Music from "The Elder"

Music from "The Elder"
Studio album by Kiss
Released	November 16, 1981
Recorded	March–September 1981
Genre	Hard rock, art rock, progressive rock
Length	42:46
Label	Casablanca
Producer	Bob Ezrin
Kiss chronology
Unmasked (1980) Music from "The Elder" (1981) Creatures of the Night (1982)
Singles from Music from "The Elder"
"A World Without Heroes" Released: November 17, 1981 "I" Released: November 17, 1981 "The Oath" Released: January 25, 1982 (Japan only)
Alternate cover
Japan-only album-cover-size cover-sheet "obi"

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Rolling Stone	[2]
Pitchfork Media	(0.0/10)[3]
Vista Records	[4]
Metal Nightfall	[5]
TrueMetal	(70/100)[6]

Music from "The Elder" is the ninth studio album released by Kiss. It was an attempt on the part of the group to establish Kiss as credible artists, and also to reverse the trend of declining album sales and commercial popularity that had begun in 1979. Instead, the album further served to alienate the group's fan base and represents the lowest point commercially for the group.^{[citation needed]}

Album sales were so poor that Kiss did not embark on a supporting tour for the first time in its eight-year history, opting instead to make a handful of promotional appearances.^[7]

Music from "The Elder" was the last Kiss album on which Ace Frehley appeared until the 1996 Reunion Tour. Frehley, disgruntled with the band's creative direction as well as with the production of Bob Ezrin, stopped actively participating in the Kiss operation by early 1982, and officially quit the group by November that same year.^[8][9]

While "A World Without Heroes" was later performed on the band's 1995 MTV Unplugged appearance, the entire album has been largely ignored in live performances. During a 2004 Australia show, the band attempted to perform "I", but Gene Simmons had long forgotten the lyrics.^[10]

Album history

Background

Kiss was in the midst of a transitional phase as the 1980s began. Founding member and drummer Peter Criss, who was not involved in the recording of 1980's Unmasked, officially left Kiss in May 1980. His replacement, Eric Carr, was officially introduced in July. The group had recently embarked on a hugely successful tour of Australia and New Zealand (where the group's popularity was at its peak) in November, but the band's commercial fortunes at home were drastically reduced from their 1975-79 heyday. Due to the lackluster sales of Unmasked, Kiss toured exclusively outside the United States for the first time in their career, save for one concert at the now-defunct Palladium Theatre in New York. The overseas tours were well-attended, partly because Kiss had rarely ventured abroad and because the more pop-oriented Dynasty and Unmasked albums did better in the European markets than their earlier hard rock albums.^[7][8]

This commercial downturn is attributable to many factors, two of the biggest being the softening of Kiss's image in an effort to appeal to a broader fan base, and the softening of their music. Unmasked was a decidedly more pop-oriented effort than earlier albums, and represented a sales drop-off of 65% from 1979's Dynasty.^[7] It also became the first Kiss album to fail to achieve platinum status since 1975's Dressed to Kill. From a marketing standpoint, the glut of Kiss merchandising that had cropped up in the late 1970s led to a backlash from fans, who felt that Kiss was then more concerned with making money than with making good music.^[8]

In an effort to return to their hard rock roots, Kiss began recording music more akin to the hard rock style that launched them to popularity in the mid-1970s. The fall 1980 issue of the Kiss Army Newsletter hinted at the style the new album was to take — "It will be hard and heavy from start to finish—straight-on rock and roll that will knock your socks off."^[9] But at the same time, Simmons, Paul Stanley and creative manager Bill Aucoin felt that just returning to a harder sound was not enough. They believed that only a bold artistic statement would regenerate public interest in Kiss. To that end, they enlisted producer Bob Ezrin to work with the group, who in turn daringly employed members from the American Symphony Orchestra and St. Robert's Choir to record tracks for the album. Ezrin had worked with the group before, producing the group's hit 1976 album Destroyer. More recently, he had co-produced Pink Floyd's landmark 1979 concept album, The Wall. Simmons, Stanley and Aucoin felt that Ezrin could help bring their ambitions to fruition.^[8]

Recording

Recording sessions for the album commenced in March 1981. Sessions were held in Toronto, New York City, and Frehley's home recording studio in Wilton, Connecticut. During the recording, Ezrin and Kiss worked in complete secrecy. Ezrin, in particular, had insisted that he would only communicate with Kiss or Aucoin. No one other than Ezrin and Kiss ever heard the album in progress.^[8]

Frehley became increasingly frustrated during the sessions, as he disagreed with the band's decision to abandon their original plan to record a straight rock album. Additionally, a number of guitar solos Frehley recorded weren't included in the final cut.^[11] But, as happened frequently after Criss's departure (one year earlier), Frehley was often outvoted 2-1 on band matters of this type. (Carr was not a partner in Kiss as the other three members were, but rather an employee). He also resented what he felt was Simmons and Stanley's domination of the recording sessions.^[8][11]

Reaction

When Kiss premiered Music from "The Elder" for their management and record company in October 1981, the reaction was a mixture of confusion and resentment. Business manager Howard Marks refused to allow his company's name to appear in the liner notes.^[8] Fan reaction to the album was equally harsh, while critical reaction was comparably positive. But while reviews like the one printed by Rolling Stone were much kinder than past reviews,^[12] the album quickly disappeared from the charts by February, 1982.

