Although Kiss released only three albums during the ’90s, it was quite an eventful time for the group.
At the start of the decade, the group found themselves in a mirror version of their dilemma in the early ’80s. In 1982, after squandering nearly all of their career momentum with questionable trend-chasing albums, they released the masterful Creatures of the Night, which didn’t get nearly the attention it deserved. Chastened but determined, Kiss took off their trademark facepaint and clawed their way back to platinum sales and sold-out arenas with a string of successful ’80s albums.
Although the situation wasn’t nearly as dire, after closing out the ’80s with a pair of somewhat disappointing albums – 1987’s Crazy Nights and 1989’s Hot in the Shade – Kiss hit it out of the park with 1992’s Revenge, which much like Creatures failed to get its due on the sales charts.
This time, the band responded by putting their makeup back on, with Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley bringing back founding members Peter Criss and Ace Frehley for a massively successful reunion tour that led to what can only be called a “reunion” album if you use air quotes. Oh, and before they they had a brief flirtation with grunge which resulted in a controversial but underrated album that sat on the shelf for a year before being unceremoniously dumped into the marketplace. It’s all explained below, in our list of the Top 10 ’90s Kiss Songs.
10. “Master & Slave”
From: Carnival of Souls: The Final Sessions (1997)
Unlike his eager bandmate Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley was “dead set” against Kiss attempting to incorporate grunge music into their sound on the Carnival of Souls album. “I never believed the world needs a second-rate Soundgarden, Metallica or Alice in Chains,” Stanley declared in the 2001 book Kiss: Behind the Mask. But as a good teammate the once and future Starchild gave it his best shot and even made the formula work a couple of times, most notably on the storming “Master & Slave.”
Recorded with the Revenge-era Stanley / Simmons / Bruce Kulick / Eric Singer lineup, the album was shelved during the original lineup reunion tour, and released with little fanfare in late 1997 after being heavily bootlegged by fans.
9. “In My Head”
From: Carnival of Souls: The Final Sessions (1997)
It’s easy to see why Gene Simmons was excited by the darker, edgier sounds of the ’90s alternative rock revolution, which suited his once (and again, future) demonic alter ego very nicely. He unleashes his most sinister growl on the savage “In My Head” while lead guitarist Bruce Kulick attacks the riffs like a bull that just broke out of his pen.