I started the rabbit hole with Kiss about a year ago. People have always crapped on them so I figured they weren’t worth the time. Began with the debut and the first song, Strutter, got me hooked. I became a KISS fan and from there went to the End of Road tour.
ROCK ON, JASON!! And man, it's about time that you let it out about how great the original 1970s KISS truly is! They had the look, the sound, the songs, and they had ACE FREHLEY! 🛸 🦇 🌟 🐆 Marc ⚡
Criss was the perfect drummer for KISS because of his drum style. That swing style gives the material some power-pop bounce. Eric Carr may have been a more powerful drummer, but I'm glad Peter was their drummer on that early material. Criss could breathe some life into those little power chord nuggets.
The best album by the original band. Great production. I saw the band many times at the Michigan Palace in Detroit,Michigan. Kiss was the opening act most of the time at the Palace. Their popularity grew quickly in Detroit. Rush backed up Kiss twice at the Palace. Tickets were 5.00 dollars.
Kiss fan from the discovery of Alive, drifted away when Ace and Peter departed the first time. Rejoiced when the reunion happened, saw them on that tour. But once again drifted away when Ace and Peter departed the second time. Classic Kiss fan for sure, and also a believer Ace and Peter’s makeup should not be worn by others.
I’m going to be brutally honest. KISS was my first concert ever. Farm Show Arena in Harrisburg in 1975 when I was 13. It was the greatest night of my life at the time, and probably ranks up there still. It would still be in my top ten concerts ever now that I’m 61. I remember so much about it. The pyrotechnics, the side-to-side synchronized head movements of Gene and Paul. There was also a scandal because a religious group claimed we were worshipping the devil inside. They grasped hands and encircled the arena and prayed for our souls. Are you kidding me? Can you even imagine what that was like to a 13-y.o. in mid-1970s suburbia? I sold my soul that very night. 😂 The concert was on the front page of the Patriot News the next day. The interesting thing, when I look back, WHERE did this band come from? I remember so vividly the Alive album cover (I still have it) and thinking wow! This band is huge! Look at the fans on the back with the raised fist and the banner! It was brilliant FOMO marketing. (The same thing happened with Frampton Comes Alive the next summer.) I also saw that they were on the Midnight Special just before they broke. There were so few promotional avenues then. Anyway, I loved KISS. We all did. I carved the KISS logo and black diamond drawings into my wooden desk at school. But then, it seemed a little cartoony and gimmicky, particularly the comic with the “real KISS blood.” I abandoned them after Destroyer, tbh, and I never could stand Gene Simmons as a human being. That said, what I love about this channel is that you guys really aren’t rock snobs despite that you give starred album reviews. It makes me rethink my kneejerk reactions, and I really dislike when bands are stamped with being cool or uncool. Younger people like what they like without having to pass some cool litmus test-at least I hope. And I say that as someone who was there for the college rock and indie rock scenes, so it hasn’t always been easy to let go of rock snob tendencies. It helps that I’m old and happily becoming irrelevant. I’ll let my kids (teenager and recent college graduate) decide what is cool.
Have been a huge KISS fan since the 70s. Much like Jason, everything but Kissin' Time and Love Theme From Kiss are big favorites of mine. This is my favorite KISS album, coming in at #2 when I made my list of top albums of the 70s. People have been shitting on them for years. To each his/her own. The songs speak to me, however simple they may be. I'm not a musician, I'm a fan. Not everyone is a virtuoso or needs to be. Great to see them get some coverage. Thanks
I did not know that Jason was a Kiss fan. I thought you guys were going to bash it. I'm pleasantly surprised that you both like it. Awesome album. I love early KISS!!!
The first three KISS albums were repackaged as The Originals after the success of Alive. That's when I first listened to the debut and was shocked by the slow and "quiet" production. After a few listens though, I appreciated having different versions of all those great live recordings. If you can find it, check out the demo for Strutter. It rocks hard and Ace's extended solo is amazing!
I love this record! It's my 2nd favorite Kiss album(Destroyer #1). 'Strutter', 'Deuce', 'Cold Gin', & 'Black Diamond' are undeniable classics. Also, i love the sound of this album. I'll never understand why they didn't record Hotter Than Hell the same way. Jason is spot on with his Ace Frehley praise. Ace is one of the greatest lead guitarists in music history.
