Reviews (page 6 of 8)
I just never got Kiss. Probably the only way to listen to this is live on stage. This record is just boring, and don't get new started on the lyrics.
I genuinely had zero interest in listening to this. I hate glam rock & hair metal. I was going to write a scathing criticism about how they don't have to harmonise every fucking chorus, it gets old and annoying - HOWEVER, the moments (like in Great Expectations) where the lead singer has time on his own are met with realising how dogshit he is at singing. Please keep harmonising. prefer that. I think the only song I actually "enjoyed" was Shout it Out. Why was this band ever popular? Was it just the face paint?
I don’t think I will ever understand why kids were so popular. Decidedly MID rock band of the worlds greediest cunts (probably pedophiles too lazy to google).
34 minutes with 2 minutes of intro and outro courtesy of Bob Ezrin. Five years before he would work with Roger Waters on the ground-breaking rock opera The Wall, he was here with a whistle around his neck barking at the sex criminals of KISS to learn to play their fucking instruments. Barring that, he would get the guitarist from Alice Cooper who he had worked with previously to come into the studio to just play the guitar on the lullaby Beth. Detroit Rock City is the only good song on this album. It is a song about a KISS fan who died on the way to a concert. According to the Wikipedia page, details are disputed, it probably didn't happen in Detroit, maybe it didn't happen at all. But this song certainly exists, and it is the single that is singlehandedly responsible for this album getting any sales at all. It's corny as fuck, overplayed and dumb as hell and despite my better judgement I love it. The only other song I really have anything remotely interesting to say is the lyrics of Do You Love Me make me think that Sean William Scott's character in Role Models, a KISS superfan, should not have been allowed to work with kids, not that any other song in KISS' discography inspires any hope in me that someone who listens to this would be a good parental figure. Having said that my favourite teacher in high school was a KISS superfan who would put on face paint when they came to Australia. But he also grew up with them and described it as "music you could listen to and not get called a poofta". As for the rest of this album. It's juvenile and repetitive at best, boring and perverted at worst. The aftermath of the sexual liberation movement is that many norms were questioned. Sure, challenging the concepts of abstinence and no sex before marriage is probably a good thing. UNFORTUNATELY, some OTHER concepts were also challenged which, combined with a very liberal attitude towards narcotics and a wave of cocaine abuse in the United States, resulted in the normalisation of paedophilia. This is demonstrated in, well, every fucking lyric in this overproduced piece of shit album. Seriously man, the opening scene in Animal House was a guy contemplating 'fucking the brains out' of a 13yo who had passed out. 'The good old days' my ass, everyone was a fucking nonce. Four dickheads who dress like clowns, can't sing, can barely play instruments led by a producer who was probably complicit in whatever fucked up shit KISS was doing backstage to any school-aged child who was walking within the vicinity. Still gets a 2 cause it has Detroit Rock City. Highlights: Detroit Rock City
Detroit Rock City and Shout It Out Loud are undeniable. They alone keep this mess out of the basement.
To a perfect week came an abrupt ending.
I hate KISS more than almost any other band but I've never listened to a KISS album so how to review this objectively? Well fine, it wasn't a terrible listen. It wasn't a great album though. Vapid, not particularly interesting musically, but fun enough in parts. Beth was the best song and sounded nothing like the rest. I can't give it one star but I don't need to give it much more.
Realmente Kiss no es mi onda. Nunca me va a gustar. Mucha parafernalia y poco contenido.
**An ok about, a couple easy listening tracks.
You would think that by their fifth album, they'd have made enough money to hire a decent song writer. Apparently not.
Started strong but it’s not a very good album.
Middling rock.
Ahh the genre of "soulless rock"
Pretty dull. The costumes are fun but the music is barely mediocre.
As a self-described metalhead, KISS just is not it for me. They lean hard into glam rock, and that has never really scratched the itch I look for in heavier music. The makeup, the theatrics, and the big hooks might have been groundbreaking 50 years ago, but today it all feels a little too pop-oriented for my taste. “Detroit Rock City” and “Shout It Out Loud” have some energy, but nothing here comes close to the intensity or grit that real metal bands were cranking out around the same time. It is polished, catchy, and made for arenas, which is fine if that is what you want, but it is not what I look for. Maybe I would feel different if I had heard this when it first came out, but listening now, Destroyer feels more like spectacle than substance
Ouch. Back in 1976 I thought this was the death of rock and roll. Or the abandonment of effort into the lapse of mindless theater. Make it as simple as we can to appeal to the greatest number of people: Flaming Youth. This turned into hair metal, no? Ugh.
Bombastic, OTT, manipulative, anthemic nonsense. I hate those vocals but I get why the tunes are popular. Do you love me - not in the slightest.
You had to be there, I guess. This was my first listen to a Kiss album and I honestly think it's the first time I've ever heard Beth. That song's all right. I rather enjoyed Criss's vocals. Detroit Rock City is decent enough, too, but the rest of the album is a bit silly. I guess that's the word I'm looking for. That's not a terrible thing. (I'm a Styx fan.) I can see why my older brothers were into them back when they were 10 and 11, but I can't imagine them putting on a Kiss album at this point, other than for nostalgia's sake.
I think the main thing that I've learned from this project is just how absolutely allergic to glam and hair metal I am. 1.5/5
I know they are a Parody band - but do they? Spinal Tap writes better songs.
2 Stars (5/15)
ROCKTASTIC is the only way to describe this. The genesis of many a rock n roll cliché
It was as cheesy and fun as I expected, but a few songs in I realised oh this is all we’re doing huh
It's about as meh as you can get with an old rock and roll record. The album cover is about the most exciting part of this whole thing. Maybe it could sound fun in the background of someone's uncle's pool party, where he's grilling out and after a few beers gets a bit too weepy listening to Beth again and reminiscing about a long lost love (the one that got away [she gave him his first hand job in the back seat of his mom's station wagon]). Most other glam blows this shit out of the water. Detroit Rock City is a dope song tho, I'd put that on.
Bad. Fun, but bad
Never got into KISS. This album showed why really. They're pretty shit with a few decent tunes. 5 stars for their makeup and image. But not for the music.
I listened to Flaming Youth as if it was a gay anthem and it made it infinitely better.
Dumb fun.
Honestly not as cheesy as I expected, but my expectations were pretty low. KISS just feels like such a gimmick, it's hard to much respect for them. Reading about their early struggles on Wikipedia humanizes them a bit, I'll admit.
picks: shout it out loud, beth
“Beth” is the only good song on this album.
I always thought that KISS was mostly a gimmick band. This album cemented that opinion. Maybe my pant are not tight enough?
Not a fan.
Really quite a number of weak songs in this album. Not a personality enough for me to perceive. 2/5
It's OK, Detroit Rock City is well known to me, but not the rest of this album. I'm not really into this particular style of rock.
It's listenable but not enjoyable
Not in the mood for this today. Moronic album cover sets the tone for the album. A low 2.
