Mad respect for someone such as yourself being so young, yet having quite an extensive knowledge of 🎸 going way back. Its obvious you have done your homework and have actually listened to what your commenting on. Nice job.
Nice channel, man. Just discovered it. Love how much “old” stuff you have on here. I could consist on a musical diet of Beatles, Kiss & Heart quite easily... Can’t argue with your picks. The only album that I truly dislike is Carnival Of Souls. Hate is a good tune, but the rest of it...makes a good coaster lol. Being an Aussie, and being 11 when they exploded here in 1980, Unmasked holds a special place in heart, so I would have had it higher. But on any given day, 19 of the 20 albums could be my No.1 Cheers!
10. Unmasked. 9. Gene Simmons (Solo Album 1978). 8. Animalize. 7. Carnival Of Souls. 6.Creatures Of The Night. 5.Hotter Than Hell. 4. Dressed To Kill. 3. (music from) The Elder. 2. Alive II. 1. KISS.
Rock and Roll Over will always be my favorite, but one thing regarding Love Gun that you touched upon a little bit. If they ever had All American Man, Larger than Life and Rocket Ride in place of Then she kissed me, Hooligan and Tomorrow and Tonight, Love Gun would’ve been their greatest album. Man, what could’ve been.
Great review, i love your passion. I loved Kiss albums when i bought them in the 70s and indulged relentlessly in all to the Creatures era. Saw them live in 1980 in Melbourne. I jumped off in the glam non makeup era but came back after Unplugged and saw them live in 2006 but theyve always had a place in my life. My top 3 are Creatures, Elder and Destroyer as Im a prog fan and theyre proggiest. My all time diamond is Alive... nothing comes close, followed by Alive 2. In my teen years i was obsessed.
1. Destroyer 2. Hotter Than Hell 3. KISS 4. Dressed to Kill 5. Rock and Roll Over 6. Creatures of The Night 7. Dynasty 8. Music From The Elder 9. Love Gun 10. Lick It Up 11. Psycho Circus 12. Carnival of Souls 13. Revenge 14. Animalize 15. Asylum 16. Unmasked 17. Monster 18. Sonic Boom 19. Hot In The Shade 20. Crazy Nights
@@billycain9890 1. Hot In The Shade 2. Unmasked 3. Music from the Elder 4. Destroyer 5. Hotter Than Hell 6. Dressed to Kill 7. Dynasty 8. KISS 9. Rock and Roll Over 10. Love Gun 11. Psycho Circus 12. Carnival of Souls 13. Animalize 14. Asylum 15. Monster 16. Crazy Nights 17. Sonic Boom 18. Revenge 19. Lick It Up 20. Creatures of The Night
1. Love Gun 2. Destroyer 3. Dynasty 4. The Elder (Music from) 5. Rock and Roll over 6. Dressed to Kill 7. Hotter than Hell 8. Creatures of the Night 9. Unmasked 10. KISS (Debut)
Is it just me but does hell or hallelujah kinda sound like I stole your love at some points? Love the channel!!! Love that u post kiss and vinyl videos 🔥 Keep it up
Loved your presentation. Really enjoyed your insight as well. I thought your rankings were fine. The only “disagreement” I have is you didn’t mention Rock and Roll Hell when talking about Creatures. One of my all time favorite deep cuts. Keep it up, man!
Hey Jeff! So glad you enjoyed the video! Oh goodness how can I forget that track, Rock & Roll Hell is an absolutely killer song. My favorite deep cut on there may be Saint and Sinner!
Kiss Alive 1&2 are absolute classics. They're my first purchases ever, at about 6 years old. Having heard Alive 2 before Destroyer, it really diminishes the studio versions in my mind more than any other tunes of theirs. Alive 3 is also pretty cool. But if I had to pick a top 3, Unplugged would get the third a lot. The Unplugged was really cool.
From a KISS fan to another: pretty cool ranking video. "Revenge" is my favorite non make-up album, followed by "Asylum". My favorite make-up era album has got to be "Rock and Roll Over", everything is perfect: the songs, the album cover...amazing!
Top 10 in my book: 10. Music from the Elder 9. Revenge 8. Dynasty 7. Dressed To Kill 6. Creatures of the Night 5. Love Gun 4. Destroyer 3. Hotter Than Hell 2. Kiss 1. Rock and Roll Over
Awesome list dude! As a Prog fan, i totaly agree with you on the elder. It realy has some prog/symphonic moments. And btw: your hair looks just like Aces! Love it.
Love the passion! Nice job. My top ten (non-solo, non-live): 1. Rock and Roll Over 2. Creatures of the Night 3. Dressed to Kill 4. Destroyer (Resurrected version!) 5. Unmasked 6. Self titled 7. Hotter Than Hell 8. Love Gun 9. Dynasty 10. Lick It Up If I had added in the solo albums, Ace would be right under Creatures and Paul’s would be just behind Hotter Than Hell. If the live albums were added, Alive would be just above Destroyer, while Alive II would be just under it. Cheers!
Hi Dylan..mate absolutely loved this vid !! In Australia...EVERY teenage kid's vinyl collection had Unmasked. To this day 'Talk To Me' is one of my all time faves. You have inspired me to look for Destroyer and add it to my collection. Thanks for the effort you put in to you vids. Stay safe brother 👍
Hey Steve! Thank you for tuning in! Oh my, I am sure every one in Australia had a copy of Unmasked. KISSteria really took off there at that time. So glad I prompted you to snag Destroyer. Take care man!
I was 11 and Kiss Alive had been out about a year but my buddy and I were just getting into them, he had already purchased Alive and Destroyer so I asked him which one should I get 1st and he said "either, both are amazing, flip a coin" so I went to the record store and stared at both for 30 mins knowing I had only enough money for 1, I ended up with Kiss Alive 1st, fell in love but bought Destroyer a month later, amazing then onto Alive II when it came out......Dressed to Kill was next. That was it for me and I enjoyed them immensely- onto Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin.
