KISS Album Covers (KISS through Creatures of the Night only, please)

[buffcoat]

Best: 

Dressed to Kill.  Gene Simmons in high waters.  Peter Criss looks as dapper as a man in cat makeup can get.  Plus reverse photo on the back - who even knew they had that technology in the early 70s?



Worst:

Hotter Than Hell.  Poor copies of black and white photos, plus, what language even is that?  I don't get it.

[pscan]

Best:

ALIVE!
Ace looks like he thinks his guitar is a gun. Paul's pursed lips, Gene's almost licking his chest, and Peter's triumphal arms.

Worst:
Dynasty
Gene Simmons' teeth have given me almost 30 years of nightmares.

[Bryan]

jpegs, please? I've seen the covers, but I think including them would really help these critiques.

[Wes]

Best: 

Dressed to Kill.  Gene Simmons in high waters.  Peter Criss looks as dapper as a man in cat makeup can get.  Plus reverse photo on the back - who even knew they had that technology in the early 70s?

Let's get down to business here. Who best pulls off the look for that cover? Gene obviously comes off the worst on the Dressed To Kill cover, and Paul looks like he's trying too hard to look taller. Is he standing on his toes? I think he is. The cover of Dressed To Kill is an Ace vs. Peter showdown, and I really think Ace wins the day, what with the relaxed foot-up-on-the-pole look and the classic lapel grab. But there's something about Peter's wistful look that makes me want to give him the victory here, since this is probably the only contest where Peter Criss could ever win. Still, gotta go with Ace, the intellectually honest answer.

My favorite KISS album cover:

Because it looks like KISS is trapped in the Phantom Zone.

General note: I would have allowed up through Creatures of the Night for the cutoff point, but I agree with the general sentiment that make-up free KISS album covers have no business being discussed in this thread.

[buffcoat]

Good point - I changed the topic to include Creatures of the Night.  I had forgotten that they were in makeup on that one, although Ace didn't actually play on that album.

I suppose Music from the Elder is also in play, although who on earth will talk about that one?

I'm also including these two imports:



Because how can you not?




Also, priceless commentary (not mine):

Though Killers was never released domestically in North America, it is in the possession of many KISS fans so I feel that it deserves inclusion in these reviews.
    There are only four new songs on Killers: I'm A Legend Tonight, Down On Your Knees, Nowhere To Run, and Partners In Crime.  These songs have never been released in North America except on the CD single for 1989's Forever. I'm A Legend Tonight is a good song, as is Nowhere To Run. Down On Your Knees is OK but Partners In Crime is not so good.  The rest of the album is filled with "greatest hits", though Escape From The Island is a questionable inclusion.
    I am glad that KISS decided to do more of the heavier songs than the pop drivel of the previous couple of albums, but these are pretty unexciting songs whose only significance lies in their collectibility (that's the only reason I spent $35 on the CD) and seeing Paul in that pretty purple headband and Gene's hair tied up like a show-horse's tail.
    Killers gets the honor of being KISS' worst album cover (although Carnival of Souls is a close contender)!

Interesting facts:

The Japanese release of Killers has 2 extra songs on it: Escape From The Island and Shandi.

Bryan Adams co-wrote Down On Your Knees with Paul Stanley.

Nowhere To Run was written for The Elder's sequel album.

Of the 4 new tracks on Killers, Gene appears only Nowhere To Run; Paul performed the bass lines on the other three.
Bob Kulick again played guitar on the four new tracks as Ace was out of commission due to his car accident.
Killers was released for 2 reasons: contractual obligations, and, in many countries, the KISS catalogue was either unavailable or spotty.

Paul was dating actress and future wife of Dan Aykroyd, Donna Dixon, throughout 1981 and 1982.  Paul had a cameo in the movie Doctor Detroit with Aykroyd and Dixon, which I'm sure he regrets performing in--it was on this movie that Aykroyd and Dixon struck up a relationship that led to her dumping Paul and marrying Aykroyd.

They were going to make a *sequel* to The Elder??

[masterofsparks]

I think I like Rock & Roll Over the best, especially if you find an original vinyl copy with the buzzsaw-shaped sticker included:

[buffcoat]

I think I like Rock & Roll Over the best, especially if you find an original vinyl copy with the buzzsaw-shaped sticker included:

I not only have the original sticker, I have an original tracing done by buffcoat, age 10.





This may be my favorite thread ever.

[mcphee from the forum]

Alive is definitely my favorite. They are so obviously standing on a "stage" that's about five feet wide and those cables are clearly going nowhere. What could they possibly be playing there? Not a single member is touching his instrument in any way that would actually cause it to emit any sound. And somehow, despite all this, it looks like probably the best concert ever.


