Ep. 73 KISS Cover Artwork, What Sucks and What is Iconic on Three Sides of the Coin
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- Опубліковано 1 жов 2024
- Visit www.ThreeSidesO... / threesidesofthecoin / threesidescoin and CALL US at 320-515-4771 and join the conversation. Three Sides of the Coin is a KISS talk show featuring Michael Brandvold and Tommy Sommers.
Episode 73, April 29, 2014 this week we dig into Michael's rack of KISS vinyl and look at the cover artwork of all the KISS albums. Which one's suck? Which one's are iconic? Which one's did Tommy rate a big fat zero? Yeah we missed Psycho Circus, we will get that one next week.
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Since launching a year ago Three Sides of the Coin has been viewed or listened to over 500,000 times. In the last year, Three Sides of the Coin has been joined by special guests including former KISS lead guitarist Bruce Kulick, the Black Veil Brides' Andy Biersack, Frank Munoz associate producer for Ace Frehley's Anomaly album, award winning songwriter Adam Mitchell, Ed Kanon (Peter Criss' drum tech), and Kevin Valentine (drummer on KISS' Psycho Circus album). Three Sides of the Coin was recently picked (October 2013) as a 'What's Hot' podcast by Apple's iTunes.
In the early '90s, Michael Brandvold launched the fifth ever website on the Internet devoted to KISS, KISS Otaku. He was the first to build, launch and maintain Kissonline.com (KISS' official web presence). Tommy Sommers has spent many years on the record show circuit selling memorabilia and meeting many KISS fans.
It's only our opinion... it's neither right nor wrong.
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NSW is New South Wales /Sydney Australia 🙋😀
Aussie Aussie aussie
Always bothered me that they couldn't size the pic on Dynasty without cutting Ace and Peter's chin off.
the back cover of alive is a time capsule, i love that it gives the impression of a big concert arena. i love the look of people, the way they dress in 70's fashion. the guys at the front holding the banner are the real youth, their face are young and ready to rock, they look so happy; you wished you were them. the idea of a great time coming
I still think Rock And Roll Over is their coolest cover. The bright colors and saw blade design ringing the band artwork just looks flat out amazing. I instantly loved it the minute I laid eyes on it. It's a ten on my chart. I also think Destroyer, Love Gun, the solo albums and Dynasty rate tens. They're all very iconic in my opinion. My dislike list is much longer. I pretty much agree with Tommy on all the zero ratings. I was actually laughing while listening. I remember how disappointing it was to see such cheesy covers like Animalize and Asylum back in the day. KISS went from having visually stunning covers to using what looks like Conan The Barbarian's loincloth as a front cover graphic. I almost fell on the floor when reading Face The Music. Paul described how he designed the cover all by himself. What was he thinking? Animalize was the start of a long downhill slide into the land of poor cover designs. Lick It Up was the last decent cover in my opinion. Even Vinnie's wig gets a pass on that one. It is a solid eight in my book.
BentBrent69 great post
Mike I think Lick it Up is a "10"as well...reason being 1.) it was alot of people's first glimpse at them unmasked. 2.)..lol..even VINNIE looked cool on it! 3.) for some reason, they're posturing and poses were neat..with a tiny flare of danger. 4.) and the music on it KICKS ASS!
even though it's painful to look at, you guys forgot psycho circus
I think Tom Sommers should be forced to rank the ones he gave a zero, and not go below zero. Will Animalize get a .1, Asylum get a .3, and The Elder get a .45??We want to know! ;-) But I understand not wanting to bog the show down splitting hairs.
My number 1 would be Creatures of the Night for all of the reasons you guys stated. It just describes the contents of the album perfectly.
Honorable mention would be Double Platinum, but I think it's because it was my first album and takes me back to that part of my life when I was first discovering KISS.
I think that Michael Brandvold's Smashes, Thrashes & Hits gatefold might be the picture disc. I have the same one, and if I remember right, it's a picture disc. Although I think my back cover was different, so it might not be the same. Will have to check at home.
The Creatures gatefold cover is most likely from H&H Marketing. They were doing a lot of KISS vinyl in the early 90's.
Iconic (for me because of when I saw it) Alive II. Gene... the blood ... nuff said. Favorite (tie) would be Creatures (even if Ace wasn't on the album) and the solo albums (simply because they gave such a clear view of the makeup designs so they could be applied to my face or drawn). Least favorite - Smashes and thrashes.
Agree with most of your opinions but don't agree on Lick It Up cover. I think you guys are letting the emotions of the sight of the first cover without make up cloud your impressions. That cover is boring but not the worst....Unmasked is HORRIBLE!!! I agree they should have used the bottom picture with them holding the masks as the cover. Best cover for me is Dynasty. Simple but nice close up shots of the four.
I've said before how a DJ my Dad was friends with gave me Destroyer the day I was born (It was a radio Demo or something like that- some promo copy) on March 10th of '76 a few days before it went on sale, but even without that, Destroyer is my favorite album cover of all time.
It's just epic. I can't count the number of times I've looked at that cover and let my mind wander. I've created hundreds of stories of the destroyed, decaying landscape. Sometimes, KISS were the Destroyers and other times the Saviors.
I can't look at the cover and think of the Shelley Poem, "Ozymandias". In fact during Jr. High I was able to use the background image of the crumbled city in a presentation I had to do on the poem.
This may be unheard of, but I also love the Elder cover. In retrospect I can see how it would be a letdown to people used to the usual KISS cover but since I really wasn't old enough to really appreciate music until long after it's release (remember I wasn't even a teenager until Hot in the Shade came out) I didn't buy the album until about 1993-94.