Me being a seventies KISS fanatic since 75” I am glad you put the early albums as the meat and potatoes at the top of KISS’s catalog, that’s what made them especially Alive! Many other ranking guys of KISS discs have the 80’s at the top ? I just cringe 😬 great rankings. 🤟
Dude you remind me so much of myself at the same age.except you have wider musical tastes than i had back then.if we were to ever combine our Kiss vinyl collections it would form the ultimate Kiss mix on wax imo. A tounge wagging mixture of OG's and everything beyond.we obviously can't do that😂 but we gotta get together at some point and ill tell you exactly what it felt like to be a 14 year old DIE HARD with all his friends at a Revenge show
I was a huge KISS fan born in 1989 and I was a kid for the reunion. I used to list their first 7 albums as the best, but after learning a lot about the band, and watching Ace butcher the national anthem, I put the Eric Carr/Bruce Kulick KISS wayy wayyy higher up on my lists in hindsight, only because they actually worked together and played like a 4 piece rock band. The carnival of souls album being 2 years late was both weird BUT also mixed with my hindsight KISS issue, I rank it way high up now. It’s a real KISS band album. They almost always tried stealing full blown genres like “a concept album” but unlike the elder, revenge and carnival of souls are just a bunch of rock songs. Sorry for psychobabble but I’ve been really strong on this opinion lately. Bruce Kulick deserves so much more credit.
This ranking is really good. The only area we differ is you like a lot more of their catalogue than I do. You had high praise for albums that I think are utter rubbish. But this could due in part to our large age difference (Someone my age, who was AT the Kiss Alive II shows and then saw the very mediocre Anamalize tour 8 years later is gonna have a different perspective on later Kiss). You had what I think are their only great albums filling your top 7. I had zero argument with the order. I have to give you a 10/10. Masterful job making an argument for each pick
It took me years to know that Dressed to kill was my favorite but I now know. It just has a great sound that is not over produced and if I'm not mistaken it was recorded at Electric Lady. Great review.
Cant get behind Monster. I have tried but I just think they were going through the motions. Yes I am going to also defend the Elder as it is a classic. I think it follows a lot of Prog rock influences and it has a great story. Carnival of Souls is also very underrated. My top 5 Kiss albums 1. Hotter Than Hell 2. Kiss 3. Destroyer 4. Rock And Roll Over 5. Creatures Of The Night
Whoa, can't believe you ranked Sonic Boom & Monster so high. I'm probably going to do my own rankings soon, but I'm going do 74-82, 82- Present in separate videos because besides a few their albums are very consistent.
Hey Pete! In all honesty, those two albums simply rock and just have that touch of klassic KISS. Maybe its also because I lived to see those albums come out as brand new and I just devoured them when they came out. Honesty I think thats a fair divide in terms of seperating the areas out. Makes it kinda easier to rank. This one was tough because KISS has a substantial amount of albums and how do you go about ranking 20? I think I pulled it off okay despite the fact I was rearranging where albums went!
Thank you Chris! As much of a shift those two albums were, I do love them. Songs like Charisma, Save Your Love, Tomorrow and Shes So European are some of my favorites in the KISS catalog.
Interesting my top 20 would be 1 Creatures Of The Night 2 Hotter Than Hell 3 Kiss: Kiss 4 Rock & Roll Over 5 Destroyer 6 Love Gun 7 Lick It Up 8 Revenge 9 Dressed To Kill 10 Animalize 11 Music From The Elder 12 Dynasty 13 Monster 14 Sonic Boom 15 Asylum 16 Carnival Of Souls 17 Unmasked 18 Psycho Circus 19 Crazy Nights 20 Hot In The Shade
Hi Dylan. I would have put The Elder a little higher up. Lol. I loved seeing where you ranked everything. We agree on number one absolutely. You have such a beautiful collection of all of their albums. I kind of wish I would have bought all of the 2014 reissues. Great video.
Hey Melinda! When I filmed all this I was even contemplating the ranking still! I feel like maybe Elder could go up higher and replace Animalize but I always tried to look in the big picture as to what made KISS so great in terms of their sound, the songs and everything else that entails. The 2014 reissues are still available, some for outstanding low prices on Amazon. I've even started to see some represses pop up for some of the albums that initially went out of print, particularly the 80s and solo albums. They are amazing in sound quality and the artwork is faithfully presented. Have a great weekend Melinda!
I think Kiss debut album is theyr best and " 100.000 years " theyr best song ever. I totally agreed with your ranking exept from the top two ..i am curious to why you have chosen to not buy any original Kiss albums ? Great video 👍
I have Creatures at the top and Carnival at the bottom - otherwise I’m right with you. Thank you for your time - top notch review of my favorite band ... seen them nearly 50 times and hope to get one more chance!! Best wishes.
Brian Reed personal preference ... I just don’t care for it. I can honestly say that it’s the only KISS album that I personally find nothing to like about ... each to their own for sure.
I think you should have included "Killers" and "Smashes, Thrashes & Hits" in your ranking. Mostly compilation albums but they also have some brand-new studio stuff, so I think they qualify to some extent. Anyway, I want to say that to me, the only studio albums released by Kiss after they ditched their makeup and costumes that rank among their best are "Lick It Up" and "Revenge" (although "Carnival Of Souls" is pretty interesting). I mean, I would have never put "Asylum" above "Unmasked" or "Psycho Circus" above "Dynasty" in spite of the not so great reputation of their late seventies "pop" era. I enjoyed your video a lot. Thank you for your effort.
I should have considered lumping in those loose "new" tracks with other albums that neighbored closed to them but seeing your comment has got me considering a ranking of KISS comps, hell there have been so many of them. In the big picture, the only non-makeup albums that matter are Lick It Up and Revenge. The others have their moments but they just dont hold that potential to live up to the others. Thanks so much for tuning into the video!
