KISS (album)
Encyclopedia
Kiss is the debut album by American band Kiss
. When it was released on February 18, 1974, Kiss had been a band for a little over a year. Much of the material on the album was written by Gene Simmons
and/or Paul Stanley
, as members of their pre-Kiss band, Wicked Lester
. Simmons estimated that the entire process of recording and mixing took three weeks, while co-producer Richie Wise has stated it took just thirteen days.
The album was recorded at Bell Sound Studios in New York City
, which was owned by the company that owned Buddah Records
. Neil Bogart
, founder of Casablanca Records
, was an executive at Buddah prior to forming Casablanca.
Casablanca Records held a party at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles
to celebrate the West Coast
release of Kiss (February 18) and to introduce the record company to the press and other record industry executives. In keeping with the Casablanca theme, the party included palm trees
and a Humphrey Bogart
lookalike. Kiss performed their usual loud and bombastic stage show, which turned Warner Bros. Records
(Casablanca's record distributor) against the group.
Soon after the show, Warner Bros. Records contacted Neil Bogart and threatened to end their deal with Casablanca if Kiss did not remove their makeup. With manager Bill Aucoin
's backing, Kiss refused. Shortly after the release of Kiss, Warner Bros. released Casablanca from their contract.
Kiss sold approximately 75,000 copies after its initial release, without the presence of a hit single. It was certified Gold on June 8, 1977, having shipped 500,000 copies. The album was re-released
in 1997 (along with most of Kiss' earlier albums) in a remaster
ed version.
' With the Beatles
album (Criss stated that this was the visual effect the band was looking for). Three of the four band members applied their own makeup for the album cover photo, as they usually did; but Criss' makeup was applied by a professional, whose work came out looking quite a bit different from the look Criss had established, and to which he would return immediately afterward. Ace Frehley
, wanting to impress the other members of Kiss, dyed his hair with silver spray paint. Not only did it not come out for several weeks, but Frehley suffered an allergic reaction to the silver in it (as can be seen in his later makeup around the eyes).
According to Criss, photographer Joel Brodsky thought Kiss were literally clowns, and wanted to place balloons behind the group for the shoot. Brodsky, however, has denied this, chalking it up to imagination.
while he was attending Music and Art High School in NYC.
", which opens the album with a drum fill, is an uptempo rock song that was written before Frehley joined Kiss. Stanley wrote the lyrics, and the music was based on a song Simmons had written years before, "Stanley the Parrot". Simmons and former Wicked Lester member Brooke Ostrander recorded a 45 rpm version of "Stanley the Parrot" in a New Jersey apartment. "Strutter" remains one of the few Kiss songs where Stanley and Simmons share songwriting credits, and was a standard number at Kiss concerts throughout the 1970s. It was released in August 1974 as the third and final single from the album.
", the band's first single, is a song written by Simmons and sung by him, Criss and Stanley. The song chronicles the singer coercing his girlfriend into trying anal sex, and her subsequent enjoyment of it. The B-side was "Love Theme From KISS", the album's instrumental.
glam metal
band FireHouse takes its name from the song "Firehouse
". The song is well known for Simmons fire breathing
during live concerts.
, Frehley assisted on lead vocals.
The song refers to the stimulating effect that cold gin supposedly has on the male sex drive. The song credits cold gin as the only thing that keeps the couple together in a troubled relationship.
There was a Kiss tribute band from Los Angeles named after this classic song featuring Kiss member Tommy Thayer
as Frehley, Jaime St. James
as Criss, Chris McLernon as Simmons, and Anthony White as Stanley.
"Cold Gin" was covered by the alternative metal
group Disturbed at a one time tribute show to Pantera
guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott. It was known to be the guitarist's favorite song. The live performance was performed with members of Drowning Pool
and Anthrax
live on stage, featuring David Draiman
on vocals. Vinnie Paul
was on drums.
Pantera and Skid Row performed the song together live while the bands were on tour together in 1992, with Ace Frehley on guitar as a special guest. The performance was taped and included on Pantera's 2000 home video, 3 Vulgar Videos from Hell
. Death Angel
covered the song on their 1988 album Frolic Through the Park
.
Frehley noted: "I wrote 'Cold Gin' in a New York subway, in my head, both lyrics and music. I had a spiral notebook with me. I never took a guitar lesson, nobody believes that. I didn't realize it was gonna become a Kiss classic".