I see it as saying to the buyer "This is a new direction, a new sound for a new idea we want to explore. Don't expect Love Gun or Detroit Rock City on this album." Plus the entire idea of the cover stirs my imagination (as you can see, I daydream a lot lol). What is the person going to find on the other side of the door? When they enter will they find pleasure or pain, hate or love, peace or war?
Elder is an amazing album if you pretend it's not a KISS album. Then again, I'm a sucker for concept albums (especially those of Alice Cooper). While listening to it, I close my eyes and let the music move the story as my mind paints the characters, places and events.
Sorry for being so long winded here, I know there's probably not anyone who cares about what I said or how I listen to certain albums or analyze covers. However, I believe it does fit the conversation of the episode.
Enjoyed another episode gentlemen. Actually I went "back in time" to some of your earlier ones (before I knew of your page) and now I feel like an ass for encouraging you both to hang and have a few brews with me at the Indy Expo. I now realize that, in general, your perception of the Expos is quite negative. I suppose that if I had been to actual KISS Conventions or some of the earlier Expos such as you described that I might also share your opinion. However, as Einstein proved, all is relative between observers with different frames of reference. I have only been to the Indy Expo - and only in the past 2 years. So for me, its still a rather new and fun experience (meeting Eric, Tommy, the Kulick bros, Mr. Speed the tribute band, and all the merch) and I have no earlier reference to compare it to - but I can see your point. If they keep doing the same thing every year it won't take long to tire of it. Gene was there last year, but I was not about to pay him $300 for the chance to meet him after just reading his book about money, sex and more money...something like that...LOL. Thankfully, I enjoy Indy Expo with my two brothers (one who travels all the way from Oregon) and its more than just an Expo for that reason alone.
I reeeeeally do NOT like the Monster cover. The title is stupid, the photo is not good to me....I just can't stand the way Paul poses in it, and I LOVE Paul! The cover just looks home made. And yeah, I agree the logo is a ripoff off the drink. I've looked at the drink logo a bunch of times and thought "what the hell??" It just seem so non-creative to me, the cover. Just take a photo and slam some silver around it and there you go. I get it records don't sell anymore, but it just looks so weak to me. They could have made a far far better cover. In my opinion. But to clarify: I love the current version of the band and I was even on a Meet & Greet for the Monster tour in Stockholm and loved every minute of it.
The Dressed to kill front and back album cover is a"copy" of the Slades Play it loud album.
BTW, I always thought the Sonic Boom artwork looked like a candy bar wrapper.
Gregory Pegg I think you are on to something
Tom Sommer
Tom Sommers what is your guilt pleasure of kiss albums?
I still remember my dad's reaction that Vynl was coming back. He couldn't belive that there are more records in Wal-Mart now than CDs
My dad had a similar reaction. lol
The first 2 vynls I got were KISS HitS and The Black Parade from MCR. My dad was like "Why do you want a record? don't you own the CD?"
Also, I have purchased Paul's book and I literally read the first 9 chapters in one sitting. As a 12 yr old who was absolutely awestruck with this band (fyi...I relate totally to Michael's history and first introduction to this band with Rock and Roll Over - I got it with one of those choose twelve 8-track tapes for a penny deals), I would never have imagined Paul's early life and inner turmoil - not to mention his physical issues. Thanks again for that great book review. I was fortunate enough to get a signed copy, and it will always be a nice addition to my limited, but special KISS collection.
took some notes and will do some serious dicussion.mike and i had a lot of the same points. Mike you destroyed. ALIVE for me, i thought that was a very cool live shot!!
Agreed!!! Alive was my first Kiss Album, And in that cover, they are on fire.
darb roch i mean mike killed the photo of alive for me ...i always thought it was a really kewl live shot
One small thing about the Rock and Roll Over cover..You can turn it all four ways and its the same cover just with a different person in the top left image of the four faces..When youre holding it normal where the record slides out the right side, Paul and Gene are on top. But if you turn it once, Peter and Paul are on top. The logo is in the exact same spot. Of course everybody in the band would think to be on top and not upside down would be better. I think if you went through Peter Criss' record collection and pulled out Rock and Roll Over, the record probably falls out the bottom
Yeah, I always turned it upside down, so Ace and Peter were on top. They were my favorite. Although recently, the other two are getting more respect for the business end of it and keeping the band going through the years...
Hi from Madrid, Spain
1.-I think THE ELDER is actually a great cover! it remainds me of the works of the HIPGNOSIS studio, who did enigmatic, almost surreal covers such as "Dirty deeds..." by AC/DC, "Wish you were here" (Pink Floyd), "Never say die" (Black Sabath) or "Lovedrive" (Scorpions)
2.-I agree with Tommy. That "S" missing on the cover of "DRESSED TO KILL" really bothers me!
3.-I can´t believe you didn´t mention the hideous work done on Eric Carr´s legs on the back of Asylum, where the drummer had his legs VERY artificially stretched to make him as tall as the other three!
4.-And there must have been some issues with the "MONSTER" logo, since it has been modified on the following pressings.
5.-One more thing: This capter wouldn´t load on my iPod or my iPad!! That never happened before (it did load on my Mac & Macbook, strange...)
While I don't think it's all that great, I don't think it's totally fair to judge the vinyl version of Unplugged. That cover was clearly designed for the most popular format of the time, CD. I don't know why it wasn't blown up completely for a vinyl cover. Perhaps it wasn't high res enough? But the CD version should be what's judged, and that's coming from another Kiss vinyl collector.
I agree, Aaron. Great-great-great topic and, mind you, I am an avid vinyl collector (+9,000), but a cover is a cover and the correct Unplugged cover is the compact disc version.
NSW = New South Wales I believe...
Also, all that 90s vinyl = Awesome...and yes, Syme did the Revenge cover.
This is a tough one.