Great video. Good to the see the two latest ones ranked high. I actually prefer Monster over Sonic Boom too. I’ve always thought Asylum was their most underrated album then Psycho Circus. Revenge is the most overrated. Worst one is clearly Carnival Of Souls for me. It’s mostly boring and I hate grunge. Then Crazy Nights. Hot In The Shade is better. Favourite three are Rock n Roll Over then Creatures Of The Night then Kiss
Hey there! Thanks for tuning in. In all honesty, when you look at the scope of the kiss legacy, Sonic Boom and Monster hark back to those early days and they are worthy of being high of any kiss ranking. Asylum is probably the third strongest album of the non makeup period (next to Lick It Up and Revenge). Carnival is indeed an oddity, never was represented in the live setting and the timing of everything was wrong. Maybe it would’ve faired better a few years before it came out or if the reunion didn’t happen.
I pretty much agree 100% with your ranking. The original 6 studio albums are the best then COTN and Lick it up. Very good. Even Having Love gun and DTK at 5 and 6 is great. The only slight change I would make is to put asylum and Dynasty a tad higher, but I'm splitting hairs, great ranking!
In retrospect I think could’ve made those higher. I’m still shocked psycho circus was kinda high, I say this watching the video 3 years later I filmed it 😂 thank you!!
Hello Dylan ! Cool with a ranking video. I would like to put Elders and Carnival on the side. Melinda , here in the comments , said that Paul once said about Elders that it is a good album , just not a good KISS album. I agree. Same with Carnival. Question ; are you going to rank more bands catalogues ? Floyd? Zeppelin? Bowie? Alice Cooper? Sabbath? I surely would like you to it. Have a great weekend bro.
I think its fair to set them aside on their own court but then again, it does add to the KISStory. I can gladly say that there will be more artist catalog rankings. I have actually prepped up lists months ago and its just a matter of filming them and sprinkling them across the months with my other content. Floyd is most likely going to be next, not sure when it will go up but it will happen as well as many other artists! Cheers Roger!
The first album which became a format for their live albums, which let’s face, the first studio album doesn’t sound near as good as the live versions but anyway, I remember watching an interview with Paul and he saying he did not like the sound of the first album with the guitar sounding way to tame and kind of lethargic. I 100% agree. It sure helped the kiss alive album which had those songs from the original album finally wake up!
MonkeyManProductions It’s crazy how you can predict into the future 😏 look out around May! So glad to hear that this video has paved the way for your KISS journey!
Worst is Revenge. By a while. Although to be honest there are quite a few that I have never listened to (Monster, Sonic Boom, Hot In The Shade). Favorite is Destroyer followed by Unmasked and Hotter Than Hell. I really like Crazy Nights and Elder...
@@TheRecordSpinner - nah can't put The Elder ahead of COS. At least COS was more honest and much more of the KISS core sound. I love The Elder but COS is amazing
I’m a numbers guy So I got bored one day and ranked the albums based solely on how many songs I like vs song count. I didn’t take into account things like production, artwork, musicians. I was quite surprised because if I were to blurt out my top five based on emotions, it would be a different order. Analysis 9/10 Asylum 90% 8/11 Revenge 73% 7/10 Dressed To Kill 70% 7/10 Rock & Roll Over 70% 7/10 Love Gun 70% Emotion Love Gun Dressed to Kill Destroyer Creatures Asylum
1. KISS 2. HOTTER THAN HELL 3. DRESSED TO KILL 4. Revenge 5. Carnival of Souls 6. alive! Destroyer LoveGun Rock and Roll over 7. Dynasty 8.psycho circus
Nice! Creatures does kick some serious ass and I was going back and forth with putting it higher but nothing could ever touch those glory years of 74-77, in my opinion.
My copy is on red. However, I got my hands on an unofficial pressing since I missed out on the proper release back in 2010. Its a part of the 2nd wave of unofficial pressings which does not come with the gatefold, inner sleeve or poster but its a very sentimental album to me and I wanted to have it on the format for years. Until it gets reissued or I can get the original for a good deal, then itll do!
my ranking list 20. hot in the shade 19. crazy nights 18.sonic boom. 17.monster 16.unmasked 15.revenge 14.carneval of the souls 13.animllize 12.the elder 11. asylum 10.lick it up 9.dynasty 8.kiss 7.dressed to kill 6.deatroyer 5.pshycho circus 4.love gun 3.rock and roll over 2.hotter than hell 1. creatures of the night
😅 SORRY, but "(Music from) The ELDER" (1981) is one of my Top 3, that's my Top 5 and it changes for how I feel today/that day: 5.) Unmasked, 4.) Revenge, 3.) The Elder, 2.) Destroyer and 1.) Dressed to kill;
Ok Record Spinner I guess I'm an anomaly in my ratings of the 20 but at least I'm honest about it. And I'm a die-hard KISS fan, possess a B Mus in guitar, and AM NOT a casual listener. From least to favorite: Revenge; Asylum; Hot in the Shade; Psycho Circus; Monster; Sonic Boom; Carnival of Souls; Lick it Up; Animalize; Creatures of the Night; Lovegun; The Elder, Unmasked; Crazy Nights; Rock & roll Over; Destroyer; Dynasty; Kiss; Hotter than Hell; Dressed to Kill.
You have a degree in guitar? I hope you didn't get a student loan for that class because you have Music From The Elderly ...Lazy Nights... Unlistenable... Sorry I meant Music From The Elder Crazy Nights and Unmasked in your top ten!?! Go back to the college and get a refund! 💰
@@petepiper7038 Easily Pete. Priest is my second fave band of all time. Glenn is a HUGE influence. Why would I want a refund? My career pays very well, and with a jazz guitar degree I can appreciate a much broader range of musical styles. Regards!
