 |
I am just a boy,
And my future is unveiling
And I'm so frightened of failing...
|
I used to consider myself a very passionate, faithful KISS fan. Inasmuch as such a thing can define a person, I would have considered it one of my defining traits. But it was a lie.
About a month ago I popped in the classic debut album for about the thousandth time, heard the fat thunder of the drum intro to "Strutter," and felt a walloping sort of malaise sink in. This again. Even "Deuce" had, in that moment, lost its usual rousing magic for me. I ejected the disc and placed it back in its case. I looked at the album cover, and I just couldn't connect with those four faces the way I always had been able to in the past.
I slept fitfully that night, full of fears impossible to articulate, sliding down a giant tongue towards the lake of fire that I have always believed officially represents middle age, at least from a pop-culture perspective. I woke up in a cold sweat and thought about the KISS songs I knew and the albums I had listened to all the way through. Greatest hits; the most classic of all their albums - these were the things I based my fandom on, and my delusions of KISS Army grandeur. No wonder I had grown bored - in a catalog of dozens of albums and hundreds of songs, I had explored a mere fraction!
I drifted for a few days through a wilderness of confusion. "Am I really a KISS fan? Do I deserve to be called a KISS fan?" I decided that I did not, but rather than turn away from the iconic painted faces in shame, I would earn my right to be a soldier in the KISS Army. And the best way I could think of to do this would be to immerse myself in the world and music of the band's most divisive, least popular, most reviled album of all time.
I decided to enter the world of The Elder.
"Do you understand? Will you sacrifice?"
"Do you understand? Will you sacrifice?"
I knew of "Music From The Elder" only in passing. It was the worst album of the band's career, a complete and utterly fetid turd from start to finish, and was the death-blow of the band's rapid and stunning late-70's fall from grace. I was surprised when I went online to find that, over the years, the album had undergone a major reappraisal, and for every cry of "SHIT!" I found another that claimed the album to be the band's ultimate achievement, a mature masterpiece unlike anything the band attempted before or after.
Color me intrigued.
The history was this: KISS had released six classic, heavy studio albums in four years, plus two iconic live albums. They had achieved the world domination that had been their goal from the start. The only thing bigger than their success were their egos, so large had they grown that it threatened to tear the band apart. As a measure to placate each band member, it was decided that all four would record and release (on the same day in 1978) solo albums. These albums were seen (and rightfully so) as a grossly indulgent publicity stunt. Between the four records, there would have been enough stellar material for another classic KISS album, but spread across eight sides of vinyl, the whole affair came across as a bloated cash grab. Fans began to worry.
With their solo ventures out of their systems, one could have been forgiven for assuming the band would get back to rocking on their next collaborative effort, 1979's "Dynasty," but what KISS delivered instead was an album that was painfully aware of popular trends, and which even flirted with (gasp!) disco in places. It was commercially successful, but the band's new sound, coupled with the rampant KISS marketing (which has never really let up) of the era led many of the faithful to leave the fold. 1980's follow-up album "Unmasked" actually took the band farther in this new direction, and was a commercial and critical disaster. Drummer Peter Criss was fired from the group, adding further turmoil to an already troubled time. KISS was spiraling fast.
Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley promised a return to form with the band's next effort, actually declaring that it would be "the heaviest album they'd ever done." To try and reconnect with their glory days, they hired uber-producer Bob Ezrin, the mastermind behind the group's triumphant 1976 album, "Destroyer," who was fresh off his involvement with Pink Floyd's opus "The Wall." Ezrin heard the heavy demos the band had been preparing and said, "Boys, what you need is a concept album." Excited by the potential for a GRAND ARTISTIC STATEMENT that would restore the band's popularity with its fans, and earn it a bit of much-needed critical respect, work was taken to turn a short story by Simmons into a full-fledged conceptual masterpiece.
Not only was the resultant album NOT "the heaviest album they'd ever done," it featured classical music, mystical lyrics, and choirs. They band had revamped their look, paring down their costumes and hairstyles and adopting a more serious image to match their more serious sound. Word got out about this travesty, and the record-buying public stayed away in droves. "Music From The Elder" became the worst-selling album of the band's career, and signified rock bottom for the group. They quickly tried to distance themselves from the entire enterprise, and released a follow-up album a mere six months later, with crunching guitars and a monolithic drum sound, self-consciously delivering on their promise to drop their heaviest album up to that time. But it was too little, too late.
In many ways, KISS have been running from "Elder" ever since.
