Which KISS album is their masterpiece ? (POLL)

From the same era. My God.....it made me realize again that Peter Criss was on fire in those early years. And not only that.....the spontaneity, energy........ The chemistry between these 4 guys will never be equaled by all the substitutes who have passed in review. What a waste it didn't last longer than just the 70's.

 

Saw them, December 19th, 1976 at the old Capitol Centre in Landover, Maryland. 15 years old I was. Bob Seger opened, in between Live Bullet and Night Moves. As I have said before, like giants walking the earth. What a show. I have seen them many times since including the Reunion Tour. Also, in defense, I saw the End of the Road Tour two years ago in Pittsburgh in March. I still have not read a negative review of the show they put on. Yes, Paul's voice, but for mostly everything else, except set list differences I personally have, it was just fine one last time. I am glad I went.

 

I meant 3-5 interchangeable........I still listen to Destroyer, and I get why Kiss fans rate it high, but it is always the 6th best Kiss album to me.... A couple songs with unthinkable lyrics and I hate Ezrin's production on it. The best produced Kiss albums for me are the ones done by Eddie Kramer, and the early albums considered underproduced easily overcome that factor by listening in the proper way which is cranking up the volume.

 

Voted for Dressed to Kill. Song quality is extremely high. Guitars are loud. Drums are as solid as can be. Peter, Paul, and Gene turn in excellent lead vocal performances.

I don't get the criticism of the production, especially if one believes Alive! is a masterpiece. These songs don't need window dressing. The band's writing, vocal and instrumental talents were so strong during this window of time.

 

The debut for me.
Still own it
Still love it ...

 

Hotter Than Hell freaked me out at the time. It was so gnarly and not really cut to be heard by young teens. This album may not be their "best" per se, but it's unique in its vibe, which is one of pain and perversion and dark sexuality. Brutal listening.

 

A couple of dark Gene songs don't make for that kind of vibe throughout, though. The Paul songs, especially, make for a different kind of more upbeat vibe. Not sure what I'd call it, but not one of pain and perversion.

 

I enjoy pretty much all of the makeup era albums but I think the debut is the one true classic out of that run. Never cared for the Ezrin-ized sound of Destroyer.

 

The few pop songs don't really counter the dark parts. The package itself is also pretty disturbing, at least for a twelve year old. Aside from the Stanley tracks, this wasn't really teen music. Frehley added to the sickness, and this was some of his best work.

 

Wanted to vote for Unmasked, but felt in my heart of hearts that its more of a 4/5 than a 5/5.

 

Creatures and Alive!

 

No one here is going to hold it against you if you want to vote for the Gene solo album. Don't be ashamed if you feel it in your heart.

 

Got to choose!

 

"Goin' Blind" is one of their very best tracks. Still I'm not sure what Simmons is trying to tell us. Decades ago I heard the - great - Melvins version and thought they had deliberately changed the lyrics to make it more creepy. Nope. That "I'm 93, you're sixteen" bit has been there are along....

 

Dressed To Kill, obviously, is the correct answer.

 

It got my vote. Great album!

 

I feel you on the lyrics ... they are embarrassing and cringe-worthy. Gene trolling high schools like an uglier Wooderson is vomit-inducing.

On the other hand, the song itself is impossibly hook-laden. It’s power pop, really. So I love the song, but hate the lyrics.

 

My top #3 would be:

1. RARO {which I voted for)
2. HTH
3. Kiss

Not much in it & understand the consensus for Destroyer, although Ezrin-Kiss is not my preferred Kiss (good as it is, not sure Ace's solo is a "Kiss" album in terms of a representation of the band).

For me, these albums stand up to the best three of any celebrated Tier 2 rock act {Tier 2 is good, btw, Tier 1 would be the Stones, Zeppelin, Velvets, Jimi etc}. For instance, whilst it's different (less musical, more direct), the songs or listening experience of these three albums is not materially worse than Aerosmith's holy trinity, which I love, of Rocks, Toys and GYW {I know Joe Perry would not thank me for this comparison, but I doubt he's reading).

If you like the music of bands like, say, NY Dolls, it doesn't make sense that you'd hate the noise these Kiss albums make --> I think the issue is perception of motive & a degree of residual legacy damage from post-70s trend chasing [and damage whenever Simmons opens his mouth], which means aesthetically, some folks just-cannot-stand Kiss.

I fully agree with those who say had the band ended in '78 (after the solo albums, I'll give up Creatures, but not Ace's or Paul's solos), never publicly unmasked, and its members drifted into anonymous obscurity, we can pretty sure the critics and hipsters would have rehabilitated and embraced Kiss, and they would be the coolest thing ever, as opposed to the opposite.

 

That spoken word interlude is ... truly ... _____

actually, words fail me (and unfortunately they didn't fail Gene, back then - or since)

 

Why do you assume that Gene's character is "trolling high schools"? He could just have easily been walking by the high school if it were on his way home from work. Like with the Village People, maybe his character is a construction worker, U. S. Army recruiter, or a police officer. It's a really harmless song when one isn't trying to project negativity onto it that isn't actually in the lyrics.

 

Sonic Boom.

 

That's what I would say to the police officer too ...

 

This is THE masterpiece but as far as their's it would be KISS

 

No no none. Kiss and masterpiece are mutually exclusive terms.

 

Again, the age of marriage in the United States varies by state. Most of the states allow marriage at 16.