Destroyer Detroit Rock City and Beth are good, and although it’s clearly very competent the rest of it is pretty much the same song 8 times, and that song unfortunately does wear thin, there’s only so many times you can enjoy the rather imbecilic lyrics, the heavy tom-toms and similar sounding guitar riffs, even if the whole sticks to a welcomely brief 35 minutes. It’s not awful, but I’m pretty sure I won’t remember anything about this in a week’s time and I can’t really think I’ll listen again. 💋💋 Playlist submission: Detroit Rock City
#DÍA 25: 1001 Discos Que Hay Que Escuchar Antes De Morir (English Translation Below) Volviendo una vez más a los 70s, la banda más ochentera que no es de los ochenta, Kiss. De pequeño solía escucharlos de vez en cuando, temas clásicos como Rock and Roll All Nite o Love Gun, pero nunca de este disco en concreto. Ahora unos 8 años después la verdad que tengo una opinión confusa acerca de la banda y su música… Sin duda tienen una influencia abrumadora, definen un poco lo que es el Rock más festivo y sería copiado hasta la saciedad. Personalmente no es el tipo de música que más me llegue, tiene clichés por doquier y me parece bucólico en el sentido más dañino. Tenemos un entrante decente, quizá la intro me sobran minutos, pero me parece interesante que hicieran un homenaje a un fan que falleció conduciendo hacia uno de sus conciertos. Es muy glam, muy de saltar en un concierto y gritar sin pensar demasiado, y las armonías en las guitarras del final son bastante potentes. Ahora bien, de aquí el disco no vuelve a subir, el siguiente tema, King of the Night Time World, tiene una mezcla caótica que se repite en otros temas y no tiene ni la mitad de energía y sensación de estructura que la anterior. Y es un poco el error general del álbum, el talento musical en cuanto a composiciones no está muy presente. Las letras dejan mucho que desear, principalmente la ofensiva Great Expectations o God of Thunder y sus penosas referencias mitológicas. Puedo destacar que Beth es una canción adorable y que la orquesta suena bastante bien, pero desentona completamente con el resto del disco. En fin, deja mucho que desear, realmente se siente que Kiss lo reservaban todo para la puesta en escena, porque sinceramente los outfits y la portada son legendarios. Pero no son los músicos más increíbles del mundo, y contando con que este año salieron otros proyectazos de rock como 2112 de Rush, Station to Station de Bowie o A Day at the Races de Queen, otro álbum que apunta a hacer gritar y saltar pero que considero que tiene una elegancia que lo hace indiscutiblemente superior… Pues poco más que añadir, meh. Favoritas: Detroit Rock City, Shout It Out Loud, Beth Menos favorita: Great Expectations #DAY 25: 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die Going back once again to the 70s, the most 80s band that isn’t from the 80s: Kiss. As a kid I used to listen to them from time to time, classic tracks like Rock and Roll All Nite or Love Gun, but never from this specific album. Now, about eight years later, I honestly have a rather mixed opinion about the band and their music… Without a doubt, they have an overwhelming influence; they kind of define what party rock is, and it would be copied endlessly. Personally, it’s not the type of music that resonates the most with me—it’s full of clichés and feels bucolic in the most damaging sense. We start with a decent opener; maybe the intro drags on for too many minutes, but I do find it interesting that they paid tribute to a fan who died driving to one of their concerts. It’s very glam, very much the type of thing to jump to at a show and scream along to without thinking too much, and the guitar harmonies at the end are quite powerful. That said, from here the album never really picks up again—the next track, King of the Night Time World, has a chaotic mix that’s repeated in other songs and lacks even half the energy and sense of structure of the previous one. And that’s kind of the album’s main flaw: musical talent in terms of composition isn’t very present. The lyrics leave much to be desired, especially the offensive Great Expectations or God of Thunder with its surface level mythological references. I can point out that Beth is an adorable song and the orchestra sounds pretty good, but it’s completely out of place with the rest of the record. All in all, it leaves a lot to be desired; it really feels like Kiss saved everything for the stage show, because honestly, the outfits and the cover art are legendary. But they’re not the most incredible musicians in the world, and considering that this year saw the release of other massive rock projects like 2112 by Rush, Station to Station by Bowie, or A Day at the Races by Queen—another album aimed at making you shout and jump, but with an elegance that makes it indisputably superior… well, there’s not much more to say. Meh. Favorites: Detroit Rock City, Shout It Out Loud, Beth Least favorite: Great Expectations
Too much noise, quite annoying to listen to
2.5
1.8 At the end of the day, this is just boy band metal/hard rock. I do like some of the bass lines on KISS tracks ( I know gene didnt come up with them and can hardly play them) but I dont recall anything standing out on this album. Great Expectations is one of the worst songs I have ever heard
Kiss are Spinal Tap, but written by Andrew Dice Clay.
Production by Bob Ezrin props up the marginal talents of the band. Skip the album and go for the 45 of "Detroit Rock City" backed with "Beth."
This fucked up my Spotify algorithm
meh
I'm sure it was great when it was new. It was very influential, the blueprint for 80s glam metal. Van Halen must have heard this and thought they could do better. And they did. Favorite song: shout it out loud
Not good, not bad. There are some "hits", but the whole thing feels dated. Kinda campy.
On paper, I feel like I should enjoy this but it’s just not the vibe for me.
Detroit Rock City and God of Thunder are the only things keeping this above a one.
"KISS wouldn't think twice about pushing you into that hole. And they wouldn't sneak up behind you. They'd walk right upto you, look you in the face, and push you in." - Some 5th grader, to me, when I was in 1st grade.
Weird to sound so much like a parody so early in the genre.
#637. Genesis Simmons is an annoying twat and his music is terrible. 2/5: shit.
I haven't heard many artists where i'm like, "ya know what, ima stick to their greatest hits album", but KISS is one of them. the fun ones are fun, and everything else just is... aight.
KISS: purveyors of sleaze metal for the pre-teens. The one mercy of this album is that it is short. It’s short in length, it’s short or lyrical prowess, it’s short on innovation, short on originality and it’s short on any real talent.
This definitely isn't their best. Detroit Rock City is a fantastic song (and is often stuck in my head), but the rest of the album is pretty bad. God of Thunder is one of the worst songs I've ever heard. Many tracks after that are very repetitive and Gene isn't the greatest singer.
Parents were terrified of this?
I really dislike the majority of KISS's work. I like a few select songs, so going into this album already knowing a few of the songs, I was a bit jaded. I guess my gut feeling about KISS still holds true. Good songs, and some terrible songs. I liked: Detroit Rock City Sweet Pain Flaming Youth I hated: Beth God of Thunder (this is a horrible song) Great Expectations 2.44 / 5 stars = 2 on this scale.
I did not like Kiss, and this did not change my mind.
With the exception of a few tracks: not the best 80's hair metal band.
cow patty... hockey puck... two stars for Beth and Shout it out loud...
It's fun, but bland and mediocre at the same time.
Kiss shouldn’t have been as big as they were.
There are a couple catchy tracks on here. The kind that stick in your head whether you want them to or not. But as a whole, the album feels more like adults playing dress-up and pretending to be rock gods than delivering anything musically substantial. It’s theatrical, sure, but that doesn’t make it good.
Facing my fear of face paint! Childhood Memory restored! Not as hard rock as what it looks like!
I don't think there's a 70's phenomena that I get less than Kiss. Maybe giant lapels and gold medallions.
Lots of fun!!! Ended up feeling a little bit one-note after the first couple of tracks though. Really loved the inclusion of some soundscape-esque radio broadcasts and the call back to Rock and Roll All Nite at the beginning. Fav Track: Detroit Rock City
Mostly lame 2
Destroyer this album
Not really my jam. Highlights: Detroit Rock City, Shout It Out Loud.
It’s OK I suppose. Very Bill & Ted.
Well, I've finally listened to a KISS album now, and I've got to say, I was expecting more. I posit that, if you take away the look and the whole mythos surrounding them, they're just another mediocre seventies hard rock band. There's nothing standout or original or punchy here, it's just... meh. Disappointed, really.
Couple of hits couched in filler. I don't think I get it. Millions do, but not me.