Not only was the resultant album NOT "the heaviest album they'd ever done," it featured classical music, mystical lyrics, and choirs. They band had revamped their look, paring down their costumes and hairstyles and adopting a more serious image to match their more serious sound. Word got out about this travesty, and the record-buying public stayed away in droves. "Music From The Elder" became the worst-selling album of the band's career, and signified rock bottom for the group. They quickly tried to distance themselves from the entire enterprise, and released a follow-up album a mere six months later, with crunching guitars and a monolithic drum sound, self-consciously delivering on their promise to drop their heaviest album up to that time. But it was too little, too late.
In many ways, KISS have been running from "Elder" ever since.
 |
| Serious artists, the "Elder" era |
So, perhaps it was that I was punishing myself for my shallow devotion to this great band by choosing "The Elder" as the pool I would dive into. But I was honestly intrigued by the dual nature of the reactions the album has drawn from critics and fans over the years. Depending on who you ask, it is either the greatest or the worst thing KISS ever did. That can't help but spark at least a little curiosity, right?
First, I've never bought that whole argument about bands "selling out" by changing their sound. To me, a band's catalog albums are like pieces of a bigger picture. Let's say a debut album is blue - the band has added that color to their picture. The next album is red - it goes on the picture. If the third album is also red, well, it adds nothing new to the picture. In defense of the KISS albums from the late '70's that alienated so many fans - at least they added new shades to the picture. "Shandi" (from 1980's "Unmasked" album) is pop lite, but why not? If you want to hear "Strutter" again, play "Strutter" again. It doesn't mean the band sucks, or that they have sold out; it just means they are trying to grow.
In that regard, "The Elder" could be regarded as KISS' masterpiece. No joke - in a long career filled with taking it safe and never veering too far from the same formula (as successful a formula as it admittedly is), "Elder" is the biggest risk that KISS ever took. And even though their popularity was at an all-time low which would indicate they had nothing to lose, they really had everything to lose with this album. And for the most part, that's exactly what happened.
I don't think anyone gave the album a fair shake in 1981. It seems both fans and critics punished KISS for trying to be more than they were - a big, loud, dumb rock band. Sure, "Elder" is held down somewhat by the limitations of the band - it's no "The Wall," but I find the story accessible and suitably compelling, the plot clear, and the songs strong. Indeed, before diving into "The Elder," I had assumed the entire album would be strings and syrupy synths, when in fact it includes some of the band's heaviest rockers. Mostly, the tracks are either "heavy" or "not heavy," but there are places where the disparate sounds really come together, as on the epic, cavernous "Under the Rose," one of the album's best tracks.
There are a few missteps, as well. Paul's falsetto on some tracks is corny, and the bloated track "Odyssey" (the only track not written at least in conjunction with a member of the band) sounds like it would have fit in with one of the roller-skate disco musicals that seemed so popular at the dawn of the 80's. Campy to the max. And the orchestral "fanfare" that begins the album is superfluous, but it's only 90 seconds long, for crying out loud!
Overall, though, "Elder" kicks ass, and I would venture to say that a certain amount of mystique has built around it over the last few decades. Modern KISS shows invariably feature fans howling for tracks from the album, and roaring approvingly at only a mere few seconds of a familiar riff from it. Gene Simmons' excellent track "World Without Heroes" got performed at various unplugged events for the last twenty years or so, and the band has whipped out a full-on performance of "The Oath" at shows in the last few years.
Could a full-blown, orchestral live rendition of the complete album be on the horizon?
Ha ha, fat chance. But listening to basically nothing but "The Elder" for two weeks has really opened my eyes to the greatness of the primal classic rock force that was and is KISS. I went back to the beginning and can now say I've listened to all the "makeup" albums from start to finish. Rather than finding the well-known classic tracks surrounded by clunky filler, I was surprised to find each album so packed with quality material and so many unexpected surprises. Everybody knows "Rock 'n' Roll All Nite" (from 1975's "Dressed to Kill"), but when was the last time you listened to "Torpedo Girl" (from 1981's "Unmasked")? It rocks. You should hear it.
Here it is:
I wasn't alive when "The Elder" was released, but coming to the album (and the two albums that immediately preceded it) today, with fresh ears, I can't understand what inspired all the anger. I guess disco was the Great Satan to rockers and metal-heads in the late 70's, and KISS' forays into these realms was an unforgivable breach of rock 'n' roll trust. But take away that drama and what you are left with over three decades later is simply great music. Bands today make take years between album releases - KISS released at least one new album of music every year between 1974-1985. And listening to them sequentially, it's readily apparent that artistic growth was happening within the band members, if the end product all seems to blend together in retrospect. Their progression wasn't as dramatic as, say, that of The Beatles, but it was there, nonetheless.
