I review the 1992 Kiss album, Revenge. Part 21 of my Kiss Retrospective. Patreon: / seanblumenshine Twitter: / blumenshinesean Instagram: / sean_blumenshine #kiss #genesimmons #paulstanley
Eric Carr’s death is just heartbreaking in every way, I have yet to hear anyone say a single bad word about Eric. From what I’ve seen and read, it feels to me that Eric cared more about Kiss than even Paul and Gene. On Kissology I remember Gene saying Eric would personally feed the fans outside the venue, I think he appreciated what the band was and how lucky he was to be part of it and never took it for granted.
@@alanfrehley1373 year late to the game, but just started watching all of Sean's reviews. I paid to meet the band twice .. once at an Alive 3 signing party, and once at a convention. In both cases, Eric S and Bruce were amazing to all of the fans. Bruce thought it was cool I was asking guitar questions and offered some tips on playing Creatures. Eric S was personable and pretty cool. Gene and Paul didn't give more than a seconds bit of attention unless you had boobs then they were all ears. Bruce was one of those guys where you were really glad to have met one of your music heroes. Sadly, I never got to meet Eric C, but I heard the same thing about him too .. great guy.
Revenge was KISS hitting a home run. For about 7 years, KISS was just phoning it in We got what we were hungry for...an awesome heavy album that KISS pushed itself to make. I remember buying it first day on sale, May 19th, 1992 from The Wall record store. Played it immediately in the car in the parking lot...and loved every song. I consider this their best non-make up album. A nice dedication to Eric Carr. He will always be missed.
I love "Revenge". After two semi-hit or miss records in "Crazy Nights" and "Hot In The Shade", "Revenge" was a return to hard rocking KISS. It was a similar situation to back when they did "Creatures Of The Night" besides the passing of Eric(R.I.P.)..A heavy metal return..I like your review on this one a lot! I agree besides "Unholy" which of course rules, "Heart Of Chrome" is truly outstanding! I agree with your judgement on these songs! Nice job! Pretty much everything on this album is truly outstanding!!
Destroyer, Alive, and Revenge are my all time favorites. Loving the channel dude I hope it takes off. I've watched every Kiss review! Two nights well spent :)
For me it's something like this: 1 Alive! 2 KISS 3 Creatures of the night 4 Revenge 5 hotter than hell 6 dynasty 7 destroyer 8 love gun 9 lick it up 10 unmasked
Just keep putting videos out and the subscribers will come. I only had 12 subscribers in March. I put out a new video everyday and I'm now almost up to 1400 in 9 months and monetizated. And my videos are shit compared to yours.
Not sure why, but I've never been in love with this album. I really like most of the songs, but it just doesn't hit me in the right spot. Maybe it's the loss of Eric Carr, because I loved his drumming and how he represented the band. Eric Singer is a great drummer, but something about Carr just resonated with me more.
Excellent review - spot on . And I totally agree. Eric Carr was monster musician. And today with Eric Signer - KISS is blessed with real stand out drummer and artist .
This album rules. It would only rock more if Eric Carr was on it. It does miss his thunderous beats but it doesn't ruin it. Top 3 albums for me: Creatures Lick it up Revenge
@@Kissfan96dr vinnie was good. He had allot of skill. His vinnie Vincent invasion was quite good too. Just a shame he couldn't get a a grip of his ego and stop ripping off his fans. He had his chances and blew it.
Eric Carr IMHO one of the best drummer. He could sing really cool and played original drum parts in his own style. And finally he add all those elements which should be there but wasn't because Peter was really weak in technical sense. Eric done those additions in his way and as a musician I could say: he did at the best possible level it could be done by such professional and addicted to drums musician. Love this guy! Let memory about this drummer lives forever!
I just read ( 3 ) books on Rock, the last 2 weeks ; - No One Here Gets Out Alive, - Riders on the Storm, - ( 27 ) All very good. All deal with self destructive behavior and the impact it has on the band and the artist's life. Guy's like Ace Frehley & Keith Richards are very lucky to be alive...
Don't think they gave a shit about Eric Carr. He was basically another employee. Without him, we may not be watching this now. A shame they don't really do a real tribute
This is my favorite non makeup album and possibly in my top 3. This is the best Kiss ever sounded,this era was just awesome! I'm 48 years old so I definitely favor this Revenge album over all their makeup albums except 2 or 3 of them..I love your reviews! Keep up the good work
I think in the nonmakeup era is hands down the best album. How tragically ironic that it was just after Eric's tragedy. Bruce's playing is phenomenal all trough the album. A great tribute to Eric Carr, may he never be forgotten for his contributions to the band and all around great human being he was.
I like Revenge more than most of their 70s and 80s albums ,just a hard kick in the teeth album! All 4 shine especially Bruce! Never get tired of these songs ,Unholy, just a wicked heavy song and 1 of the best Kiss songs ever! My favorite tracks are Tough love, Unholy,Spit,Heart of Chrome ,Paralyze and Carr jam 81! I love the flow of this album and the production is possibly their best produced album...Just a well driven guitar album which reminds me of Kiss' 1976 Rock and roll over album some of Kiss'best guitar solos..Revenge rules
@@Satanschild516 - On the Contrary, I don't want to see you Burn in Hell when you die. Do you ? Maybe you're a nice guy 🤷♂️... You're a KISS fan, so at least you're smart...
