B5Erik

This should make for an interesting discussion (since there are so many albums to go over)...


Starting with this one. The 1974 debut.


Released on February 18, 1974

Track Listing
1. Strutter
2. Nothin' To Lose
3. Firehouse
4. Cold Gin
5. Let Me Know

6. Kissin' Time (Added for the 2nd pressing in July, 1974 - Recorded in February 1974 at the request of Casablanca Records Owner/President Neil Bogart, released as a moderately successful single, and added to the album against the wishes of the band.)
7. Deuce
8. Love Theme From KISS
9. 100,000 Years
10. Black Diamond

Lineup - Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Ace Frehley, and Peter Criss

KISS - Produced by Kenny Kerner and Richie Wise, and Engineered by Warren Dewey.

An interesting side note to Kerner and Wise - They worked together with the early 70's Hard Rock band, Dust. Kerner produced, and Wise was the vocalist/guitarist for the band. Casablanca's Neil Bogart worked for a related record company at the time. Some people have called Dust's albums the prototype for KISS. I've never heard the Dust albums, but they are getting re-released on CD... Other notable Production credits for Kerner and Wise: Gladys Knight and the Pips, Badfinger, and Steve Mariott.

An interesting side note on Warren Dewey - He was credited as Engineering the debut album from Boston, but had very little to do with it as Tom Sholz did most of the engineering himself.

This is one of the best debut albums of all time, IMO. They have played every song from the album live ("Kissin' Time" was finally played live in 2006). And to this day no fewer than 5 of those songs will be played at any KISS concert. "Strutter," "Firehouse," "Cold Gin," "Deuce," "100,000 Years," and "Black Diamond," are all among the very best songs KISS ever wrote and recorded, and are among the greatest Hard Rock songs ever recorded by anyone (again, IMO, but I'm not alone in that assessment).

The production on the album, which much maligned, is actually very good for the time. Crisp guitar tones; deep, but well defined (and even slightly punchy) bass tones; great drum sounds, and a really good mix - this album was very well done.

rw2516

I have a first pressing LP without "Kissin' Time". Worth anything? Seems they would be fewer and far between. I remember a friend had the 8-track and it had an extra song not on my album.

B5Erik

Just for reference...

Strutter...........................................................................Nothin' To Lose
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Firehouse..........................................................................Cold Gin
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KISSin' Time (Partial - from 2006)
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Deuce..................................................................................100,000 Years
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Black Diamond
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Leather Face

I also have this as the best "studio' album that Kiss has ever done.There are some truly classic tracks here.
The only problem I have allways had with this and Hotter Than Hell,Dressed To Kill,was that I owned Alive! before I got The Originals and there is just no comparison between the different versions.
Song for song though,their debut is a classic.

DonTHX1378

I've been collection records for years and I do have both pressings of the LP. Without Kissin' Time with the grove # NB 9001 should be worth $40-$80 depending on condition. If it's mint or close you should be able to get around $60-$80 for it since this is second on the list of collectable KISS vinyl from the US without getting into the import vinyl which is a whole other beast. The pressing with Kissin' Time gets about $15-$30. Other collectable KISS vinyl are Alive! with the dark blue "Bogart" label grove #NBLP 7020 which can run $30-$60 while the normal Cassablanca label with camels and tan background only run $5-$10 because those were the most printed. The most prized KISS vinyl is the FIRST KISS, last licks LP which has the only cover to have members in both make-up and with without, has some songs from the Hot in the Shade album, plus demos of Strutter and Deuce. It was a promotional album and only 800 of them were released, and goes for $100-$200. The major problem with most KISS vinyl after Hotter Than Hell was that Cassablanca started to print more records than they sold, sending most of the latter LPs to the "cutout bin". You can tell these albums by the notch on the top of the cover. Most all of the solo KISS albums I've seen and the ones I have have notches in them because they over esstimated sales and were sent to the cutout bin.
The debut album still stands as the one of the best debuts ever recorded. Black Diamond is one of the greatest closing songs on any album, and I wish that they would close more shows with it. You can tell that just because these guys are wearing makeup that the music is not a gimick and the music comes first. I really wish Gene the money making machine he is would go back and remaster the album to 180 gram vinyl like Metallica has done with their first albums.

Supermallet

All I have to say is that I am shocked...SHOCKED...that B5Erik started this thread.

B5Erik

I know, but I like to throw curveballs every now and then.

Hokeyboy

My favorite KISS album, pretty much every track (except "Kissin' Time") a hard rock classic IMHO. About as iconic as they come. Production-wise, yeah, it sounds tinny and muddled, even as a product of its times, but I suppose that adds to the scrappy charm of the album.

islandclaws

^ I've got to agree. "Kissin' Time" is easily the weakest track on the album. Most every other track is a classic. "Strutter" and "Deuce" are strong enough that any band would be happy to have them on one record. Then you've also got "Cold Gin", "100,000 Years" and "Black Diamond"? Phenomenal. It's easily one of my go-to Kiss records when I feel like busting out the hits. I can never get tired of listening to it.