Detroit Rock City, despite the long lead in, is a great Kiss song: fun riffs, decent vocals with catchy lyrics, and a minute too long. King of the Night Time World was too soft and poppy for my tastes. God of Thunder has another fun riff and decent lyrics, with the deeper Gene Simmons delivery a nice change of pace. Great Expectations and Flaming Youth both have fairly fun instrumentals, but both are let down by very juvenile lyrics. I appreciate the change of pace of Beth, but I didn’t care for the vocal delivery and felt it contrasted with the attempt at a slow, lovey song.
eh. not my favorite band in my least favorite genre/decade. I recognize that some people love KISS, but they just seem so watered down to me. They have a couple decent songs, but I found nothing that engaged me. 2/5
I thought i was going to like this, but i didnt. It felt surprisingly basic and mainstream. There wasnt much beyond some pomp and makeup.
Unimpressive. Stale. Bland. Shlock. The lowest common denominator. Even Bob Ezrin couldn’t save this merchandizing racket in disguise as a rock band. There are like 3 good songs (detroit rock city, sweet pain, shout it out loud) and the rest of the album is garbage. Especially Beth. Beth sucks. The lyrics are lazy and juvenile. They can barely sing. They can barely play their instruments. The production drenches them in formaldehyde to hide their rotting stench. This album is a gold platted garbage heap, but because the gold plating is done very well, I will give it 2 stars instead of 1.
for 10 year olds this is probably awesome
The emperor has no clothes, of course. Behind all the posing, make-up and pyrotechnics lies a set of plain, commercial, rather bad tunes. Rock with a metal sauce or (not on this album) pure disco. Whatever - as long as it sells. But is that important? They might have taken themselves seriously (hard to tell) but we don't have to. I'm sure their gigs must have been a lot of fun. Spinal Tap much more so though :-). Can't rate it highly because in the end, this list is about music, but maybe it deserves to be in the book just for its "legacy". Some songs are not as bad as I thought, so a one it is not.
Not my favforite. I had heard Beth before and had no idea that was Kiss. Overall ok but not my speed.
The only songs on here that aren't terrible are the 3 songs that show up on a Kiss Greatest Hits: Detroit Rock City, Shout It Out Loud, and Beth. Detroit Rock City has a "night drive" vibe (even if you ignore the car noises). Despite being overplayed, it's actually a pretty cool song. Shout It Out Loud is better than average, as is Beth, though night is great. 2 stars.
Э. Лучшая песня - Beth.
mediocre 2.5
They look great but the music is quite mediocre. Very meh hardrock. Lyric wise also doesn’t move me whatsoever.
Not a big follower of Metal. Not a follower of Kiss. A 2.5 for me but didn’t like it enough to give it a 3.
Nog meer dad rock. Gelukkig wel iets meer karakter dan die inwisselbare meuk van Bad Company. Misschien wel de domste songteksten die ik ooit heb gehoord. Alleen "Detroit Rock City" is wel de moeite waard.
The fact that anyone gives serious consideration to this band is a black mark on our society.
no memorable songs
I like campy fun glam rock but this ain’t it
hard rock, 1976 -> 2-3
I liked this album more than I thought it would, but it's still crap. it's even more crap when you consider what else was coming out at this time. '70s Rock was iconic, bombastic, full of insane talent. Go listen to Led Zeppelin, or Deep Purple, or Queen and leave this gimmick hand for the losers
Great music at times, but doesn’t belong on this list.
I dislike Gene Simmons so much that I can't like this album.
I like the concept of Kiss - I’m all for embracing the dumb, fun, theatrical side of rock - but I find their music oddly underpowered. Great Expectations in particular sounds like watered-down Meat Loaf. Was the image covering for a lack of chops, or did they need a Jim Steinman to push them over the top into the gloriously ridiculous?
the instrumental is actually alright it’s just ruined by the terrible lyrics
twelve o clock, i gotta rock½ vittu vois vaan kävell kadulla.. vois vaan tömistellä eteenpäin kaduil, kaduil rokkereit, rokkaajii, rokkaajat, kaduil rokkitähdet.. OLE N VITTU ROKKI T*HTI! vanhempani miettivät että huhhuh onpa paska tyhmä poika.. ja heh todellisuudesa jos oikeasti tietäisin olen aivan kaheli sekopaa... olut olut ja vielä yksi olut kurkkuun ja kurkkuun hehehhe. kaiutin päälle ja ROCK ROCK ROCK ROCK ROCK ROCK FOREEVEEEER.. WEE WILL NEVER FUCKIIING DIEEEE...tälläistä musiikkia me nykyajan nuoret emme tule koskaan ymmärttää. oon aina vittu kuunnellu musiikkii niin vitun tärkeet ollu aina mulle... tämä helventin strukturoitu ja mainstream yleisölle tarkkaan suunniteltu musiikki ON VITTU ANARKISMIN JUURET ON SAATANA VIEKÖÖN TÄÄÄLLÄÄÄÄ!!!! detroit rock city
It was ok, but did not do much for me. Sounded unpolished.
Mediocre band, master marketers!
There's a few songs that you'd hear on old dad rock radio stations, but it's all pretty bland and you can tell they were only famous because they dressed kinda crazy. I do understand now why I've never gone out of my way to listen to KISS. Does this need to be on this list though? Nah
Listen, I'm not pretentious. I've never listened to a KISS album, but I had a rough idea of what would follow. "Roooock!" I knew it was going to be bombastic, ridiculous. The Las Vegas Strip in band form. But, honestly, this wasn't as HARD as I thought it would be. Even for 1976. While we were listening, my partner mentioned there's something vaguely ABBA about them. And I realized, holy shit, she's right. This is a pop quartet through and through. Of course, they're not half as good as ABBA. There are some Big Rock Riffs(TM) here, and they scratch that particular itch well enough. But there's no meat to these songs. They're paper thin. Not just lyrically, but musically. I will shout out "Detroit Rock City". Not a GREAT song per se, but it has a good classic riff, and while the subject matter is a bit crass, you find songs like this in pop music all the time. Sometimes an edgy story really elevates a pop song. Anti-star for whatever the fuck "Great Expectations" is. Fav tracks: Detroit Rock City, King of the Night Time World, Flaming Youth
It's embarrassing to think that someone listens to Kiss unironically in 21st century. But truth to be told, they are just a product of their era, their style doesn't fit with the music at all, but it's not the worst production ever. Just an old band that definitely doesn't get better with time.
This album is so stupid it comes back around to being funny. If the Mystery Science Theater crew listened to albums instead of watch movies, they would have done this one ages ago, and it would have been a classic.
It was pretty lame. Worse than I was expecting. Had no idea I was listening to the hits of the album when they went by. KISS has never been my thing, and it's reassuring that that's still the case.
It's trash, and Great Expectations is about the slimiest song I can remember hearing. Even Spinal Tap wouldn't stoop to some of the lows on this album. Two stars as it wasn't actually painful to listen to. I've got to save one star reviews for the worst of the worst.
So boring. Kiss has to be the most overrated band ever.
Dumbest intro to an album of all time.