1) Love Gun - Costume upgrade and hot chicks at the feet of superheroes. That's KISS.
2) Alive! - If you're gonna pose, this is how you do it! (Ace playing his guitar upside down! As a kid I was like, "how is he playing like that?). In 1975, that cover was outrageous.
3) Dressed to Kill - First Kiss album I ever saw. It's just cool.
4) Hotter Than Hell - Very creative and made the band look "Sex, drugs and rock and roll" Also thought the band photo was one of the first great photos of the band. I looked at this cover for hours trying to understand what was going on. Ace in the silver dress. Paul's arm where Peter is holding it - there is something weird about Paul's arm that looks like Peter is holding to cover it up.
6) Tie - RARO, Destroyer and Creatures. All great covers for the obvious reasons. RARO is such a creative drawing.
Honorable mention - The Originals. At the time, I was really into early KISS. Like the fire coming out of Gene. Was a powerful looking cover for an early album re-issue.
Album covers I think suck. Alive II - Poor layout. Inside photo should have been cover somehow. To be fair, the wide inside photo is the money shot, so I understand the outside. Dynasty - Is this the best they could do? They look tired. Gene's expression is silly. But the poster, again that should have been the cover. Unmasked - I still think it stinks!
I am not anal retentive with my vinyl listing either lol....I am lucky that the records are in same letter of alphabet,thats good enough for me.I cant really rate them totally..never been good at that..My fave covers are Rock n Roll Over,Alive,Destroyer,Love Gun,Alive II,COTN,Revenge......altho....for interest I get a kick of the cheesiness of Unmasked with the whole comic strip thing and Lick It Up because seriously,I went to Full Cyrkle Records in Crystal Lake,IL on the first day it came out....and I have to admit for a simple cover...it so stood out due to the signifigance of them being unmasked.After COTN for the 80s...didn't stand the rest of those covers...Asylum ugh lol...also for a collector standpoint on "Originals"..I have to tell you that one is extremely hard to find at leas in good shape...found 2 copies in 35 years but so beat up...I don't need a Mint copy either Mike..I am completely agreed with you as to why.....great episode guys love KISS vinyl
Its all a mater of Opinion, so heres Mine
BEST = unmasked because of the cartoon cover. Crazy Nights because of the Broken Glass. Destroyer, Rock & Roll Over because of the images behind each character. WORST = Hot in the shade, a sphinx with shades on?
Music from the elder a Hand over a Door?
Aimalize. I mean come on Leppard Tiger & Zebra Print?
Yeah.# 1 LOVE GUN love the posing, the girls. Fangs on Gene, garter on Paul ect.. BAD ASS)2-Destoyer. Iconic.'nuff said.Rock n roll over.My 6th grade book cvr was made of this in '76.Alive…truly captures the concert experience.The 4 solo cvrs bad ass.HATE unmasked.Like elder.Creatures pretty good.Monster….I think they shoulda done a Painting. It was Ok.Alive 2…..Pretty damn great.Reminds me of being 14.Dont care for the No makeup cvrs much.
Kiss - 10
Hotter - 8
Dressed - 6
Alive - 8
Destroyer - 10
RnR Over - 7
Love Gun - 9
Alive 2 - 7
D-Platinum - 8 (but I've never seen the LP in person).
Dynasty - 7
Unmasked - 5
Elder - 4, except the gatefold pic, which is kinda cool.
Creatures - 8
Creatures, alt. cover - 6
Lick - 8
Animalize - 7
Asylum - 6
Crazy Nights - 7
S,T, & Hits - 5
Revenge - 8
Alive 3 - 7 (And that looks a LOT better on LP than the CD version I'm familiar with).
KissMyAss - 0! It just looks like crap-o-rama!
The other covers I'm not familiar enough with to give a rating.
My favorite is the S/T cover. It looks dark and mysterious, yet fully glam rock. It's also my favorite Kiss record, great thumping glam rock the whole time (except for the 2 light songs).
Kiss My Ass is just terrible, but it's not even a kiss record, just a covers album. It just looks cheap and thrown together. (Hard to Believe was, indeed, better).
Damn I forgot Double Platinum lol....I really loved that cover...I remember buying that in 78 ..didn't care for the Strutter dance mix remake lol but I still have that with a unwritten insert of the record award where u could put ur name in....I know slightly off topic but KISS was the first band that I remember with the inserts in the albums...it was extra bit of fun in the KISS buying experience..love it
#1 Creatures Of The Night
#2 Love Gun
#3 Destroyer
#4 Rock And Roll Over
#5 Solo Albums
#6 Revenge
#7 Dynasty
#8 Dressed To Kill
#9 Crazy Nights
#10 Alive!
#11 Kiss (Debut)
#12 Lick It Up
#13 Double Platinum
#14 Monster
#15 Unmasked (Like the comic strip but I agree the end of it sucks & kinda ruins it)
Worse album cover, Music From The Elder, very boring cover. Absolutely love Creatures Of The Night cover spent hours looking at it as a kid in my brothers vinyl collection, love the blue faces & glowing eyes. Unplugged CD cover is different than the vinyl cover. Inside photo of Alive 2 should have been the cover even though the photo would have been smaller.
Here's one for the (Self titled) album from Pauls book: The photographer who shot our first album cover , Joel Brodsky, had done the Strange Days cover for the Doors. When we showed up at his studio, he was very friendly and seemed genuinely excited. “Look what I’ve got for you!” he said. He brought out a carton filled with all sorts of straw hats and red rubber noses. What the hell?
“You know, for your pictures,” Joel said. “No, I don’t think you understand,” we told him. “We’re serious. We’re not clowns. This is what we do.” He was stunned. “You mean, you guys aren’t meant to be funny?”