Everything is pumped up on steroids from these three early albums when captured on Alive( my favourite album of all time) Jo didn’t mention how he felt about Cold Gin, would have liked to hear his view. More kiss anniversary reviews for each record please🤩🤩
Easily their second best album! Has a ton of great songs on the album! Strutter, Nothing to Lose, Firehouse, Cold Gin, Kissin' Time, and Black Diamond are some of my favorites. 10/10
For me personally it’s their third best studio album behind ‘Dressed To Kill’ and ‘Hotter Than Hell’ in that order with ‘Rock and Roll Over’ coming in 4th place
Love this record!!! It’s probably my second favourite KISS record. I’m a big ROCK AND ROLL ALL OVER fan.. so much glam and catchy tunes on this debut though!
Well, you guys/this channel is always full of surprises! Can’t believe the love for Kiss…but I am admittedly one of those snobs who have never listened to/picked up a Kiss record…even when this came out, when I was 14 and their target audience. Couldn’t get over their over the top make-up/persona and meat and potatoes rock…so much better stuff around and on the horizon. As the Bob would say (on that excellent TLM side-project, akin to The Smile), I didn’t want to waste my precious time. I’ll pass on this, thx. Cheers anyway, JPE
Howdy! Great to catch a new show. Ya'll consider a Blue Oyster Cult album listing? Legacy band, tons of Lp's, highly underrated...seems like a no Brainer to me!
I have never been a big KISS fan. My best friend in high school was a big Kiss fan and I heard all of it. Good band, not great in my book, but solid with some cool tunes. Recently while traveling I heard a satellite radio playing of this entire album. Joe hears a little of what I hear, I think people forget, and I heard it in retrospect, they were part of, and the tail end of, the New York Glam era, particularly in the influence of the Dolls. It was a solid album and I've always liked "Duece" and "Strutter".
Guys, would you PLEASE do a Kiss album ranking? That would be awesome! I am looking forward to watching your Judas Priest album ranking and it is 1 Hour 42 minutes long. I'm hoping your Kiss ranking is really long because they have so many albums and you both have very interesting insights into their music. Maybe add your other friend as well. Thanks!
i like the album, deuce and strutter are maybe my 2 fav kiss songs , tho i do much prefer them on alive, opening the live album with those 2 songs is a fantastic 1, 2 punch 🐯
I always liked many of their singles (especially Strutter, always loved that song a lot) but only started checking out their albums in the last couple years. I checked out this album for the first time last year and I really liked it. I thought it was overall a really consistently enjoyable and there were some great deep cuts. I definitely think the hate people pile on them is overblown especially now that I have listened to more of their albums, I always have a good time listening to them.
They were one of those bands that you always heard you’ve got to see them live the pyrotechnics etc they rocked but could also find a ballad I’m fond of the single “Beth”
The first three KISS Lp’s are the cornerstone of early 70’s American hard rock…as great as the debut is Dressed to Kill and Hotter Than Hell both have even better tunes….I became a fan in ‘76 at nine years of age when a neighborhood friend played me their copy of ALIVE! and from there I was hooked. Have seen them live ten different times from ‘76 thru ‘03 when I finally had to give up on them when they played an awful set co-headlining a tour with Aerosmith. However I am still a big fan of all the records up thru ‘Creatures Of The Night’
I like Kiss quite a bit...my girlfriend worked for Kiss at the conventions back in the 90's as a Kiss girl in makeup..and she hunger strikedfor animalize Kiss tickets as a kid...so...Kiss...gotta like em...kick ass rock n roll on the debut...cheers
Been waiting long time for the full Kiss ranking. The debut isn't an album I play often, just because I owned Alive!; Double Platinum and even Killers before I owned the debut ..... so there are more definitive versions of some of the classics. Deuce and Black Diamond have always been favourites; and I would have loved to have seen them play Let Me Know at least once at a show I was at. I never understood those that denigrate Kiss. A musical diet can have cheesecake, it doesn't all need to be highly nutritious and sophisticated.
I first heard this album today and I was very impressed with how good of a debut it was! I’d give it 9/10 and my favourite track from it is ‘Strutter’!🎸
Easy 5-star for me..love Kissing Time..and how cool is that album cover!!..I take it you were Spaceman for Halloween Jason?...I was the Demon😛..I for one would love to see more Kiss from you guys!