Das vierte Studioalbum der US-amerikanischen Rockband Kiss, das 1976 veröffentlicht wurde. Das Album wurde im Electric Lady Studios in New York City aufgenommen und von Bob Ezrin produziert, der bereits mit Künstlern wie Alice Cooper gearbeitet hatte. Destroyer markiert einen Wendepunkt in der musikalischen Entwicklung der Band, da es mehr orchestrale Elemente und komplexe Arrangements enthält als die bisherigen, eher simplen Rockalben. Die Bandmitglieder – Paul Stanley (Gesang, Gitarre), Gene Simmons (Gesang, Bass), Ace Frehley (Gitarre) und Peter Criss (Schlagzeug) – stammen aus den USA und sind bekannt für ihre auffällige Bühnenpräsenz und Maskierung, die auch in dieser Periode der Bandgeschichte eine zentrale Rolle spielte. Einige der bekanntesten Lieder des Albums sind „Detroit Rock City“, „Beth“ und „Shout It Out Loud“. Während „Detroit Rock City“ ein klassisches Beispiel für die rockige Ausrichtung der Band bietet, hebt sich „Beth“ durch seine Balladenstruktur und die Verwendung von Klavier von anderen Tracks ab. „Shout It Out Loud“ ist ein weiterer energiegeladener Rocksong, der den typischen Stil der Band widerspiegelt. Das Genre des Albums lässt sich als Hard Rock mit Einflüssen aus Glam Rock und symphonischen Elementen beschreiben. Destroyer wurde von Fans und Kritikern gleichermaßen geschätzt, auch wenn die experimentelleren Elemente des Albums nicht jedem gefallen mögen. Fazit: Destroyer ist ein wichtiger Meilenstein in der Karriere von Kiss. Es zeigt die Band auf ihrem Höhepunkt, wobei sie ihren klassischen Rocksound mit neuen, vielfältigen Ansätzen kombiniert. Auch wenn es in Teilen nicht so roh und ungestüm klingt wie ihre früheren Werke, bleibt es ein zentrales Album der Band und ein bedeutendes Stück der Rockgeschichte.
I was around nine years old when this record came out and I remember the insane popularity of this record. I never really warmed up to them, but one could not get away from them no matter how hard one tried.
Destroyer is the fourth studio album from Kiss, and the follow up to their breakthrough live album, Alive! At first, Destroyer sold slowly, but the unexpected success of the b-side ballad "Beth" helped drive sales of the album. Destroyer was the band's first platinum album, establishing them as a fixture in the pop/glam/hard rock world. The album is uneven, at best: for the few good rock songs - like "Shout it Out Loud" - there are far too many "Great Expectations" and "Sweet Pain."
2.4 - I actually forgot i listened to this
Better than I expected, but not something I'd listen to again. Standout Tracks: - Detroit Rock City
Like Journey with makeup. Nobody will make me believe this band is good.
Stupid-ass band. Nothing music.
Butt rock. Strutter is a banger but it's not on this one.
I think I came to Kiss too late in my life. Throughout my youth, I always heard about Kiss: the drama, the hype all of it, and the commercialism and monetization, and then the music somewhere in between. For me, the band Kiss is the Philly cheesesteak of rock ‘n’ roll: soft when it needs to be; meaty when it needs to be; but completely covered in manufactured CheeseWiz all the time. There’s some OK songs on here such as Detroit Rock City and King of the Nighttime World. Most of this album is like God of Thunder: humorously bad. It’s like Steel Panther but at least they are trying to be bad! Overall Kiss just seems… well… inauthentic.
Oh this is not good
2.5, maybe a 3, because it is passable music. It's just so cheesy and they are trying so hard. "Beth" is actually kind of nice.
Really can’t overstate how much I would’ve loved KISS if I’d been a kid in the seventies. Thin Lizzy and others did this type of thing much better, but I do appreciate the commitment to the bit.
I’m sure this was the coolest shit ever to a rebellious teen in the 70s, but now these anthems to hard plowing just seem very dorky.
I thought this would be the kind of thing I’d like, but it turns out actually no
I honestly don't understand the appeal of this band. Some riffs are decent but the rhythmic section is so hollow it's distracting. There's almost nothing to save here.
Kiss is more of a "greatest hits" kind of band and this album only has one of them in it.
Probably one of KISS's better albums, but still pretty bleh. Detroit Rock City is by far the best song on the album and it's not even close. Full of meh.
Pretty vanilla and pretty boring
Rating: 3.5/10 Would be one star if not for Detroit Rock City. Whole thing sounds like a giant gimmick, riffs are generic and vocals suck.
This didn't age well
Simple riffs, simple lyrics, party noise. I can see why they were popular in the 70's when music choices were limited and they probably put on a fun show, but man this is basic.
Kiss is de band die door zo stoer proberen te lijken altijd een beetje kneuzig op me overkomt. Maar; de muziek dan. Dit is echt pure Hairmetal. Je ruikt en proeft de haarlak bijna op het moment dat je dit album aanzet. Alles aan Kiss en aan dit album schreeuwt over de top voor mij. Ik vind het gewoon hilarisch dat hun image blijkbaar zo heftig en duister was. Er gingen verhalen rond van koeientongen enzo, en dan heb je de muziek. En dat is eigenlijk gewoon laffer dan welke hardrock band dan ook. Ik vind de over de top, jezus wat is dit eigenlijk foute nummers het beste. Ballads moeten ze echt niet doen(Waarom heeft Beth de meeste plays op dit album???) Want eigenlijk is de zang gewoon best wel slecht. Had ik dit echt moeten horen voor ik doodging? Mwah, waarschijnlijk staan ze hier vooral op omdat het KISS is en ze revolutionair zijn als live act. FAVO: Detroit Rock City, Shout it out loud
The over-the-top glam metal really really isn't my genre. This opinion continues after listening to this album. Detroit Rock City is fun but the rest of the album is a real chore with not much to note. 3.75/10 (1.875/5)
1. detroit - 3 2. night - 1.5 3. thunder - 1 4. great - 1 5. youth - 1 6. pain - 1 7. loud - 2.5 8. beth - 1.5 9. love - 1 10. party - 0
Best when they were doing KISS songs and much less good when they were trying for range. 2.5
Irredeemable. Beth is a great song though
Good Glam Rock just tickles a part of my brain so right. I should really listen to some after this album.
I like what KISS represents more than I like listening to KISS
I have never been a big Kiss fan…there is nothing wrong with this album, but I always thought that they sounded a bit generic, for lack of a better term. I won’t need to hear this one again.
meh
"Detroit Rock City" is a bop, basic rock but a bop, the rest is bargain basement drivel.
There's a couple of songs that make a case for why Kiss is as revered as they seem to be ("Detroit Rock City" and "Shout It Out Loud" are Kiss at their best) but the rest of the album sounds quaint; relics of a different era. Even "God of Thunder" sounds cheesy. Kiss will be remembered for their face paint and iconography, not for their music. I don't think Kiss will ever be for me.
Catchy, but I want nutterburger
Meh
Despite the band members being in their 20s, Kiss has always sounded like a midlife crisis to me. There's just something kind of embarrassing about it all. Maybe it's the whole rock n roll cunnilingus clowns shtick. Maybe it's the constant merchandising of absolutely anything, including the Kiss Coffin. Or maybe it's just the feeling that they seem to be taking Alice Cooper and Ozzy Osborne and ultra commercializing it all. It's kind of gold plated rock n roll. Sure, it sounds like the real thing but there's not much substance underneath it. Still, I was curious about this album. Love them or hate them, Kiss certainly made at least one extremely well known rock song. Sadly, it's not on this album (apart from a small snippet during the annoyingly long intro). And the rest is just so uninteresting. They enjoy parties, rock n roll, and money. Got it. The one attempt to write an emotionally potent song is about how women can't love them for them. All they care about is the stardom and the money and they don't know the real men. This is undercut by the real of the album where they offer no suggestion that they have any more depth than that. And by the song that came immediately before it where they make fun of a woman who actually did want a genuine relationship with one of them. Jesus christ... I appreciate that the so-called Kiss Army has a lot of devotees. But I just can't.
I didn’t find much to sink my teeth into with this album. Couple familiar hits on the album, and then a bunch of songs that I’d find skip worthy any other time. Some songs suffer from trying too hard. Others suffer from sounding like another generic KISS song. Pretty meh.
These lyrics are unimaginably lame - I get that disaffected youth would respond to rebellious music that carves out a niche to find a sense of belonging, but lyrics like "it's so bad, going to school," is pandering garbage and God of Thunder is the blueprint for some David St. Hubbins lyricism. The Music is rock by the numbers, but no matter the costume and make-up extravaganzas and inane lyrics about how much they rock - this never comes close to any real sense of the sense of danger and menace they're aiming for.