@@kisskoffeekhords9973 refund because those records you listed aren't even in GENE'S top ten list. That Priest solo is EASY? I only asked about that song because I have a book with tablature from the 80s with that song and it says at the lead break"If you can play this lead... you don't need this book" So what Priest lead do you consider HARD?
@@petepiper7038 The solo from Ram it down. I actually consider it more difficult than anything from Painkiller; but then again this is just an opinion.
@@TheRecordSpinner yeah it was s great watch..yeah Destroyer and their Debut are solid early Kiss records..I'm actually a fan of the 77 to 82 era then all the 90s albums..Rock on brotha
77-82 is indeed a very transforming period. Basically they had impacted themselves in 1970s Americana and then every change just turned for them. Very much a survival of the fittest period in terms of finding their ground again and adapting.
@@stevekosak8624 Kiss employs all the moods of any good psychedelic album on Destroyer, including spoken words, big open spaces, mellow change of pace, fantasy figures and imagery, percussion and exotic sound FX , plus superhero like cover art and self/meta references. It's never been put on the same pedestal as Sgt. Pepper's or Dr. Sardonicus but it should be.
One day Carnival of Souls will get it's due. It has great songs on it. Period. For me, the top six are the first six....followed by COS, CotN, LIU, and Revenge (not necessarily in that order), and then it's everything else in varying order. I hate Dynasty with the power of a thousand suns. Unmasked I tend to enjoy although I don't consider it great.
Hey man I have never really been a "Fan" of kiss, but I mad respect for them. I had a friend of mine who loved them. He even talked me into gping to see them in Baltimore back in 85. Enjoyed the video bro! Peace
Mad respect for someone such as yourself being so young, yet having quite an extensive knowledge of 🎸 going way back. Its obvious you have done your homework and have actually listened to what your commenting on. Nice job.
Thank you Robert! Being a geeky fan for over 20 years has paid off somehow! So glad you enjoyed the video!
You definitely know your stuff
I consider Carnival of Souls one of their best. I thought the grunge sound worked for them
Has anyone ever told you that you look like the Doctor from Cannonball Run?
Agreed! I really love Carnival of Souls!
@@georgedoughly8682 cool. Many people don't like that album.
@@jcrockandmetalreviews Those people are missing out because It is an Amazing album!
cmon man.....seriously?
My top 5:
1. Creatures Of The Night
2. Rock And Roll Over
3. Hotter Than Hell
4. Destroyer
5. Lick It Up
Solid top 5!
Good list!! When was your first show?
InstaBlaster
I love Music from the Elder. Very Very underrated
Nice channel, man. Just discovered it. Love how much “old” stuff you have on here. I could consist on a musical diet of Beatles, Kiss & Heart quite easily...
Can’t argue with your picks. The only album that I truly dislike is Carnival Of Souls. Hate is a good tune, but the rest of it...makes a good coaster lol. Being an Aussie, and being 11 when they exploded here in 1980, Unmasked holds a special place in heart, so I would have had it higher. But on any given day, 19 of the 20 albums could be my No.1
Cheers!
It Never Goes Away off of Carnival is some of Paul's best vocals EVER
Yes! Paul vocal performance on “It Never Goes Away” is Amazing!!
Yeah man, he really wailed on Rain also🤘
10. Unmasked.
9. Gene Simmons (Solo Album 1978).
8. Animalize.
7. Carnival Of Souls.
6.Creatures Of The Night.
5.Hotter Than Hell.
4. Dressed To Kill.
3. (music from) The Elder.
2. Alive II.
1. KISS.
Rock and Roll Over will always be my favorite, but one thing regarding Love Gun that you touched upon a little bit. If they ever had All American Man, Larger than Life and Rocket Ride in place of Then she kissed me, Hooligan and Tomorrow and Tonight, Love Gun would’ve been their greatest album. Man, what could’ve been.
Great review, i love your passion. I loved Kiss albums when i bought them in the 70s and indulged relentlessly in all to the Creatures era. Saw them live in 1980 in Melbourne. I jumped off in the glam non makeup era but came back after Unplugged and saw them live in 2006 but theyve always had a place in my life. My top 3 are Creatures, Elder and Destroyer as Im a prog fan and theyre proggiest. My all time diamond is Alive... nothing comes close, followed by Alive 2. In my teen years i was obsessed.
1. Destroyer
2. Hotter Than Hell
3. KISS
4. Dressed to Kill
5. Rock and Roll Over
6. Creatures of The Night
7. Dynasty
8. Music From The Elder
9. Love Gun
10. Lick It Up
11. Psycho Circus
12. Carnival of Souls
13. Revenge
14. Animalize
15. Asylum
16. Unmasked
17. Monster
18. Sonic Boom
19. Hot In The Shade
20. Crazy Nights
Wow can you be any more original lineup biased?
@@brianreed1859 You're right...Unmasked should be a little higher.
Creatures of the night at 9 Revenge at 14 what the hell
Music from the Elder unmask hot in the shade better than sonic boom. no no.
@@billycain9890
1. Hot In The Shade
2. Unmasked
3. Music from the Elder
4. Destroyer
5. Hotter Than Hell
6. Dressed to Kill
7. Dynasty
8. KISS
9. Rock and Roll Over
10. Love Gun
11. Psycho Circus
12. Carnival of Souls
13. Animalize
14. Asylum
15. Monster
16. Crazy Nights
17. Sonic Boom
18. Revenge
19. Lick It Up
20. Creatures of The Night
Wow this is great to know! Kiss is a band where I've heard a lot of their discography but not everything! I gotta keep digging deeper!
Let this video be your guide! So glad you enjoyed it Mike!