Stanley, Paul (2014-04-08). Face the Music: A Life Exposed (p. 132). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.
Really enjpyed this episode. I agreed with most of your assessments, and even the ones I didn't maybe agree 100% with, I thought your responses were solid.
One album was omitted ... Psycho Circus.... which I would give a 5-6.
Not sure I have a favorite or a most hated cover. If Tommy can give zeros, I can avoid that part of the homework.... I have groups. Destroyer, Creatures of the Night (orig.) and Revenge are probably my top level. The covers popped and really set the tone for the music. I like Alive!, Rock and Roll Over, Love Gun, the solos and Lick It Up because of the emotions that they stirred when I first picked them up. In the day, the covers for Animalize, Asylum and Crazy Nights really stood out for me, because "my" band was "acceptable to a lot more of my friends because they went for more of a then-"current" look. Now that I look back, not so much. They could've been a lot better. They could have shown the bands of the day "how the big boys do it," but they didn't. Dynasty, Unmasked and (Music from) The Elder missed because they could've done more to utilize their over the top color and and costumes and their "new" moody and darker looks. KISS, Hotter Than Hell and Dressed to Kill never did much for me. With KISS, Peter's makeup and Ace's hair always bugged me. HTH was too busy and didn't merge well. D2K should've been more "Superman." As far as Sonic Boom and Monster, I get the feeling that they figured anything they sold would be in a digital download format and that many of today's buyers are too young to remember the joy of holding an actual album. I liked the faces on YWTBYGTB, but they could've popped more too. HITS was a miss... Like you guys said, wrong kind of cover. (Side comment there, were they trying to hang with Van Halen with that title? OU812 and F.U.C.K...)S.T. & H. was too "Decline of Western Civilization" ego driven.
that first album cover is not great. they should have taken more time to get the image right from the very start and maybe not have the band on every cover. HTH, eh. would have made the first 2 albums paintings instead of photos. DTK, pre-wish you were here feel with the suits and all. blowing up the front cover is a good idea. i like the negative photo. DESTROYER, classic. RNRO, classic. it's just the perfect iconic emblem for a sticker, patch or pin to wear or slap on something you own. would have taken off the rays that shoot out of ace's eyes. i don't understand why they were left on there...unneeded. LG, another classic. DYNASTY, another opportunity squandered for a classic painting or concept. THE ELDER, an artwork concept that's more interesting than the music. maybe the band could have been at the table inside of the cover. COTN is an album that is begging for a classic painted cover. LIU, eh. ANIMALIZE, i like the animal skins theme. ASYLUM, CRAZY NIGHTS, HITS and REVENGE, eh. PC and SB colorful decent concepts just take the bands faces off of the cover. and MONSTER, was it sponsored by the drink? becuz that is what the title font reminds me of. all in all the bands artwork should have been more fantastical and not so much photographic imo.
My Fave is Dynasty...4 Faces in your Face...I have a Signed Copy from the Original KISS and it's proudly up on my Wall.
KISS Creatures of the Night #1 That Cover hints at the hard ass LP inside like few ever had, Great picture, Great color, Great concept
The worst? No doubt Asylum. looks lie an album by the Motels. Nuff said
KISS (Self Titled) - 6 - Wish they'd just used the standard logo in metallic silver on the front. Sufficiently announces to the world that the band is completely insane. There was something enthralling as a kid to Peter's makeup being so elaborate... we assumed he got tired of making it look so complex and simplified it. Back is fine except the dumb arches.
Hotter Than Hell - 7 - I'd have done many things differently on the cover as a designer, but I like the Japanese concept and it seems prescient given how they would eventually be received there. My friend's grandmother objected to it because she thought Peter was holding a female breast... on Paul. True story.
Dressed to Kill - 9 - Excellent, thoughtful concept, classy execution. Wouldn't change a thing, front or back.
Alive - 9 - This one is just about dead-on... the front glorifies the band, the back glorifies and prioritizes the fans, the gatefold with the notes develops the mystique of the makeup and advertises the back catalogue, and the photo book hooked a gazillion kids. It just looks like the times.
Destroyer - 10 - Iconic for the band and the times. Emblematic. The definitive KISS album cover. They seemed otherworldly and powerful. I drew it many, many times as a kid.
Rock and Roll Over - 10 - I recognize the raw power of the Destroyer art, and I wore it as a belt buckle. But as an adult and a professional designer, I absolutely love the RARO art. It has a sophistication and deliberateness of execution that wouldn't be matched until Dynasty, and matches the charge and electricity of the music on the album.
Love Gun - 6 - A retread of Destroyer, but far less successful, and too soon. If the "KISS women" concept wasn't part of it, this would be a complete throwaway.
Alive II - 10 for the incredible photos, 6 for the design. Although this cover absolutely demanded your attention on the record rack, which was essential then.
Solo Albums - 9 - Absolutely beautiful, and successfully communicated the ambitiousness (and pretentiousness) of the project. To this day, despite the mixed results, I defend the concept of the solo albums as an instance of a band giving the fans exactly what they wanted but never thought any band was crazy enough to give them.
Dynasty - 10 - Comes at you like a cannonball. The closest KISS ever came to being hip and fashionable. A snapshot of the makeup designs at their most perfected. Love the gray border and red copy. This is just a flawless design, although I agree with those who say that the straightjacket poster photo would have made a great back cover.
Unmasked - 2 - This is KISS laughing at themselves. Humiliating and juvenile. Artistically and conceptually, the cover is great... clever, even... but it is utterly inappropriate for a KISS album. Would love a chance to redesign it to fit the music. But, I guess Australia fell for it.