The song was released live on Kiss' popular and successful live album Alive!. When Alive! was re-released as part of the Kiss Alive! 1975–2000 box set, the song was mistakenly credited to Stanley instead of Ace Frehley in the 72-page booklet that accompanied the album.
Weezer
vocalist and guitarist Rivers Cuomo
has said that this was the first song he ever learned to play on guitar.
"Cold Gin" was named 7th best drinking song of all time.Kiss' 1974 debut is one of hard rock/heavy metal's all-time best releases, chock full of rockin' classics -- "Strutter," "Deuce," "Firehouse," "Black Diamond," and, of course, "Cold Gin." The song was guitarist Ace Frehley's only composition on the debut, and it has become known in later years that Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley lent a hand with working out the song structure (although they didn't receive credit). "Cold Gin" is an early sleazy classic for the band, which sums up perfectly what the young band must have been going through when they were struggling and penniless, passing around a bottle of alcohol to keep warm in their frigid rehearsal loft in New York City. And although Frehley penned the song, he did not yet have the confidence to sing his composition -- Simmons handled the vocal duties (even though Simmons has claimed to have never been drunk or high in his life). One of the debut's lengthier compositions, there's an instrumental breakdown section in the middle that's comparable to the breakdown contained in their future anthem "Detroit Rock City," and the original version's tempo is considerably slower than the subsequent live version that appeared a year and a half later on 1975's Alive! Even after Frehley would leave the band in 1982, Kiss would still perform "Cold Gin" in concert (as evidenced on their 1985 home video Animalize: Live Uncensored).
and instrumental coda
when recorded for Kiss. In later Kiss concerts this coda was moved to the end of "She" and before that, "Watchin' You".Although it became known as a titan of heavy metal, Kiss' sound is as deeply rooted in pop as it is in hard rock. For proof, look no further than "Let Me Know" on the band's self-titled debut: despite a heavy dose of guitar fireworks from Ace Frehley, this song is pure bubblegum pop down to its chewy core. The lovey-dovey lyrics could have been lifted from a vintage Ohio Express single as they portray a romeo offering up his driving services to the apple of his eye: "Let me be your Sunday driver/Let me be your Monday man/I'll take you anywhere you want/Just as fast as I can." The music perpetuates the bubblegum feel of the lyrics with an upbeat, hook-laden melody that pairs bouncy verse melodies full of ascending hooks with an equally effervescent chorus that ends in a singalong hook. Despite the song's deep-seated pop sweetness, Kiss manages to transform "Let Me Know" into something a bit more muscular in its recorded version: Ace Frehley and Paul Stanley anchor the song with swinging guitar riffs that are equal parts Rolling Stones and New York Dolls as the rhythm section provides a throbbing beat in the background. Stanley and Gene Simmons trade lead vocals in an excited fashion over the song's top, with Stanley pouring an amusing amount of lascivious energy into his solo vocal spot. This recording also adds on a feverish, stomping instrumental coda written for the song by Frehley that the group later used as the finale for its concert version of "She." "Let Me Know" was never issued as a single, but its bouncy pop backbone has made it a favorite with Kiss fans and its subsequent placing on the Kiss box set shows that Simmons and Stanley have a soft spot in their hearts for this spunky pop/hard rock hybrid.
" was not included on the original album; in fact it was not recorded until two months after the album's February release. By April, the album was clearly not the commercial success the band and Casablanca Records founder Neil Bogart were hoping for. Bogart, who knew that a catchy single could save the album, ordered Kiss back into the studio to record "Kissin' Time", which was a Top 20 hit for Bobby Rydell
in 1959. It was released as a single on May 10, but never reached any higher than number 83. It did, however, boost sales of the album even though it was not added to the album until it was reissued in July 1974 (against the wishes of the band).
"Love Theme From KISS" appears in a 2010 movie Somewhere
, directed by Sofia Coppola
.
, after which the song gradually slows down and fades out. After Criss' departure from the band the vocal duties have continued to be by subsequent drummers Eric Carr and Eric Singer.
Singles
KISS (band)
Kiss is an American rock band formed in New York City in January 1973. Well-known for its members' face paint and flamboyant stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid to late 1970s on the basis of their elaborate live performances, which featured fire breathing, blood spitting,...
