Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

Better fine tune the costumes, guys

After whetting my appetite on the relatively clean-cut and "safe" music of the Beatles and Monkees in the early 70's, I then graduated to the hard rock of American freak show  KISS. A world of modern music was opening up to me now. Friends at school talked about bands that their older brothers and sisters listened to, and that was how I learned about the cooler artists out there. With a little more cash to play around with, I picked up the boxed set called The Originals, which comprised the first three KISS albums: their self-titled debut disc, Hotter Than Hell, and Dressed to Kill. I lapped up all of that heavy rock and wanted more. It was at this time that I started building an LP record collection. Albums by the likes of ELO, Rush, Angel, Supertramp, Led Zeppelin, BTO, Black Sabbath, and Max Webster were among my follow-up purchases. 

But KISS was truly my introduction to hard rock and heavy metal, as the band was for so many others youngsters around the world. To this day, early KISS classics like Strutter, Deuce, and Black Diamond remain among my favourite songs. When their fourth album, Destroyer, made its appearance, I was thunderstruck. This was the mother of all KISS albums, as far as I was concerned. Still is.

Destroyer did not enter my vinyl record collection but rather my small assortment of 8-track tapes. Man, did I play that thing like crazy. Almost every day, sometimes more than once a day, for months on end. From the bottomless opening riff of Detroit Rock City, through the melodic vocal and guitar performance on Flaming Youth, to the glam-raunch finale of Do You Love Me, the whole album rocked so solid it was scary. With the exception of the pretty little ballad, Beth. 

That same year (yes, '76 was a double-whammy treat), Rock and Roll Over hit the record shops. This was back in the day when artists were encouraged (or maybe forced by contractual obligation) to punch out songs and albums at a furious rate. Thankfully, KISS had a deep creative well to draw on at that time. The quality of music was pretty consistent, if a bit formulaic after a while. Rock and Roll Over wasn't quite the enduring classic that Destroyer was, but a good chunk of the record was loaded with strong songs. A few standouts were Take Me, I Want You, and Hard Luck Woman. And terrific graphic design on the album cover. I'd put that one on my wall. Maybe I should.

Then in 1977 came Love Gun, with fewer memorable tracks, but hey, this was still early enough in KISS' career that it became the final entry into the sextet of their classic era studio albums. Some of the better tunes were Christine Sixteen, Shock Me, Love Gun, and Plaster Caster. Yes, there was a bit of life in this somewhat rehashed-sounding set. Along with the vinyl LP came a special surprise: a toy (cardboard) "love gun"! (pictured below) What a silly thing. I didn't exactly go around playing with that toy, but stashed it among my "collectibles", only to be lost or thrown out years down the road. No biggie.

And that was the last KISS album I would buy, other than upgrading my early favourites to cassette tape in the 80's and then to CD in the 90's. Believe it or not, I never owned or even heard KISS Alive in its entirety until decades after my intro to the band. I do own it today, but now knowing just how un-live the record was (a lot of studio tinkering was done to fix performance mistakes), I rarely care to listen to it. Plus I've never been much of a fan of live albums. I'll take Destroyer over Alive any day of the week. Such "sweet pain"....