Bubblegum metal.
O álbum Destroyer do KISS soa excessivamente repetitivo e cansativo. Faltou criatividade nas composições, e, após ouvir cerca de um terço das músicas, é possível já ter uma boa ideia do que virá a seguir. O restante do álbum se torna uma simples reciclagem de ideias, sem grandes variações ou inovações. Fica a impressão de que as faixas se arrastam sem realmente oferecer algo novo ou emocionante.
KISS Poor
How did they ever get the idea to make THIS their aesthetic while making music my parents would listen to?
Very cheesy and not as fun as it should be for its level of cheese. I feel like this kind of hard rock needs a guy with a super high voice and without it the music sounds a bit off.
Not a fan , a couple of songs briefly grabbed my attention but this mix of punk pop rock is not for me
Expected to hate this but it wasnt as bad as I expected. A lot better than most other cliche bands like this anyway. Not really my cuppa tea, and the lyrics are fucking dreadful, but overall its good for what it is. 2.5
Tried hard to judge this album impartially because I think KISS' whole schtick is a bit silly. The album is very 80s hair metal by numbers. First song was the best, liked that one well enough. The songs are either about rocking hard or have a creepy perv aura hanging over them, also standard. It's sort of fine, I'm sure you'd have a nice enough time seeing them live. Would never intentionally listen to them though so can't really rate it.
I'm knocking it up a point because of Beth, which is genuinely a decent song. Otherwise nothing goes anywhere, and the riffs and solos are lame throughout.
It turns out these guys were nowhere near as good a as 12 year old me thought they were.
Nunca me gustó KISS
Too bland for my liking - middle America soft rock without any classic tunes - now realise why I did mot get into them back in the day - not unlistenable but not inspiring
I thought the theme on Pathetique would have helped this but I think it hurt it lmao
Without all the makeup and costumes KISS has got . . . not a lot.
The hits are fun but even at 30-ish minutes, this overstays its welcome.
This sucked
Hell is Great Expectations on repeat
Glam rock at its most stereotypical. Not my cup of tea.
Unlike a fine wine, this has not aged well. I really tried to listen without bias, but the Gene Simmons songs are clearly the worst on the album. The three hit singles are the best songs on the album, so well done A & R people, but that can't save this mediocre album.
Kiss is such a weird idea to me and it’s crazy that at the time they were considered heavy I suppose or just I don’t know a lot of it’s very anti-climactic and Peter Chris drums are in my opinion pretty weak to match the guitars, but I don’t know
This album reminded me of a high school friend of mine who was a devoted Kiss fan. I never really got the deeply devoted "Kiss Army" thing. What I will acknowledge is they were one of the hardest working bands and put on a good show. Thisnis an ambitious album for them and "Beth" was a huge hit, but the song "Great Expectations" is truly one of the worst, pretentious sings I have ever heard. This song alone should have excluded this album from the list. A better album choice would have been "Kiss Alive".
Detroit Rock City is legendary but the rest of the album was a bit meh.
Wow, there were some bad songs on this album. The lyrics couldn't be more pedantic and juvenile. (It will take me a while to recover from "Great Expectations") But just enough decent guitar to earn a second star. KISS is another "greatest hits only" band in my book.
It's a whole lot of boring rock. I really liked 'Beth,' though. I get that Kiss is really for the show and the spectacle. This album exemplifies that. They are not musicians, but performers.
The aesthetic of KISS always tricked me into thinking they were a much heavier band then they really are. Frankly, this is my admission to not really liking glam rock/glam metal, its just not as good as rock or metal. Honestly, I wish KISS' music was as hard as their looks would have you assume. Unfortunately, this wasn't for me, and I don't see myself coming back to any tracks any time soon.
Good Halloween costume, bad music.
Spinal Tap did it better.
A bit better than I expected.
Wtf?
This is decent and sounds like the time, but there's not a lot to offer. The album falls off as it goes on.
disappointed
When I was a little laddie, the Hawkins brothers up the block had a Kiss record. I think it was the double live "Alive II." This was 77-78. Everyone picked their favorite guy and since I went last I had to take drummer Peter Kriss (the one with the decidedly un-macho feline face), whose big tune is the exceptionally shitty ballad, "Beth," the original studio recording of which is on here. It was pretty hard for me to find a way into that tune as an eight year old, and I am very sorry to report that the many intervening years have not made it any easier. Two stars only because the badass song title "Detroit Rock City." Otherwise, I would prefer to listen to Spinal Tap.
omg this record is so stupid. Detroit Rock City! I'm giving it two stars because it wasn't painful, just not anything much
I know I'm hardly meant to but I can't take KISS seriously. They're also a 'play the hits' band and albums like Destroyer just don't work for them as their less famous stuff is not as good, and there are some genuinely terrible efforts on here where they try to stray too far away from the big stadium sound that made them famous. Detroit Rock City and Shout It Out Loud are good, Beth is decidedly not, don't try ballads lads, they're not your thing. A disappointing 2, KISS are the example of a band that should be right up my street but they're just not, because they've got no depth to them.
This is good fun (for a while), but not convinced it's that good. Glam stadium rock, got a bit of pantomime to it, think it's probably better live than it is recorded. It's a bit lightweight, pretty cliched in places, and pretty repetitive. Feels very dated. Doesn't quite pass muster for a 3, so 2/5.
I came to this with the assumption that this band was more style than substance. This album did nothing to change my mind. There's a couple of decent tracks but most of it is meh.
Rock n roll. Kiss is frustrating because they open the album with one of the greatest rock songs of all time in Detroit Rock City, then follow it up with a decent song, then have like 8 duds in a row.
Teeny bopper vanilla rock. Cliche as they come.
I really wasn't expecting to like this. Big riff. Some weird lyrics that just come off kinda creepy though. 2.7
I think I’m officially not a KISS guy
I’ve always enjoyed the hits of Kiss and I’m open to a deep dive but this isn’t the album that’s going to convert me into being a bigger fan. A lot of these songs are silly and surprisingly pretentious. I rolled my eyes more than once. Some of the songs about sex feel like infomercials for banging the band. But Kiss also doesn’t seem to have much respect for their groupies. I thought “Great Expectations” was merely tacky until I took a closer look at the lyrics. Kiss is really poking fun at fan culture but that actually just makes the song feel patronizing. Did they play this live, essentially making fun of their fans to their faces? Similarly, “Do You Love Me” is about women who are only into them for the fame and money. “Shout It Out Loud” is winning me over though. I need more good times party songs like this on the album. Circling back and listening to a few songs again and “Flaming Youth” is pretty good too. 2.5
Meh
This was bad, glad it was over with quickly.
Other than pioneering stadium rock, this album has nothing else going for it. KISS has never been my thing, as I find the music uninteresting. This album confirmed that they’re still not for me. 2/5
Look how sexily I am playing my guitar. Look at those fingerings and double stops. Look how manly I'm handling my drums over here. Dontcha wish your boyfriend was HOT like me?
Meh. When it came to the Kiss Army, I was a draft dodger. They are less a group of musicians as they are an act. Like professional wrestling. I suppose this one is about as good as they get though.
Meh, this just doesn't do anything for me. Detroit Rock City is a decent song, but the rest of it is just... nothing special.
Behind all the glitz and Halloween makeup there's decent rock 'n roll, albeit vapid, insipid and unimaginative. Sort of a groupie serenade.
First half was everything I thought a KISS album would be, but the second half won me over just a little bit -- Beth and Shout It Out Loud bring it up to a solid 2
I like the song Beth, so there’s that.
This list needs fewer white rocker dudes.
