Kiss - Kiss

...band in the whole world, Kiss :-D

This is the self-titled debut album, which was released the 18 February 1974 on Casablanca records. The best it got on the American charts was #87, sad really as this is a fantastic album, especially a good debut album.

When you pick up this album/CD the first thing you will notice is the cover ~ the four band members are pictured, wearing their makeup ~ Ace Frehley (Lead guitarist) ...
...a sought after piece of Kiss merchandise when these were produced for fans. This track is much better live, it sounds quite slow on the studio version.

4th Track is Cold Gin. This was written by Ace Frehley, but sung by Gene Simmons & Paul Stanley as Ace lacked the confidence to sing at this stage of his career. A shame as I’d liked him to sing it, as it really is an Ace song if you listen to the lyrics. This song shows what a good ... more

This is my 1st ever Ciao opinion, after much deliberation of what I should write about, I chose a subject which is very close to my heart ~ my favourite band in the whole world, Kiss :-D

This is the self-titled debut album, which was released the 18 February 1974 on Casablanca records. The best it got on the American charts was #87, sad really as this is a fantastic album, especially a good debut album.

When you pick up this album/CD the first thing you will notice is the cover ~ the four band members are pictured, wearing their makeup ~ Ace Frehley (Lead guitarist) as Space Ace, Peter Criss (Drummer) as the Cat Man, Paul Stanley (Guitar and main vocals) as the Star Child, and probably the most recognisable member of the band, Gene Simmons (Bassist) as The Demon. Their makeup looks very different to what it would usually look, due to the fact this was done by professional make up artists ~ Peter Criss looks terrible, but the main thing about this album cover that makes me laugh is the fact that Ace spray painted his hair silver for the photo shoot, but couldn’t wash it out lol That’s Ace for you though lol

The sound on the album isn’t fantastic, I suppose these days were used to crystal clear recordings, but you have to account the year it was recorded, and the fact it was done on a low budget ~ that said they done a good job on the remastered CDs.

The album begins with ‘Strutter’, which is sung by Paul Stanley. This is a classic song, and a favourite sung live. I really like this one, a great example of rock n roll, quite Stonesy (As in The Rolling Stones) With some great riffs, great lyrics too.

2nd Track is Nothing To Loose, which is sung by Peter Criss. (Gene Simmons on backing vocals) It’s a really simple song, and its so catchy ~ I guarantee you’ll be singing along lol It shows Peter Criss to have a great voice.

3rd Track is Firehouse. Another classic! This is sung by Paul ~ when this is live they have smoke going off, and really loud fire sirens ~ I was listening to a live CD on the computer with my headphones on and was almost deafened by the sirens lol Paul wears a fireman’s helmet to sing this song, which became a sought after piece of Kiss merchandise when these were produced for fans. This track is much better live, it sounds quite slow on the studio version.

4th Track is Cold Gin. This was written by Ace Frehley, but sung by Gene Simmons & Paul Stanley as Ace lacked the confidence to sing at this stage of his career. A shame as I’d liked him to sing it, as it really is an Ace song if you listen to the lyrics. This song shows what a good songwriter Ace is, and what great riffs he plays ~ and as with Firehouse this is a well loved live song.

5th is Track Let Me know. This is a very early (Pre Kiss) Song written by Paul Stanley (And it does have the feel of his work) this was reworked for the album. It’s a great rock n roll song, which gets over looked with the other classics on this album, but it’s still a great song.

6th Track is Kissin’ Time, which is a cover of a Bobby Rydell song. I’d say it was the weakest track of the album, doesn’t really fit in, in my opinion, but its ok for a bonus track.

7th Track is Deuce ~ another classic! As with Strutter, and Firehouse this still gets ‘em going crazy, when played live ~ even 30 years later! When played live Ace, Gene and Paul would all get together for a little dance as they play their guitars ~ classic Kiss moments J As with Firehouse, the studio version lacks the power of the live version, but it is still a great track, with great guitar riffs.

8th Track is Love Theme From Kiss. This is an instruments, and also the guitar intro to another track called Acrobat, which Kiss played when trying to establish themselves ~ was never officially released, but features on a lot of bootleg live albums. This track was put on the album purely down to promotional reasons. To get interest in the forthcoming album, it was used a the theme tune to a kissing contest (Hence the name!) This was on an old seventies American chat show called The Mike Douglas Show. I remember seeing Gene Simmons on this show and it was hysterical to see the other guests, and indeed the audiences reaction to this 7ft tall demon lol They had never seen anything like Gene in their lives bless ‘em lol and he was so playing up to this!

9th Track is 100,000 years. Everything is great about this song, the singing, the guitars, and especially the drumming ~ Peter shines on this, when this song is played live Peter goes into a 10 minute odd drum solo, I know a lot of people get bored with drum solos, but its good and shows what a good drummer he is, even though Gene Simmons once told him off for the longevity of his solo which he originally wanted telling him he’s no John Bonham ~ maybe not, but still an excellent drummer.

10th Track. Black Diamond. I’m going to use that word again! Classic! A true classic! Maybe even the best track on this album. All Kiss fans love this, and its another that is popular live ~ the crowds join in, and it all sounds amazing. And again, the studio version lacks power of the live version. It starts off gentle with Paul singing softly, and Ace on acoustic… then Paul says “Hit it” and it gets heavier! Peter Criss then takes over, and blows you away ~ his voice is amazing, the guitars riffs are awesome, especially the end guitar solo…. everything about this song is amazing, from start to finish.

I’d give this album 10 out of 10. An excellent start to a phenomenal career. Even if you’ve never bothered with Kiss before, this is a fantastic album which everyone should hear :-)

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