Review Summary: Kiss starts off their career with a very strong debut album, signifying the monster potential this band had to become a major powerhouse in Hard Rock music and is one of the best in their discography period.
Kiss is a band that really needs no introduction. They've done so much for rock music, sold so many albums and really shaped rock music to be all that it is today. They've been at this for decades, creating timeless albums in the 70's (as well as some really horrible albums much later down the road) and there's just no other band like them.
Kiss's self-titled debut album was released in 1974 via Casablanca Records. Debut albums have the potential to make or break a band, and Kiss's debut really solidified just what this group is all about
: being loud, and being proud about it. The music on this album sounds very raw, heavy and unpolished in contrast to many of their future records, especially in the production department (of course, this was before people such as Bob Ezrin and Eddie Kramer came into the fold). However, there are still plenty of elements on the album that really signal the band's more commercially successful output. Kiss's debut holds up as not only a very strong debut album, but one of the strongest albums in their entire career with many excellent songs, and only the occasional filler here and there.
This album starts off with a song called "Strutter", which definitely starts the album on a very confident, upbeat note (which actually sounds very similar to what would become "Shout It Out Loud" off the Destroyer album). It has a very simplistic, yet catchy riff which sticks in your head. For the first time, we are introduced to the seductive tone of Paul Stanley's vocals on this track, which give this song a bit of a sexier edge. This song contains a very catchy chorus ("Everybody says she's lookin' good / And the lady knows it's understood / Strutter!") and features an awesome guitar solo from Ace Frehley. "Strutter" is one of the most well-known songs on the album and is definitely a classic on this album, paving the way for the smash hits to come in their lengthy career.
Then we move on to "Nothin' To Lose" which introduces Gene Simmons' (and to a lesser extent, Peter Criss) lead vocals. Gene's vocals are usually a little more aggressive and bluesy as opposed to Paul and Criss, but oddly enough, it doesn't entirely show on "Nothin' To Lose". Like "Strutter", "Nothin' To Lose" sounds kinda poppy, but also had a hint of old-school rock and roll sound to it (artists like Little Richard) which becomes evident as soon as that piano hits where you wanna groove your a** like it's the early 60's all over again. However, I will admit that this song is kinda weird for Kiss and is one of the few weaker, more filler moments on the album.
"Firehouse" once again features Paul Stanley on lead vocals and is probably one of the heavier moments on the album. "Firehouse" is very guitar driven and features some of the best playing from Paul and Ace on the whole album, sounding kinda bluesy, but still heavy. Cheesy lyrics (such as: "And you'll need her so you'll feed her with your endless dedication / And the quicker you get sicker she'll remove your medication") do jack and squat to diminish the regular replayability that this song begs for.
"Cold Gin" is another classic off this album, once again featuring lead vocals from Gene Simmons (despite being written solely by Ace Frehley). It's another very heavy guitar-driven song, having some of the most memorable riffs off the whole album. Cold Gin's lyrical content could be considered taboo for the time, yet, having one of the catchiest choruses off the whole album ("It's cold gin time again / You know it'll always win / Cold gin time again /You know it's the only thing that keeps us together"). "Cold Gin" has an awesome middle section, too, where it has a really cool instrumental interlude right after the second chorus (despite having no real guitar solo). Cold Gin has also been covered multiple times by multiple artists (Death Angel's cover being my personal favourite of them all, maybe even topping the original) as is one of the most well-known songs off the album.
"Let Me Know" starts off with another very catchy riff, very much in the same vein as "Strutter". "Let Me Know" features Paul Stanley on lead vocals (featuring Gene on co. lead vocals) once again, giving a little more of a poppier sound to the song. The highlight of this song is the instrumental coda, where they change it up to something a little heavier. While "Let Me Know" is a damn good song for the most part, it's far the strongest song on the album. The main reason being is that it seems a little uninspired as it sounds a little too similar to "Strutter", especially considering the fact Paul wrote and sang both songs (technically, Gene co-wrote "Strutter" with Paul).
"Kissin' Time" is a Bob Rydall cover, and interestingly enough, this song was technically not even supposed to be on this album (in fact, it wasn't on the original version of the album). However, as the album was originally unsuccessful commercially, the record company ordered them to put it on subsequent pressings, as a catchy single would save the album and boost sales. "Kissin' Time" is definitely not a bad cover and still sounds like a typical Kiss song in many areas. However, lyrically, the cheese factor is off the charts with names of American cities being incorporated in the lyrics, which is about kissing girls ("Kiss all of Seattle, LA to Baltimore / You know we been kissin' in 'Frisco, so lets kiss some more / Let's do it in Detroit, they all know the score / So baby, oh baby, what are we waitin' for). Personally, when I first heard this song, I thought it sounded like a homage to "California Girls" by The Beach Boys. However, it's still a catchy song and one that deserves your attention every once in a while, despite it being kind of a filler.
