It definitely has a commercial feel overall, and I'm sure Paul hoped it would be a hit, but I think that if he were simply trying to write a hit, he wouldn't have made the verses so weird on this one. He would have written something more like . . . well, "Heaven's on Fire".
Under the Gun As GodShifter said, Eric really drives this song. It really reminds me of a Priest song, not a specific one, just them in general during this early 80's time period. It's not my favorite song in the world, but it's a good fast-paced metal tune. Paul's voice is on the good side of the high notes/screechy line. Mark's licks aren't that great. It's just shred without any substance. His double tracking thing at the beginning sounds kinda sloppy. Maybe it's just the guitar effect? Relistened...no, it's just sloppy. Single track that thing if you can't get it right. Thanks to all you guys I just laugh every time I hear him do dive bombs and of course he does it a few times here. Hilariously bad. Overall, it's a fine/good song. I appreciate the rock and Eric's power drumming. The live version from the Animalize video - Paul is hilarious. I love how he's totally taking the piss out of "solo showcases". I think Paul was purposely being that bad. We've heard him play solos that were so much better so we know he can solo. His splitting the audience down the middle is one of my favorite things from this video. The song sounds SO much better in a live setting. Also, it goes to show how much better of a guitarist Bruce is than Mark. A 1984 KISS show looked like a ton of fun.
Catching up with the thread (as I have been a bit busy again in the few last days, hey it's weekend so can't be here all the time): "Lonely Is The Hunter", this just seems to be a bit boring and repetitive song. Maybe, just maybe this is ok song but it could probably have just something more added. It could be much better easily. It has some better moments but the whole thing isn't the most exciting thing on the album. Gene could have sounded a bit different during the song, it's like he never gets us going with him. The song just sounds dull and boring, even if I like some parts and performances, it just lacks the thing, the element that would make it masterpiece of songcrafting. Anyways, the solo is kinda ok and works nicely here. "Under The Gun", fast paced rocker but it doesn't really seem to have proper destination. Kiss sounding or perhaps more precisely trying to sound what other bands and contemporaries were doing around then. It's a bit too fast for them and they just keep rushing with fast pace (as Kiss used to do a lot when Eric Carr was playing drums, the songs with too fast tempo, especially the older songs turned to speed ride, did not work live) therefore it just feels that they are willing to go with top speed even if it feels like there's not enough content in the song to really justify the high speeding. Seems like I don't actually remember much of these later songs from the album, it must have been that I haven't actually listened to them much or just never really paid too much attention to what was I hearing. "Thrills In The Night", this feels more like the usual stuff and the 80's than the previous 2 songs, the chorus is memorable but it just isn't really enough. I feel the same as @npgchris that this indeed feels more like product, while some would compare it to couple other Paul song, this one doesn't really just actual feeling or emotion at all. Somehow I feel like all these 3 songs I just listened, are all the same kind of thing, lacking in feeling and no real emotion attached, so it's kinda autopilot affair going... Maybe Im thinking too much now, so I will listen and revisit these songs more and then maybe my view might change around. Keep in mind that I didn't listen to these songs as much as some other songs from their catalogue.
It's that 14-year-old mentality. Huh huh, I said 69! Being in your 30's is lame to be singing lyrics like that, but any older (which KISS and AC/DC and ZZ Top and many others do) is just pathetic.
Your breakdown of the song had a nice observation about the pre-chorus. You're right, it sounds pretty cool. Still not much of a memorable song for me, overall. But your point is a good one.
I've thought this for a while too. Prince was huge then and since Kiss was not going to sound like Prince, Paul could still take some moves from him.
Thrills in the Night This was really a single? Someone thought this song would get people to buy it or the album? Thrills in the Night is an incredibly weak song. The verses feel like they go on forever and there isn't much change in there. The pre-chorus is really weak and then we come back to another repetitive, boring melody in the chorus. The bridge has the only interesting bit with the odd time feel. This is a horrible song.
Thrills in the Night I wonder if the fact that I thought this was a Desmond Child song says more about me or more to the fact that Paul (and Jean) was purposely writing bland tunes. The 80s hair metal vibe is really not my thing either visually or sonically. None of those bands really grabbed me (well, I like Alcatrazz and the odd song from this or that band.) On the other hand, I actually like the solo. The intro to it, in particular, got my attention. I assume this is because the last few albums have been on the shredder side when it comes to lead guitar so sustaining the single note with a little whammy here and there is a nice pivot. Opens the song up quite a bit and the solo that followed is more in sync with the song - I know it's Bruce in the video but is it Mark playing? If so, this is my favorite Mark moment, by far.
