Kiss – Love Gun – 1977
Hmm….what’s a “Love Gun”?
I remember the year 1977 vividly. Summering in ShipBottom, NJ. Seeing Star Wars a dozen times. And reading, in some magazine, the ad for the new Kiss album.
BANG!
Kiss
Love Gun.
Never forgot it.
I also never heard the record.
Let’s liveblog.
1. I Stole Your Love – Riff Heavy opener. Not much in the way of content, but I’m used to that by now. All I want from Kiss is a good time.
2. Christine Sixteen– Um, hello, what? Piano? Glammy, cool, big, dig it. Sounds a lot like Alice Cooper to me.
3. Got Love For Sale – Brisk, somewhat forgettable Gene (I’m so good for you) Simmons effort. Although I am hearing some early Van Halen in all this. Frehley is a maniac.
4. Shock Me – Ace was electrocuted at a concert which left him without feeling in his hand for the rest of the show. So, he wrote this. And sang on it! Sadly, it’s a not a memorable tune. It’s pretty bad, actually. But it is almost saved by a pretty great solo.
5. Tomorrow and Tonight – A big, pub-breaking bluesbuster. Nowhere as near as good as Rock and Roll All Night, which is what they are obviously going for. It’s fine but it’s not THAT song. I would like to hear this covered by Meat Loaf.
6. Love Gun – In 1977 this would be the Side Two Opener. As an assault, it’s terrific. As a polemic on the state of international relations and American Manifest Destiny, it’s lacking. Oh, wait. It’s about a Love Gun. Or a cock. Yeah, that’s fine.
7. Hooligan Kiss by Numbers. Nice solo, uninteresting, somewhat forgettable. Liek the first three records. I wonder if this will show up on the next Live album and blow me away?
8. Almost Human – I think it’s safe to say that, when Gene Simmons rights a song for Kiss they all have 3 things in common: 1. He is great, amazing, ginormous, fantastic, demonic, etc. 2. He is the greatest lover in the world. 3. They are immediately forgettable. Like this one.
9. Plaster Caster Or he writes songs about a woman who wraps rock stars cocks in plaster and makes statues of them.
10. The She Kissed Me I dunno. I don’t think of Kiss as great musicians or having anything new to add to anything already established. So, this gender bending cover leaves me cold.
Love Gun is “just another Kiss record”. No great shakes. Better than some, not as good as others. It’s grade will be the lowest, though, because, by now (three years, 6 studio records) I expect either more (read:better, more mature, nuanced) or exhaustion. I got the latter.
Love Gun is fine and in the pantheon of Kiss records, I will probably rate it higher against future endeavors but for now it’s middling.
Grade: B-
A Side: Chrsitine Sixteen, Love Gun
BlindSide: Tomorrow and Tonight
Downside: Shock Me