Big 70's early 80's Kiss fan. I never really bothered to defend them. But in hindsight, their music was pretty groundbreaking as far as metal. They were before Priest got their wings and their music is better than 90% of the NWOBHM and similar in heaviness to a lot of them. Ace was great. Influenced me to play guitar. But also I was 8 in '78 so my world was KISS and Star Wars. Great time to be a kid. When I got my copy of Alive 2 I put the tattoos on my face and went to school. Way before Post Malone yo. Pretty crazy to think about how much output they had during the glory years. And really kept it up until the late 80's. I love this album and have grown to love the studio versions just as much as the Alive versions. I have a framed copy of this autographed by all of them on the reunion tour. My friends had a band called Outhouse that opened a string of dates in the Midwest. Part of the "Lost Cities" leg. Seeing a big show in a small town is so cool. The whole town gets involved and it sends you back to a time when rock n roll was king in the 70s. I volunteered to be a "tech" so I got to be backstage and even on stage while KISS. Totally magical for me. They really were great songwriters until they lost Ace and Gene checked out for the 80s. I actually love the song Journey Of a Thousand Years off Psycho if it had a different production. They really shot themselves in the foot on that album. They put out exactly the opposite of what people wanted. An Eddie Kramer production and having Ace and Anton Fig on the record and it could have been at least better than anything after Lick It Up. Not sure Peter could have hung and his really obvious drum triggers used on the tours are really distracting. I think their 70's records are far better than their meat and potatoes contemporaries. I love Dynasty a lot even though it gets shit on.
Is Peter Criss of KISS a technical drummer? Is Paul Rudd of AC/DC? Is Joey Kramer of Aerosmith? Is Ringo Starr of The Beatles? Is Dave Holland of Judas Priest? Is Nick Mason of Pink Floyd? Is Bill Berry of R.E.M.? Is Charlie Watts of The Rolling Stones? Strange how many of the most successful bands of all time doesn't have a technical drummer. Isn't it?
I didn't have this on my bingo card for today. I had to keep checking to see what the date was, making sure it wasn't April Fool's, when Jason was talking about Kiss. Who knew? I love this record almost as much as he does. They were my first band. I came in at "Alive II" so I still got some of the glorious, 70s Kiss. I faded out during the 80s, but the 70s material still stands up today. 4.5* (losing .25 stars apiece for "Kissin' Time" and "Love Theme from Kiss")
@@TastesLikeMusicwell, knock me over with a feather. I do like Paul Stanley and Ace Frehley's solo records. Both great. Gene's is okay and Peter's is background music.
I think it's one of their best albums. But man oh man does it need to be remixed. The muddy, weak sound just doesn't capture the music in the best light compared to the live renditions on "Alive".
This is their best album and I don't think the production hinders it. Would be hard to name a second "best" Kiss album though, mostly just singles from here on out.
Speaking of KISS, have you guys heard Gene Simmons’ 2004 solo album Asshole? It is truly one of the worst things I’ve ever heard in my life! That album definitely added on to the hate that the band usually gets and has pretty much always gotten…it truly didn’t help at all. 😬
Just made a Kiss Playlist, listened to kiss all day. Debut is definitely the best, some other great tracks throughout the 70s output. But man, they really fall on their face after that disco album. Pretty much everything sucks from the 80s on at least compared to the 70s stuff.
Strongly disagree. I like “that disco album” (which, btw, only has like 2 disco songs on it) even more than the debut. Unmasked and The Elder are both great too. That late 70s early 80s transitional period is my 2nd favorite era of the band, only trailing the first 3 albums. Glad you spent the day listening to KISS though 🤘 -Jason
@@TastesLikeMusic Creatures was their heaviest album,and to me their 4th perfect album where I liked every song,The others being Hotter,RNR Over, Alive 2.
After reevaluation, the 2 best songs on Dynasty are the Disco tracks. Unmasked sounds like a band in a creative slump fumbling around desperately for hit and a very boring mix. Strangers in the Night however is actually pretty damn good. Very respectable heavier sound and a very cool sounding mix
@@westong6215 Creatures Of The Night I think is perfect...Magic Touch is the sole weak track on Dynasty...Alive 2,RNR Over,Hotter Than Hell,Creatures have 0 I disliked.
What I love about the debut is exactly what I love about Van Halen with Roth. It almost sounds like they’re in on the joke (Stupid smart music 😉)and let’s just party. The lyrics and vibe starts to throw me off later on.
The same way adults go to marvel movie, read comics, or collect toys. Life can still be fun after your teenage years. Not everything has to be serious.
Hotter than Hell is the only one where my enjoyment is effected by the production. I enjoy the scrappiness of the debut and especially Dressed to Kill, which I think is their best album. -Jason
@@TastesLikeMusic Zeppelin is one of my favorites, the difference being that Kiss plays terrible music. The New York Dolls were pretty good too. The rest I can take or leave. But none of them have LESS substance and MORE cheese than Kiss. Sorry, Joe. Dig your channel, but very often disagree with your taste.
@@independenceltd. I've never heard Slade or Sweet. Aerosmith was good up until about the late 90's. But I'm definitely not an Alice Cooper fan. Too many bells and whistles makes the music an afterthought. Which is why the music isn't very good, imo.