Although budgets were prepared for a tour, none was ever undertaken. The only public appearances the band made in conjunction with the album were a January 15, 1982 appearance on the late-night variety show Fridays (they performed "A World Without Heroes", "I" and "The Oath"), Solid Gold ("A World Without Heroes" and "I"), and a January 28 lip synched performance of "I" from Studio 54, broadcast via satellite to the Sanremo Festival in Italy. Frehley was absent for the Studio 54 appearance, so the group performed as a trio.^[7]

Most participants in the album's recording admit that it was a major misstep for Kiss. Ezrin, despite his recent success with the even more ambitious Wall album, admitted that his judgments concerning Music from "The Elder" were clouded due in large part to a cocaine addiction at the time. Stanley and Simmons admit that they were "delusional" concerning the project, while Frehley has stated that he felt that it wasn't a good idea to begin with.^[11]

Q Magazine ranked Music From "The Elder" 44th in their list of The 50 Worst Albums Ever.^[13] The same magazine ranked the album 6th in their list of 15 Albums Where Great Rock Acts Lost the Plot.^[14]

While Kiss albums were released on CD in late 1987, Music From "The Elder" was delayed for release until 1989.

Packaging

The original vinyl release was a gatefold sleeve. For the first time, a Kiss album featured no image of the group, let alone the customary front-cover appearance. Contrary to popular belief, the hand reaching for the door-knocker is not that of Stanley: Aucoin has stated that it belongs to a hand-model, hired specifically for the shoot. The door itself belongs to a Methodist church on Park Avenue, New York City.

One of the rarest releases by Kiss on vinyl was an alternate album cover of the Elder released in Turkey on Dallas Records which used the "A World Without Heroes" single art (Pictured below) on the cover.

The photo session displayed a change of image: the costumes were more streamlined, especially when compared with the somewhat overblown (even for Kiss) costumes for "Unmasked", as were the hairstyles of Stanley and Simmons in particular.

Story

The basic plot of "The Elder" involves the recruitment and training of a young hero (The Boy) by the Council of Elders who belong to the Order of the Rose, a mysterious group dedicated to combating evil. The Boy is guided by an elderly caretaker named Morpheus. The album's lyrics describe the boy's feelings during his journey and training, as he overcomes his early doubts to become confident and self-assured. The only spoken dialogue is at the end of the last track, "I". During the passage, Morpheus proclaims to the Elders that The Boy is ready to undertake his odyssey.

Songs

Dutch single cover to "I" b/w "The Oath" single.

Australian single cover of the "A World Without Heroes" b/w "Dark Light" single.

The version of Music from "The Elder" released in the US, Europe and Brazil contained a different song order than the one originally intended. This order was chosen in order to emphasize "The Oath" and "A World Without Heroes" as potential singles (the two songs started each side of the record). One effect of this alteration in song order was to disrupt the narrative flow of the album's story. The Japanese pressing of the album contained the intended song sequence, although "Escape from the Island" was omitted from the album and instead included as the B-side of "The Oath" single.^[9] This sequence was used (with the inclusion of "Escape from the Island") when Music from "The Elder" was re-released on CD in 1997.^[15]

A number of narrative passages were cut from the final version of the album. These passages were meant to provide details of the story, and to act as transitional elements between songs.^[9]

"The Oath"

Arguably the heaviest song on the album, many parts of the song feature Stanley singing in falsetto, a vocal technique he utilized on several of the album's tracks.

"Dark Light"

"Dark Light," written by Frehley, was based on a guitar riff composed by Anton Fig. When it was originally recorded as a pre-Elder demo, the title was "Don't Run".^[9] It is the only song Frehley sings on the album.

"A World Without Heroes"

The lone single from the album was originally entitled "Every Little Bit of Your Heart". The name was changed when it was decided to record The Elder as a concept album. Lou Reed wrote the lyric, "A world without heroes is like a world without sun".^[16] The video for the song was the first Kiss video played by MTV.^[7] It and "I" are the only songs on the album where Frehley does not play. "A World Without Heroes" was covered by Cher on her album Love Hurts.