1. Love Gun
2. Destroyer
3. Dynasty
4. The Elder (Music from)
5. Rock and Roll over
6. Dressed to Kill
7. Hotter than Hell
8. Creatures of the Night
9. Unmasked
10. KISS (Debut)
I like his ranking a lot more tbh
i would take hot in the shade over Revenge any day of the week
My top 5 favorite KISS albums are:
1. Hotter Than Hell 🔥🔥🔥
2. KISS 💋
3. Music From The Elder ❤️
4. Dressed To Kill 🔪
5. Rock & Roll Over 🎸
Solid top 5!
Is it just me but does hell or hallelujah kinda sound like I stole your love at some points? Love the channel!!! Love that u post kiss and vinyl videos 🔥 Keep it up
Loved your presentation. Really enjoyed your insight as well. I thought your rankings were fine. The only “disagreement” I have is you didn’t mention Rock and Roll Hell when talking about Creatures. One of my all time favorite deep cuts. Keep it up, man!
Hey Jeff! So glad you enjoyed the video! Oh goodness how can I forget that track, Rock & Roll Hell is an absolutely killer song. My favorite deep cut on there may be Saint and Sinner!
Great breakdown. Enjoyed your take on all their studio album 🤟🏼
Stellar episode, your insight and opinions are spot on, thank you again for yet another great focus on my favorite band.
You and Melinda Murphy are just simply the best.
Anytime Scott! Hopefully I can work up more KISS videos down the road in the future.
Kiss Alive 1&2 are absolute classics. They're my first purchases ever, at about 6 years old.
Having heard Alive 2 before Destroyer, it really diminishes the studio versions in my mind more than any other tunes of theirs.
Alive 3 is also pretty cool. But if I had to pick a top 3, Unplugged would get the third a lot. The Unplugged was really cool.
From a KISS fan to another: pretty cool ranking video.
"Revenge" is my favorite non make-up album, followed by "Asylum". My favorite make-up era album has got to be "Rock and Roll Over", everything is perfect: the songs, the album cover...amazing!
Dude as a kiss fan and vinyl fan, thank you so much to get my mind off of life thank you bud!!
Hey Dylan, really great video. I enjoyed watching your ranking and listening to all your thoughts and information on each album.
Thank you Marichen! There are more rankings to come in the future on this channel, Floyd will most likely be next!
Top 10 in my book:
10. Music from the Elder
9. Revenge
8. Dynasty
7. Dressed To Kill
6. Creatures of the Night
5. Love Gun
4. Destroyer
3. Hotter Than Hell
2. Kiss
1. Rock and Roll Over
Great list!! My top ten is close to that. I really only have a top 9!
Awesome list dude! As a Prog fan, i totaly agree with you on the elder. It realy has some prog/symphonic moments. And btw: your hair looks just like Aces! Love it.
Love the passion! Nice job.
My top ten (non-solo, non-live):
1. Rock and Roll Over
2. Creatures of the Night
3. Dressed to Kill
4. Destroyer (Resurrected version!)
5. Unmasked
6. Self titled
7. Hotter Than Hell
8. Love Gun
9. Dynasty
10. Lick It Up
If I had added in the solo albums, Ace would be right under Creatures and Paul’s would be just behind Hotter Than Hell.
If the live albums were added, Alive would be just above Destroyer, while Alive II would be just under it.
Cheers!
Solid ranking!
Nice job 🎸🤘
Hi Dylan..mate absolutely loved this vid !! In Australia...EVERY teenage kid's vinyl collection had Unmasked. To this day 'Talk To Me' is one of my all time faves. You have inspired me to look for Destroyer and add it to my collection. Thanks for the effort you put in to you vids. Stay safe brother 👍
Hey Steve! Thank you for tuning in! Oh my, I am sure every one in Australia had a copy of Unmasked. KISSteria really took off there at that time. So glad I prompted you to snag Destroyer. Take care man!
0:22 Revenge is in my top 5,Crazy nights in my top 10.The 70s are my place fo kiss though.Great video, well done
Thank you!
Glad you gave Sonic Boom a fair shake - most people dismiss it because their favourite grown men in makeup aren’t on it, but it’s a killer album.
Exactly!! One listens to it and it’s as if it picked up where Love Gun left off at. People gotta wake up and smell the coffee!
I was 11 and Kiss Alive had been out about a year but my buddy and I were just getting into them, he had already purchased Alive and Destroyer so I asked him which one should I get 1st and he said "either, both are amazing, flip a coin" so I went to the record store and stared at both for 30 mins knowing I had only enough money for 1, I ended up with Kiss Alive 1st, fell in love but bought Destroyer a month later, amazing then onto Alive II when it came out......Dressed to Kill was next. That was it for me and I enjoyed them immensely- onto Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin.
Me being a seventies KISS fanatic since 75” I am glad you put the early albums as the meat and potatoes at the top of KISS’s catalog, that’s what made them especially Alive! Many other ranking guys of KISS discs have the 80’s at the top ? I just cringe 😬 great rankings. 🤟
Nice to see Monster get some much deserved love.
Dude! Trial By Fire! YEAH!! Why does everyone else hate that song?? THANK YOU 😊
The drum sounds on Hotter Than Hell sounded like a pack of dobermans running on the kitchen floors!
Solid ranking there!
Dude you remind me so much of myself at the same age.except you have wider musical tastes than i had back then.if we were to ever combine our Kiss vinyl collections it would form the ultimate Kiss mix on wax imo. A tounge wagging mixture of OG's and everything beyond.we obviously can't do that😂 but we gotta get together at some point and ill tell you exactly what it felt like to be a 14 year old DIE HARD with all his friends at a Revenge show
I was a huge KISS fan born in 1989 and I was a kid for the reunion. I used to list their first 7 albums as the best, but after learning a lot about the band, and watching Ace butcher the national anthem, I put the Eric Carr/Bruce Kulick KISS wayy wayyy higher up on my lists in hindsight, only because they actually worked together and played like a 4 piece rock band. The carnival of souls album being 2 years late was both weird BUT also mixed with my hindsight KISS issue, I rank it way high up now. It’s a real KISS band album. They almost always tried stealing full blown genres like “a concept album” but unlike the elder, revenge and carnival of souls are just a bunch of rock songs. Sorry for psychobabble but I’ve been really strong on this opinion lately. Bruce Kulick deserves so much more credit.