This album starts so strong but then never lives up to the first song. I get it’s a big album in terms of hair metal but really does just feel a bit cheesy now and not edgy at all. Not convinced with this being on the list.
We're driving drunk to this one!!! That's what we'd say if we weren't teetotalers, knew how to drive, and didn't find this music mediocre
Definition of style over substance. Kiss are a boy band with a costume gimmick. While I wasn't actively angry while listening to this album, it did make me sad. All that said, it should get a star for being culturally relevant back in the day.
Glam rockers eat your heart out. If you've moved on from glam rock however, then there's not much for you here. Eliminator by ZZ top beats this IMO
Hab es mir schlimmer vorgestellt. Aber insgesamt nicht meine Musik.
Pedestrian. A little while ago, I received a free ticket to see KISS and went along for curiousity. I thought they might be one of those bands that had more hits than I remembered. They weren't. 'I Was Made For Loving You' is a great song, but there isn't much else.
The comedian Kyle Kinane has a great album called "Whiskey Icarus" where all the tracks are named after songs from this album, if you're interested. This is like trying to pick up weed from your dealer's house and he makes you "hang out" for like, 34 minutes. Still, for all my snark, it's dumb fun enough of the time and many of the hooks are pretty good. Begrudgingly, there are worse albums from this genre from this time. I did keep getting annoyed with all the references to how much I should be enjoying their rock music. Highlights: Detroit Rock City (even if the introductory radio snippet is weirdly pretentious and unearned), God Of Thunder, Shout It Out Loud
Destroyer is a weird album. It has some very melodic sing-a-long tunes, the expected posturing of a sexual predator, and the New York Philharmonic orchestra. There are many songs about "guys in a hard workin' band" that I find to be very lazy in the songwriting department. Kiss isn't a good band.
On dirait l'album «d'adultes» de KISS, ça me semble sage et un peu trop léché. Les textes me laissent de glace, et même les pièces plus rock ont un côté retenu. La voix se prête moins à la ballade. Bref, pas une grande réussite pour moi
"Shit sandwich"
Very unrememberable.
It was fine
What came first the utter musical mediocrity or the face paint costumes/stage presentation to distract from it? “Shout It Out Loud” is the only cut with an even vaguely memorable hook. The vocals are consistently inept – the product of a bad voice and unskilled singing. The strings on (lame power ballad alert) “Beth” were surely imported from the soundtrack of a sappy made-for-tv movie. That It really only was about the costumes seems indisputable now (not that it ever was disputable in one’s eyes). Alive! maybe — maybe — mighta merited inclusion if only to be more evocative of the spectacle that was very much the point, rather than the dreck-y music.
I had gone almost 50 years without listening to this, and I could have gone another 50 without missing anything. Kiss is way overblown in terms of technical merit, and aside from the singles, nothing on this album was memorable or worthwhile.
Какой-то тухлый глэм.. Честно говоря, не думал что будет так скучно...
Hot take ehkä, mutta Kiss on aika tylsää - kiinnostusarvon ne vetää vaan meikeillä. Olipa lyhyt levy tylsiä rockbiisejä. Silti välillä vähän hymyilytti, ehkä siksi että oli niin isärockia. Ei yllä ihan kolmoseen mutta melkein, siis sympaattisuuden takia.
Bändillä on tietty tatsi yksinkertaisiin sointukuvioihin, jotka saavat kuulijan taputtamaan jalkaa. Mutta musiikkina tämä on kämäistä, ja kämäisyys toimii vain yhdistettynä hyvään makuun - eikä KISS:in luomassa pienoisuniversumissa tunneta koko käsitettä. Biisit kuten Sweet Pain (ei itseasiassa musiikillisesti paha), Beth (balladi) ja Do You Love Me (rakastaako hän minua eikä vain rahojani?) ovat kaikki omalla tavallaan surkuhupaisia. Ja silti sinkut ovat oikeita sinkkuja.
I did about half and got bored.
I wasn’t like upset by any of it but I wasn’t like blown away. But I do love Detroit Rock City
these thug adjacent dudes only made music to get with women 50 years ago. why should i care?
The biggest scam in music history is KISS convincing everybody that they're doing hard rock. Bland disco rock is more like it...
2.5 I liked Paul Rudds version of Beth more
Very polished and over produced, and a band I disliked (a little) even before - for no good reason really. Takes the worst of glam and of hair "metal", and a daft concept and poor songs. Still significantly better than Nico and anything involving Morisey, but an absolute waste of a place on the list. Only good point is that it is mercifully short.
Sludgy, perfunctory-sounding, silly and unconvincing. The undistinguished, sub-mediocre vocals perfectly suit the lame and the distinctly uncool, “aren’t-we-cool” vocals. Waste of time. One of the editors must have had the lunchbox or invested copious leisure time in full make-up bedroom air-guitar concerts. “Caricatures of all the urges of youth” indeed, and not even Beethoven can redeem it.
Detroit Rock City is good. Shout it Out Loud is okay. The rest is quite boring. This isn't rock.
I was never into KISS, and this is the first time I have ever listened to a complete album. It wasn’t great. I get it they have a shtick and I’m sure they are laughing all the way to the bank but the goofy costumes, lame music, lyrics and playing is pretty bad. I’m sure that if you are into this style that seeing them live would be a more enjoyable experience.
If it wasn't for the face paint and funny outfits it's difficult to know if KISS would ever have been a successful band? There's certainly not a lot that's interesting or appealing about the rock-by-numbers music. Rating: 1.5/5 Playlist track: Shout It Out Loud Date listened: 09/04/24
Beth is the clear highlight of the album. Gets it above the 1 star rating
could i write poetry to this? n
Detroit Rock City is the only KISS song I really like. I love that little bass riff. The rest of this album was okay to bad. King of the nighttime world is alright and so is shout it out loud. The ballads are not good, I guess Beth isn’t a terrible song but I don’t care for it. Great expectations was hard to listen to. The rest of the songs are forgettable. KISS were amazing marketers, I don’t know how else to explain the cult following of such a just ok band.
Well, Kiss are a singles band, aren't they? Actually looking it up, I only know 2 songs. "All night" and "made for loving you" the latter I always forget is by them. Apparently Beth outsold both of these which is odd as I've definitely never heard it before in my life. Kiss seem to be the counter point to anyone making the baffling argument I keep seeing in reviews here that if it didn't sell, it isn't good. Good cover art. Yep. Don't know a single song here. I've probably heard God of Thunder somewhere, and Shout it out Loud rings a faint bell, they're not great. The first two tracks are fun enough, when they finally start. I assume this is what Less Than Jake are taking off with Gainesville, Rock City (which is tremendous). Good for cock rock, not great generally. Kind of like a worse Aerosmith. Do you love me? No mate. (Although tbf that's not a bad one, establish a groove, embellish it, repeat to fade). 2.4/5
hair metal again? who ever thought one “had” to listen to any hair metal album before they die though?
kiss is crappy rock
Overblown and theatrical glam rock, as you would expect. Lots of songs about being in love and getting girls, which is not totally the usual fare for a metal band. This was probably before what we think of as metal, so late glam rock. Not a big fan of this.
Meh, listen to to the first track and move on, you won't be missing much.
i think kiss are pretty cool in how foundational they were to the "rock and roll image", and i think a lot of the songs on this album sound more modern than mid-70s. but like...i don't necessarily mean that in a good way. proto-butt rock. i like detroit rock city a lot, but everything else is just like "fine" hard rock, doesn't excite me. 2.5/5
I had low hopes for this one, based on my prejudice and lack of knowledge. The feeble album cover didn't help: cheesy and teenager image, so lame. However, the songs aren't bad. Decent toe-tappers. Nothing to write home about, but harmless. The lyrics are as pathetic as the cover art though - he's the king of the nighttime world? Really? 'Great Expectations' is catchier and more interesting than the others. 'Do You Love Me' is catchy, too - but like the rest of it all, inconsequential and a bit lacking in something.
