Wow, this post was not timed this way. I never would have expected that when I wrote this one several months ago that it would go live the day after that original guitarist Ace Frehley had passed away. Terrible news. R.I.P., Spaceman.
From 1982 to 1983, the new lineup of Kiss became Gene Simmons (the Demon), Paul Stanley (the Starchild), Eric Carr (the Fox) and Vinnie Vincent (the Wiz). However, Vincent would come, go, come, and then go again, being brought in for the Creatures Of The Night album, fired after the tour, reinstated when a new guitarist couldn't be found on such short notice for the Lick It Up recordings, and then fired again (or quit, depending on who you ask) after the European tour for Lick It Up.
Though Paul and Gene don't seem to be able to admit it, Vincent clearly brought some form of new life to Kiss with his inclusion. He not only ushered in a harder rock sound, but contributed to a lot of the writing. For 1983's Lick It Up, he's credited on eight of the ten tracks. He was replaced in 1984 by Mark St. John.
Prior to its release, Kiss made the biggest change to their personas by removing their makeup for an appearance on MTV. They then embarked on a supporting tour of the album, marking the first time since 1973 that they performed without makeup. Though Lick It Up would become their first gold album in three years (eventually going platinum), attendance at their shows was sparse. Kiss simply wasn't able to capture the essence of their 70's heydays.
A change also came for the label the band were on. While they began their storied career on the Casablanca label, by the early 80's the company was financially floundering. Polygram, who owned both Casablanca and Mercury, opted to close down the fledgling label, and move all its artists to Mercury. This included not only Kiss, but The Village People, Van Morrison, Scorpions, Rush, John Mellencamp, Tears for Fears, Bon Jovi, and Def Leopard. Lick It Up would be Kiss's first release on this new label, and continue through 1998's Psycho Circus.
As I played through their 1984 offering, I immediately picked up on the high energy of their previous album, Creatures Of The Night. Like I said, Vinnie Vincent clearly brought something to the table when he joined the band. I use that term relatively, of course, as he was never offered full membership.
Lick features a lot of thunderous drumming, and loud guitar work, which makes it stand out in a year heavily influenced by snyth pop and new wave music. I dare say straight up rock and roll was a rare thing in 1983.
Gene and Paul continue their trend of alternating who is singing lead, and this brings with it a nice variety of gravelly and smooth sounds, depending of course on who is singing. I will say that Gene's tracks definitely stand out as the better, but overall it's a good mix. Though it's good as a whole, stand outs for me were Exciter, Not For The Innocent, Lick It Up, Young And Wasted, All Hell's Breakin' Loose, And On The 8th Day, and A Million To One.
As for the band itself, by 1984, Kiss was down two founding members, had a brand new (unknown) guitarist, and were failing to draw the crowds they once had. Things only seemed to get worse when Simmons dedicated more and more of his time to acting, and pursued producing of other bands.
We have the benefit of hindsight to know now that this wasn't the end of the band. However, back then, the pendulum could have easily swung either way.
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| THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS October 17, 1981 |
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| THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS October 17, 1987 |
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