Outstanding Video , Sean. The details you've obviously researched , and then shared in this post make me keep watching it over and over. Thanks for this !! 🎸🎵🎶🎵🎸
Absolutely one of my favorite KISS albums from thier vast repertoire. Hands down the best from the non makeup era !!!! Front to back. Thank you, keep the critiques coming.
Revenge got me back into Kiss after 11 years of losing interest in them over the years..Revenge is killer material! The best lineup musically in my opinion and this album makes me forget about the makeup days for sure .Definitely my favorite Kiss album since Unmasked
@Themooselair - KISS is GREAT ! That's Why they Have Millions of Fans across America, across the Globe. 45 Years and Still Going Strong. Do you think if it was just about grease paint & fireballs & pinball machines, they'd be This successful, This long ?? 100,000,000 albums sold. Multi Generational. They are one of the most successful rock bands EVER. That can't be debated. Try listening to some of their music and you'll probably like it. There's no in between with KISS. I don't get it either. Is Gene Chris Squire ? Is Peter Carl Palmer ? Is Paul Jimmy Page ? Is Ace Jeff Beck ? Nope. But their records are great. I bet I know more, maybe a lot more, about Rock than you. I bet I like 75% of the bands you do. KISS has made the world a better place. Like the Beatles have. Like Chuck Berry has. Like Elvis Presley has. KISS was never pretentious about their music. Yet they've enjoyed success, year after year after year. Take a look at the JACKASSES that run the "R&RHOF"... that is the biggest klusterphuk of Presumptious, Psuedo-Elitists, Self-Deluded Snobs Ever ! Look at the Bands Omitted ! Some of the Greatest Rock Bands Ever ! I don't go by what those jerk offs say ! Paul aptly stated at the Awards ceremony, The Very Thing that kept us Out of the "RRHOF" ( yes, I'm using quotations, sardonically) is what eventually got us IN...
THIS album brought me back to Kiss! I thought, "man now this is what we've all been missing?" I really love this whole record! Pound for pound, it's one of their absolute best fucking albums (in my opinion). It was almost like a rebirth for the band? Now I think both Eric Carr & Singer were MILES above Peter Criss as a drummer for what Kiss needed. But Peter Criss DID have his place on those early Kiss records? I'm not saying he was better than the other two. But just saying his place was crucial to those early records! He was more of a swing/Big Band kind of sound. Where the other two were a lot more hard rockin' for what Kiss developed into, in later years... Again Sean, great review-cool video. Rock on!
I view Revenge and Creatures as two really good albums that share the same legacy of showing up at the party long after everyone had already left. Like Creatures, Revenge reconnected KISS with the musical DNA that gave them their legacy from the 70's. Unfortunately by this time, many fans and the public in general had checked out because the band was rudderless and adrift with unending image changes that were as confusing as their musical direction. At this point, it didn't matter they had found their black leather and brought back Ezrin to embrace their roots. The public no longer trusted KISS. And while I do agree the musical landscape was changing, I think the ultimate culprit here was the diminished brand. The public was getting yet another dose of a different look and sound that likely felt like another detour that would lead to another detour. Interestingly had KISS not accepted the reunion offer, the public would have gotten another hard left turn with Carnival of Souls. So its safe to say the reunion likely saved KISS from commercially cratering completely. I think Revenge stands the test of time. Musically its a very well crafted record. You can hear the work that went into this project. Nothing sounds phoned in. All the songs are well crafted and structured much more intricately than your standard KISS tune for those days. I'm with you though. The stripper celebration looks silly on them by this point. They all looked like perverted old men rather than vibrant rock studs when they had those girls walk out on stage. Its a great record but a period of live performances I just assume forget.
One of my top five by KISS and one of my fave records by anyone. KISS got back to business and stopped fucking around. I remember when this came out...when I saw the vid for Unholy, I flipped.
Eric Singer was going to replace Eric Carr didn’t sadly get sick & Carr knew that . Him and Paul were already on the outs with each other before Carrs unfortunate illness.
Unholy might be their best song ever! Great production on this album. Not much to criticize with this album. There are several songs I don't like, such as Domino, Thou Shalt Not, and Spit but they seem to fit in with the rest of the album.
@@SeanBlumenshine - KISS is Awseome ! Good for You 👍. You might also like ; - BOCult - RUSH - Jethro Tull - Rainbow - Zebra - Deep Purple - Van Hagar - The Doors - Ted Nugent - The Cars
God Gave Rockn Roll To You 2 is actually a better version than the original. I agree that the rewrite of the lyrics is working and also some cool new arrangment things works out too
Love this album. Too many people pan this album as overrated but you need to consider the time it was released. KISS was still releasing albums. I took shit for being a fan. The albums from Asylum to Hot In The Shade were criticized. When I heard Unholy my jaw dropped. My band was back.
so which album is better this album or what's on my list in terms of talent? 1. Def Leppard - Andrelize 1. Van Halen - For unlawful carnal knowledge 1. Alice in Chains - Face lift?
