Kiss
essential recording
Kiss’s self-titled debut manages to simultaneously represent what rock & roll in the 1970s was all about, and stand up as a classic recording without sounding dated. That’s a rare trick, even for Kiss (whose efforts after, oh, 1977 didn’t do much more than tread water), and one that should be appreciated even as listening to the album brings back misty-eyed visions of high school. (It doesn’t matter if you were in high school in the ’70s, something about this al [Read More...]
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Other Items of Interest: Here is a list of the Best Songs of all time? What do you think of it?
With this album i discovered that music was my passion.All of the album is a highlight (one of the best debuts in Metal History) and the remastered edition is an inmense improvement over the poor sounding original recording.
Already on the debut KISS had its own sound.A mix of heavy metal and groove, simple compositions but not simplistic sounding.Any band would want to write so memorable pieces with so little notes! The pairing of Simmons and Stanley as singers and main composers is the driving force on this, but you should not overlook the solid imput by Criss and Frehley.Kiss went on from here to higher commercial sucess but the power of this album was unmatched.
Highly recommended, essential album.
The fact that Kiss’ self-titled debut album is one of the greatest albums of all time is not only because it’s chocked full of legendary rock classics, but the fact that it still rocks after all these years is what puts it in the higher echelon of rock and roll history. The painted freaks from New York City were going to be some new-fangled craze, make a little money, turn a few heads, and the fade away quickly. Not the case. Who knew that they would become one of the most successful rock bands in history? Who knew that Gene, Ace, Peter & Paul would become household names by the late 70s? Well, if you listened to their debut, you should have had an inkling. Not just a shock rock band, these guys could write songs that hooked the listeners and eventually started a mania among their fans akin to religious fanaticism.
“Strutter” a Kiss classic and live staple. Utterly cool to the core.
“Nothin’ To Lose” a straight-forward rocker, very anthem-oriented. This was where later songs like “Shout It Out Loud” came from.
“Firehouse” Paul Stanley lead with killer Gene Simmons back-up vocals, great guitar work, you can hear the greatness that the kiss legend would become in this tune.
“Cold Gin” one of my all-time favorites. Written by Ace, sung by Gene, this is one of the coolest rock tunes ever.
“Let Me Know” this song is very cool, not the strongest on the album, but still rocking and still filled with Kiss hooks. The tempo change at the end of the song is odd but it rocks.
“Kissin’ Time” straight-forward rock cover-tune. One of the first cool songs to go around and mention all the city names. Been done to death by now, but it was fresh back in ‘74. Not one of my favs, but still a very cool song.
“Deuce” another of my all-time favorites and a classic Kiss staple. This song rocks on every level. Gene’s vocals are over the top. Great riff. Perfect.
“Love Theme From Kiss” a daring instrumental for that day and age in rock from a band of newbies. Kinda bluesy. Clever and catchy, though it would never be considered one of Kiss’ great tunes.
“100,000 Years” another Kiss staple and live essential. Another glimpse at perfection. Probably one of my favorite Paul Stanley songs.
“Black Diamond” great Peter Criss sung tune. Another great classic Kiss song.
Overall, Kiss came up with a very cohesive, very structured debut album. Where other eventually great bands had there ups and downs on their first recording, Kiss’ entrance into the rock scene was eerily perfected, as if a great deal of thought went into the specific songs recorded. Not just a group of shock-rock hippies wearing face makeup, Kiss proved to the world that they were great songwriters and tight musicians. Awesome.
Dig it!