"Oh boy." - Sam Beckett
Following the missteps of Unmasked (1980), declining sales, and waning interest, Kiss, and their creative manager felt the band needed to return to its hard rock roots. However, in doing so, they also collectively felt that simply doing that wouldn't provide a big enough impact to reinvigorate fans. Producer Bob Ezrin, co-producer of Pink Floyd's The Wall, was brought in to bring together an epic production.
Based on a concept from Gene Simmons, Music From The Elder was conceived as a soundtrack to a movie which didn't exist. To add an additional layer of over the top, Michael Kamen, St. Robert's Choir, and the American Symphony Orchestra were brought in to provide an additional layer. At the time, all work was created in secrecy, with only the producer, and Kiss being involved. The album would also be the first for new drummer, but not a formal Kiss member, Eric Carr.
When Music From The Elder was unveiled to their management and record label, all parties were confused, and resented the work submitted. Business manager Howard Marks was so upset that he demanded his companies name be removed from the liner notes. Fan reaction upon its release was equally critical.
If that weren't enough, Ace Frehley was so perturbed with the band at this point that he would quit after recording the album. He felt Kiss should have stuck to their initial promise, and returned with a straight forward rock album. Worst of all, every time he voiced this, or suggested changes, he would promptly be outvoted 2 to 1 by Stanley and Simmons, leaving him feeling like his opinion no longer mattered.
That's a whole lot to take in just on one album. Is Music From The Elder really that bad? Is it the worst Kiss album ever produced? An ill fated attempt at grasping for too much, and delivering too little? Or is it a hidden gem that people simply didn't understand?
Perhaps it's a bit of all of that.
Music From The Elder is unique. It has that hard rocking Kiss sound that one would expect, but also features a concept story woven in, that perhaps its greatest downfall is that people simply didn't understand. But, isn't that how it usually goes, particularly with concept albums? I mean, do people really understand the story being told? A lot of critics hated The Who's Tommy when it was first released. Look at it now. It's considered a classic.
The point being, the album isn't the dumpster fire which critics, their management, and label initially thought it was. At least, not from my perspective. What I will say is that it also isn't particularly memorable, or hit friendly. Of the twelve tracks, I only remember Dark Light, and A World Without Heroes.
I think the problem boils down to this; Elders is the album (some of the members of) Kiss wanted to make, but not the album fans, their label, and managers wanted. It kind of reminds me of The Phantom Menace. Word of mouth spreads, "Oh, a new X is coming out!" X would of course equate to movie, album, etc. From there, expectations get built up, people's own speculation create false narratives, and when it's all said and done, the end result can't please everyone.
Music From The Elder isn't a bad album, it's just unique. That uniqueness is either its greatest strength, or its worse adversary, depending on who you ask. Does it have radio friendly top twenty hits? No, but I also don't think it's supposed to. It wasn't designed, in essence to be individual songs, but a story told from start to finish across forty-three minutes. Perhaps in this regard it also suffers from not having the visual aspect that other concept albums have been granted to accompany it.
It would be like taking Another Brick In The Wall, Part 2, from Pink Floyd, and playing it separately. Yes, you have a stand alone track that's good in its own right, but it's a very small piece of a much larger puzzle, that must be heard as a whole with prior and following tracks to truly fit into place. Approach Music From The Elder like this, and perhaps naysayers may come away with a better appreciation.
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| THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS July 3, 1982 |
Interesting. I may have to check this one out.
ReplyDeleteIts worth checking out.
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