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Monday, 27 January 2014

Album #27 : Kiss - Dressed to Kill


Kiss
Dressed to Kill (1975)

Kiss are a band that have divided opinion for years. It seems that you either love them (hi, Harri!) or you hate them (hi, my dad!). Because I don't play by YOUR RULES MAN, I'm neither here nor there about them. I enjoy playing their songs as a musician, and some of them are pretty damn cool, but generally speaking I don't see the big deal.

It probably doesn't help that most of the time, you only hear Kiss songs in the form of live versions. This is probably because (with respect to many other bands) Kiss are the definitive live act. Their concerts are legendary for their sheer over the top bombast and theatrics.

I'm not interested in that. I'm interested in finding out what the band could do in a studio setting. To that end I've chosen an album from early in their career, their third studio album Dressed to Kill, which was produced by their label's president, along with the band themselves, as the label had no money for an outside producer. 
It's also home to one of the band's most iconic songs. So put on your makeup and your giant heels, and grab your axe-shaped bass. Let's jump into the world of Kiss.....

The Album

Okay. Let's start by saying that Kiss is like the Playboy of the music world. Nobody reads Playboy for the articles, and nobody listens to Kiss because they want a euphoric artistic experience encapsulated by the careful crafting of sound and lyrics. People listen to Kiss because they want to fucking rock.

Dressed to Kill is a perfect example of this. It's wall to wall cool riffs, flashy but never overstaying their welcome guitar solos and cliched, yet easily singalongable, lyrics. It's this complete lack of pretentiousness that makes the band so appealing to so many. Their music does make a statement - that statement is, "We are Kiss. Here is rock. Enjoy it."

The drawback is that the inherent sameness of the songs makes it difficult to single any out as being particularly good or bad. It's all pretty good fun to listen to. Nevertheless, during my listening I did identify a few songs that were particularly cool or interesting. She was probably my favourite track. Loaded with awesome sounding riffs, it sounds more complex and interesting than anything else on the album. Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley share lead vocal duties and the effect is striking - Stanley's sweeter, higher tones balance out the low gruffness of Simmons perfectly. There's also a neat jungle breakdown near the end. Rock and Roll All Nite is that iconic song I mentioned earlier. Written in response to label president Neil Bogart's request for a 'fan anthem', it serves its purpose - fist pumping drums and a chorus that is just begging to be screamed until you're hoarse. It may well be the most stadium rock song ever written (apart from, maybe, Queen's We Will Rock You/We Are The Champions combo).

Rock Bottom is also of interest. The first half sees dual acoustic guitars creating a beautifully rich sound; there are no vocals. Suddenly those guitars stop and the song smashes through your speakers, aggressive riffage and some stunning vocal work from Stanley.

The other songs on the album are alright. I can honestly say I enjoyed them all in a mindless way. What I did manage to gather from this album were the following two observations:

a) Having three blokes who can all sing - and their singing voices all so different - is an asset. Stanley is the star, he was made to sing glam rock given his range. Simmons provides a rougher, dirtier edge with his vocal. Drummer Peter Criss has a voice of gravel; at times it reminds one of Rod Stewart. 

b) Ace Frehley is an excellent lead guitarist. Sure he does the flashy stuff well (his solos on Getaway and Room Service are excellent) but he seems to also know when to get out of a solo. None drags on for too long.

The Verdict

Dressed To Kill is, I think, very representative of what Kiss are all about - simple, straightforward, entertaining glam rock. You could call them wanky because of their personas, their stage presence, their self-promotion and their insane live shows....and that might be fair enough too. 

Their music, though, is anything but wanky. For mine, that should be applauded. When you spend most of your time (as I tend to do) listening to "difficult" music, sometimes it's good to know there's a band like Kiss that you can put on and just rock to, without overthinking.

My rating: ***

Standout Tracks

She
Rock and Roll All Nite
C'mon And Love Me

Tomorrow I'm going to be listening to another album by a band whose genre label starts with a 'post'. I still don't understand why. See you then!



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