Kiss (Kiss album)

Kiss
Studio album by Kiss
Released	February 18, 1974
Recorded	October – November 1973, Bell Sound Studios, New York City
Genre	Hard rock, heavy metal[1]
Length	35:11
Language	English
Label	Casablanca
Producer	Kenny Kerner, Richie Wise
Kiss chronology
Kiss (1974) Hotter Than Hell (1974)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Vista Records	[2]
Rolling Stone	[3]
Blender	[4]
Pitchfork	(8.0)[5]
Metal Nightfall	[6]
This table needs to be expanded using prose. See the guideline for more information.

Kiss is the debut album by American band Kiss. When it was released on February 18, 1974, Kiss had been a band for a little over a year. Much of the material on the album was written by Gene Simmons and/or Paul Stanley, as members of their pre-Kiss band, Wicked Lester. Simmons estimated that the entire process of recording and mixing took three weeks, while co-producer Richie Wise has stated it took just thirteen days.^[7]

The album was recorded at Bell Sound Studios in New York City, which was owned by the company that owned Buddah Records. Neil Bogart, founder of Casablanca Records, was an executive at Buddah prior to forming Casablanca.^[7]

Casablanca Records held a party at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles to celebrate the West Coast release of Kiss (February 18) and to introduce the record company to the press and other record industry executives. In keeping with the Casablanca theme, the party included palm trees and a Humphrey Bogart lookalike. Kiss performed their usual loud and bombastic stage show, which turned Warner Bros. Records (Casablanca's record distributor) against the group.^[7]

Soon after the show, Warner Bros. Records contacted Neil Bogart and threatened to end their deal with Casablanca if Kiss did not remove their makeup. With manager Bill Aucoin's backing, Kiss refused. Shortly after the release of Kiss, Warner Bros. released Casablanca from their contract.^[7]

Kiss sold approximately 75,000 copies after its initial release, without the presence of a hit single.^[7] It was certified Gold on June 8, 1977, having shipped 500,000 copies.^[8] The album was re-released in 1997 (along with most of Kiss' earlier albums) in a remastered version.

Album cover

The album's cover showed the group positioned against a black background in a pose visually reminiscent of The Beatles' With the Beatles album (Criss stated that this was the visual effect the band was looking for). Three of the four band members applied their own makeup for the album cover photo, as they usually did; but Criss' makeup was applied by a professional, whose work came out looking quite a bit different from the look Criss had established, and to which he would return immediately afterward. Ace Frehley, wanting to impress the other members of Kiss, dyed his hair with silver spray paint. Not only did it not come out for several weeks, but Frehley suffered an allergic reaction to the silver in it (as can be seen in his later makeup around the eyes).^[7]

According to Criss, photographer Joel Brodsky thought Kiss were literally clowns, and wanted to place balloons behind the group for the shoot.^[9] Brodsky, however, has denied this, chalking it up to imagination.^[7]

Songs

With the exception of "Kissin' Time", all of the material for Kiss was written before the band entered the studio. Some of the songs were written during Wicked Lester's brief existence, while "Firehouse" was written by Paul Stanley while he was attending Music and Art High School in NYC.^[7]

"Strutter"

"Strutter", which opens the album with a drum fill, is an uptempo rock song that was written before Frehley joined Kiss. Stanley wrote the lyrics, and the music was based on a song Simmons had written years before, "Stanley the Parrot".^[7] Simmons and former Wicked Lester member Brooke Ostrander recorded a 45 rpm version of "Stanley the Parrot" in a New Jersey apartment. "Strutter" remains one of the few Kiss songs where Stanley and Simmons share songwriting credits, and was a standard number at Kiss concerts throughout the 1970s. It was released in August 1974 as the third and final single from the album.

"Nothin' to Lose"

"Nothin' to Lose", the band's first single, is a song written by Simmons and sung by him, Criss and Stanley. The song chronicles the singer coercing his girlfriend into trying anal sex, and her subsequent enjoyment of it. The B-side was "Love Theme From KISS", the album's instrumental.