. When it was released on February 18, 1974, Kiss had been a band for a little over a year. Much of the material on the album was written by Gene Simmons
Gene Simmons
Gene Simmons is an Israeli-American entrepreneur, singer-songwriter, actor, and rock bassist. Known as "The Demon", he is the bassist/vocalist of Kiss, a hard rock band he co-founded in the early 1970s.-Early life:...
and/or Paul Stanley
Paul Stanley
Stanley Harvey Eisen , better known by his stage name Paul Stanley, is an American hard rock guitarist, singer, musician, painter and songwriter best known for being the rhythm guitarist and primary lead vocalist of the rock band Kiss. He is the writer or co-writer of many of the band's...
, as members of their pre-Kiss band, Wicked Lester
Wicked Lester
Wicked Lester was the name of the New York-based rock and roll group that would eventually come to be known as Kiss. The band, under its original name, Rainbow, formed in 1970. The most notable original members were bassist Gene Klein, , and rhythm guitarist Stanley Eisen. The two would later be...
. Simmons estimated that the entire process of recording and mixing took three weeks, while co-producer Richie Wise has stated it took just thirteen days.
The album was recorded at Bell Sound Studios in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, which was owned by the company that owned Buddah Records
Buddah Records
Buddah Records was founded in 1967 in New York City. The label was born out of Kama Sutra Records, an MGM Records-distributed label, which remained a key imprint following Buddah's founding...
. Neil Bogart
Neil Bogart
Neil Bogart was an American record executive. He is perhaps best known as the founder of Casablanca Records, with Peter Guber....
, founder of Casablanca Records
Casablanca Records
Casablanca Records was an American record label started by Neil Bogart, who partnered with Cecil Holmes, Larry Harris, and Buck Reingold in 1973, and based in Los Angeles. The label was formed after all of them had left Buddah Records and secured financing by Warner Bros. Records to start the venture...
, was an executive at Buddah prior to forming Casablanca.
Casablanca Records held a party at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
to celebrate the West Coast
Western United States
.The Western United States, commonly referred to as the American West or simply "the West," traditionally refers to the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. Because the U.S. expanded westward after its founding, the meaning of the West has evolved over time...
release of Kiss (February 18) and to introduce the record company to the press and other record industry executives. In keeping with the Casablanca theme, the party included palm trees
Arecaceae
Arecaceae or Palmae , are a family of flowering plants, the only family in the monocot order Arecales. There are roughly 202 currently known genera with around 2600 species, most of which are restricted to tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate climates...
and a Humphrey Bogart
Humphrey Bogart
Humphrey DeForest Bogart was an American actor. He is widely regarded as a cultural icon.The American Film Institute ranked Bogart as the greatest male star in the history of American cinema....
lookalike. Kiss performed their usual loud and bombastic stage show, which turned Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
(Casablanca's record distributor) against the group.
Soon after the show, Warner Bros. Records contacted Neil Bogart and threatened to end their deal with Casablanca if Kiss did not remove their makeup. With manager Bill Aucoin
Bill Aucoin
William "Bill" Aucoin was an American band manager, well-known for his work with the rock band Kiss.-Biography:...
's backing, Kiss refused. Shortly after the release of Kiss, Warner Bros. released Casablanca from their contract.
Kiss sold approximately 75,000 copies after its initial release, without the presence of a hit single. It was certified Gold on June 8, 1977, having shipped 500,000 copies. The album was re-released
Reissue
A reissue is the repeated issue of a published work. In common usage, it refers to an album which has been released at least once before and is released again, sometimes with alterations or additions....
in 1997 (along with most of Kiss' earlier albums) in a remaster
Remaster
Remaster is a word marketed mostly in the digital audio age, although the remastering process has existed since recording began...
ed version.
Album cover
The album's cover showed the group positioned against a black background in a pose visually reminiscent of The BeatlesThe Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
' With the Beatles
With the Beatles
With The Beatles is the second studio album by the English rock group The Beatles. It was released on 22 November 1963 on Parlophone, and was recorded four months after the band's debut Please Please Me...
album (Criss stated that this was the visual effect the band was looking for). Three of the four band members applied their own makeup for the album cover photo, as they usually did; but Criss' makeup was applied by a professional, whose work came out looking quite a bit different from the look Criss had established, and to which he would return immediately afterward. Ace Frehley
Ace Frehley
Paul Daniel "Ace" Frehley is an American musician best known as the lead guitarist of the rock band Kiss. He took on the persona of the "Spaceman" or "Space Ace" when the band adopted costumes and theatrics...