It's hard to imagine the KISS of 1974 having the confidence, musical chops, or imagination to tackle a project like "Elder." But a mere seven years later, they were able to make their vision a reality. It was ahead of its time, behind the times, painfully OF its time, and somehow, utterly timeless in equal measure.
Sort of like the band that spawned it.
First, I've never bought that whole argument about bands "selling out" by changing their sound. To me, a band's catalog albums are like pieces of a bigger picture. Let's say a debut album is blue - the band has added that color to their picture. The next album is red - it goes on the picture. If the third album is also red, well, it adds nothing new to the picture. In defense of the KISS albums from the late '70's that alienated so many fans - at least they added new shades to the picture. "Shandi" (from 1980's "Unmasked" album) is pop lite, but why not? If you want to hear "Strutter" again, play "Strutter" again. It doesn't mean the band sucks, or that they have sold out; it just means they are trying to grow.
In that regard, "The Elder" could be regarded as KISS' masterpiece. No joke - in a long career filled with taking it safe and never veering too far from the same formula (as successful a formula as it admittedly is), "Elder" is the biggest risk that KISS ever took. And even though their popularity was at an all-time low which would indicate they had nothing to lose, they really had everything to lose with this album. And for the most part, that's exactly what happened.
I don't think anyone gave the album a fair shake in 1981. It seems both fans and critics punished KISS for trying to be more than they were - a big, loud, dumb rock band. Sure, "Elder" is held down somewhat by the limitations of the band - it's no "The Wall," but I find the story accessible and suitably compelling, the plot clear, and the songs strong. Indeed, before diving into "The Elder," I had assumed the entire album would be strings and syrupy synths, when in fact it includes some of the band's heaviest rockers. Mostly, the tracks are either "heavy" or "not heavy," but there are places where the disparate sounds really come together, as on the epic, cavernous "Under the Rose," one of the album's best tracks.
There are a few missteps, as well. Paul's falsetto on some tracks is corny, and the bloated track "Odyssey" (the only track not written at least in conjunction with a member of the band) sounds like it would have fit in with one of the roller-skate disco musicals that seemed so popular at the dawn of the 80's. Campy to the max. And the orchestral "fanfare" that begins the album is superfluous, but it's only 90 seconds long, for crying out loud!
Overall, though, "Elder" kicks ass, and I would venture to say that a certain amount of mystique has built around it over the last few decades. Modern KISS shows invariably feature fans howling for tracks from the album, and roaring approvingly at only a mere few seconds of a familiar riff from it. Gene Simmons' excellent track "World Without Heroes" got performed at various unplugged events for the last twenty years or so, and the band has whipped out a full-on performance of "The Oath" at shows in the last few years.
Could a full-blown, orchestral live rendition of the complete album be on the horizon?
Ha ha, fat chance. But listening to basically nothing but "The Elder" for two weeks has really opened my eyes to the greatness of the primal classic rock force that was and is KISS. I went back to the beginning and can now say I've listened to all the "makeup" albums from start to finish. Rather than finding the well-known classic tracks surrounded by clunky filler, I was surprised to find each album so packed with quality material and so many unexpected surprises. Everybody knows "Rock 'n' Roll All Nite" (from 1975's "Dressed to Kill"), but when was the last time you listened to "Torpedo Girl" (from 1981's "Unmasked")? It rocks. You should hear it.
Here it is:
I wasn't alive when "The Elder" was released, but coming to the album (and the two albums that immediately preceded it) today, with fresh ears, I can't understand what inspired all the anger. I guess disco was the Great Satan to rockers and metal-heads in the late 70's, and KISS' forays into these realms was an unforgivable breach of rock 'n' roll trust. But take away that drama and what you are left with over three decades later is simply great music. Bands today make take years between album releases - KISS released at least one new album of music every year between 1974-1985. And listening to them sequentially, it's readily apparent that artistic growth was happening within the band members, if the end product all seems to blend together in retrospect. Their progression wasn't as dramatic as, say, that of The Beatles, but it was there, nonetheless.
It's hard to imagine the KISS of 1974 having the confidence, musical chops, or imagination to tackle a project like "Elder." But a mere seven years later, they were able to make their vision a reality. It was ahead of its time, behind the times, painfully OF its time, and somehow, utterly timeless in equal measure.
Sort of like the band that spawned it.
No comments:
Post a Comment