"Firehouse"

The North Carolina glam metal band FireHouse takes its name from the song "Firehouse".^{[citation needed]} The song is well known for Simmons fire breathing during live concerts.

"Cold Gin"

This song was the first composed for Kiss by Frehley. Insecure in his own singing ability, Frehley turned over the vocals for the album to Simmons. "Cold Gin" was a concert staple throughout the 1970s. On Kiss' Alive/Worldwide Tour, Frehley assisted on lead vocals.

The song refers to the stimulating effect that cold gin supposedly has on the male sex drive. The song credits cold gin as the only thing that keeps the couple together in a troubled relationship.

There was a Kiss tribute band from Los Angeles named after this classic song featuring Kiss member Tommy Thayer as Frehley, Jaime St. James as Criss, Chris McLernon as Simmons, and Anthony White as Stanley.

"Cold Gin" was covered by the alternative metal group Disturbed at a one time tribute show to Pantera guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott. It was known to be the guitarist's favorite song. The live performance was performed with members of Drowning Pool and Anthrax live on stage, featuring David Draiman on vocals. Vinnie Paul was on drums.

Pantera and Skid Row performed the song together live while the bands were on tour together in 1992, with Ace Frehley on guitar as a special guest. The performance was taped and included on Pantera's 2000 home video, 3 Vulgar Videos from Hell. Death Angel covered the song on their 1988 album Frolic Through the Park.

Frehley noted: "I wrote 'Cold Gin' in a New York subway, in my head, both lyrics and music. I had a spiral notebook with me. I never took a guitar lesson, nobody believes that. I didn't realize it was gonna become a Kiss classic".

The song was released live on Kiss' popular and successful live album Alive!. When Alive! was re-released as part of the Kiss Alive! 1975–2000 box set, the song was mistakenly credited to Stanley instead of Ace Frehley in the 72-page booklet that accompanied the album.

Weezer vocalist and guitarist Rivers Cuomo has said that this was the first song he ever learned to play on guitar.^[10]

"Cold Gin" was named 7th best drinking song of all time.^[11]

"Let Me Know"

"Let Me Know", previously titled "Sunday Driver", was the song Stanley played when he was first introduced to Simmons, and it was later recorded by Wicked Lester. Simmons and Stanley shared lead vocal duties on the song, which was given a bridge and instrumental coda when recorded for Kiss.^[7] In later Kiss concerts this coda was moved to the end of "She" and before that, "Watchin' You".

"Kissin' Time"

"Kissin' Time" was not included on the original album; in fact it was not recorded until two months after the album's February release. By April, the album was clearly not the commercial success the band and Casablanca Records founder Neil Bogart were hoping for. Bogart, who knew that a catchy single could save the album, ordered Kiss back into the studio to record "Kissin' Time", which was a Top 20 hit for Bobby Rydell in 1959. It was released as a single on May 10, but never reached any higher than number 83. It did, however, boost sales of the album even though it was not added to the album until it was reissued in July 1974 (against the wishes of the band).^[7]

"Deuce"

Although Simmons admits that he does not know the meaning of this song's lyrics,^[7] "Deuce" nevertheless has been a staple at the band's concerts, opening their shows from 1973–1976 and again for their 1996 reunion.

"Love Theme From KISS"

This instrumental came from a song titled "Acrobat" from the band's 1973 club shows; it can be found on their 2001 Box Set. The song is shortened for the album. It is the only Kiss song to have songwriting credit go to all four original members.
"Love Theme From KISS" appears in a 2010 movie Somewhere, directed by Sofia Coppola.

"100,000 Years"

"100,000 Years" begins with a bass solo by Simmons. The live version includes a long drum solo continuing on from the short one found on the album as heard on Alive! The demo version can be heard on the 2001 release of the Box Set. The drum solo is inside the song, and Stanley says "Do you feel all right?" This was done on live performances. Also, there is a lost verse towards the end of the song but it never made the final cut.

