Daily Archives: November 15, 2024

10 Songs from Kiss’ 1978 Solo Albums That Would Have Made a Killer Kiss Record

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One of the ideas behind all four of Kiss‘ original members issuing their own solo album on September 18, 1978, was to help rekindle and unite the band that was breaking off into different factions.

However, looking back on it today, it did the complete opposite: Peter Criss would exit the band two years later, while Ace Frehley would follow suit four years later.

And with ’78 being the first year in Kiss’ recording career up to that point that not a single studio album of original material was issued, we’ve assembled tracks from all four of the solo albums, resulting in what could have been a single kick-ass Kiss album.

SIDE ONE

Gene Simmons – Radioactive

Featuring one of the spookiest sounding openings of any Kiss-related tune, this Gene Simmons rocker also features a short but sweet guitar solo by none other than Aerosmith‘s Joe Perry.

Ace Frehley – Rip It Out

One of Ace Frehley’s hardest-rocking tunes would have served as the ultimate one-two punch if it had followed “Radioactive.” It features some great drumming from Anton Fig years before he became a member of Paul Shaffer and the World’s Most Dangerous Band and the house band for David Letterman‘s late-night TV shows.

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Ace Frehley solo that is as devastating as that incredible break in Slade’s Mama Weer All Crazee Now

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Ace Frehley solo that is as devastating as that incredible break in Slade’s Mama Weer All Crazee Now

Episode 596. We discuss Creem Magazine’s review of Rock N Roll Over… you need to sit through seven paragraphs of “what the hell is he talking about” before we get to the actually album review, but it is worth it!

KISS – Rock And Roll Over by Billy Altman
Creem Magazine Feb 1977

In the last few years we’ve seen the notion of image stretched beyond belief, because most of our biggest stars turn out to be all too ordinary offstage and off the record. If pop music reflects the times, and it usually does, then we’re all in the middle of one huge personality crisis. Which is why Kiss makes perfect sense. Their image, their act, is no more or no less an image or act than Elton John or Lou Reed or Rod Stewart. Rock ‘n’ Roll Over’s one concession to the need for an AM follow up to “Beth” is “Hard Luck Woman”, a hilarious compilation of four Rod Stewart songs roiled into one with Peter Criss singing in perfect Stewartian tones. It will probably annoy a lot of people and I like that. Because Kiss’s masks are as valid as Rod’s Sam Cooke vocal mask, aren’t they?

Rock ‘n’ Roll Over does what it says. It rock ‘n’ rolls over. And over. And over. It is loud. It is simple. And it is fun. “Mister Speed” has an Ace Frehley solo that is as succinct and devastating as that incredible break in Slade’s song “Mama, Weer All Crazee Now.” “See You In Your Dreams” is a primer in tongue-consciousness, creating spaces and then filling them with exactly what you anticipated. “Calling Dr. Love,” on the other hand, leaves all of the spaces open, causing a buildup of tension that doesn’t get resolved until the beginning of the next song Ladies Room.”

Add to this a little Hendrix overtone on “Baby Driver” and some Led Zep thump on “Makin’ Love” and you’ve got an amazing album from a band that knows just what rock ‘n’ roll is, and they don’t just like it, they love it. And I love it. And the little girl from Paterson loves it. And what the hell is wrong with fantasies, anyway?