Alive II is a close second. The photos (portraits, really) are so perfect. Paul looks like he is gazing into his own soul. And he likes what he sees. Gene looks terrifying (to an 11 year old me). He looks like the VHS cover of Troll. And Ace looks high and Peter looks like he's staring at the other guys and waiting to be told what to do. Perfect!


My least favorite from the makeup period is Unmasked, without a doubt. It's reminds me of those Spider Man Hostess Pie ads. But without the pie! I can't even remember a single song on this record. Plus: I STILL SAY THEY STINK!

I have a real soft spot for the covers of both Destroyer and Love Gun, too. Especially the latter. But that may be because my love of those albums peaked around the same time that my favorite reading material was Creepy magazine.

[dave from knoxville]

Alive is definitely my favorite. They are so obviously standing on a "stage" that's about five feet wide and those cables are clearly going nowhere. What could they possibly be playing there? Not a single member is touching his instrument in any way that would actually cause it to emit any sound. And somehow, despite all this, it looks like probably the best concert ever.


Alive II is a close second. The photos (portraits, really) are so perfect. Paul looks like he is gazing into his own soul. And he likes what he sees. Gene looks terrifying (to an 11 year old me). He looks like the VHS cover of Troll. And Ace looks high and Peter looks like he's staring at the other guys and waiting to be told what to do. Perfect!


My least favorite from the makeup period is Unmasked, without a doubt. It's reminds me of those Spider Man Hostess Pie ads. But without the pie! I can't even remember a single song on this record. Plus: I STILL SAY THEY STINK!

I have a real soft spot for the covers of both Destroyer and Love Gun, too. Especially the latter. But that may be because my love of those albums peaked around the same time that my favorite reading material was Creepy magazine.

That guy in the last panel could be me.

[buffcoat]

The subtlety and interplay of the lyrics on Love Gun ("No place for hiding baby/No place to run/You pulled the trigger of my.../.../Love Gun") are overshadowed by the fact that its cover is a just a green version of Destroyer, but with less action by the band.

[Spoony]

I prefer the simpler ones, like the self-titled. I think this "tells the story."



But the solo album covers are very handsome as a series as well.

And buffcoat, that is obviously the ancient cuniform of the Sumarian Witch King, a writing so cursed that to even malign it is to open yourself up to terrible, supernatural revenge. Good luck with those boils, dude... I cover my ass when it comes to the ancients. But what can I say, the 70's were crazy.

All hail the Witch-King!

[Wes]

Rock & Roll Over and KISS Killers both feature Ace using his laser beam projection powers, and demonstrating that he can fire lasers from not only his eyes, but also his fingers. This makes them great, because they prove that the Space Ace could totally whale on the rest of KISS in a fight at the same time.

Even if Peter and Paul grabbed him by the arms to restrain him long enough for Gene to get in a swing with the Axe Bass, Ace could just melt Gene with his eye beams, and then teleport himself free from the other two and destroy them with his finger lasers. Ace could teleport, right? It seems like something he could do, but it would be hard to reflect this on an album cover. Unless it was a holographic album cover, like Prince's Diamonds & Pearls.

To balance out my pro-Aceness, he comes off the worst on the Destroyer cover. What kind of leap-into-battle form is that? He's getting in Gene's way. It's almost like he's trying to link hands with him, maybe because Gene has wings and he figures he can glide down into battle with him. Peter, meanwhile, looks like he's just accidentally stepping off that...what is that, anyway? Are they jumping from atop a mound of KISS merchandise? Paul, though, Paul is into it! He's by far the least intimidating of the four - at least the Cat-Man might have claws - but look at that form. Not sure about the look on his face, though. He's either making one of his kissing-faces, or Peter just elbowed him right in the gut.

Disagree about Love Gun being a knock-off of the Destroyer cover. They are similar, yes, but Destroyer is KISS in a post-apocalyptic, 2000 AD future, while Love Gun is KISS in some kind of Robert E. Howard past, only a past where people were all space clowns or super mimes or something.

[mcphee from the forum]

The cover of Love Gun always confused me. Gene is the only one who looks even remotely interested in the sea of women below him. And his interest seems sort of angry and scary. Ace is just all "hell no," while Peter and Paul seem to be engaged in some sort of frotteurism. It's also weird that all of the women look like Paul Stanley.

[Spalding]

Alive I also has the best back cover:



Has a band from Cocaine Heights appropriated this for their own cover artwork yet?

[Spoony]

Has a band from Cocaine Heights appropriated this for their own cover artwork yet?

No one from Coke Town that I know of. The Toilet Boys used that as a template for alot of publicity photos, but that was more out of shameless adoration than irony.