"Black Diamond"

"Black Diamond" begins with Stanley singing the first verse accompanied by a twelve-string, acoustic guitar. After he yells out "Hit It!", the full band kicks in and Criss assumes lead vocal duties, repeating the first verse. After that they have the chorus (Ooh, Black Diamond). The song then slows down for Frehley to do his guitar solo, after which the song gradually slows down and fades out. After Criss' departure from the band the vocal duties have continued to be by subsequent drummers Eric Carr and Eric Singer.

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Lead vocals	Length
1.	"Strutter"	Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons	Stanley	3:12
2.	"Nothin' to Lose"	Simmons	Simmons, Peter Criss	3:26
3.	"Firehouse"	Stanley	Stanley, Simmons	3:18
4.	"Cold Gin"	Ace Frehley	Simmons	4:22
5.	"Let Me Know"	Stanley	Simmons, Stanley	2:59
6.	"Kissin' Time"	Kal Mann, Bernie Lowe	Simmons, Stanley, Criss	3:53
7.	"Deuce"	Simmons	Simmons	3:05
8.	"Love Theme from KISS"	Frehley, Stanley, Simmons, Criss	Instrumental	2:24
9.	"100,000 Years"	Stanley, Simmons	Stanley	3:23
10.	"Black Diamond"	Stanley	Criss, intro by Stanley	5:13

Personnel

• Paul Stanley – vocals, rhythm guitar
• Gene Simmons – vocals, bass guitar
• Ace Frehley – lead guitar
• Peter Criss – drums, percussion, vocals

Additional personnel

• Bruce Foster – piano on "Nothin' to Lose"
• Warren Dewey – fire engine on "Firehouse"

Charts

Album

Chart (1974)	Peak position
US Billboard Pop Albums[12]	87

Singles

Single	Chart (1974)	Position
"Kissin' Time"	US Pop Singles[13]	83

Certifications

Region	Certification	Sales/shipments
Canada (Music Canada)[14]	Gold	50,000^
United States (RIAA)[8]	Gold	500,000^
^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Prato, Greg. "Kiss > Review" at Allmusic. Retrieved September 4, 2011.
2. ^ Rupp, Erik (August 13, 2009). "KISS – Kiss (1974)". vistarecords.proboards.com. http://www.vistarecords.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=albumreviewsanddiscussion&action=display&thread=2. 
3. ^ "Kiss: Album Guide". rollingstone.com. http://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/kiss/albumguide. Retrieved September 4, 2011. 
4. ^ Blender review^{[dead link]}
5. ^ Josephes, Jason. "Kiss: Kiss". Pitchfork Media. Archived from the original on June 26, 2003. http://web.archive.org/web/20030626073049/www.pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/k/kiss/kiss.shtml. 
6. ^ powersylv (December 13, 2006). "KISS – Kiss (1974)" (in French). metal.nightfall.fr. http://metal.nightfall.fr/index.php?idchoix=450. 
7. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l} Leaf, David and Ken Sharp. KISS: Behind the Mask: The Official Authorized Biography, Warner Books, 2003. ISBN 0-446-53073-5
8. ^ ^{a b} "American album certifications – Kiss – Kiss". Recording Industry Association of America. http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?artist=%22Kiss%22.  If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
9. ^ Sharp, Ken. (July 19, 1996). "The Return of Kiss – 'It's Time for Spectacle'". Goldmine #147.
10. ^ "Ace Frehley". Weezerpedia. August 17, 2011. http://weezerpedia.com/wiki/index.php?title=Ace_Frehley&oldid=32730. Retrieved September 4, 2011. "…Cold Gin being the first song that Rivers ever learned to play" 
11. ^ Guitar World Staff (5 February 2009). "Top 10 Drinking Songs of All Time". Guitar World (Future US): 7: “Cold Gin” Kiss. http://www.guitarworld.com/top-10-drinking-songs-all-time. 
12. ^ "Kiss Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums" at Allmusic. Retrieved February 11, 2010.
13. ^ "Kiss Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles" at Allmusic. Retrieved February 11, 2010.
14. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Kiss – Kiss". Music Canada. http://www.musiccanada.com/GPSearchResult.aspx?st=Kiss&sa=Kiss&smt=0.