Music From The Elder - 3 - As a marketing tool to draw in consumers and compel them to buy, this cover makes no sense to me. Which may make it the perfect cover for this album. The gatefold should have been more interesting, because you open that boring outside cover "door", and the room inside is essentially empty and dark and just as boring. There's no payoff.
Killers - 1 - Looks like a truckstop bootleg. Love the photo, and it would have been nice to have at least one good album cover that captured the band during their short hair phase. But we do not.
Creatures of the Night - 10 - Perfect for the content, perfect for the band. I don't even object to the baby pink lettering. I wondered when they reissued this with Kulick on the cover if they weren't trying to create a revised history/narrative where "Unmasked" was the band's unmasking, rather than "Lick It Up".
Lick It Up - 10 - Just the band in street clothes, unmasked in front of nothing. Take them or leave them, the hype and gimmicks are gone. Love the black logo and text.
Animalize - 2 - If there was ever a KISS album that should have featured a ridiculous photo of a big-haired 80s woman, this was it. Think "Out of the Cellar" by Ratt. Instead, we have big game/Tarzan.
Asylum - 5 - This is a good concept, but poorly executed. As I understand it, Paul was inspired by the Motels' "Shock" album. Had it been done that well, this could have been a great cover. Like the carry over of the Dynasty era band colors, although I guess Carr would have had to have green lips.
Crazy Nights - 7 - There's just nothing wrong with this cover. The band looks cool. I like the reappearance of the Japanese symbol from "HTH", but would have liked to have seen it on the front cover, too.
Hot in the Shade - 1 - Everything is wrong with this cover. The band does not look cool. A million ways this album title could have been illustrated, and this is possibly the worst of them all. Just nerdy, pathetic, and out of touch.
Revenge - 10 - The last great album cover from the band. Actually, the last good album from the band, IMHO, even if many of the lyrics are a childish embarrassment.
Alive III - 1 - Horrible. Cheap-looking. Backward-looking. The band just released a solid album... are they out of ideas? Out of money?
Carnival of Souls - 1 - Another truckstop bootleg. Kind of emblematic of the hurried shuffling off of the stage of Kulick and Singer.
Psycho Circus - 1 - I have absolutely no use for this cover. Reminds me of Insane Clown Posse. I actually like the album quite a bit, even though I know it is a fraud of epic proportions. I lost much respect for Peter Criss when he claimed in interviews after its release that he played on songs that he obviously did not.
Sonic Boom - 5- Blame this one on illustrator Michael Doret. Paul's idea to bring him back to design this cover was a FANTASTIC one, but in my opinion he did not deliver. The design would have been far better right off the bat if it had used the makeup icons in some form rather than the cheesy posterized photos of their faces. A decent album, actually, but at this point the band felt like a Vegas show to me and I was unconvinced of their commitment to music.
Monster - 2 - Looks deliberately designed to appeal to white trash Walmart shoppers. Blech. I'd have loved to have seen a comic book artist like Greg Capullo brought in to draw some kind of terrifying KISS monster. The pretend Criss and Frehley songs, written and sung to sound like Criss and Frehley, are the last straw for me. This is no longer a band. It is a show. Again, blech.
*None of the compilation album covers are any good, with the possible exceptions of "Ikons" and "Smashes, Thrashes and Hits". Certainly nothing as cool as Japan's "Jigoku-Retsuden".
Destroyer is AWESOME!, not just the best Kiss album cover ever, but one of the coolest ever.
I give it an 11, because: "... this one goes to eleven". :)
BTW, Love Gun was just an updated version of Destroyer IMO, and the original is always better than the imitators.
Not only did you guys miss Psycho Circus (horrendous cover, btw) you didn't touch on Carnival Of Souls, the very last pre-reunion album from KISS. On the Kiss My Ass home vhs tape, Gene gave a preview for the cover they were going with, then the whole thing got shelved. I would have liked discussion about how that might have worked out, had they gone with it...
I didn't read all the comments, just the ones exposed, but I'd assume that NSW is New South Wales, Australia.
Enjoying the show thus far, by the way!
Album #1 is a Beatles swipe,#2 is terrible looking. #3 is iconic and cool to this day. I'm done already,LOL. The winner is Dressed To Kill !!!
After watching the Lydia Criss interview, how about an episode of 3 Sides that focuses on the ex wives of KISS? Maybe you could interview Ace's ex Jeanette, Paul's ex Pamela, any ex girlfriends from back in the day before the band broke big, etc.
You only missed Psycho Circus but I honestly think I agree with all of your opinions.
My favorite cover is definitely Destroyer. I remember my father taking me to a record store cuz he wanted to buy an Elvis Presley Christmas album or something. I was just a little guy, maybe 3 or 4 years old. Anyway, as he's looking around, there it was. Kiss Destroyer!! Who were these four guys? Superheroes? I had no idea, but it struck a chord, even at that young age, I was hooked. I had to have it. Luckily, even though my Dad had no idea what or who Kiss was, he decided to buy it for me. I remember taking my pillow and blanket and laying down beside the stereo speakers and just being entranced by this music, by staring at the cover. That was the day I became a Kiss fan. The worst cover is probably the non-make up Creatures cover. Just a total crock of shit. The original Creatures make up cover is a classic, maybe my second favorite to Destroyer. The original cover gave me hope that Kiss was back. The heavy band I remembered. I couldn't stand Unmasked and The Elder so when Creatures came out, just looking at the cover told me that this was gonna be a special, heavy album and it was. Then I go in a Sam Goody or something and I see the "new" Creatures album. I'm like, what's this? Did Kiss come out with a new album? I pick it up and it's Creatures Of The Night!! What the fuck?!! What a shitty cover!! It's like putting a satin pillow case over a boulder!! That shitty, soft cover has no business being on that dark heavy album. I also agree that most of the 80's albums had really bad covers. Revenge was the best look for the non-make up years, both in album cover, clothes style and sound. I could see Unholy being on a 70's Kiss album easily. I don't like the Monster cover either. I don't know, I don't want to get into the whole "it's not Ace and Peter" thing, but, it kinda looks stupid with Tommy and Eric in the make-up. Just doesn't seem right to me but hey, it is what it is I guess.