, wanting to impress the other members of Kiss, dyed his hair with silver spray paint. Not only did it not come out for several weeks, but Frehley suffered an allergic reaction to the silver in it (as can be seen in his later makeup around the eyes).
According to Criss, photographer Joel Brodsky thought Kiss were literally clowns, and wanted to place balloons behind the group for the shoot. Brodsky, however, has denied this, chalking it up to imagination.
Songs
With the exception of "Kissin' Time", all of the material for Kiss was written before the band entered the studio. Some of the songs were written during Wicked Lester's brief existence, while "Firehouse" was written by Paul StanleyPaul Stanley
Stanley Harvey Eisen , better known by his stage name Paul Stanley, is an American hard rock guitarist, singer, musician, painter and songwriter best known for being the rhythm guitarist and primary lead vocalist of the rock band Kiss. He is the writer or co-writer of many of the band's...
while he was attending Music and Art High School in NYC.
"Strutter"
"StrutterStrutter
"Strutter" is a song by the American hard rock band Kiss, released on their eponymous debut album in 1974. The song was released as the third single from their album and failed to chart....
", which opens the album with a drum fill, is an uptempo rock song that was written before Frehley joined Kiss. Stanley wrote the lyrics, and the music was based on a song Simmons had written years before, "Stanley the Parrot". Simmons and former Wicked Lester member Brooke Ostrander recorded a 45 rpm version of "Stanley the Parrot" in a New Jersey apartment. "Strutter" remains one of the few Kiss songs where Stanley and Simmons share songwriting credits, and was a standard number at Kiss concerts throughout the 1970s. It was released in August 1974 as the third and final single from the album.
"Nothin' to Lose"
"Nothin' to LoseNothin' to Lose (Kiss song)
"Nothin' to Lose" is a song by the American hard rock band Kiss, released on their self-titled debut album in 1974. It is the first single the band had ever released and the first single off the album, with "Love Theme from KISS" as the B-side...
", the band's first single, is a song written by Simmons and sung by him, Criss and Stanley. The song chronicles the singer coercing his girlfriend into trying anal sex, and her subsequent enjoyment of it. The B-side was "Love Theme From KISS", the album's instrumental.
"Firehouse"
The North CarolinaNorth Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
glam metal
Glam metal
Glam metal is a subgenre of hard rock and heavy metal that arose in the late 1970s and early 1980s in the United States, particularly on the Los Angeles Sunset Strip music scene...
band FireHouse takes its name from the song "Firehouse
Firehouse (Kiss song)
"Firehouse" is a song by American hard rock band Kiss released on their eponymous debut album in 1974. The song was written by the bands' rhythm guitarist and vocalist Paul Stanley...
". The song is well known for Simmons fire breathing
Fire breathing
Fire breathing is the act of creating a fireball by breathing a fine mist of fuel over an open flame. Proper technique and the correct fuel create the illusion of danger to enhance the novelty of fire breathing, while reducing the risk to health and safety...
during live concerts.
"Cold Gin"
This song was the first composed for Kiss by Frehley. Insecure in his own singing ability, Frehley turned over the vocals for the album to Simmons. "Cold Gin" was a concert staple throughout the 1970s. On Kiss' Alive/Worldwide TourAlive/Worldwide Tour
The Alive/Worldwide Tour was a 1996-1997 concert tour by Kiss. It was the first tour with original members Peter Criss and Ace Frehley since their 1979 Dynasty Tour...
, Frehley assisted on lead vocals.
The song refers to the stimulating effect that cold gin supposedly has on the male sex drive. The song credits cold gin as the only thing that keeps the couple together in a troubled relationship.
There was a Kiss tribute band from Los Angeles named after this classic song featuring Kiss member Tommy Thayer
Tommy Thayer
Tommy Cunningham Thayer is an American musician and songwriter best known as the lead guitarist for the American hard rock band Kiss.- Early life :...
as Frehley, Jaime St. James
Jaime St. James
Jaime St. James is the lead vocalist of the glam metal band Black 'N Blue. He also served a brief stint in the mid-2000s as the lead singer of Warrant, but he left upon the return of Warrant's original lead singer Jani Lane to the line-up in 2008. He sang on the Warrant album Born Again.Born James...
as Criss, Chris McLernon as Simmons, and Anthony White as Stanley.
