Kiss – Dynasty – 1979
So, lemme get this straight. One year after the infamous Comiskey Park immolation of Disco Records, where dance artists had to lay fallow until their messiah (Michael Jackson) resurrected them, Kiss, dirty Kiss, Knights in the Service of Satan (apocryphal legend), Gods of Thunder, who wanted to Rock and Roll all night and Party all the time, opened their first post solo debacle record with a disco track?
“I was made for Loving you”?
And somehow made that a hit!?!?
Crazy.
I actually like that song. Yeah, I know. Heresey.
And I really REALLY wish the Jagger/Richards cover of “2000 Man” was included instead on Ace’s solo record, instead of here. It’s great. Actually, Ace is all over this record, unlike Peter Criss, who was excluded from the recording process. (Fucked up, car accident, name something.)
The new drummer, Letterman’s Anton Fig, is a different kind of percussionist. He’s got a driving rhythm and kick drum power that Criss has never demonstrated, for whatever reason. That elevates the sound of this album to more of a powerhouse and, consequently, more danceable. The first half of this record never seems to recover from that opening track. I’m not complaining, though. I kind of like it better. When the chorus comes back in during “Sure Know Something” I’m reminded that Kiss is, above all things, a Power Pop band.
Criss tries to redeem himself with “Dirty Livin'”, the only song he plays drums on and sings but it’s a low point on what has, to this point, been a very assured and slick record.
I don’t really know what to make of a song like “Magic Touch”. I mean, I get the song. Chick makes you hard, right Paul? But it just sounds like 80s Cinderella metal that some points need to be given for the fact that it predates that shit by about 5 years.
Wikipedia makes a point that, for the first time ever, Ace Frehley’s contributions (3 songs) outnumber Gene’s (2 songs). Now, one is a cover, yes. But Gene has to answer for “Charisma”, another song about how great he is. And I’ll take Ace’s “Hard Times” over just about anything Gene has committed to vinyl. It’s harder and more aggressive than most anything the band has written in a while. Not the lyrics, those are weak. No, I’m talking about the musicianship. It’s actually quite impressive. I didn’t think these guys were capable of backbeats and off-tempo rhythms.
Gene tries to show what he’s capable of by squeezing X-Ray Eyes in between the Ace tracks. It’s not bad. Not good. It’s the kind of thing I would expect at the end of a record. But, when you only have to come up with one or two tracks per record (this was a problem I had with later Queen), couldn’t you really work that song and make it something special? Didn’t think so. But Ace gets the last word with “Save Your Love”. It isn’t any good, but it’s as good or better than Gene’s stuff.
This could be why the writing was on the wall for Ace…..
Grade C
A Side: I was Made For Loving You, Sure Know Something
BlindSide: 2000 Man
DownSide: Dirty Livin’, Charisma, Magic Touch