B5Erik

It's definitely a product of 1974, and low a low budget 1974 recording at that, but I don't think it's tinny in the least. The guitar tone, while cleaner than anything else they've ever used, is still pretty warm. They seemed to be going after the Alice Cooper band sound, only the KISS version ended up being a little beefier thanks to that fat bass tone. And the drums were fairly well recorded. I think it's pretty crisp and powerful, although just a bit more distortion on the rhythm guitar would have been better.

Now, Hotter Than Hell - THERE'S a tinny, muddy sounding album production wise!

Rocketdog2000

And wouldn't you just know it, but I actually have all of those. In fact, all my copies of the early albums have the original dark blue "Bogart" label on them, too. (and I even have "The Originals" as well) . I got my copy of First Kiss, Last Licks from back in the days when I interned at the local Polygram records office. I've never even played it, so it's about as mint as can be. (I also got to meet the band numerous times from 1989 through 1992, but that's a whole other story).

But back on track - Yes, KISS is an all-time classic debut album in my book, too. Not a duff track to be found - well, except maybe for "Love Theme From KISS", but even that was a product of the times. Yep, a great start to a mammoth career.

Spiderbite

I agree with others here who say it is one of the strongest debut albums ever. You forget how many Kiss Klassics (sorry...couldn't help myself) are on this one album that are all staples today, especially for their concerts.

My favorite on the album is Nothin' To Lose. Such a raunchy song about a guy trying to get his girl to do anal sex and yet super-duper catchy as well. It's also cool how Gene starts the song singing in his usual devilish voice and then morphs into Peter's soulful voice...all in the name of anal sex. And this is just the second cut on their very first album! Awesome. Peter also sounds like he has the most fun singing on this song than he did on any others for the rest of his career.

The only weak songs are Kissin' Time and Love Theme From KISS. Kissin' Time is just awful and there are no excuses for it. Love Theme is interesting to me and I don't mind listening to it but it just doesn't fit with the rest of the album.

8 classics out of 10 for a debut album is pretty damn good. In my opinion, the weakest of those eight is Let Me Know but it is still a good song. And the guitar outro on it saves it.

The original KISS CD releases were pretty poor sound wise but the remasters are much much better quality. A grungy production but that should be expected.

****1/2 out of *****

B5Erik

"Let Me Know," was, in essence, the first KISS song ever written. It's the first song Paul Stanley (then just Stanley Eisen) played for Gene Simmons when they first met and Gene wanted to hear some of Paul's songs when he was told that Paul wrote original material. Gene liked it. I like it. It's old school Rock and Roll, and it's a hell of a catchy track!

Rocketdog2000

Agreed. "Let Me Know" is one of my faves!

B5Erik

One thing I forgot to mention (and I can't believe that I did), is that "Strutter" has my all-time favorite bass line!

(Studio Audio)

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Hokeyboy

Gene has *always* been a very musical and, IMO, underrated bassist. Is he Christ Squire, Geddy Lee, John Entwistle? Not even close, and he'd be the FIRST to admit that, but his bass lines have always been very melodic and he's always doing something more interesting than pounding at a root note in 4/4. If anything, he's VERY McCartney-esque in his approach.

When I first started playing bass years ago, one of the first things I did was learn every bassline from this album. I especially loved learning "Cold Gin", "Nothin To Lose", "Strutter", but my favorite was still "100,000 Years". That song is completely bass driven, and roars like a summabitch.

"Love Theme", of course, is another beast entirely.

I also like Kit-Kats and adult movies.

B5Erik

Well, once it became clear that KISS wasn't going to be a huge hit Neil Bogart had KISS go back into the studio, this time in L.A.

Less than 6 months had passed since the release of the debut album, but Bogart wanted the album out in time for Halloween, so the band quickly started putting together new songs and used a couple of tracks that hadn't been used for the first album.

The result was Hotter Than Hell!

Released on October 22, 1974

1. Got to Choose
2. Parasite
3. Goin' Blind
4. Hotter Than Hell
5. Let Me Go; Rock and Roll

6. All the Way
7. Watchin' You
8. Mainline
9. Comin' Home
10. Strange Ways

Line Up - Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Ace Frehley, Peter Criss


For the first time there were some clear, "Filler," tracks on a KISS album ("Comin' Home," and "Mainline," although in a different setting, with the Unplugged presentation "Comin' Home" was given new life 21 years later). But at the same time the highlights ("Got to Choose," "Parasite," "Hotter Than Hell," "Let Me Go; Rock and Roll," "Watchin' You") were just as good as the best tracks on the first album.

The odd thing was the production. Kenny Kerner and Richie Wise once again produced the album, and they kept Warren Dewey as engineer, but what they were shooting for was Black Sabbath's Master of Reality production sound. The problem was that Dewey had no idea how Rodger Bain got those sounds, so he tried to make it up by bouncing tracks, running already recorded guitar tracks into a Marshall in the studio bathroom, and other gimmicks to try to get that fat, dark, fuzzy sound.

It didn't quite work. What they got instead of the Master of Reality sound was a sound that was both muddy AND tinny. A colossal failure on the production end, the album's sound still has an odd appeal. Not much of one, but it's odd.