"Cold Gin" was covered by the alternative metal
Alternative metal
Alternative metal is a genre of alternative rock and heavy metal that gained popularity in the early 1990s. Most notably, alternative metal bands are characterized by heavy guitar riffs and experimental approaches to heavy music.-Origins:...
group Disturbed at a one time tribute show to Pantera
Pantera
Pantera was an American heavy metal band from Arlington, Texas. Formed by the Abbott brothers, Vinnie Paul and Dimebag Darrell in 1981, bassist Rex Brown would join in late 1981 with vocalist Terry Glaze. Looking for a new and heavier sound, Pantera had Terry replaced in 1987 with Phil Anselmo as...
guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott. It was known to be the guitarist's favorite song. The live performance was performed with members of Drowning Pool
Drowning Pool
Drowning Pool is a four-piece alternative metal band from Dallas, Texas.-Early days :Drowning Pool rose to fame while playing along with Ozzy Osbourne during an Ozzfest tour. Their 2001 debut album, Sinner was certified platinum within six weeks...
and Anthrax
Anthrax (band)
Anthrax is an American heavy metal band from New York City, formed in 1981. Founded by guitarists Scott Ian and Danny Lilker, the band has since released ten studio albums and 20 singles, and an EP featuring Public Enemy. The band was one of the most popular of the 1980s thrash metal scene...
live on stage, featuring David Draiman
David Draiman
David Michael Draiman is an American songwriter and the lead singer for the metal band Disturbed. Draiman is known for his distorted voice and rhythmic singing style...
on vocals. Vinnie Paul
Vinnie Paul
Vincent Paul Abbott, also known as "Vinnie Paul" is a heavy metal drummer and producer who is currently a member of supergroup Hellyeah, but is best known for being a member, and co-founder, of the heavy metal band Pantera...
was on drums.
Pantera and Skid Row performed the song together live while the bands were on tour together in 1992, with Ace Frehley on guitar as a special guest. The performance was taped and included on Pantera's 2000 home video, 3 Vulgar Videos from Hell
3 Vulgar Videos from Hell
3 Vulgar Videos from Hell is a DVD released in 1999, and re-released in 2006 by the heavy metal band Pantera. This DVD combines all three of the band's previous home videos and features music videos, live performances, appearances, interviews and footage of the band on tour and in the studio from...
. Death Angel
Death Angel
Death Angel is a Filipino-American thrash metal band from Concord, California, initially active from 1982 to 1991 and again since 2001. Death Angel has released six studio albums, two demo tapes, one box set and two live albums....
covered the song on their 1988 album Frolic Through the Park
Frolic through the Park
Frolic through the Park is the second album by the band Death Angel, released in 1988.The song "Bored" was used in a scene in the 1990 movie Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III.-Track listing:...
.
Frehley noted: "I wrote 'Cold Gin' in a New York subway, in my head, both lyrics and music. I had a spiral notebook with me. I never took a guitar lesson, nobody believes that. I didn't realize it was gonna become a Kiss classic".
The song was released live on Kiss' popular and successful live album Alive!. When Alive! was re-released as part of the Kiss Alive! 1975–2000 box set, the song was mistakenly credited to Stanley instead of Ace Frehley in the 72-page booklet that accompanied the album.
Weezer
Weezer
Weezer is an American alternative rock band. The band currently consists of Rivers Cuomo , Patrick Wilson , Brian Bell , and Scott Shriner . The band has changed lineups three times since its formation in 1992...
vocalist and guitarist Rivers Cuomo
Rivers Cuomo
Rivers Cuomo is an American musician, best known as the lead singer, lead guitarist, and principal songwriter of the alternative rock band Weezer. Raised in an Ashram in Connecticut, Cuomo moved to Los Angeles at age 19, where he participated in a number of rock bands before founding Weezer in 1992...
has said that this was the first song he ever learned to play on guitar.
"Cold Gin" was named 7th best drinking song of all time.Kiss' 1974 debut is one of hard rock/heavy metal's all-time best releases, chock full of rockin' classics -- "Strutter," "Deuce," "Firehouse," "Black Diamond," and, of course, "Cold Gin." The song was guitarist Ace Frehley's only composition on the debut, and it has become known in later years that Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley lent a hand with working out the song structure (although they didn't receive credit). "Cold Gin" is an early sleazy classic for the band, which sums up perfectly what the young band must have been going through when they were struggling and penniless, passing around a bottle of alcohol to keep warm in their frigid rehearsal loft in New York City. And although Frehley penned the song, he did not yet have the confidence to sing his composition -- Simmons handled the vocal duties (even though Simmons has claimed to have never been drunk or high in his life). One of the debut's lengthier compositions, there's an instrumental breakdown section in the middle that's comparable to the breakdown contained in their future anthem "Detroit Rock City," and the original version's tempo is considerably slower than the subsequent live version that appeared a year and a half later on 1975's Alive! Even after Frehley would leave the band in 1982, Kiss would still perform "Cold Gin" in concert (as evidenced on their 1985 home video Animalize: Live Uncensored).