Track listing

International version

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Lead vocals	Length
1.	"Fanfare"	Paul Stanley, Bob Ezrin	(Instrumental)	1:22
2.	"Just a Boy"	Stanley, Ezrin	Stanley	2:37
3.	"Odyssey"	Tony Powers	Stanley	5:49
4.	"Only You"	Gene Simmons	Simmons, Stanley	4:17
5.	"Under the Rose"	Simmons, Eric Carr	Simmons	4:52
6.	"Dark Light"	Ace Frehley, Simmons, Anton Fig, Lou Reed	Frehley	4:16
7.	"A World Without Heroes"	Stanley, Simmons, Ezrin, Reed	Simmons	2:39
8.	"The Oath"	Stanley, Ezrin, Powers	Stanley	4:33
9.	"Mr. Blackwell"	Simmons, Reed	Simmons	4:53
10.	"Escape from the Island"	Frehley, Carr, Ezrin	(Instrumental)	2:51
11.	"I"	Simmons, Ezrin	Stanley, Simmons	5:04

US/European version

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Lead vocals	Length
1.	"The Oath"	Stanley, Ezrin, Powers	Stanley	4:33
2.	"Fanfare"	Stanley, Ezrin	(Instrumental)	1:22
3.	"Just a Boy"	Stanley, Ezrin	Stanley	2:37
4.	"Dark Light"	Frehley, Simmons, Fig, Reed	Frehley	4:16
5.	"Only You"	Simmons	Simmons, Stanley	4:17
6.	"Under the Rose"	Simmons, Carr	Simmons	4:52
7.	"A World Without Heroes"	Stanley, Simmons, Ezrin, Reed	Simmons	2:39
8.	"Mr. Blackwell"	Simmons, Reed	Simmons	4:53
9.	"Escape from the Island"	Frehley, Carr, Ezrin	(Instrumental)	2:51
10.	"Odyssey"	Tony Powers	Stanley	5:49
11.	"I"	Simmons, Ezrin	Stanley, Simmons	3:54
12.	"Finale"		(Instrumental)	1:23

Releases

• Casablanca NBLP-7261 (November 16, 1981): LP
• Casablanca NBL8-7261 (November 16, 1981): US 8-track
• PolyGram 824-153-2 (May 23, 1989): 1st US CD release
• Mercury 314 532 390-2 (October 7, 1997): Remastered CD

Personnel

• Paul Stanley - rhythm guitar, vocals
• Gene Simmons - bass guitar, vocals
• Ace Frehley - lead guitar, vocals
• Eric Carr - drums, percussion, backing vocals

with

• Bob Ezrin - producer, keyboards, bass guitar on "The Oath", "Dark Light" and "Escape from the Island"^[9][11]
• Allan Schwartzberg - drums on "I" and "Odyssey"
• Anton Fig - drums on "The Oath"

Charts

Album

Chart (1881)	Peak position
UK Albums Chart[17]	51
US Billboard Pop Albums[18]	75

Singles - Billboard (United States)^[19]

Year	Single	Charts	Position
1982	"A World Without Heroes"	Pop Singles	56

Singles - Billboard (United Kingdom)

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1981	"A World Without Heroes"	Pop Singles	55

Singles - Billboard (Austria)

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1981	"I"	Pop Singles	24

Singles - Billboard (Germany)

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1981	"I"	Pop Singles	62

Singles - Billboard (Holland)

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1981	"I"	Pop Singles	48

Notes and references

1. ^ Allmusic review
2. ^ Rolling Stone review
3. ^ Pitchfork Media review
4. ^ Vista Records review
5. ^ Metal Nightfall review
6. ^ TrueMetal review
7. ^ ^{a b c d e} Gooch, Curt and Jeff Suhs. Kiss Alive Forever: The Complete Touring History. Billboard Books, 2002. ISBN 0-8230-8322-5
8. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} Lendt, C.K. Kiss and Sell: The Making of a Supergroup, Billboard Books, 1997. ISBN 0-8230-7551-6
9. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Gill, Julian. The Kiss Album Focus, Volume 1 (3rd Edition). Xlibris Corporation, 2005. ISBN 1-4134-8547-2
10. ^ Kiss - "I"
11. ^ ^{a b c d} Leaf, David and Ken Sharp. Kiss: Behind the Mask: The Official Authorized Biography, Warner Books, 2003. ISBN 0-446-53073-5
12. ^ Considine, J.D. February 18, 1982. Music from "The Elder" review. Rolling Stone. Retrieved June 29, 2006.
13. ^ Q lists - page3
14. ^ Q Magazine.15 Albums Where Great Rock Acts Lost the Plot.NOTE:Look for number 48. Retrieved May 14, 2011.
15. ^ Music From "The Elder". The KISSFAQ. Retrieved April 27, 2006.
16. ^ Sharp, Ken. (July 19, 1996). "The Return of Kiss - 'It's Time for Spectacle'". Goldmine #147.
17. ^ "UK Albums Chart". http://www.chartstats.com/albuminfo.php?id=5564. Retrieved December 17, 2009. 
18. ^ Music from "The Elder" at Allmusic. Retrieved 2009-01-27.
19. ^ "AllMusic Billboard singles". http://www.allmusic.com/album/r11049. Retrieved 2009-01-27.