02/03/2012
My wife's favorite band (not)....Kiss... I am talking early though, so put away Destroyer, shelve Love Gun, and stop writing a screen play for Music from the Elder. This is Pete with not quite right yet make-up. This is 1974.
I recently saw Sam Dunn's documentary Metal Evolution - Shock Rock. He talked at length with Ace and Peter about the early years of Kiss. They both spoke about how Kiss almost did not make it to 1976 because of poor sales and lack of interest. According to Peter "no one had captured the live Kiss experience in the studio". I think this might be a fluffy statement. After all, someone had heard the first mix and realized the production was bad, right? Maybe not (I thought my first recorded material sounded great too....It didn't). Also, the producers of the first three Kiss LP's include two guys from Marky Ramone's pre-punk band Dust, and the legendary Neil Bogart. Not exactly up to Eddie Kramer's skill set as proven in '75 on Kiss's breakthrough LP, Alive.
Despite the elitist Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's criminal opinion of Kiss, most of us know that these guys were, at one time, the largest band in the world. The Kiss brand rivals professional sports marketing. Gene has reached into so many pockets that I could write all day about how he transcended the term "sellout".....
But that is not my focus today. I am headed to the way-back machine with Mr Peabody set to 1974, when Gene still had a day job and Kiss released two largely ignored efforts: "Kiss" and "Hotter than Hell". I only wish I could mount a turntable in my truck to hear these they way they were intended to be heard back in the day. Maybe I'll combine 4 songs to 1 file and be all "8-track" style....
In order to correctly look back, I have to look at what was going on at the time. Kiss has musical influences too, but who are they?
Must have been the Dolls, right?
OK, sure, but the NY Dolls are much looser of a band than Kiss.
Alice Cooper?
Well duh, but not musically, not that I hear anyway.
Zep?
There is absolutely no Zep in Kiss whatsoever.
Sabbath?
Not much Sabbath either.
I have to assume that given their limitations musically, they wrote the only songs they could write, and I can relate to that. I am fine with saying that they had a remedial sound all their own from the starting gate.
So what was happening around them on the charts at the time? Crap mostly. Not a lot of Rock. Wings had "Band on the run", but that is way out of Kiss's league. Elton and Bernie were going back to their plow that year. Everybody started streaking thanks to Ray Stevens. AND the #1 song the day I was born (November 25th): "I Can Help" by Billy Swan. Thanks parents....
But that is pop music, what was really happening? Bad Company, BTO, Queen's Sheer Heart Attack (Nov 1974), Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (late 1973), and Deep Purple's Burn. Other acts were out there that year, but had not really broken through huge yet including Aerosmith and Rush.
Looking at the list of Kiss's peers it becomes easy to understand why their first two LP's were ignored mostly. Jesus, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath? C'mon, how do you top that? Burn is (in my flawed opinion) Deep Purple's best song and Blackmore was at his pre-Rainbow, California Jam peak. Dude, they were up against Stone Cold Crazy! Kiss who?
Now, I will say that early Kiss had some groove. They loved the "chug chug...stop...chug chug" riffage. Pantera understood the importance of breaks in the riff in relation to groove, and there is no questioning the Kiss influence on those guys. Other guys in the '70's did this too, but to a much lesser degree. Jimmy Page had more flow, as did Blackmore and Perry. Kiss would carry an entire song with breaks. The song "Hotter than Hell" is a great example of what I am talking about. Instead of tasty fills and ear candy, they let the vocal line carry the song and kept the groove throughout. Other chunky early stuff: Firehouse, Cold Gin, Got to Choose, Strange Ways and All the Way.
My only real complaint about the first 2 Kiss LP's is that the filler is just cheese (come to think of it, so are a few of the "hits"). No wonder why the filler material did not stand the test of time, The best it's just shitty rock-n-roll. I was hoping to re-discover a hidden gem or two, but I am sure that 100,000 Years is not considered a hidden anything by people in the know, regardless it jams. The last 41 seconds of "Let Me Know" hit me nicely as well.
I had completely forgotten about the original bass riff in Black Diamond. The song has a certain something to it in its original form. The antithesis to that would have to be "Kissin' Time". How embarrassing for them. It's such a bad attempt at publicity and completely contrived.
I dare say that Kiss was pretty heavy for 1974. "The Love Theme from KISS" is interesting. I probably don't need to mention how Allman Bros it is. I do still like the way the guitars sometimes get behind the rhythm in both Strutter and Deuce. Parasite needs no accolades from me. Watchin' You is creepy and cool. Overall, I like Hotter than Hell better than Kiss, but they both have their moments.
Alright, I won't bore anyone with every detail that pops into my head, but i find it cool that I am getting more out of these early offerings than I expected. So much so that I am going to geek out to them for the next couple of weeks. Kiss was a good band. I am sure of that after really re-listening to these Albums. There is something else also. It sounds 70's. Good 70's though. The kind of 70's vibe I get when I hear Immigrant Song. It reminds me of drinking Lime Kool-Aide on TV Trays at my Grandpap's house while watching Kung Fu after an afternoon drive in a black Trans-AM (none of which actually happened of course - but the vibe is real).
It's a Firehouse - WooHoo yeah!
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