"Let Me Know"
"Let Me Know", previously titled "Sunday Driver", was the song Stanley played when he was first introduced to Simmons, and it was later recorded by Wicked Lester. Simmons and Stanley shared lead vocal duties on the song, which was given a bridgeBridge (music)
In music, especially western popular music, a bridge is a contrasting section which also prepares for the return of the original material section...
and instrumental coda
Coda (music)
Coda is a term used in music in a number of different senses, primarily to designate a passage that brings a piece to an end. Technically, it is an expanded cadence...
when recorded for Kiss. In later Kiss concerts this coda was moved to the end of "She" and before that, "Watchin' You".Although it became known as a titan of heavy metal, Kiss' sound is as deeply rooted in pop as it is in hard rock. For proof, look no further than "Let Me Know" on the band's self-titled debut: despite a heavy dose of guitar fireworks from Ace Frehley, this song is pure bubblegum pop down to its chewy core. The lovey-dovey lyrics could have been lifted from a vintage Ohio Express single as they portray a romeo offering up his driving services to the apple of his eye: "Let me be your Sunday driver/Let me be your Monday man/I'll take you anywhere you want/Just as fast as I can." The music perpetuates the bubblegum feel of the lyrics with an upbeat, hook-laden melody that pairs bouncy verse melodies full of ascending hooks with an equally effervescent chorus that ends in a singalong hook. Despite the song's deep-seated pop sweetness, Kiss manages to transform "Let Me Know" into something a bit more muscular in its recorded version: Ace Frehley and Paul Stanley anchor the song with swinging guitar riffs that are equal parts Rolling Stones and New York Dolls as the rhythm section provides a throbbing beat in the background. Stanley and Gene Simmons trade lead vocals in an excited fashion over the song's top, with Stanley pouring an amusing amount of lascivious energy into his solo vocal spot. This recording also adds on a feverish, stomping instrumental coda written for the song by Frehley that the group later used as the finale for its concert version of "She." "Let Me Know" was never issued as a single, but its bouncy pop backbone has made it a favorite with Kiss fans and its subsequent placing on the Kiss box set shows that Simmons and Stanley have a soft spot in their hearts for this spunky pop/hard rock hybrid.
"Kissin' Time"
"Kissin' TimeKissin' Time (song)
"Kissin' Time" is a song by the American singer Bobby Rydell, released in 1959. It was his first released single, and also his first Top-20 hit. The song was written by Bernie Lowe and Kal Mann.-Background:...
" was not included on the original album; in fact it was not recorded until two months after the album's February release. By April, the album was clearly not the commercial success the band and Casablanca Records founder Neil Bogart were hoping for. Bogart, who knew that a catchy single could save the album, ordered Kiss back into the studio to record "Kissin' Time", which was a Top 20 hit for Bobby Rydell
Bobby Rydell
Bobby Rydell is an American professional singer, mainly of rock and roll music. In the early 1960s he was considered a so-called "teen idol"...
in 1959. It was released as a single on May 10, but never reached any higher than number 83. It did, however, boost sales of the album even though it was not added to the album until it was reissued in July 1974 (against the wishes of the band).
"Deuce"
Although Simmons admits that he does not know the meaning of this song's lyrics, "Deuce" nevertheless has been a staple at the band's concerts, opening their shows from 1973–1976 and again for their 1996 reunion."Love Theme From KISS"
This instrumental came from a song titled "Acrobat" from the band's 1973 club shows; it can be found on their 2001 Box Set. The song is shortened for the album. It is the only Kiss song to have songwriting credit go to all four original members."Love Theme From KISS" appears in a 2010 movie Somewhere
Somewhere (film)
Somewhere is a 2010 American drama film that was written and directed by Sofia Coppola. The film follows Johnny Marco, a newly famous actor, as he recuperates from a minor injury at the Chateau Marmont, a well-known Hollywood retreat. Despite money, fame and professional success, Marco is trapped...