Great show guys...
Sorry for the late comment :)
Destroyer is the cover that, as a child, I would get lost into, listening to the songs and imagining each song/story somehow taking place in this wasteland world (in my mind). The Elder, Lick It Up (awful), and Animalize were my least favorite. I loved Crazy Nights for non-make up covers. I have a hard time with Monster because, to me, the Catman and Space Ace are Peter and Ace and I've always thought Eric and Tommy look unnatural and forced in those makeups. Ace Frehley's makeup fits his face and mannerisms. Same with Peter. Take that same cover with Ace and Peter, and it rocks.
Destroyer was my first KISS album , I got it the Christmas of 76. So it had already been out 10 months. I give it a 10 all the way, not just because it was my first vinyl record of KISS but because the art work was so cool. I mean I stared at that album all Christmas Day . My favorite KISS member is ACE so I was kind of disappointed with his pose. The others looked awesome! I always wondered why ACE had only four fingers up and his hand turned down. I must have traced that picture so many times.
Just recently started compiling the Rolling Stones catalogue on CD; anybody else see a similarity between their "It's Only Rock and Roll" album cover and Love Gun (both front and back)? Can certainly see where Mr. Kelly may have drawn his inspiration.
Love _Alive!_ cover, but for me it was always obvious that it's not an actual live shot. The smoke's coming up and they're all obviously posing too perfectly, and very differently - Gene and Peter look like they're perhaps ending a song (tongue out and sticks in the air, the whole deal), Ace is doing his Black Diamond solo and Paul looks at the camera and stands like he's playing a riff :P There's also no motion blur on anything, they're perfectly framed in the small space, etc. However, I guess that for me that was part of why it was so cool - how they put as much of their live traditions into the shot as possible, selling the visual spectacle of the show (and since the audio was staged, the cover might as well be, too! :P). Still, after watching so much concert footage from the 1970's, I think now I'd appreaciate a less spectacular shot of an actual live show, but it works for new customers better the way it is.
Btw Destroyer's iconic cover is often re-printed with horrible colors, everything too dark, which was most obvious on the wall flag which I once ordered... it really took from the effect of the original art. The remastered series cd has a pretty bad printing of it as well (mine does, at least).
Very fun show idea, guys! I looked it up and the NSW on that Dynasty import stands for New South Wales in Australia. Boy, it's a tough call to pick just one favorite, but I guess I'd have to go with Love Gun. Destroyer's the most iconic in my opinion, but since it was the first record I bought of theirs, I think I've just seen it too many times. The girls at the bottom of the Love Gun cover really add something too (especially being a fan of cult B-Movies) and none of the 4 guys look goofy. They all look pretty super heroic and tough. I really like the back too. That cover reminds me of the old Superfriends cartoon and the hall of justice on the back. It's what you'd want things to be like if you were a member of the band (and I think many KISS fans feel that they are a part of the band and rightly so). Many of us want to look cool and powerful and have hot chicks fawning at our feet. Might sound a bit passe but it's true for a lot of us especially when we were teens (and the teens at heart still in us today). My least favorite cover would have to be Carnival Of Souls. It lacks eye catching color and looks like a homemade garage band cover. I really liked this episode and finding out your ratings and reasoning for them. One thing I'd like to suggest if you do any more of these visual type shows (maybe an episode featuring posters or magazines that stood out for you or a show on costumes; I'd love to see more shows like this) would be to hold the items up a bit longer while talking about them. I found a few web pages to see the covers so that I could follow along and see exactly what you were talking about since I don't have any KISS albums on hand right now ad had to rely on memory which was quite a bit off once I found the covers online. I saw a few covers that I never remembered that really stood out. One of my other favorites was the KILLERS cover which might have made a great ELDER cover or inside. I actually really like the UNMASKED comic idea, but I totally see your points about the "stinks" thing. Even though it's not KISS who's saying that and it's a dumb teen, that teen doesn't get any kind of comeuppance and that's how the strip ends. That might have worked better had it been a sleeve or at least on the interior of the album since it was very busy to say the least. (The ASYLUM cover always reminded me of a lipstick/cosmetics ad.) The various KISS album covers and people's various reactions to them sum up people's fascination with KISS in a nutshell. There's a lot in their catalog to love with all your heart, a lot that's forgettable but actually not too bad once you check it out again, and a lot of stuff that makes you shake your head and say "what were they thinking?". And each fan has different picks to fit those categories depending on their own tastes which is pretty darn cool if you ask me. It really is a something for everyone band if you actually don't dismiss them based on pre-conceived notions which aren't exactly the real story. But then again, I say the same thing about "Baywatch" which I love to death (for the obvious reasons of course but also because it actually covered pretty much every genre under the sun if you actually watched it every week; it was actually a feel good family/friends type series underneath those wonderful red swimsuits). I'm sure I lost a lot of credibility for many with that comparison, but what the heck can ya do. Great episode, guys! (PS: I only just now realized Psycho Circus was forgotten about. That's easy enough though since it's nowhere near the top or bottom as far either as albums or covers go for most. Man that could have had a killer cover with that whole circus theme idea.)
Destroyer is the hands down winner for me,but I'm partial to the album as a whole package and that time period of the band..'75-'78 was to KISS what '64-'67 was to the Beatles and Destroyer was their Sgt.Pepper...not a fan of anything past that time period,so as far as least favorite..I guess I'll go w/ the one w/the ass on it, why not.