@GodShifter started a thread about KISS songs. There's a Titanic sized difference between singing about 'trim' and "let's hit the highway doin' 69" and you guys are impressing my contrarian side by defending this. And I wildly disagree that this lyric is in any way par for the course in this era. Par for the course meaning a lot/all bands had lyrics of this nature. And I mean bands with some stature. Five years later Motley Crue would have the embarrassing She Goes Down which repeats that line roughly 48,000 times. Terrible. Read the fantastic lyrics to Wild Side and then go one album later and read She Goes Down. I guess it would have been great if today's song went... Thrills in the night far from the light I love eatin' beaver Come on!
I guess I missed all of those Scorpions, Van Halen, Def Leppard, et al, lyrics that dealt with sexual matters in more mature terms! I apologize...
Man, I know I'm not going to explain this well and dig myself into a deep hole but it's not the fact that KISS or any of these bands are singing about sexual content. It's a fine line and I'm probably not the best person to articulate exactly what that is but KISS seems to approach the topic from a very adolescent perspective than say, DLR just wanting some tail. I'm currently listening to some Skynyrd and when Ronnie sings "On the Hunt" he's coming out and saying, "I want you, you want me, let's not worry about what everyone else thinks and get down to business." He's not hitting the highway doing 69 or eating a piece of cake. Getting back to Roth, at least he was lyrically more creative than that even if he were singing about the same subject matter, you know? "Everybody Wants some, I want some, too", he isn't working all day and doesn't know why so he has to UH! All night...UH! UH!UH! UH!.. Like I said, it's a fine line and the best don't often cross it. This is also what separated DLR from Hagar, IMO, when it came to singing about sex. Hagar's approach was like an adolescent boy unable to express or control his urges...in other words..just outright dumb! KISS doesn't do that balancing act very well at all. "Have you seen her? So fine and pretty Fooled me with her style and ease And I feel her from across the room Yes, it's love in the third degree"
Been away from the forum for a while so here's my first post on this thread. Thrills in the Night was always my favorite from Animalize and one of Paul's best from the post Killers era. Great tune and incredible vocals. Sadly the last time his Music from The Elder voice is featured on the incredibly beautiful bridge Ooh as she's walking around like a mystery Ooh there's a woman that nobody sees
TITN I like this one. The intro sounds true to KISS. Everything is ok. Chorus is bland, but ok vox. Guitar wasn't too noodles. (Caution, Sizz. It's a whammers delight.) Good call outs, BNETBI.
Geez bro I'm not slapping you in the face or anything. Just disagreeing. And in 1984 there just isn't any Van Halen lyric that even comes close to mentioning "doin' 69". Or maybe there is, I'd be happy to be reminded. And I'm not a big Leppard fan beyond the two most well known albums. Are there lots of specific references to actual sex positions? Maybe there is, but if there's so many I don't know that it's too much to ask for a few examples. You seem to have taken this personally and I'm not sure why. This x's a billion!!!!!!!
Btw Animalize was the first record where I noticed how bad the latest reissues are - the 1984 US original totally smoked the reissue which sounded compressed and bass heavy.
Gene looks like a trannie (no offense) Also Paul with his guitar-necklace. Those fans. They sure look....earnest.
Wonder why they didn't go with Miami Vice rolled up jacket sleeves? They tried everything else in the '80s...
That image wins the intertubes for the day... I can just picture it in my mind's eye. Thanks for the grins... Gene and Paul as Crockett & Tubbs...
Ok, Thrills in the Night, the newest single from the Hotter Than Hell album. Huh? What? There's a really odd tension going on in this song that is very unique in the KISS catalogue, especially interesting because this was a single. When the verses start, it's like the individual musicians are pulling in different directions and it gives the song a real molasses feel (hence the Hotter Than Hell reference). Even the way Paul's vocal goes up and down gives the whole song a droning feel because at almost any point it sounds like his vocals are being slowed down just a hair. I can't think of another KISS song that the vocal sounds artificially slowed down in this way. Anyway, that whole sense I get just makes me love listening to Thrills in the Night. It's a great song anyway and it has something really ear catching that keeps me interested all the way through.
Well, Mick Jagger often sounds like a twangy Brit, so... I've always chalked it up to a love of old blues records... I know we'll get there but does it not remind you of "Under The Gun"? Paul does a similar thing with the verses on "Who Wants To Be Lonely" which I'm looking forward to getting to so I can read what you all have to say about it. TITN has never, well, thrilled me much...it's not bad and I'm digging the insights here (as always) but, as someone else put it, it feels a bit too much like "product" to my ears...and I know it's all basically product on some level so I guess this just isn't a product I'm buying...
Could I be wrong in my theory that Thrills in the Night bridge is the last appearance of Paul's Music from the Elder voice?
