The Year Of KISS: Music From The Elder (1981)

“I believe in me.”

Fans of KISS in the United States felt alienated by the band at the beginning of the 1980’s. Thanks to the pop direction that 1979’s Dynasty and 1980’s Unmasked took, listeners accustomed to a harder sound from the group longed for an album that returned to the band’s hard rock roots. Hoping to regain those fans, KISS promised to release a new album in 1981 with a much harder sound, stripping away the pop influence that dominated their last two releases. After thinking a bit more about the situation (and with influence from Bill Aucoin), however, the band decided to make a bold move and released a concept album instead. In November of 1981, Music From “The Elder” was released. It was ill received by fans despite decent reviews and was the first album that KISS did not support with a tour. They only made a few promotional appearances. It also marked the beginning of the end of Ace Frehley’s time with the band.

The album is quite possibly KISS’ most disliked release. That’s a bit of a shocker considering the fact that Bob Ezrin, producer of KISS’ Destroyer and albums for bands such as Deep Purple, Pink Floyd, and Alice Cooper, was at the helm of production for the album. It was much harder than both Dynasty and Unmasked overall, but it also featured orchestral arrangements, minimal input from Ace Frehley, and a bungled track order on the original release.

The concept of the album was based upon a fantasy/science fiction short story idea that Gene Simmons developed. The album was then written and recorded as a soundtrack for the story. There have been rumors over the years of a film being made to accompany the soundtrack but nothing has ever come to fruition. In the story, a young man is recruited by the Council of the Elders, an entity dedicated to saving worlds from evil, to be their hero in a battle against evil in the boy’s world. It’s a bit flimsy if you ask me, but I could definitely see this story playing out fairly well if the story was fleshed out a bit.

The band’s image was dramatically changed for the album and promotional appearances. Following the puffy capes, mirrored vests, and flashy costumes of the Dynasty/Unmasked era, the band revealed a much sleeker, toned down, black-and-white look (save for Paul’s atrocious purple headband). The band also cut their hair much shorter than fans were used to seeing. I’m personally not a fan of this look overall but I always loved Ace’s costume from this era. It was a very cool look in my opinion.

The album performed poorly overall. It topped out at #75 on the US Billboard 200 but did manage to break the Top Ten lists in Germany and Norway. It peaked at #11 in Australia. Two singles were released. I was released internationally, finding its greatest success in Australia at #24 on the charts. A World Without Heroes was released both in the United States and internationally but only managed to reach #55 in the United Kingdom and #56 in the United States. The album featured twelve tracks (although one could argue that the instrumental bookends, Fanfare and Finale, don’t really count) and the song order was intentionally switched on releases in the United States, Europe, and Brazil in the hopes that fans would focus their attention on potential singles.

Track Listing (original 1981 United States release order)

1. The Oath
2. Fanfare
3. Just A Boy
4. Dark Light
5. Only You
6. Under The Rose
7. A World Without Heroes (Single)
8. Mr. Blackwell
9. Escape From The Island
10. Odyssey
11. I (single outside of the United States)
12. Finale

Personnel: (for simplicity’s sake, this is just a general listing of contributions from each individual) Paul Stanley (lead and backing vocals, lead and rhythm guitars), Ace Frehley (lead guitars, lead and backing vocals), Eric Carr (backing vocals, drums, percussion, acoustic guitar), Gene Simmons (bass, lead and backing vocals), Bob Ezrin (keyboards, orchestral arrangements), Michael Kamen (orchestral arrangements), Tony Powers (keyboards), Allan Schwartzburg (drums on Odyssey and I), St. Robert’s Choir (vocals), the American Symphony Orchestra (strings, horns, etc.).

While this album is definitely unique when compared to the rest of KISS’ albums produced before and after it, I have to admit that it’s not as terrible as many people claim. It has quite a few surprisingly heavy tracks including Dark Light, Only You, and the very classic Black Sabbath-sounding Under The Rose. Gene has the best vocal performances overall with Mr. Blackwell, A World Without Heroes, Under The Rose, and Only You, in my opinion. His plodding bass throughout the album is also amazing. Paul’s voice sounds great, especially on I and The Oath. He really shows his range on this album, blasting out with a full falsetto on tracks like I’m Just A Boy and sounding reminiscent of Christian rockers Petra’s first lead singer, Greg X. Volz, on Odyssey. That being said, Stanley’s songs are my least favorites on this album. Ace Frehley penned and performed my favorite track on the album, Dark Light, which also features one of my favorite solos by him. Carr’s drums are great, but he’ll really shine on KISS’ next release.

I can’t tell anyone to go out and buy this album without warning them that this is not a “real” KISS album when compared to their other releases. It’s unique, was a massive risk that unfortunately failed for the band, and is probably not the ideal album to use when introducing potential new fans to the group. I appreciate it for what it is and as I listen to it more often, I’ve become more and more fond of certain tracks.

Thanks for checking out my review. Say what you want about KISS, but they deserve credit for really stepping out of their comfort zone with Music From The Elder. As a concept album, it’s not half bad. As a KISS album, it’s an anomaly that deserves a listen.