Thank you, guys, for this very cool and geeky topic. Love love love vinyl.
I have a question for you: What is the point of the 'piece of butter' flying through the air above Gene on Unmasked? My daughter asked me this a few months ago...I had never noticed it and have been puzzled ever since (as the Unmasked poster is on my coffee cup, so I look at it every day). :-)
I know this podcast is about 2 years old now but here's my take. Love the show guys
1. KISS Rating 8 Love the early make-up, they have that hungriness look to them
2. Hotter Than Hell- Rating 3 Never liked this cover thought they could have done something better with a title like Hotter than Hell hate the whole Japanese concept
3. Dressed to Kill Rating 8 Love the guys wearing suits my only complaint is wish the picture of the band was bigger
4. Alive Rating 10 Iconic as hell cover love the live shot even though it was a staged picture who cares it's vintage KISS in concert
5. Destroyer Rating 10 Another iconic as hell cover my first KISS record too nothing more to say love the way the artist depicts the band emerging from a burned out city badass
6. Rock and Roll Over Rating 4 never really liked the whole saw blade concept thought the band looked too cartoonish
7. Love Gun Rating 10 Love it love everything about it the artist captured the band and the albums theme as good as anyone could have-love the women at their feet wanting to please their God's
I will continue the rest later
A little constructive criticism.... You guys need to argue a LOT more! Seriously, you're too cordial. I mean, it's cool that you're respectful of each other's opinion but you were at complete odds over a few of these. Why not have some fun with it? I do agree that the moment in time at which you got any of these records goes a long way toward coloring your feeling about the art itself. Since I'm bothering to write anything, I might as well weigh-in. My favorite was the first album cover because it was the first time I was really seeing these guys so it was like "What the @#&$??" Rhinestone logo was the best! Don't really feel like dissing anything here so I'll leave it at that. Cheers!...
The back of Destroyer should of been the Army inner sleeve. The LG back should of been the blood logo sleeve. RnR over having just one members face from the cover on the back would of been cool. Can u imagine trying to get all 4? That would of been some marketing! Can't believe they didn't think of it. A good boost on sales! That cover kills!!! & guys the inside of D P album is the tour book pics. Witch were also used for the solo LPs.
Best - Love Gun - The best of what a Kiss album cover should look like, hands down
Worst - Hot In The Shade - The almost nonexistent logo, the sphinx sunglasses thing...you guys nailed it, no thought was put into it, at all
I know this is an old episode and I have seen it before, but I like watching a few of these earlier episodes again and although you may have learnt this by now, NSW, as refered to on the Dynasty cover, is New South Whales, which is in Australia. Incidentally, as you may know, it was the release of Dynasty that actually brought Kiss to the attention of the Australian's and also to us here in New Zealand. They had made very little impact here before that album, but when "I Was Made For Lovin' You" hit number one on both sides of the Tasman everyone wanted to know and hear more, so it was good that the group already had a back catalog of albums. Just a little Kisstory from this side of the world that I thought you may be interested in.
Just one comment on the Elder cover, similar to what you guys said, I was extremely disappointed when this came out because it was the first album with the new guy, Eric Carr, whom I hadn't seen a lot of and therefor was so looking forward to seeing him on the cover of this, or somewhere, but no... nothing. BIG mistake.
The cover of Animalize looks like a rug in Rod Stewart's bathroom.
Personally I think Dressed To Kill is just awful. 4 men with face paint in badly fitting suits pulling silly faces. Some fans love it!
topic idea for show: talk about the brands of instruments each member plays. how long they've been playing the brand name they play,why that particular brand? ect..,
NSW = New South Wales, Australia. Lane Cove is a suburb of Sydney, which is in the state of NSW.
For me Rock And Roll Over is the most iconic cover ever, it shows basically the meaning of every caracter, I saw it for the very first time on the Unplugged show, I remember I tried to draw it super cool hypnotic, once I had the cd it blows my mind everytime I see it, Destroyer and Love Gun are pretty cool they scary me sometimes but as a poster in all over the wall they have an incredible huge impact, as the worst for me is Monster too much hype for a simple band photo it was the worst dissapointment of anything KISS related, Animalize and Asylum out of contest I hate both records and almost everything related (just few songs are almost good), I used to think that Hot In he Shade sucks but I chance my mind when I saw the tour and how the cover was a great idea for a stage, if I'm not wrong it is the only cover that goes hand to hand with the stage, Psycho Circus looked like it could be the greatest cover+tour (merchandisinhg opportunity) ever but for some reason as time goes by it loses weight, I like the music but the rest seems odd (maybe I'm getting old hahaha), the only vynyl I could get (was a gift from my dad who passed away) is Dynasty, It seems for me they try to recreate the first cover good but not great, I always hate the green in the catman and the blue at spaceman makeups it looks silly... special mention for the solo albums as individual and as a group they are awesome
Didn't Paul Stanley paint that Asylum Cover?
Alive! is an iconic cover and best represents what KISS is about. Unmasked is one of the worst covers of any rock band.
Those old Kiss albums sound SO much better on vinyl....
nobody cares,, I'm starting a fire. running away. leaving.
Animalized cover was the way it was because either a) they followed a fashion trend or b) they invented a fashion trend. It seemed everyone was either wearing animal skin print before this album or after. My fav....Destroyer!
The thing I didn't like about the Dressed To Kill album cover, hence the reason I give it a 5, is how Gene's suit pants were too short, and the fact that he was wearing clogs. I understand they borrowed suits from Bill Aucoin's wardrobe, but for God's sake, couldn't they have let out the seams or something so the pants would go down to his ankles?
I happened upon this video and it brought to mind a question I have always had - why is Ace Frehley holding his guitar backwards on the Alive album cover?
