase of Space Aces abilities!

He has always been my favorite member of KISS.  I am big into sci-fi so the whole character works for me.  Plus he is an awesome guitar player!  If only he had not gotten into booze or drugs he may have become a truly legendary guitar player, as it stands Frehley is sort of a B-level guitar player thanks to his legacy of work in the 1970s, but he hasn't really done anything after that!  (even Jimmy Page had Page/ Plant later on!!!)

Also there is one other thing that I like about Space Ace... His voice!  He is actually my favorite KISS vocalist, I just think he sounds cool.  I find it hard to believe that he was worried about being a good enough singer earlier in KISSes history!

'Ace Frehley' is jam packed with all sorts of awesome guitar solos and other guitar goodness that many of the mainline KISS catalogue lack.  I think Gene and Paul probably write songs to have good choruses and verses and what not and don't really even put much thought into the guitar solos on the songs that they write, well that is not a problem on 'Ace Frehley' where the soloing is free to shine!

KISS - You Wanted the Best, You Got the Best!!

A nice KISS tid-bit released during the reunion era!

This album has gotten massively slammed by the critics, but I still like it for the four 'new' unreleased tracks on it!!  Anytime something surfaces with the four original members of KISS on it I am on it like white on rice because those dudes frickin' rocked back in the 1970s!  They influenced legions of Hard Rockers and Alternative Rockers (not the least of which being one Kurt Cobain!!!!  Not to shabby a Legacy.)

The version of 'Two Timer' on here is great!  Probably better then the studio version.  Also I really like 'Take Me'.  That is a totally good rocker and one of my favorite KISS songs so having a cool 'Alive 2' era version of it is totally awesome!

There is just too much smack being talked about this album out there.  Some of the crazy rumors include stuff like they over-dubbed new vocals on these circa 1977 recordings in like 1996!  I find that very doubtful and even if they did do that it still sounds good!  The final product is good and I like it for what it is!

KISS - Alive 2

Yes!  Another wonderful KISS Alive album!

Ya' know I have recently started to really get into bands live albums.  My musical taste is pretty rare-ified so when I do finally find a band that I like it is great to be able to get some live albums as well to help boost the amount of stuff to listen too.

With KISS this is not an issue since their 'Alive' albums have been a major part of the band so they have plenty to offer!

'Alive 2' is probably not as totally energetic and epic as the first 'Alive', but it is a totally worthy entrant into the KISS Kanon.  Some of the songs are indeed awesome enough to be as cool as the songs on 'Alive' but some of the other ones do kind of fizzle out.

One of the things that is even better then 'Alive' though is Aces guitar solos!  They are totally awesome on here!  One can certainly hear where Eddie Van Halen got some of his early influences from clearly on 'Alive 2'.

KISS - Love Gun

'Love Gun' is probably my favorite 'Klassic KISS' album from the '70s era.

Lets do a little track by track break-down!

1.)  I Stole Your Love - A great rocker to open up the record.  From the first note it starts rocking!  'Detroit Rock City' has that annoying one minute long car driving sound at the beginning on the first track of 'Destroyer' and while 'I Want You' is another awesome album opener it has that wussy acoustic guitar intro.  'I Stole Your Love' gets right to point and is  a great fore-shadowing of what is to come!

2.) 'Christine Sixteen' just a great Pop-rock song.  I don't think there is anything comparable to this song on 'Destroyer' or 'Rock and Roll Over' so it is in its own great little universe of uniqueness.

3.) 'Got Love for Sale' - Genes vocals on here are sweet.  He sounds bad-ass.

4.) 'Shock Me' - Aces debut as a vocalist!  YES!  Space Ace is my favorite (because I am really into sci-fi).  'Love Gun' is great because it really features contributions from all four members of the band!

5.) 'Tomorrow and Tonight' - This one is sort of a strange one in that it is a rocker AND a sort of soul/ R & B song with some background singers.  It still rocks though and has the great anti-authoritarian memorable lyric

'Listening to the teacher, 
bosses, and the preachers, 
ain't ever done nobody good'

6.) 'Love Gun' - Total KISS Klassic.  Sadly this studio version isn't really that great compared to other versions of the song that are out there.

7.) 'Hooligan' - Probably my favorite Peter Criss song.  Just has this cool almost Dale Crover-like down-beat on drums.  Also the lyrics are cool.  Criss has these ballads that are cool and I like, but also these Pop type songs like 'Baby Driver' but he doesn't have many rockers like 'Hooligan' and so this is sort of a special rocker to me!  HAIL CATMAN!

8.) 'Almost Human' - What is this song doing on the B-side?  This song kicks all possible ass and I even like it better than 'Genes theme' of 'God of Thunder'.  'Almost Human' is criminally under-rated.  The way Gene barks out the vocals aggressively is awesome and the backing vocals are way spooky.

9.) 'Plaster Caster' - Pretty unique guitars on this one and it is a cool jam.