Shite +1 for Detriot Rock City
I had never heard a KISS song before today, so I went in with fairly low expectations. I was expecting full on bombastic rock, heavy guitars and not much else. I was actually surprised. There is more variety here than I expected. The lyrics are decent in places and the album moves between hard rock anthems and more melodic moments. It is theatrical, but not without hooks. Sweet Pain stood out for me. It has a strong groove and feels a little different from what I imagined KISS would sound like. Detroit Rock City, despite being one of their signature songs, did not quite land for me. Overall, it was a more interesting listen than I anticipated. Favourite song: Sweet Pain Least favourite song: Detroit Rock City Album artwork: Love the cover. Bold, dramatic and completely iconic
I was really surprised a KISS album made it on here. I have always though of KISS as a joke. I didn't grow up during their peak popularity, and I have never heard a positive thing about Gene Simmons. I was inclined to not like this album. And I didn't, really. It's a very bland 70's rock album that has some moments that really shine but for the most part is corny and not very intelligent. "Great Expectations" had better be a tongue-in-cheek type song because if not it's one of the most ego-driven songs I have ever heard. And look, I know KISS was never trying to write songs that blew their audience away with high-minded or insightful lyrics, they just wanted to blow you away their volume and theatrics. But I am not their audience, so there. The albums peaks with its first track. That is never a good thing. But it is a good track. The entire band comes together and produces something special, at least by their standards. 2 stars. Standout track: Detroit Rock City
Song 1 - pretty good! Song 2 - okay! Songs 3 and 4 - needles in my ears! Everything else - boring, melodramatic mush. 2 stars.
I'm not huge KISS fan, but that doesn't stop me from having a lot of opinions about them. I've heard quite a few of their songs over the years; a few on classic rock radio, and some others in movies or on TV shows. I'd never listened to one of their whole albums until a few months ago when I threw this one on for something to listen to. I guess my overall opinion of KISS is that they're fine. Their studio recordings are kinda meh to me, but their theatrics and live performances are what set KISS apart and what have given them such long careers. I saw them live back in the aughts and it was a total blast. I guess what I'm trying to get at here is that this album is pretty meh, and I assume all KISS studio albums are pretty meh. "Detroit Rock City" and "Shout It Out Loud" are both good, and they're both good examples of what makes KISS work and what makes them fun. "Beth" is good too, but because it shows the band can branch out and do ballads and do them well. Everything else on this album though was not great and pretty forgettable. KISS can be fun and entertaining, but they don't really showcase a lot of that on this album.
Only good song is Detroit rock city.
Joke band but one of their better albums
Didn’t like them then. Still don’t. Good to know!
1.5 - I sort of like the obligatory Kiss songs that everyone knows. I don't seek them out, but I'm fine hearing them. I expected this album to go harder, but the sappy songs that just totally killed it for me. My tolerance for ballads weakens with age. Even the tracks that are more rock-heavy are freaking boring. I thought maybe I'd end up liking this more than my partner did, but this is worse than I expected and I now understand their pain. How can a song called Rock 'N' Roll Party be so painfully boring?
Doesn't live up to the memory.
Das hat mich nun nicht besonders abgeholt. trotzdem super, dass ich endlich mal ein KISS-Album durchgehört habe. Was für einen Output hatten die bitte Mitte der 70er bis Anfang 80er?!:D
- Das Album ist, leider wie erwartet, trotz Bemühung mental entgegenzuwirken und tolerant zu sein, einfach durch meinen Kopf durchgerauscht. - Ich weiß nicht, was es bei KISS und mir ist. Ich hege keine Unsympathie gegenüber der Band. Ich finde nicht, dass das jetzt per se schlechte Musiker sind. Die Show, das Drumherum, die Inszenierung, das Image: Alles komplett fein für mich und irgendwie witzig (Liebe Alice Cooper, Gwar, Steel Panther, The Darkness etc). Ich finde deren Musik einfach nur belanglos und langweilig. - Wie schon vorher gesagt: Es ist für mich Schlager mit Nieten und Schminke. Weder überrascht mich die Musik in irgend einer Form (Ich weiß; das will sie auch nicht), noch holt mich deren good vibes, groovy party, rocknroll Ding auch nur ansatzweise ab. - Das ist auch alles. Es ist einfach ein Gefühlsding und die lassen mich seit Jahren einfach eiskalt. 2/5
Meh.
I do listen to some glam metal, but the genre sure can create the some of the blandest brand of rock/metal.
Typical KISS album, loud party rock. Detroit Rock City and Shout it out loud were probably the most recognizable tracks off this album, although I have heard Beth before, their attempt at a ballad, it was ok but doesn't really fit with the rest of the album. Overall it was alright, it served its purpose at the time, to be loud and entertaining.
This album did nothing for me. Kiss feels like I’m listening to a cover band at a dive bar
A lot of extra sounds on this album, which I wasn't a huge fan of. The guitar and drum work is undeniably good, but the thing as a whole came off as kind of goofy.
How these guys made it is a mystery. Such crap.
It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be The last 3 full songs turn it from a dud to okay High 2
Of I was 16 and drunk this would be great
In general too old/slow for my taste. 2/5
2.2 per track. Had it not been for the a couple decent songs this would be rated even lower.
4.5/10
So overrated
At their best, KISS are theatrical and fun. Not here - plain, average and sometimes cringey. Perhaps one track worth a listen.
Man, came in expecting a lot, really let down. Weirdly muddy vocal mixing on a lot of the tracks, pretty boring writing, it really feels like the aesthetic is the most engaging thing going for them here.
I was hoping this would be more fun than it turned out to be. It's just ponderous and deadly dull. There's no power in these power ballads. A shame because the cover sure promises a campy good time.
Guitar sounds are great, bass as well. I appreciate the thematic sounds in the production (the car sounds indicating a journey of some kind). I don't connect with the lyrics at all. They actively make me want to vomit and turn the record off. So that's what I did.
Inoffensive, but bland. Lacks any edge or personality. It's like an AI generated rock music. Maybe if I was 14 in 1976 this would really hit. Don't get me wrong, if I WAS, and I was invited to a KISS concert, I'd go and probably be blown away.
This album has great lyrics like on great experience gene says “then you stand and clutch your breast.” I doubt many women would do that if gene Simon’s was looking at them
The primary appeal of KISS lies in the spectacle-the facepaint, the lights, the pyrotechnics. Take that away and you’re left with songs that are at best middling, at worst barely competent.
Mercifully short. I tried to listen without prejudice - it helps not seeing their costumes while listening, but still not strong. Identikit rock.
This simplistic, commercialised, musically boring glam rock/hard rock isn't my cup of tea. It's listenable enough not to give it a 1 but it doesn't deserve anything more than a 3 out of 10.
I wouldn't have listened to this if I were a teenager in the 70s.
A few good songs for a made up band who are more impressed with themselves than I am
My brother was obsessed with KISS when we were kids, so I'm very familiar with all these songs. Can't say I've ever seen the appeal, they sound pretty bland to me. Nothing really to love, but nothing worth hating either.
Some of these songs sound like they were written as jokes. I dont think they were supposed to be intentionally funny, unless KISS thinks of their fans as the butts of the joke. Detroit Rock City saved it from being a 1.
detroit rock city solid. others ok. 2 stars
2 killer songs but the rest was forgettable.