, directed by Sofia Coppola
Sofia Coppola
Sofia Carmina Coppola is an American screenwriter, film director, actress, and producer.In 2003 she received the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for Lost in Translation, and became the third woman to be nominated for an Academy Award for Directing...
.
"100,000 Years"
"100,000 Years" begins with a bass solo by Simmons. The live version includes a long drum solo continuing on from the short one found on the album as heard on Alive! The demo version can be heard on the 2001 release of the Box Set. The drum solo is inside the song, and Stanley says "Do you feel all right?" This was done on live performances. Also, there is a lost verse towards the end of the song but it never made the final cut.This spacy rocker from the first Kiss album was one of the songs that formed the backbone of the group's live show. The lyrics to "100,000 Years" present an odd but intriguing combination of macho hard rock lingo and cosmic sci-fi themes as they present a futuristic voyager returning from a trip that has involved time travel: "I'm sorry to have taken so long/It must have been a bitch while I was gone/All this time you put up with fear/For a hundred thousand years." These rather cryptic lyrics don't hold up to much scrutiny, but they sound great when sang to the song's melody, which eschews typical verse/chorus form in favor a pair of punchy, rhythmic verses built on ascending runs of notes. Kiss' recording of "100,000 Years" is surprisingly atmospheric for a band known for pop-metal: after starting with a hypnotic two-note bass riff, the rest of the band adds in a jazzy shuffle beat and a set of circular guitar riffs that churn along like a locomotive. Ace Frehley punctuates the song with wailing guitar solos full of staccato riffs that writhe like electrocuted snakes, and Peter Criss throws in an unusual drum break that makes it sound like Gene Krupa decided to sit in for a few minutes. The result was an expansive but tight epic that was probably too heavy to earn much success as a single but was tailor-made for the concert stage. Kiss took note of this quality, pumping up the song into a frenetic epic that allowed Criss to stretch out with an elaborate, lengthy drum solo while Stanley worked the crowd into a frenzy with a speech about believing in rock & roll (this version is preserved in all its sweaty excitement on Alive!). It remains a fiery staple of the group's live act, and this Alive! version is a favorite with air-drummers everywhere."Black Diamond"
"Black Diamond" begins with Stanley singing the first verse accompanied by a twelve-string, acoustic guitar. After he yells out "Hit It!", the full band kicks in and Criss assumes lead vocal duties, repeating the first verse. After that they have the chorus (Ooh, Black Diamond). The song then slows down for Frehley to do his guitar soloGuitar solo
In popular music, a guitar solo is a melodic passage, section, or entire piece of music written for an electric guitar or an acoustic guitar. Guitar solos, which often contain varying degrees of improvisation, are used in many styles of popular music such as blues, jazz, rock and metal styles such...
, after which the song gradually slows down and fades out. After Criss' departure from the band the vocal duties have continued to be by subsequent drummers Eric Carr and Eric Singer.
Track listing
Personnel
- Paul StanleyPaul StanleyStanley Harvey Eisen , better known by his stage name Paul Stanley, is an American hard rock guitarist, singer, musician, painter and songwriter best known for being the rhythm guitarist and primary lead vocalist of the rock band Kiss. He is the writer or co-writer of many of the band's...
– vocals, rhythm guitarRhythm guitarRhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together... - Gene SimmonsGene SimmonsGene Simmons is an Israeli-American entrepreneur, singer-songwriter, actor, and rock bassist. Known as "The Demon", he is the bassist/vocalist of Kiss, a hard rock band he co-founded in the early 1970s.-Early life:...
– vocals, bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... - Ace FrehleyAce FrehleyPaul Daniel "Ace" Frehley is an American musician best known as the lead guitarist of the rock band Kiss. He took on the persona of the "Spaceman" or "Space Ace" when the band adopted costumes and theatrics...
– lead guitarLead guitarLead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure... - Peter CrissPeter CrissGeorge Peter John Criscuola , better known as Peter Criss, is an American drummer and singer, best known as the original drummer for the rock band Kiss...
– drums, percussion, vocals
Additional personnel
- Bruce Foster – pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
on "Nothin' to Lose" - Warren Dewey – fire engine on "Firehouse"
Charts
Album| Chart (1974) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard Pop Albums | 87 |
Singles
| Single | Chart (1974) | Position |
|---|---|---|
| "Kissin' Time" | US Pop Singles | 83 |