10.) 'Then She Kissed Me' - Well something mellow had to close out the album!  Leaving it on just 'Plaster Caster' would have left listeners with an odd vibe... considering what 'Plaster Caster' is about!

KISS - Rock and Roll Over

Rock and Roll Over kicks ass!

Whereas 'Destroyer' had a lot of more experimental songs ('Expectations' & 'Beth'), this album is more of a straight ahead rocker!

I've actually come to like this album more then 'Destroyer'.  I think alot of the reason that 'Destroyer' is so immensely popular is that it was the first KISS studio album that many people had back in the 1970s, so they naturally prefer it over later albums.

It sounds good too!  Love the guitar sound on 'I Want You' and the Genes bass on 'Dr. Love'.

KISS - Destroyer

'Destroyer' is a massive KISS breakthrough where the band learned how to bring their awesome live concert sound into the studio and make not a good, but great album.  

This album is chock full of KISS Klassics that sound good.  Some of the tracks are puzzling though.  Like why isn't 'King of the Night Time World' sung by The Demon instead?  It would seem to suit his dark persona more.  Also why wouldn't you have The Catman sing 'Great Expectations'?  This romantic song is way more his kind of vibe.  In the end though it all works out.

Also I think sometimes 'Destroyer' actually gets over-looked.  This album was WAY influential on a future generation of Rock Musicians.  I have seen so many interviews where it has been cited.

Destroyer starts out a great run of future KISS records.  I can't wait to hear the next few albums!

KISS - Alive!

Forget about this being one of the greatest live albums ever... it is one of the greatest albums ever, period!

Everything about this album is great, I wish I had gotten into it sooner, but I always passed it by because it was a live album.  Big mistake!

What sticks out to me the most is how much of monster guitar player Ace was at this time!  He ruled!  It is too bad that alcohol and drugs messed him up and lets be honest here he did not fully develop as a guitar player because of it .  But in the end he still kicks total ass on here, and that counts for a lot.

I don't care about the 'over-dubbing' controversy.  This album is good for what it is.  Hey if they did some overdubs, so what?  The final product is still amazing and I still enjoy it!

My favorite track on here are 'Strutter' and 'Nothin' to Lose'

KISS - Dressed to Kill

I honestly don't think this album is as good as their last one.

Even the version of 'Rock and Roll All Nite' is not all that great (the versions on 'Alive' and 'Kiss Klassics' are way better!)

Also this album is pretty short.  I pretty much just play 'Hotter than Hell' and this one back to back on my IPOD nano.

In the end it is all good though because soon KISS would release 'Alive' which is totally awesome and then 'Destroyer' so one can see that they just needed to get some experience under their belts before they could start cranking out the real good tunes that assuredly come later!

KISS - Hotter Than Hell

KISS have been tremendously influential on Alternative Rock and it is a shame that this is not more widely acknowledged!

1.) Kurt Cobain liked KISS

2.) Jerry Cantrell likes KISS and one of their last tours with Layne Staley was actually when they opened for KISS!!

Lets look at 'Hotter Than Hell'!  Two of my faves have covered a song from this album!

'Goin Blind' has been covered by the Melvins

AND by Dinosaur Jr!!

BOTTOM-LINE: KISS should be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for no other reason then the influence they have had on Alternative Rock.  There are so many dudes who picked up a guitar because of Ace, so many who picked up a bass because of Gene... You can just go ahead and discount all the gold records, all the tickets to a bazillion concerts... just the influence on  Alternative Rock artists is enough to get them into the hall of fame!  (and that is not counting the influence on Heavy Metal which is ASTRONOMICAL  in its own right!  Think of Dimebag Darrell getting buried in a KISS Kaskett as an example!)

My favorite song from this album though is 'Watchin' You' which has this real 'bottom endey' type of thing going on.

KISS - Kiss

KISSes first three studio albums are often instantly dismissed by the Critics, KISS fans, and even some members of the band themselves as not being very good.

This is a grave over-sight.  An Alternative Rocker like myself who is totally into Lo-fi/ No-fi type of productions can find something to like in the less then ideal '70s era production values of these records.

Also the tempos of many of the songs are quite a bit slower then the versions on the 'Alive' series.  All of this adds up to a sort of proto-Grunge vibe on the 'Kiss'.  After a good listen one can see why Buzz Osbourne and Dale Crover of the Melvins groove to KISS.

'Kiss' starts off with and awesome one-two punch of 'Strutter' and 'Nothin' to Lose', two of my favorites.

'Strutter' can really rock and I am surprised that (to my knowledge) KISS has never used it to open a show.  Usually they open with 'Deuce' or lately 'Detroit Rock City'.

Really the only song on here I dislike is the version of 'Black Diamond' on here.  It is just a really bad version and the 'Alive' version is so much infinitely better and also the version that Eric Singer did on 'KISS Klassics' is my favorite so far.