Kiss – Animalize – 1984
So, there seems to be a pattern with Kiss. They do their own thing, gain popularity, establish market share, sell records, go back in the studio and come out with a watered down version of their successful sound, alienating core fans and drilling their own relevance into the ground. Have I got that about right?
After the comeback heaviness of the last two albums Kiss jettisoned Vinnie Vincent, took on Mark St. John as guitarist, teamed up with Desmond Child (again) and came up with a glossy version of their own sound. The same way Bon Jovi did years later.
Now, if you dig deep enough on this blog you will find reviews of all the Bon Jovi records. And what I learned about Bon Jovi is that they copy whatever sound is popular at the time, put out a record like that and go on tour. Usually 90% of the record is useless and the singles are great. (To me, at least)
Kiss basically created that path.
On Animalize, everything starts off just fine. “I’ve Had Enough (Into The Fire” is a tight lead off track and “Heaven’s On Fire” is as radio friendly as they’ve ever sounded.
Then again, there’s obnoxious, adolescent crapola like “Burn, Witch, Burn” and “Lonely is the Hunter”, songs that, I am sure, Gene is writing in his sleep.
Before long the entire experience slides into generic metal sounds committed to some sort of plastic merchandising device (lp, cd, cassette) and just sounds tired.
There are high points, “Under the Gun” for example, which seems to be infused with some sort of vitality sorely lacking on the rest of the record, with Mark St. John shredding unlike any other guitarist on any previous Kiss record.
But ultimately Animalize is an uneventful, metal-by-numbers, relic of a time best left unremembered.
Grade: C-
ASide: Heaven’s on Fire
BlindSide: I’ve had Enough (Into the Fire), Under the Gun
DownSide: Burn Witch Burn, Lonely is the Hunter
