Great song. Hardline deserved more success too. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFq71jhtCR0&t=1s&ab_channel=NealSchonFanpage
Awesome post! I couldn't agree more. It's hilarious to think how close KISS came to being a "Pioneering, proto-punk, hipster band" But.......they made it, so they became one of the most hated (And loved) bands in history.......if not THE most! Perception dictates reality.....and there is no better lesson in this principal than the story of KISS.
I've got to recommend Danny Vaughn's recent solo album, Myths, Legends & Lies. It's one of my favourite records of the last couple of years.
“Hair Metal” is a box that rock of the 80s got shoved into, and it de-legitimizes some really GREAT music and bands!
No, they were amazing...always were and always will be. From the opening of Deuce to the pounding thunder of Last Chance. KISS were, and always will be, the ultimate heavy metal band.
Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhgg.........I love ya man! Despite your repeated attempts to put me in an early grave. (My GF might argue it's not "Early" enough, but that's another story...) If I'm ever sick or injured and need to be put in a medically induced coma, I'll just tell the Dr: "Hit up Curveboy on Stevehoffman.com, he can do it drug free, in 5 seconds flat!"
I refuse to let the term "Hair Metal" become a slur with negative connotations. It certainly entered the public's vocabulary as such, but the term only has the power we LET it have. I grew up in that era......and to be sure.....there was a LOT of horrible music released under what would become, the "Hair Metal" banner.... ......but there were also a TON of timeless classics. People get "trained" in their opinions. It's sad, but it's true that most people don't think for themselves. They have been conditioned to believe "Hair Metal" is the most "un-cool" thing you could possibly like. But the next time you hear someone make fun of "Hair Metal" try saying: :"Oh....You don't like "(fill in classic song title here.)"? And keep going.... By the time you get to the fourth or fifth song.....trust me.......they will TAP OUT! One of my favorite ways to evaluate songs....beyond my own opinion....is to watch what happens at a Club or Party when a particular song is played. If you've ever been at a Club, and seen the D.J throw on "Girls Girls Girls", "Pour some sugar on me", "Heaven's on fire" or any number of tracks......Then you TRULY understand the power and quality the best of that genre featured. The dance floor goes NUTS!
On this side of the pond, the only ‘clubs’ you hear those songs are - shall we say - ‘specific’ dancing clubs …
Well......not necessary. I'm a bit of a Dinosaur now, so you aren't getting me out to clubs or parties unless you pay me.....and even then.....it just ain't happening. My "Partying" days are over. I have ZERO interest in trying to pretend I'm younger than I am. I had my time, let the kids have theirs. (Although, presently, I'm not sure that sort of thing will be available to the next generation. For better or worse, it's a different world now.) ...But I digress, the last time I could be found at clubs on Sunset or Hollywood Blvd. Or Parties in Hollywood, Silverlake, Beverly Hills....blah blah....was in the first decade of the 2000's......and let me tell you, I heard a TON of "mash-ups" or "Re-mixes" (That weren't REALLY re-mixes, the D.J would just drop a "4 on the floor" kick drum behind the song, and time stretch it into a consistent tempo.) And the #1 thing that was being played was 80's music.......it was EVERYWHERE.....It's all anyone wanted to dance to......I LOVED it, because that's what I grew up on. And the kids loved it too. There was no "Hair Metal" sigma to them. I can't even tell you how many times some hipster kid told me: :"Man, I wish I was around in the 80's. That's when music was awesome!" ....I'd be like, "Yeah, you SHOULD be sorry! It WAS awesome....good luck having anyone release a "Rebel Yell" for your generation!....Tough break kid."
HA............nonsense. KISS were GREAT at everything they tried...........ESPECIALLY when they went for the HARD and HEAVY.
For me KISS were sometimes great when the when heavy but their only real mis-steps happened during their heavier work.
I may have posted before but I made a friend a “heaviest of KISS” disc a few years back: UNHOLY I WANT YOU PARASITE 100,000 YEARS (Double Platinum version) ALMOST HUMAN WATCHING YOU (ALIVE 3 version) CREATURES OF THE NIGHT NOT FOR THE INNOCENT DETROIT ROCK CITY / KING OF THE NIGHT TIME WORLD CALLING DR. LOVE I STOLE YOUR LOVE GOT TO CHOOSE (UNPLUGGED) WHO WANTS TO BE LONELY DEUCE LOVE GUN GOD OF THUNDER KING OF THE MOUNTAIN SHE STRANGE WAYS EXCITER WAR MACHINE
Lots of great stuff up there, obviously. For myself, I'd probably replace Unholy, Parasite, Almost Human and War Machine but it's only the first named that I seriously dislike.
Nice list … I’d likely swap out Unholy, Calling Dr Love and Who Wants to be Lonely for, say, Killer, Makin Love and Rip It Out …
possibly Long Way Down or I’m An Animal if you wanted some heavier representation from recent albums …
I was a 9/10/11 year old kid in the early 90's , but i remember that my neighbor who is 8 years older than me and other older metalheads never used the term Hair Metal. Nobody called It " Hair" Metal back then. It was just " Metal". The term Hair Metal was applied later and used derogatorily. I fell in love with glam-metal in 1991. And I have been addicted to it ever since. To me the sound of glam-metal crystalized in 1978 with the self-titled Van Halen album. The "glam" look heavily kicked-in in the mid-'80s. All the elements are there on the debut album. And all the bands in the 80’s always tried to hit the benchmark of Van Halen. Definitely a catalysis band.
"And On The 8th Day" would be a great addition as well, in fact, I'd swap out Who Wants To Be Lonely for that one.
Invasion of Your Privacy Studio album by Ratt Released June 13, 1985 Recorded 1985 Studio Rumbo Recorders, Canoga Park, California and Atlantic Studios, New York City One of my favs during the hair metal era.