Musically, Hotter Than Hell is considered to be one of KISS' stronger albums. From the Beatlesque harmony vocals on album opener, "Got to Choose," to the frenetic "Parasite," to the crunching groove of "Hotter than Hell," this album holds up very well in the songwriting and performance departments. Album cuts like, "All the Way," and "Strange Ways," are also pretty darned good. "Strange Ways," clearly shows why Kerner and Wise wanted the Sabbath Master of Reality sound - as it sounds a lot closer in style to Black Sabbath than most of the tracks on KISS' debut album (well, musically, anyway - vocally it's pure KISS).

Applejack

Although many people (it seems) were disappointed by this album, I think it is really good.

Parasite is awesome. The first half of the album is excellent, and the 2nd half is still very good. Nothing unlistenable on the album. Very good.

The production is crappy. For the most part, the entire album sounds like a 96 kbps mp3 file. I can only imagine how good parasite would sound on a good clear mix.

Note: Because of this thread, I have broken out some of the old kiss cd's again. I forgot how good they are

B5Erik

The songs....

Got to Choose............................................................................Parasite
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Goin' Blind..........................................................................Hotter Than Hell
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Let Me Go; Rock and Roll......................................................All the Way
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Watchin' You.........................................................................Comin' Home
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Strange Ways
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Leather Face

Again,another early Kiss album that has a few decent tracks but production wise sucks.
Why don't we just fast forward through Dressed To Kill and then maybe this thread will move forward.

B5Erik

Actually, I think that KISS and Hotter Than Hell are both stronger than Dressed to Kill when it comes to the songwriting - but we can discuss that in more detail when we get to Dressed to Kill in a few days....

For now, I think that Hotter Than Hell is a great album sabotaged by poor production.

Although, in some respects you could almost say that Hotter Than Hell is a proto-Grunge album. The guitar tone is certainly "grungy." And then I listen to "Goin' Blind" and I hear some things that Pearl Jam would build on almost 2 decades later...

Spiderbite

No question in that. I have always thought Dressed to Kill was a weak album though the cover is fantastic.

Anyway, discussing Hotter Than Hell, which is one my favorite KISS albums and probably one of two that get the most play. I agree that the production sucks and the music sounds muddy...but damn the songs are good.

I think I listen to this album more because it just has so many "hits" that just don't get played on the radio or overplayed by KISS (if I hear Rock And Roll All Night one more time I'm gonna scream).

Got to Choose - fucking awesome backing vocals by Gene. I love listening to his voice on this one and them in their prime live with this song is simply fantastic.

Parasite - Another huge favorite with an great groove. Never get tired of this song.

Goin' Blind & Watchin' You are two of the greatest Gene songs ever (yet they are both missing the "g"...what gives Gene?). Even Gene's All The Way is fun to sing along to.

I hate the opening yelp to Let Me Go, Rock 'n' Roll. Other than that it's a decent song.

Mainline is probably the weakest song along with Coming Home but neither are terrible. Just weak compared to the others but still fun sing alongs.

Strange Ways again has really cool backing vocals by Gene that give it an "evil" sound that suits his demon persona.

I always loved this album cover as a kid. The mixed up face, the weird Chinese lettering, the strange colors with the poorly drawn fingers on the edges holding the album. The rough cut-outs of the bandmembers showing their characters and of course a chick in lingerie and a topless chick with a star on her boob. Fantastic!

***** out of *****

Hokeyboy

This is probably the best KISS album that isn't the debut album or Alive!, IMO. There's too many great songs here, and nothing as distinctly horrible as "Kissin' Time" from the previous record.

I *love* "Got To Choose" as an opener. It's not a kick-the-door-off-the-hinges opener but a slower, tougher groove that's got a scrappy punch to it. "Parasite" is one of Ace's best rockers, a punch to the groin, and when performed live it can get the entire venue in a frenzy (Ace played it on the recent "Rocket Ride" tour). The rest of the songs are all top-notch with the exception of "Mainline" and "All the Way", the former is meh and the latter is sorta OK.

Sue me, I like "Comin' Home"...

But alas, the production quality sounds like pure monkeybutt. But in terms of the number of quality songs on this album, I'd rank it as Kiss's 2nd best studio album. Imagine if it had the production values found on, say, "Love Gun" or "Rock and Roll Over". I'd gladly eat my own face!

DonTHX1378

Hotter is the black sheep and the darkest album of the 72-78 era. The muddy sound, more overdubing, and problems I think all come from the album being rushed six months after the debut came out. It was also a commercial disappointment, finaling going gold in 1977. But about half the songs on the album are the strongest ones that KISS has ever recorded. Parasite and Hotter were stables for years live, and Goin' Blind and Coming Home would find new life when the performed then on the Unpluged special.

islandclaws

Aside from the bad production this is one of Kiss' strongest efforts. The opening trifecta of "Got To Choose", "Parasite" and "Goin' Blind" is perfect. "Goin' Blind" is one of my favorite Kiss songs. "Let Me Go..." and "Comin' Home" are the only two tracks I really consider filler. I wish they could have had beter production because I'd love to hear this album sounding top notch. Still, for me, it's a go-to album when I'm in the mood for some old school Kiss.