The N&G Listening Club V1 - Archive only

I think I've said this somewhere on the forum before but KISS is a huge soft spot for me and an area where any critical faculties completely fail for me. My dad is a huge KISS fan and because of that I grew up around their music from all eras. There's pictures of me as a baby in a crib with KISS make-up themed teddy bears. My parents apparently went to a KISS concert while my mom was pregnant with me. My middle name even comes from a member of the band. Needless to say, they were ubiquitous for me and so it's difficult for me to have too much negativity towards them. I know they are a laughing stock nowadays and I won't pretend none of it is deserved, but my dad's passion for the band and their music had a big hand in me fostering that same kind of passion for the things that I love. I imagine the way that he taught me about KISS and his memories of hearing them for the first time will be something like me trying to explain to my kids someday what it was like for me to discover Gorillaz, a band of fictional characters that impacted me at a young age and, in that sense, became real to me. When I think of it like that, it seems like that kind of love for music really does transcend eras no matter what.
 
When I was little, my dad would put a particular album on his tt. And it would scare the bejeezus out of me. Not because of the music, but because of the cover. And I would hop up onto a big chair and not let any part of me hang off of that chair lest the scary people on the album cover grab me from under the chair. (Kid logic, amirite?).

Well, Lee. Thank you for bringing that album cover back into my life. It was this album. AND MY WHOLE BODY DOESN'T FIT ONTO THIS CHAIR WITHOUT PARTS HANGING OVER! I blame you if I lose a hand or a toe, Lee!

J/K. I am excited to listen to this as an adult and not feel sheer terror. :)
 
Lee Newman said:
I don’t know about them being a laughing stock. I did ponder whether to actually pick them as I know they are not taken very seriously by a lot of music fans.
In the end, I figured this is a safe place and that this group might have interesting things to say about.
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No, they left a permanent mark on music performance for sure. I think in a lot of ways they epitomized Arena Rock. Considering the era they were in they were actually quite refined and professional about their performance. The music was just a vehicle for the performance is all.
 
Lee Newman said:
The music of our youth leaves an undeniable impression on us. It informs our musical taste well into adulthood. Memories are tied to them. It can be as powerful as that smell of mom’s chocolate chip cookies, taking us to a time and place.

Christmas 1979. My parents got me a turntable. It was a Sears Roebuck model that folded into suitcase and looked like a pair of jeans.
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I also got three 45s. Two would lead to a lifetime obsession: The Beatles Hey Jude b/w Revolution and Lady Madonna B/w The Inner Light.

The third, definitely directed a lot of my listening in high school. It was odd and I have no idea what my parents were thinking. First of all, this had to be Tipper Gore moment of parental negligence. While not Darling Nikki at the breakfast table bad, it was still not great given the content of many of the songs on the album the singles came from. I really should ask them.

I sort of know though. While today, I’m not sure my parents listen to anything not made or approved by yhe Gaithers, they were decidedly more hip when I was six. My guess has always been that they’d heard the b-side (which became the band’s biggest hit) on the radio and otherwise oblivious to the antics of the musicians they had just subjected their six old to.

so, I’ve gotten this far and not mentioned the band or album, because until @Bohnjaggs updates the title, there’s a chance this is coming out of left field for you.

The seven inch was Detroit Rock City b/w Beth. That ballad was what I assume my parents heard... they certainly had not heard God of Thunder or Sweet Pain, as I guess my mother would have frowned at such things.

The album this week is Destroyer by Kiss:
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This was the follow up to their live album Alive! That was their commercial breakthrough. Detroit Rock City is about a rocker dying on the way to a show. The band has become a cartoon on the cover. This was a new day for Kiss. A new album. They brought in Bob Ezrin who had work with Alice Cooper and Pink Floyd, to produce. What they got was a weird album... one where Detroit Rock City and Beth work together against all odds. There are more staple type Kiss songs here (looking at you Shout it Out Loud!)

I said I while back that I apologized for the pick I was thinking about. Now you know why.

I’m hoping that we don’t spend the next two weeks pointing out that there is a sexism to some of the songs that is not conducive to certain narratives of the day. I also hope that people can get past prejudices and give this quite weird album a chance.
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I've never actually sat down and listened to a full Kiss album, but I do like it when a band experiments and goes weird, am excited to give this one a shot!
 
I have spent many years trying to get Kiss to click with me... never quite understood the love... until recently where I left double platinum on repeat in the car for a few weeks, and they just suddenly made sense , dumb, stupid but incredibly good fun on a drive home after a crap day at work.. rock n roll all nite indeed
 
Crenshaw Blvd said:
Well, I followed your listening posts enough to see how much you love soul and jazz and (good country) Kiss just really surprised me...not in a bad way...hope it didn’t come across that way.
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No, not bad at all. I love music, so you know. I’m pretty eclectic overall. I know the metalheads find it weird when I post in the metal thread or when I break out Metallica.
 
For anyone wanting a crash course into KISS, an easy way is finding a copy of Kiss ‎– The Originals

A 3 LP set of their first 3 albums. It can usually be found cheap in the bins, but not usually in the best shape - but you could be lucky. The kids didn't treat their KISS albums very well. Most of the time, used copies aren't in the best shape, so a clean copy of any release of theirs is a good find.

Another would be the compilation Kiss ‎– Double Platinum
 
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