For a brief moment, when I was about 13 or 14, I liked this band a lot, and I liked the theatrics they were known for. I owned this album and I went as Peter Criss on Halloween in 6th or 7th grade, not so long after this album was released. Good grief, I even watched the movie, "Kiss Meets The Phantom Of The Park"! I haven't really listened to them in many decades. Listening now, although I hear some very skilled performances, I'm just not that interested beyond some nostalgia. Totally get why they were so huge at the time, though -- they hit the market at a great time for them to be successful.
I think KISS is why they invented greatest hits albums. There's just zero reason to listen to the stuff that didn't make it to the radio, because a lot of that isn't great anyway so you KNOW the deep cuts are going to be pretty flaccid. "Flaming Youth?" Ooof. I will say, I don't think I'd ever heard the song "Great Expectations" before and I found that one really interesting, in the sense that it could almost be something if it were performed by almost anyone other than KISS. Because it sure as shit is not why anyone is listening to KISS in the first place. Which is true for probably a lot of their catalog. Go listen to the cover of "God of Thunder" by Death. Shit rips.
are KISS just a big joke that i don't quite understand? like some of their music appears to be real but the majority of it is spinal tap turned up to 11. what is the overriding emotion of someone who actively chooses to listen to kiss? is it respect? awe? introspection? laughter? they confuse the fuck out of me.
Fun fact: Two of the members of the popular rock band KISS, are allergic to pork.
KISS would’ve been good if they didn’t make corny music and dropped the gimmick. 2/5
kiss is well known for their hard rock and metal sound, and they're very good at what they do! but they're also one note. this album is undeniably fun and great for concerts but lacks substance. these songs are big and contains well played music but are rather similar to one another. these are corny songs in a way; "detroit rock city" starts off with a radio intro that's kind of campy! enjoyable to an extent, but not very fulfilling.
I think this KISS album definitely seemed to mark a turning point in the band's work that would ultimately lead to further work that would become bigger standout songs in their discography. This album, however, is not very interesting. "Detroit Rock City" is a fun song, but it really can't carry the whole album. The rest of the album has moments of cool guitar riffs, but the song construction and singing all ultimately feels pretty lackluster. Even "Beth", which is praised for its orchestration, isn't even that good when you look at the rest of the pieces of it. KISS, in my mind, is mostly a spectacle anyway with very little actual substance or intrigue. While this album paved the way for some of their bigger hits, there's virtually none of that here. Just not that interesting.
it was ok, i only really liked two songs - “great expectations” and “beth”. the rest weren’t bad but they weren’t my favorite either.
Best Song: Detroit Rock City. Ignoring the annoying, protracted intro, this is lively and kind of fun, with a nice chunky riff. Worst Song: Beth. This might be one of the worst songs ever written. Why are these corny, "sell their grandmother for a few more dollars" ultra-consumerists doing pretending they have the soul to sing anything approximating a ballad? Boys, you sold those souls a long time ago; stop singing in that ugly falsetto. Overall: The definition of style over substance (although it should be noted that I also think this particular style is also trash). If they existed today, people would deride Kiss' brand of unbridled, soulless capitalism as tasteless, and would view the band members as inhuman, Zuckerbergian lizard people, and yet in the 70s they were lauded. Fucking wild. Congratulations on all the lunchbox sales, boys.
I said in a review for an AC/DC album that they were about as dull as hard rock gets, but being reminded of KISS’ existence really puts that statement in perspective.
Detroit Rock City is the most redeeming track on this album. The balance of it is pretty terrible (Great Expectations and Beth ... WTF?). Growing up in the midwest in the late 70's / early 80's these guys were a staple of all older neighborhood badasses. The concept is stronger than the music.... but I gotta say those platform heels are fantastic!
Opening with the brief call-out to “Rock and Roll All Nite” was a shrewd move by Kiss, sure to give the listener some warm nostalgia fuzzies. However, “Destroyer” quickly kills that goodwill. It was tolerable until the ridiculous “God of Thunder.” It only really recovers with “Shout It Out Loud,” and when I’m looking to rock and roll all nite, the “Rock and Roll Party” seems to come to a screeching halt.
honestly boring
Time will not be gentle to KISS. People will look past the makeup, the outfits, the stage antics and so-forth because KISS will lose their mythos and be judged by their music. And because they only had a handful of good songs (not great, just good), KISS will fall by the wayside. But it would be a mistake to brush them off so quickly. For a period, they were the biggest rock stars in the world. It didn't matter how underwhelming their albums were, they delivered. Energetic, effective, fun rock songs that broke through the cultural milieu to practically define rock music for the next decade or so. Some internet user, braver than I, once said "Some of these songs are really bad, however it's still a classic". Such a bold take: the songs suck, and the album's a classic. Only KISS could do that.
Passable tunes for babies recorded in a metal bin, some mid-tier guitar wail and cymbal-drowned percussion played in the kennel next door, but has Paul Stanley played “Great Expectations” to his daughter? Pukey!
It's fairly inoffensive, if a bit bland a repetitive. Which is impressive for an album that lasts just over half an hour. The standout song is Detroit rock city, which is a really good song. Though this version has all sorts of nonsense at the start. I'd recommend skipping the album and just listen to the version that just starts with the song. The rest of sort of drags, going between meh background rock, to not very good rock. 2 stars.
Why do they repeat the choruses like fifty times? Seems like they're padding out the runtime, and not very well at that...the album's only 34 minutes even with all that repetition. It's weird feeling nostalgic for an album ive never heard, but this is the prototype for a lot of the big, dumb rock albums my teenage self loved in the late 90s/early 2000s. I loved "Detroit Rock City" and "Shout it out Loud" going in, so points for those, though I'm not huge on the extra sound affects/setup on DRC. "Beth" kind of sucks? But if I'd been born twenty years earlier I would probably love this album. But I wasn't and I don't.
Obviously the band don't take themselves too serious and they had a huge following. Taken for what it is, I suppose it's ok. But I can honestly say I would never choose to play anything from this album.
Pants
Enjoyed a few of the songs, overall *shrugs*
Rock for the kiddos, so cartoonish. It's derivative glam rock but with faster drums and heavier riffs. Everything from the vocals to their garage style in most tracks feels very much like a copycat of the New York Dolls but with a bigger budget. But of the ones that don't: "God of Thunder" sounds like a stereotypical 70s heavy metal track but with a gimmick, "Great Expectations" tries to be proggy and bright like Alice Cooper but goes on way too long and feels like a children's track, and "Beth" is an even lamer and unoriginal ballad than what Ozzy tried doing for Black Sabbath, but for some reason is the most popular track. Honestly, "Detroit Rock City" and "Shout it Loud" are the only tracks that I'd actually want to hear again.
God this album sucks. Its arguable that its an important album since KISS is technically a hugely popular band, so it gets 2 stars (my rating for things I don't like a but am open to argument for inclusion). I don't have any reason to hate KISS, which would push this more towards 1 star, but honestly it's just kind of silly and embarrassing. By track 3, I was already tired of listening to it.
Their sound sure doesn't quite match their look. This sounded like if you told a business man to whip up a rock album. Kinda flat, kinda lame unfortunately. Expected more sound, something bigger/stronger.
This album is WWE rock and roll. What is the big deal about kiss? One good song, not as bad as some of the other albums we've listened to: solid set in stone 2 star.
Lazy song writing
Kind of mindless. Okay at best, but have also heard worse. 2.5.
Disappointingly soft.
... I mean, it's KISS. It's... fine
I like "Beth" probably because it doesn't sound like Kiss. I never took them seriously. They always felt like a gimmick with the face paint and the loud and mediocre instrumentation, not to mention the sub par vocals. Just a silly show.
Underwhelming. I was expecting big rock noise, but this sounds weedy and malnourished. The writing is terrible and the riffs just don't land as they should.