"Deuce" is quite possibly the best song on the album. It starts off with this very catchy, yet, not unheard riff, going into Gene Simmons intimidating vocals. "Deuce" has another very catchy chorus, which is part of the reason why this song was a huge staple throughout the 70's (specifically as a regular opener to their concerts from that era). The second verse is particular memorable due to the line "And baby stop cryin' all your tears" which is clearly Paul's backing vocals (one of Paul's best moments on the album, vocally). Ace also pulls off one of the album's best solos in "Deuce" as well as that enthralling guitar outro. "Deuce" is definitely an early Kiss classic, representing all the elements that made their music so powerful and catchy to so many people.
"Love Theme From Kiss" is a short, two minute instrumental and to this day remains the only song in their entire career with songwriting credits from all four original members. Of course, the main feature to this song is the excellent twin-lead harmony from Paul and Ace, really carrying the song through a very melodic style, quite different than what you hear on this album (and Kiss in general). This approach is definitely reminiscent of bands such as Thin Lizzy and Wishbone Ash who were really the masters of that style of playing around this time. Like I said, it's definitely different for this album, but I believe that's one of it's core strengths in a sense that it brings something new to the table in a very tasteful way without being overly-indulgent and experimenting itself into obscurity and irrelevance (*cough cough* Music From The Elder *cough cough*). Probably the only issue with this song is that it doesn't really seem like a proper instrumental track in a sense that it just feels like an extension of an instrumental section in a normal song. Which in reality, it kind of is, as this song was evolved from another song Kiss had beforehand called "Acrobat" which was never released in it's entirety until recent years. But, neverless, this song is definitely worthy of your listen (despite it's ridiculous title).
"100,000 Years" starts off with a bass intro by Gene before going into quite possibly the heaviest song on the album and is basically just straight-up Heavy Metal. "100,000 Years" has Paul Stanley singing lead vocals, however, this song is probably one of his more aggressive and fiery moments ("It must have been a bitch while I was gone"). This song is full of very heavy musical sections with great guitar solos and riffs, as well as some extremely impressive drumming by Peter Criss with some almost Heavy Metal sounding beats, not to mention a short but sweet drum solo (which was extended on the "Alive!" live album which in my mind remains Peter's finest hour with the band)". Top 3 songs on the album for sure.
And the album closes off with "Black Diamond" which is the first Kiss song to have Peter Criss perform dominant lead vocals. It's a real shame that Peter's vocals always got overshadowed by Paul and Gene (Peter sung an average of one song per album during his tenure) because his vocals, especially on this song, are excellent and are just as good as Peter and Gene a lot of the time. "Black Diamonds" is another one of the best songs from this album. It starts off with a soft, acoustic ballady intro which actually has Paul Stanley singing. That kicks off into some very heavy, upbeat riffing and from there, Peter Criss takes over. His vocals have a lot of that 70's rock swagger to them, with some blues in there (kinda like Phil Lynott from Thin Lizzy) but also has a lot of seduction and innocence in there too, making Peter's vocals sound like a marriage between Paul Stanley's and Gene Simmons' vocal style and it's something that makes the first half of the song very enjoyable. At the halfway mark of the song, Ace pulls in another fantastic solo before a cool drum feature comes in, signalling the outro. To be honest, that's the issue that the song has, in that the ending just doesn't feel right. It's this very simplistic, gradually slowing down beat that really serves no purpose, as it drags on for far too long (close to half the song's length) while doing far too little, making it seem unnecessary, ruining what could have been a perfect song to close off the album. One should be done with this song the second that solo coupled with the short drum feature ends.
Overall, Kiss's self-titled debut album is very worthy of your listen. It is a very strong debut album and one of the best in their entire career period (albeit some minor weaknesses here and there). This is an album that would really prove to be the beginning of the steamroller that was Kiss throughout the 1970's and one that would shape rock music for decades to come.
4.5/5 (on a /5 rating)
8.8/10 (on a /10 rating)
KISS CLASSICS:
-Deuce
-Strutter
-Black Diamond
-Cold Gin
-100,000 Years
