I saw last night that Great White's Hooked has been re-released with the original cover & Live In NYC as a bonus 2nd disc.
The only talk/rumours that I remember pre-Crazy Nights was that KISS' new album was to be called Who Dares Wins and that it was going to be a straight up hard rock album, there was certainly no talk of KISS suddenly turning into a thrash metal band and start chasing Metallica/Slayer/Anthrax/Megadeth (at this point in time none of these bands were headlining arenas and were still kind of underground in terms of appeal 1985-87). KISS' demos from that era certainly lean on the very commercial side. Big rock albums in 1986 that may have influenced KISS for Crazy Nights Bon Jovi - Slippery Van Halen - 5150 Ozzy - Ultimate Sin (Shot in the Dark) Judas Priest - Turbo Heart - 1985
I recall that story about "Thief" and Paul being pissed about it. I've never heard that quote from Nevison, but It's pretty interesting. And somewhat redemptive, if he realized that he could have done a better job. ......but....I realize KISS was in chaos at the time, and probably weren't the easiest band to produce........and yes, I KNOW you love "Crazy Nights" the way it is. ....But....you must at least awknoledge that a LOT of people have a LOT of problems with that record......and it's not the synths, it's not the "Pop" direction (KISS was always a Pop band anyway.) It was the curation of material. .......by the way.....you aren't the only one with unpopular opinions.... I LOVE "Asylum"! Give me "King of the mountain" and "Uh! All night" All day long!
You should check out the first Danzig record.... ....but to hell with that, check out The Misfits "Walk Among Us" .....Or even better the "Bullet" 7" ......look for the songs "Bullet", "Horror business", "Last Caress" and "Hollywood Babylon"....OH!.....and "Attitude" don't miss out on that one!
WHOA! Hold on man! That is some serious back peddling! You've been "Crazy Nights" biggest defender since day 1! Are you actually admitting that the material chosen for the record was not quite up to snuff?!? (High spots excluded)
I'm going to disagree with you about the cover. I find it to be exceedingly odd. However, I'll keep my speculation to my self for the time being. Sex Pistols!?!?!?! Listen to "Talk Dirty to me".....That is STRAIGHT UP Sex Pistols!!
Check them out. Tons of great reissues. Some include rare or unreleased stuff like they include the second unreleased Blackeyed Susan album
I think you have me confused with someone else. I’ve had the same stance for decades: My Way and Crazy, Crazy Nights are two of the worst songs in KISStory The low end is neutered They needed to go heavy and instead went back to Unmasked But there are high points: I’ll Fight Hell To Hold You is a worthy sequel to King of the Mountain No No No is a triumph and musical high point for the band Hell or High Water would fit right at home on Rock N Roll Over And despite Paul’s comments, this is a stronger album for Gene than himself.
You know man.......sometimes I think you write posts specifically designed to make me go haywire. You KNOW that post was going to give me a brain aneurysm, Just remember.....if you kill me you'll have no one left to get into micro-minutia KISS fights with.....actually, who am I kidding? There's ALWAYS someone to get into a KISS fight with. But, I think you'd miss me if my head exploded. And that last post came pretty close to terminal mass. Waaaaay to much to unpack......I'm going to need to take a nap and see my therapist before I even ATTEMPT a rebuttal!
i wasn’t saying the cover was good, bad or ugly (or odd), just what I think it very clearly is intended to reference. Would love to hear your theory on the cover …
Not me. Beyond half of Creatures and a bunch of Lick It UP songs, I don't get much enjoyment out of metal KISS. We all have our own takes but Unmasked is a thousand times more enjoyable than Revenge, to my ears.
There's some bonus tracks-audio on the cd where Bret talks about the cover. Basically said it was just "meant to be odd and make people look at it and say "What is this? What I'm I looking at? Why is this here?".
It's music best consumed when you're a pissed off teenager. Though it's INCREDIBLY catchy.....and some of my favorite stuff ever....at my age I like to avoid negativity wherever I can. So, even though it's some of my favorite stuff ever........I just don't think listening to some of those classic Misfits songs is necessary good for me, at this point in my life. But if you've never heard it, it is definitely worth checking out. The hooks are incredible! And Glen Danzig is one of the best singers in Rock n' Roll history.
I'll get back to you on the cover theory........and truth be told, it might be outside the scope of what is appropriate to discuss on this web-site. I've already been put on "restrictions" once.....where my comments needed to be approved prior to posting....Out of respect I should probably keep my comments music related, unless I feel something NEEDS to be said. So, I think I'll keep my cover theory to myself......it's not too hard to guess if you know what you're looking for. But I'll leave that alone for now........sorry.
I don't EVER remember rumours of KISS going "Speed/Thrash" In fact, I distinctly remember Gene calling "Speed/Thrash" JUNK MUSIC right around that time. That was NEVER an option. Even for a multi-genre band like KISS. There were certain things not even THEY would do. At the end of the day, Gene and Paul were fans of British invasion acts, and Glam acts more contemporary to them. Slade being probably their biggest influence. They weren't capable of straying too far from the "Slade templete" ......but they sure tried.......always to their own detriment.
HAHA! How classic "KISS fan" is that? I hear a taste of the old magic. You hear crap. KISS has to be the most derisive band in history. It's amazing they they could play gigs without the fans killing each other. No wonder they take ZERO risks with their set list, I think they just play the songs they know everyone can agree on.
Well, we agree on the Misfits, at least ... Similar to the late, great Roky Erikson's The Evil One - garage rock meets horror schlock. They aren't so dark or negative though, more like comedy b-movie horror films meets the Ramones. Spinning the Misfits for me is a positively affirming and uplifting experience, mainly due to the hooks you mention ... enough hooks for a whole band's career on Walk Among Us alone. A UK reference point carlwm may recognise - it's kind of similar to Earth vs The Wildhearts to my ears. We've stepped some distance from Crazy Nights here.
I do, indeed, get the reference. Relentlessly interesting character, is our Ginger. The Wildhearts are playing near me next week but I've got tickets to another show on the same night, irritatingly.
