Every band that’s lasted more than 20 years usually has that one album where they get a second wind. No matter if they were considered yesterday’s news just months before, these records are the ones that remind everyone why acts were so good to begin with, either by going in a different direction or delivering more of the tunes that everyone knows and loves. Kiss never had a problem with straying too far away from the formula, but that dramatic return to the makeup was dead in the water before it had even got started on Psycho Circus.
Because, really, what is Kiss without their makeup? Yes, they technically qualify as musicians, but even the most hardened members of the Kiss army will tell outsiders that they are entertainers first and foremost, and the music is almost secondary to the massive stage show. So how the hell did they manage to pull off a makeup-less version of themselves at all?
It wasn’t an easy decision, but Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons eventually decided to clean off their faces after they lost Peter Criss and Ace Frehley. It had been a long time coming for Criss to leave, but Frehley deciding to quit after Music From the Elder was probably down to the fact that he couldn’t stand the idea of doing another album with hard rock mixed with oboes.
So when the group rebranded after Creatures of the Night, it was time for them to enter the MTV generation. Now, instead of the ‘Demon’ persona that could have killed in music video form, Simmons traded his look for a glamorous look that might as well have been the opposite of his strengths.
They still managed to squeak by for a decade with a new lineup, but when Frehley and Criss joined the group for a few tunes at MTV Unplugged, something felt different. Maybe everyone could let bygones be bygones and make a new record; it was all just a matter of getting everyone on the same page.
Listening to the record Psycho Circus, it initially seems promising. The guitars roar, and Stanley’s delivery of the title track’s chorus would have made a great opening for their tour. However, the rest of the album tells a different story. Aside from ‘Into the Void’, contributed by Frehley, the album feels as though the band members were forced to be in the same room together, lacking genuine cohesion and unity.