KISSOGRAPHY
Kiss (Casablanca NBLP 7001)—Number one. The original. The era’s twenty megaton blastoff. Released in February 74, this debut album, produced by Kenny Kerner and Richie Wise, comes on full-strength right from go on side one with Paul Stanley’s “Strutter.”
KISSOGRAPHY
Kiss (Casablanca NBLP 7001)—Number one. The original. The era’s twenty megaton blastoff. Released in February 74, this debut album, produced by Kenny Kerner and Richie Wise, comes on full-strength right from go on side one with Paul Stanley’s “Strutter.” Seven out of the tensongs on this were later recorded live for the breakthrough Aliue! (“Strutter,” “Nothin’ to Lose,” “Firehouse,” “Cold Gin,” “Deuce,” “100,000 Years,” and “Black Diamond”) and remain staples of Kiss concerts today. "
Side one is stronger—tight, no-frills heavy rock ’n’ roll that, in its lack of pretension and production values and in its emphasis on energy, predates the Ramones by three years. Side two is less cohesive, but invaluable as a Kiss kollector’s item; it contains their one and only instrumental, the Allman Bros.-influenced “Love Theme from Kiss,” as well as one of the only two oldies they’ve recorded, the early ’60s Bobby Rydell hit (appropriately titled), “Kissin’ Time.”
Essential.