This ranking is really good.
The only area we differ is you like a lot more of their catalogue than I do. You had high praise for albums that I think are utter rubbish. But this could due in part to our large age difference (Someone my age, who was AT the Kiss Alive II shows and then saw the very mediocre Anamalize tour 8 years later is gonna have a different perspective on later Kiss).
You had what I think are their only great albums filling your top 7. I had zero argument with the order.
I have to give you a 10/10. Masterful job making an argument for each pick
It took me years to know that Dressed to kill was my favorite but I now know.
It just has a great sound that is not over produced and if I'm not mistaken it was recorded at Electric Lady.
Great review.
Thank you! DTK surely has a dry punch that’s still appealing to the ears.
Cant get behind Monster. I have tried but I just think they were going through the motions. Yes I am going to also defend the Elder as it is a classic. I think it follows a lot of Prog rock influences and it has a great story. Carnival of Souls is also very underrated.
My top 5 Kiss albums
1. Hotter Than Hell
2. Kiss
3. Destroyer
4. Rock And Roll Over
5. Creatures Of The Night
The top 10 are spot on, perfect listing!
Thank you!! Some may say I’m nuts for putting Monster in the top 10 but the proof is in the pudding!
1.) Hotter than hell
2.) Rock n roll over
3 )Destroyer
4.) KISS
5.) Creatures of the night
Whoa, can't believe you ranked Sonic Boom & Monster so high. I'm probably going to do my own rankings soon, but I'm going do 74-82, 82- Present in separate videos because besides a few their albums are very consistent.
Hey Pete! In all honesty, those two albums simply rock and just have that touch of klassic KISS. Maybe its also because I lived to see those albums come out as brand new and I just devoured them when they came out. Honesty I think thats a fair divide in terms of seperating the areas out. Makes it kinda easier to rank. This one was tough because KISS has a substantial amount of albums and how do you go about ranking 20? I think I pulled it off okay despite the fact I was rearranging where albums went!
Great video! I have a soft spot for Unmasked and Dynasty. My favorite album by them is Love Gun!
Thank you Chris! As much of a shift those two albums were, I do love them. Songs like Charisma, Save Your Love, Tomorrow and Shes So European are some of my favorites in the KISS catalog.
You have soft spit for UNMASKED? It must be on the top of your head!
Enjoyed your opinion on the Kiss albums
Interesting my top 20 would be
1 Creatures Of The Night
2 Hotter Than Hell
3 Kiss: Kiss
4 Rock & Roll Over
5 Destroyer
6 Love Gun
7 Lick It Up
8 Revenge
9 Dressed To Kill
10 Animalize
11 Music From The Elder
12 Dynasty
13 Monster
14 Sonic Boom
15 Asylum
16 Carnival Of Souls
17 Unmasked
18 Psycho Circus
19 Crazy Nights
20 Hot In The Shade
Just discovered your channel and subscribed 🤘
Thank you so much!
Love kiss, underated band
Nice video. Have you done a recent one for Rush or Genesis albums? That would be nice to see.
Thank you! A Genesis ranking is already in the can ready to go and a Rush ranking has yet to be done but it will be done. It’s so daunting!
@@TheRecordSpinner I know, such a wealth of material to cover with Rush, and Kiss too for that matter.
Hi Dylan. I would have put The Elder a little higher up. Lol. I loved seeing where you ranked everything. We agree on number one absolutely. You have such a beautiful collection of all of their albums. I kind of wish I would have bought all of the 2014 reissues. Great video.
Hey Melinda! When I filmed all this I was even contemplating the ranking still! I feel like maybe Elder could go up higher and replace Animalize but I always tried to look in the big picture as to what made KISS so great in terms of their sound, the songs and everything else that entails. The 2014 reissues are still available, some for outstanding low prices on Amazon. I've even started to see some represses pop up for some of the albums that initially went out of print, particularly the 80s and solo albums. They are amazing in sound quality and the artwork is faithfully presented. Have a great weekend Melinda!
I think Kiss debut album is theyr best and " 100.000 years " theyr best song ever. I totally agreed with your ranking exept from the top two ..i am curious to why you have chosen to not buy any original Kiss albums ? Great video 👍
I love your list!!
Like or Dislike: Like. This list brings back memories.
I have Creatures at the top and Carnival at the bottom - otherwise I’m right with you. Thank you for your time - top notch review of my favorite band ... seen them nearly 50 times and hope to get one more chance!! Best wishes.
Why is COS at the bottom? It's much more the KISS sound than Dynasty, Unmasked, Crazy Nights or The Elder
Brian Reed personal preference ... I just don’t care for it. I can honestly say that it’s the only KISS album that I personally find nothing to like about ... each to their own for sure.
coming from a young fan pov, i enjoy destroyer and dynasty alot, but my #1 fav album has to be monster, yea i get it “fake kiss” tommy bad ace good.
Hey, more power to you! Monster is a killer album. You have a point, you’re a young fan and that’s the KISS you grew up. I’m the same way!
Love Sonic Boom! Very underappreciated album.
You are right on the money with that statement!
Sonic Boom would be in my top seven or eight Kiss albums love it
@@billycain9890 Some seem to hate on it and Monster both. If it's not an album with Ace on guitar, they refuse to have anything to do with it.
