“You need my love, baby, oh so bad….”
Still riding a massive wave of success with both Alive! and Destroyer and eager to solidify their popularity, KISS went back to the studio in September of 1976 to record Rock And Roll Over. Released in November of 1976, the album is considered by many to be the “workhorse” album that is sandwiched between two of KISS’ biggest studio albums, Destroyer and Love Gun.
I can definitely understand the “workhorse” title when compared to the other albums released during KISS’ prime years. Destroyer experimented with new sounds, instruments, and musical stylings. Love Gun fused those new sounds with KISS’ louder and rawer early efforts. Rock And Roll Over feels like the album that should have been released after Dressed To Kill. It sounds just like KISS’ first three studio albums but features a band that is clearly in sync, more mature, and polished. It’s the oddball of KISS’ glory years but I love it. It’s one of my favorite KISS albums.
Produced by Eddie Kramer, who previously produced Alive! and would also produce Love Gun, Alive III, and Ace Frehley (solo album), the album featured ten tracks. Two singles, Hard Luck Woman and Calling Dr. Love, were released with Hard Luck Woman reaching #15 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Calling Dr. Love almost matching its predecessor by peaking at #16. The album itself reached platinum status and went to #11 on the Billboard 200 chart.
Track Listing:
- I Want You
- Take Me
- Calling Dr. Love
- Ladies Room
- Baby Driver
- Love’Em And Leave’Em
- Mr. Speed
- See You In Your Dreams
- Hard Luck Woman
- Makin’ Love
Personnel: Paul Stanley (lead and backing vocals, rhythm guitar, additional guitars), Ace Frehley (backing vocals, lead guitar), Peter Criss (lead and backing vocals, drums), Gene Simmons (lead and backing vocals, bass)
The album is definitely a callback to the group’s first three albums. The guitar solos by Ace are crunchy, fast, and amazing. Peter’s vocals are gritty and sand paper perfection. His drums are boogie woogie and blues inspired as well. Gene gives yet another sinister performance and he shines in particular on Calling Dr. Love. Paul is credited with writing or co-writing five of the album’s ten tracks and you can easily hear his influence on the overall KISS sound on this album. His vocals are amazing as well.
I have quite a few favorite tracks on this album. Hard Luck Woman is one of my favorite KISS tracks of all time. I also love Calling Dr. Love. Ace’s solo on that track is one of my favorites by him. Of the songs that weren’t released as singles, Baby Driver and I Want You are my favorites. I also have to give a nod to Makin’ Love and Ladies Room. Oh, and that opening riff on Mr. Speed! I really can’t find a track on this album that I dislike. All of them are excellent.
I also have to mention the amazing album cover art by Michael Doret. It’s one of my favorite album covers of all time. The stylized heads of the band members are fused together in a circle that looks a lot like a buzzsaw. Each head features a background unique to each member of the band. Gene features fire, Paul features angelic wings, Peter has jungle grass, and Ace is firing lasers out of his eyes with space as a backdrop. It’s a cool cover simply put.
Thanks for revisiting Rock And Roll Over with me today. Let me know in the comments which tracks you enjoy on the album. Up next is Love Gun. It features quite a few of my favorite tracks and I’ll talk about all of them next week. See you again real soon!
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