Love your review. "older bands" please change to classic bands. This (and RnROver) are the most tolerable Gene Vocals for me. But always a sucker Paul sung songs. This is a great album!
The band Black n Blue has a song called Nasty Nasty that Gene produced in 1986. The main riff of Nasty Nasty is "Borrowed" by Gene for the song Unholy. AND the song "Only You" off The Elder has a riff used in the song Nasty Nasty.
I believe that Tommy Thayer was already working for Gene at the time, so when he 'borrowed' it (Gene was a co-writer on the original song) he definitely had permission. And Black N Blue was a really good band, that ended up with the 'curse' of being produced by Gene Simmons, a la Wendy O Williams, Doro and House of Lords.
@@elvisparker4691 Gene produced Van Halen's demo tape. By the time they were signed to Warner Brothers, Gene had already ripped up their contract. Everyone I mentioned had their official records produced by Simmons, and a few were on his label. Considering he barely had time for Kiss in the 80's, it's not a big wonder why those bands weren't as successful as they maybe should have been.
I don’t know if this has been mentioned previously, but apparently strippers most certainly did dance to Take It Off. According to Bob Ezrin it was actually a huge hit on the strip club scene along with Domino.
Yeah, I was going off the assumption that strip clubs pivoted to mostly using rap and hip hop music. Which I actually have no evidence for; I'm not sure why I felt the need to say that other than a bad attempt to be funny.
A very good release but I don't like 'I just wanna' as the music is an obvious ( to me ) rip off of The Who, just like 'Dreaming' off of the 'Psycho Circus' release was musically a rip off of Alice Cooper ' I'm 18'. Otherwise it was a very good album.
Aww... that's sad. Eric was a Great Guy. He added New Thunder to Kiss. I Love when he and Paul trade off FIRE !!! on Animalize. Dig Little Ceasar. I'd like to get his Solo Album with Bruce. I think its Rockology.
Speaking of Eric Carr, any cool people here, on Sean's cool thread, wish to tell me about Rockology ? Is it a good CD ? Explain... Thanks in advance ! 🙂👍
It's very good. There's stuff on there that really should have been on Kiss records. Some of it sounds unfinished for obvious reasons but it's still strong.
Best non makeup album imo. I find it difficult to believe they would have cut off Eric Carr's insurance as much as the liked him. I'm not saying they didn't. I'm just saying I find it difficult to believe.
KISS had a run of 4 albums in the 80s that were pure garbage...Anamalize, Asylum, Crazy Nights & Hot In The Shade... and sadly co-insided with what the critics said about them,They were just trying to cash in on the Hair Metal explosion. But when ever KISS forgets about following trends and do what they do, they always smash the ball out of the park. And Revenge is one of those albums. If you think about it, Revenge and even Carnival Of Souls are the last time KISS were a creative forward thinking band. Since the reunion in 96' they've based their whole business on nostalgia so in many respects Revenge is the last great KISS album
Good review as always - REVENGE, top to bottom, is the strongest record KISS ever released, both musically and lyrically. One criticism, though: "Take It Off" was HUGE in strip clubs when it was released...#1 club song of the year. And #2? "Domino". Make sure you do all your homework
This is one of the all time best KISS albums period. I still remember seeing the video for Unholy on Headbangers Ball before the album release and doing a double take when I heard Gene's voice. It is consistant from start to finish with the exception of the ballad but I felt like that was an attempt to copy the success of Forever.
Your review is theoretical and not really based on what . . happened . Revenge came out before Nirvana really broke . It was a major comeback album for Kiss and was much more successful than shade or any of the previous albums since Lick it up and destroyer. Domino Unholy I just wanna we’re huge hits with massive play on MTV and bars . Nirvana pearl jam etc didn’t kill revenge by any means. Your review is good otherwise though
Great Album, I would love a quality album like this (not the songs which are one decade of evolution apart but the quality) had followed Love Gun. It is a shame it came out 15 years later when lots of damaged had done to KISS reputation as a Hard Rock band. The only sad thing about this album not perfect but Great album is that there was not follow up album. I like that era with Singer and Kulick, ironically I don't and never will like Singer (and Thayer) being the Tribute replacements to Ace and Peter.
Unfortunately after Dynasty, KISS excelled in releasing the wrong album at the wrong time. Memory lane: 1980 - UNMASKED 1981- The Elder 1983 - Creatures of the Night released way way too late. Creatures shoulve been released in 1980, OR, the very latest, 1981 1992 - Revenge had they released this in 1990 it would've sold untold millions.
Yes great lyrics like my mind's getting dirty around eleven thirty..uh hu... horrible.. singer over plays Peter's part's .. he's technically better Yes but Peter has a better swing n swagger , original kiss is the best n why were all here not X in sex or no no no or....😂😂😂🤘🤘
