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?