Always loved Love Gun, RnR Over & Hotter than Hell....
Hey guys. First time commenter. I got a Smashes album with the gate fold at my first concert, Hot in the Shade tour. I don't know if anyone let you know by now or not, hope this helps.
i just think Dressed to Kill is one hell of a cover...than shot has always intrigued me....
Creatures Of The Night great strong image like what they did with the eyes, like thunder and lighting on the back and my least favourite is Unmasked some critics of the band called them cartoonish and what did they do put on a comic strip on it
No Psycho Circus? To me it was a neat idea, though it probably missed the mark.
Bicycle reflectors on pants! What a concept! What were we thinking?
LOL Tommy gives everything a zero, even though the lowest number is supposed to be a one.
NSW stands for New South Wales a state of Australia - Lane Cove is a suburb of Sydney
both live album shoots were staged (Kiss ll inner) your killing me man, grew up with those pics
Buenisimo, only for Kiss fans! Y Psycho Circus??
1:17 Kiss my ass isn't original, it's a tribute the Prescence by Led Zeppelin.
Sam's Jam's was an awesome record store in Ferndale, Michigan. Just outside Detroit. It's been gone for many years now. I bought LOTS of stuff there back in the day.
I got a 4 song CD in a music convention and it had songs on it I had never heard from KISS before. It was 2 songs off of Revenge, and 2 songs that were classics. I was BLOWN AWAY when I heard Unholy for the first time...BLOWN AWAY I didn't think it was KISS.
I can't get this to play. On any computer I work with.
the pics used for the solo lps came from the jumbo Love Gun poster.
the book in alive is the best part, i will always remember listening to it the first time in fourth grade in 76 and just staring at the book and then seeing them soon after that in concert and the first time i smealt that wonderful ozone which you can tell thats whats going on in the pic on the back of alive, its real easy to say rock and roll over is the best cover but it is and still to this day i think the cover of destroyer is better than the album,out of the first six studio albums and out of the albums up to creatures i put destroyer at the bottom and i honestly think the elder and destroyer are about equal as music and i am one of the people that goes back and forth from not getting enough of the elder to being tired of it, alive 2 the best part was the live shot inside and the book also, even though the love gun is a painting it still is awesome and depicts what was going on at the time as if they were gods and being worshipped by the women at the bottom, the solo covers all are still awesome especially ace and the paul album is still one of my favorite albums not just of kiss,the unmasked album took a few years to grow on me but loved the cover because i always loved comics and have covered half of my arm the cover, none of the covers with out makeup were all that great
There is also a version of Double Platinum that has Eric and Ace in the Elder costumes.
Double Platinum was my first KISS record and i love it. I had it on cd though, it is really cool seeing the record. Thanks guys. COOL STUFF
Just a thought, but I could've sworn the Double Platinum images AND the solo album artwork came from the A2 tourbook.
-Mike Dayne
God are we all Kiss geeks! I love the fact that you both were on the Paul "hand" thing (Smashes). I smiled when you guys brought up that piece of minutia.
Lick it Up is abysmal. The photo isn't even centred (Vinnie's arm is chopped off). That cover should have been sensational being the point that the make-up came off. It looks like someone gave it no more than 2 minutes of thought and then and then got a member of the public to take a snap-shot with a cheap Polaroid.
Very cool show, glad I found it.
Hey guys, what did you think of the 'Psycho Circus' cover concept/artwork?
Best: 1) Love Gun (2) Solo albums (3) Destroyer (4) Dressed to Kill (5) Kiss (6) Hotter than Hell (7) Alive (8) Creatures of the Night (9) Dynasty (10) Unmasked (11) Alive (12) Asylum. All the rest are throw-away junk.
x-lent list i agree!
Mike have you ever seen the bootleg picture of Creatures with peter
I recognised the Dynasty album as the Australian pressing by the "includes I was made..." on the front. Lane Cove is in Sydney Australia. NSW is the abbreviation for New South Wales which is one of the States in Australia.
Spit my coffee at Gene looking like Maude lol
Just love the Tommy Sommer comments: "I give it a zero". Great show guys!
Hey you guys forgot Psycho Circus. Id give Destroyer and the solo albums a 10 for art work and Rock and Roll Over, Love Gun and Creatures of the Night a 9
I know so we address it next week
I have to amend my comment in regard to the last show when I had criticized you guys for not being more objective. I guess I need to watch more of these shows, because you guys were outstanding showing objectivity on this topic. I loved how Tommy didn't hesitate for a second if he thought something sucked and why. I also really enjoyed Michael sharing his Crazy Nights influenced wardrobe story. As someone who also admittedly was influenced by Paul's fashion circa 1987, I respect the balls it takes to own up to this sort of thing in 2014.
In regard to the albums. I was curious if either of you have seen the colorized version of Hotter Than Hell that I just recently saw on That Metal Show last month when Peter Criss was the guest? Eddie Trunk had him rate the first six studio albums from favorite to least favorite and they used this version of Hotter Than Hell on vinyl for the show. I saw something on Google about this being a photoshopped cover, so maybe it's one of these bootlegs that's circulating. In any case, just seeing that album in all color totally changed my opinion and rating of that image from one of my least favorites to a definite favorite. Great show guys!
Thanks that is nice of you to say. That reminds me, I need to dig out my Crazy Nights outfit. I have seen photos online of the colorized HTH, didn't catch that on That Metal Show.
N.S.W. Mike = New South Wales , Australia
I personally think as far as Elder was concerned...I think front cover would have been fine but change the back cover to the cover photo of Japenese issue or like one of you said they made photo shoots for this album era....that would have been better
psykodj67 That would have been good
What about Psycho Circus?