Kiss – Revenge – 1992
The drummer died. On the same day as Freddie Mercury. You think anyone noticed? Was there an internationally televised concert for Eric Carr? The one-time foxman? No. But I’ve always remember that day because a LOT of people on Prodigy made sure that Queen fans knew that there wasn’t only ONE rock star to die that day…
So, Kiss took THREE years off before they came out with a new album. Revenge was their return to form. The big one. They brought back Bob Ezrin, the producer of their smash, Destroyer. But, we must remember, Ezrin was also the producer on Music from The Elderberries. Bruce Kulick was still the guitarist of record but Vinny Vincent gets co-authorship of THREE tracks.
What is Revenge like?
The first thing I noticed, well, not the first, it took me until the 2nd song to really get it, was that I was uncontrollably tapping my feet and raising the volume level on the ipod to the maximum on this album.
“Unholy” reminded me of Priest and the follow up, the sleazy paean to strippers, “Take it Off” reminded me of Crue. That’s what a lot of Revenge sounds like. Motley Priest. Painkiller era Priest. And post-Vince Neil Crue. But still, the sound is there.
The guest co-writers are back, some of them new, some old. Some very old. I’m talking Russ Ballard. Yes. Russ Ballard. The guy who wrote New York Groove that appeared on Ace’s 1978 solo record. He’s one of the four people credited with “God Gave Rock n Roll To You II”, a reworking of an old Argent (Ballard’s early 70s band) song. How is it? Like a Mott the Hoople song was run through some time warp, squeezed into a 90s sound spectrum and was shat out as a mega-anthem. Then it breaks down into some Beatles flower pop before it comes back like a Judas Priest avalanche. I don’t think Kiss has sounded this cool since Love Gun.
And then there’s “Domino”. Big, thumpin’ bass, Simmons finally sounding like the demon he has been promising to be since God of Thunder.
Even the clunkers, like “Spit”, don’t totally fail. Because there is just enough subterranean quasi-blues to keep it afloat.
But “Heart of Chrome” sounds way too much like Dr. Feelgood for my comfort. “Every Time I Look At You” is another attempt at balladry, with it’s sweeping acousting flourishes and piano and strings. One of the biggest issues I have with this kind of sludge isn’t that it’s so cloying or obvious. It’s that Stanley’s voice is at its most bare. It’s not hidden behind a wash of guitars. So, all I can hear is that he’s a terrible vocalist. There’s a little lisp in there, that very fey quality that doesn’t really work (for me) and he spends so much time trying to sound earnest that he comes out sounding inauthentic. And the song drips with cheese.But it doesn’t suck. That must be noted.
Revenge is a solid record. It could be shorter, but that goes without saying in the era of the CD.
Grade B
ASIde: Unholy, God Gave Rock and Roll To You II, Domino
BlindSide: Take it off, Tough Love, I Just Wanna
DownSide: Heart of Chrome
