“Make Me Feel Better…..”
By 1977, KISS was one of the most popular bands in the world. Not only were Alive!, Destroyer, and Rock And Roll Over all successful albums, the band’s name and faces were plastered on tons of merchandise. KISS comics from Marvel, toy guitars, and a KISS radio were all released in 1977 and were soon followed by trading cards, a pinball machine, and more items in 1978. KISS also released their sixth album, Love Gun, in June of 1977. It shipped platinum and is considered to be one of KISS’ greatest albums.
Love Gun contains elements of all of KISS’ other studio albums up to that point. It has sludgy rockers like Hotter Than Hell, raw guitars that echo their self-titled debut, the slick production of Rock And Roll Over, a few sonic experiments as can be found in Destroyer, and the punchy drums and guitars of Dressed To Kill. It’s an amazing album that is home to some of KISS’ most beloved tracks. Of all of the “make-up” year releases, it feels like the most complete album in my opinion.
The album features ten tracks. Two singles were released. The first one, the slightly-less-creepier-than-Goin’ Blind track titled Christine Sixteen, tells the story of a man (Gene Simmons in this case) who has fallen for a sixteen year old girl. It topped out at #25 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart. The second single was the album’s title track, Love Gun. It reached #61 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart and has been a mainstay of every KISS tour since it was first released. Christine Sixteen, however, faded from the band’s setlist in the early 1980’s and has infrequently returned over the years ever since.
Track Listing:
- I Stole Your Love
- Christine Sixteen (Single)
- Got Love For Sale
- Shock Me
- Tomorrow And Tonight
- Love Gun (Single)
- Hooligan
- Almost Human
- Plaster Caster
- Then She Kissed Me
Personnel: Paul Stanley (lead and backing vocals, rhythm guitars), Gene Simmons (lead and backing vocals, bass), Ace Frehley (lead and backing vocals, lead guitar), Peter Criss (lead and backing vocals, drums).
As I previously stated, this album sounds like the fusion of all five of the studio albums that preceded it. I Stole Your Love, Hooligan, and Shock Me remind me of the band’s gritty beginnings. Tomorrow And Tonight makes me think about the first three albums by the group. Love Gun could have easily been a track on Rock And Roll Over. The blistering drums from Peter Criss prove that he’s more than just a jazz drummer at heart. Tracks such as Almost Human recall Destroyer and Plaster Caster is definitely a Dressed To Kill era tune.
This is the first album to feature Ace on lead vocals. He takes the helm on Shock Me and also provides, in my opinion, one of his best guitar solos on the song as well. It’s easily one of my favorite KISS tunes. Hooligan is Peter Criss’ lone lead vocal contribution to the album. It’s one of my favorite tracks on the record. Peter’s aforementioned drums and Paul Stanley’s amazing vocals and sexual innuendo-laden lyrics on Love Gun make it another favorite song of mine.
Gene Simmons’ vocals are strong on all of the songs that he fronts on the album. Christine Sixteen and Almost Human are my favorite tracks by him on this album. Plaster Caster never connected with me for some reason. It’s my least favorite song on the album including the cover of Then He Kissed Me (titled Then She Kissed Me on this album) originally performed by The Crystals and written by Phil Spector, Ellie Greenwich, and Jeff Barry.
Ken Kelly did the amazing cover art. Along with Destroyer (also done by Kelly), it’s probably one of the most recognized and beloved album covers of all time. It has been slapped on tons of KISS merchandise and was also recreated in statue form. McFarlane Toys released an amazing statue of the album cover in 2004 and it has become a highly sought after collector’s item. I personally own a t-shirt and a blanket with the album’s iconic cover emblazoned upon it.
The album is seen by many as one of the group’s best releases. It was the final album to feature all four members of the band on every track. There were internal problems in the band that were starting to affect the group’s mentality and their performances on tour. Despite being on top of the world, KISS’ popularity was about to start fading.
After the release of Love Gun, KISS would release Alive II in October of 1977 and then their first compilation album, Double Platinum, in April of 1978. The group would go on to release four solo albums in September of that same year. I’ll be reviewing those four albums in June and July. In May of 1979 KISS would release Dynasty………and things would begin to fall apart.
I can’t wait for you to read my reviews of Dynasty and Unmasked next month. Those albums and Music “From The Elder” are probably the band’s three most polarizing albums. My last studio album review prior to the “solo album summer break” in June and July will be of Creatures of the Night. Oh, and here’s a photo of Love Gun Girl. She’s a KISS super fan who can be found on Twitter at @Official_LGG and on Instagram at @detroitrockcece. Go show her some love and tell her that Ken’s Alternate Universe sent you her way.
I hope that you’ve enjoyed all of my reviews so far in this series. With six studio albums down it means that I have fourteen left to revisit! Thanks for reading my reviews!
Ken's Alternate Universe! 