@@jtoms3 - you are correct and they don't give them any credit at all. Acetards for sure
No
I think you should have included "Killers" and "Smashes, Thrashes & Hits" in your ranking. Mostly compilation albums but they also have some brand-new studio stuff, so I think they qualify to some extent. Anyway, I want to say that to me, the only studio albums released by Kiss after they ditched their makeup and costumes that rank among their best are "Lick It Up" and "Revenge" (although "Carnival Of Souls" is pretty interesting). I mean, I would have never put "Asylum" above "Unmasked" or "Psycho Circus" above "Dynasty" in spite of the not so great reputation of their late seventies "pop" era.
I enjoyed your video a lot. Thank you for your effort.
Oh, and how could I forget to mention side four of "Alive II"? "Rocket Ride" is one of the very best Kiss songs!
I should have considered lumping in those loose "new" tracks with other albums that neighbored closed to them but seeing your comment has got me considering a ranking of KISS comps, hell there have been so many of them. In the big picture, the only non-makeup albums that matter are Lick It Up and Revenge. The others have their moments but they just dont hold that potential to live up to the others. Thanks so much for tuning into the video!
I think my go-to Kiss songs outside the 70’s are “Crazy, Crazy Nights” and “Forever”.
Iron Maiden, up the irons
My top 5 the 1 debut Kiss album 2 creatures of the night 3 Dressed to Kill 4 rock and roll over 5 lick it up and revenge tie.
Gene owes you a HUGE debt of gratitude for calling him a sexual wordsmith, but i feel ya Record Spinner
Great video.
Good to the see the two latest ones ranked high. I actually prefer Monster over Sonic Boom too.
I’ve always thought Asylum was their most underrated album then Psycho Circus.
Revenge is the most overrated.
Worst one is clearly Carnival Of Souls for me. It’s mostly boring and I hate grunge. Then Crazy Nights. Hot In The Shade is better.
Favourite three are Rock n Roll Over then Creatures Of The Night then Kiss
Hey there! Thanks for tuning in. In all honesty, when you look at the scope of the kiss legacy, Sonic Boom and Monster hark back to those early days and they are worthy of being high of any kiss ranking. Asylum is probably the third strongest album of the non makeup period (next to Lick It Up and Revenge). Carnival is indeed an oddity, never was represented in the live setting and the timing of everything was wrong. Maybe it would’ve faired better a few years before it came out or if the reunion didn’t happen.
I pretty much agree 100% with your ranking. The original 6 studio albums are the best then COTN and Lick it up. Very good. Even Having Love gun and DTK at 5 and 6 is great. The only slight change I would make is to put asylum and Dynasty a tad higher, but I'm splitting hairs, great ranking!
In retrospect I think could’ve made those higher. I’m still shocked psycho circus was kinda high, I say this watching the video 3 years later I filmed it 😂 thank you!!
Hello Dylan ! Cool with a ranking video. I would like to put Elders and Carnival on the side. Melinda , here in the comments , said that Paul once said about Elders that it is a good album , just not a good KISS album. I agree. Same with Carnival. Question ; are you going to rank more bands catalogues ?
Floyd? Zeppelin? Bowie? Alice Cooper? Sabbath? I surely would like you to it.
Have a great weekend bro.
I think its fair to set them aside on their own court but then again, it does add to the KISStory. I can gladly say that there will be more artist catalog rankings. I have actually prepped up lists months ago and its just a matter of filming them and sprinkling them across the months with my other content. Floyd is most likely going to be next, not sure when it will go up but it will happen as well as many other artists! Cheers Roger!
Asylum, Unmasked, Paul Stanley solo.
I’m surprised you didn’t add their solo albums in the mix.
I really, really love Hot in the Shade.
My Top 5:
1. Lick it Up
2. Rock and Roll Over
3. Love Gun
4. Creatures of the Night
5. Dynasty
Well done man
Just curious, if you love Elder, then why rank it #17? I thought this was about "your" rankings?
1. The Originals
2. Alive!
3. Destroyer
4. Rock and Roll Over
5. Love Gun
The first album which became a format for their live albums, which let’s face, the first studio album doesn’t sound near as good as the live versions but anyway, I remember watching an interview with Paul and he saying he did not like the sound of the first album with the guitar sounding way to tame and kind of lethargic. I 100% agree. It sure helped the kiss alive album which had those songs from the original album finally wake up!
You’re preaching to the choir!
I’ve been getting in to Kiss because of your videos, I think the Floyd would be the next best artist for you to rank, as they are your 2nd favorite!!
MonkeyManProductions It’s crazy how you can predict into the future 😏 look out around May! So glad to hear that this video has paved the way for your KISS journey!
Worst is Revenge. By a while. Although to be honest there are quite a few that I have never listened to (Monster, Sonic Boom, Hot In The Shade).
Favorite is Destroyer followed by Unmasked and Hotter Than Hell. I really like Crazy Nights and Elder...
Totally agree with your rankings!! I’m surprised
Awesome!
@@TheRecordSpinner - nah can't put The Elder ahead of COS. At least COS was more honest and much more of the KISS core sound. I love The Elder but COS is amazing
LOL *ALIVE I* is their greatest *Studio Album!* 🤣🤣🤣
I’m a numbers guy So I got bored one day and ranked the albums based solely on how many songs I like vs song count. I didn’t take into account things like production, artwork, musicians. I was quite surprised because if I were to blurt out my top five based on emotions, it would be a different order.
Analysis
9/10 Asylum 90%
8/11 Revenge 73%
7/10 Dressed To Kill 70%
7/10 Rock & Roll Over 70%
7/10 Love Gun 70%
Emotion
Love Gun
Dressed to Kill
Destroyer
Creatures
Asylum
Assylum? You must've been in one at some point if that made your top 5 on 2 lists!!
@@petepiper7038 you may be right! It surprised me too!
1. KISS
2. HOTTER THAN HELL
3. DRESSED TO KILL
4. Revenge
5. Carnival of Souls
6. alive! Destroyer LoveGun Rock and Roll over
7. Dynasty
8.psycho circus
Well reasoned, but my order is different. Love Gun or Rock N Roll Over are my #1/2.
Nice list!
I personally prefer “Alive II” over “Alive!”. I hear a lot of people say “Alive!” Is better than “Alive II”. Could someone please explain to me why?
Hmm, my number 1 album is creatures of the night and second love gun
Nice! Creatures does kick some serious ass and I was going back and forth with putting it higher but nothing could ever touch those glory years of 74-77, in my opinion.
@@TheRecordSpinner your right, sometimes its the way you feel, ik have that problem with c.o.s. and the elder. But great video bro
Is your copy of Sonic Boom on colored vinyl? My copy is on purple vinyl.
My copy is on red. However, I got my hands on an unofficial pressing since I missed out on the proper release back in 2010. Its a part of the 2nd wave of unofficial pressings which does not come with the gatefold, inner sleeve or poster but its a very sentimental album to me and I wanted to have it on the format for years. Until it gets reissued or I can get the original for a good deal, then itll do!
The Record Spinn
my ranking list
20. hot in the shade
19. crazy nights
18.sonic boom.
17.monster
16.unmasked
15.revenge
14.carneval of the souls
13.animllize
12.the elder
11. asylum
10.lick it up
9.dynasty
8.kiss
7.dressed to kill
6.deatroyer
5.pshycho circus
4.love gun
3.rock and roll over
2.hotter than hell
1. creatures of the night
I couldn't agree with you more! Great job!
Thank you!
WTF "Monster" better than "Unmasked", "Asylum" and "Crazy Nights"??? 🤦🏻♂️
Yep, EASILY
Tip top sir.
Love Gun is the best overall of the studio albums IMO. I have every CD btw.
Dynasty was my first love in 1979 and will always be, i love every album Except Monster-I walked away from KISS.
My #1 is Crazy Nights. :)
Gean ripped it in the 80s even if he wasn't around as much but .. I'm gonna stick my log in your fire place is gold in my opinion
😅 SORRY, but "(Music from) The ELDER" (1981) is one of my Top 3, that's my Top 5 and it changes for how I feel today/that day: 5.) Unmasked, 4.) Revenge, 3.) The Elder, 2.) Destroyer and 1.) Dressed to kill;
Awesome
Ok Record Spinner I guess I'm an anomaly in my ratings of the 20 but at least I'm honest about it. And I'm a die-hard KISS fan, possess a B Mus in guitar, and AM NOT a casual listener. From least to favorite: Revenge; Asylum; Hot in the Shade; Psycho Circus; Monster; Sonic Boom; Carnival of Souls; Lick it Up; Animalize; Creatures of the Night; Lovegun; The Elder, Unmasked; Crazy Nights; Rock & roll Over; Destroyer; Dynasty; Kiss; Hotter than Hell; Dressed to Kill.
You have a degree in guitar? I hope you didn't get a student loan for that class because you have Music From The Elderly ...Lazy Nights... Unlistenable... Sorry I meant Music From The Elder Crazy Nights and Unmasked in your top ten!?! Go back to the college and get a refund! 💰
Do you play guitar? I will agree with your list if you can play the lead in Delivering The Goods by Judas Priest!
@@petepiper7038 Easily Pete. Priest is my second fave band of all time. Glenn is a HUGE influence. Why would I want a refund? My career pays very well, and with a jazz guitar degree I can appreciate a much broader range of musical styles. Regards!
@@kisskoffeekhords9973 refund because those records you listed aren't even in GENE'S top ten list. That Priest solo is EASY? I only asked about that song because I have a book with tablature from the 80s with that song and it says at the lead break"If you can play this lead... you don't need this book" So what Priest lead do you consider HARD?
@@petepiper7038 The solo from Ram it down. I actually consider it more difficult than anything from Painkiller; but then again this is just an opinion.
Top five
Rock and roll over
Kiss
Destroyer
Hotter than hell
Dressed to kill
Actually your rankings were really good and you make good points with every album..only thing I'd do differently is flip flop Destroyer with the Debut
Hey Robbie! Thank you for tuning in. I wouldn’t be complaining about that switch up, the debut and destroyer are on the same calibur!
@@TheRecordSpinner yeah it was s great watch..yeah Destroyer and their Debut are solid early Kiss records..I'm actually a fan of the 77 to 82 era then all the 90s albums..Rock on brotha
77-82 is indeed a very transforming period. Basically they had impacted themselves in 1970s Americana and then every change just turned for them. Very much a survival of the fittest period in terms of finding their ground again and adapting.
Destroyer is their psychedelic masterpiece.
?
@@stevekosak8624 Kiss employs all the moods of any good psychedelic album on Destroyer, including spoken words, big open spaces, mellow change of pace, fantasy figures and imagery, percussion and exotic sound FX , plus superhero like cover art and self/meta references. It's never been put on the same pedestal as Sgt. Pepper's or Dr. Sardonicus but it should be.
@@seanwelch71 i disagree but we all have our own opinions and i respect yours
Everyone has differing opinions but for me I'm a fan of the early 80s material with Carr..
One day Carnival of Souls will get it's due. It has great songs on it. Period. For me, the top six are the first six....followed by COS, CotN, LIU, and Revenge (not necessarily in that order), and then it's everything else in varying order. I hate Dynasty with the power of a thousand suns. Unmasked I tend to enjoy although I don't consider it great.
80's KISS was just a different kind of makeup and style.
🤘
Hey man I have never really been a "Fan" of kiss, but I mad respect for them. I had a friend of mine who loved them. He even talked me into gping to see them in Baltimore back in 85. Enjoyed the video bro! Peace
Oh wow! How was that show? My dad had the pleasure of seeing them in 75 and 78.
@@TheRecordSpinner it was really good BOC opened for them, it was the no make time but they kicked ass