Great video. I love hearing other people's favorite KISS albums and the reasons behind them. I've been a fan since I was 11 years old, back in 1983 when they dropped the makeup. I remember seeing the debut of the video of Lick It Up and loving it! That was my first exposure and purchase of theirs. Usually when I rate my top 5 of theirs, I don't include the live albums or solo albums (otherwise Ace and Alive would be in there). My top five would be: 5: Lick It Up (a lot has to do with it being my first!) 4: Rock And Roll Over - Just a straight forward in your face hard rock record. 3: Destroyer (I have 28 different vinyl pressings of this one alone!) 2: Revenge - A true return to form for the band. I often consider it their 2nd comeback album. 1: Creatures of the Night - Their first comeback album. Just a killer, heavy record. A classic early 80's metal album. It never gets old for me! An honorable mention would be Crazy Nights. Not necessarily because of it being a great album, but because that tour was the first time I got to see them live, so every time I play that one the memories of that concert come rushing back!
Oh that is fantastic and your top-5 is stellar! Creatures is so so good! I heard a few people now talk about fond memories from Crazy Nights. It was an album that didn’t stick out to me, but I should revisit it again. It’s been really fun interacting with Kiss fans and hearing all the different opinions! Thank you for sharing yours!
Glad you enjoyed it! I definitely have a different perspective of the band being a more recent fan, but you got to respect the fans that were there from day 1!
Loved this! Bold move on your No. 1 pick! I think the debut is my No. 1 pick, but there are so many to choose from. I would almost have to do a Top 5 from the 70s, and a Top 5 from the rest.. or a Top 5 makeup era and a Top 5 non-makeup. What are your thoughts on Dynasty and Unmaked?
Thanks, Frank! Kiss has such a vast and spectacular discography it is truly challenging to narrow it down to 5! But I really like Dynasty too! It’s odd to me that it’s called their “disco” album when only one track could be labeled as such. 🤷♂️ And Unmasked is another great one! “Is that You?” is one of my favorite Kiss tracks period. I’m obsessed with it!!
It's cool to hear the perspective of a new Kiss fan. I've been a Kiss army soldier since 1977. You have some great choices too. Just for the (Hotter Than) Hell of it, here's my top 5 (excluding the live albums) from the perspective of 45 years. 1. Hotter Than Hell 2. Rock And Roll Over 3. Dynasty 4. The Elder 5. Creatures Of The Night
Excellent list! I will admit that ‘The Elder’ has been hard for me to connect with. I definitely need to spend more time with it, but it’s hard when Kiss has so many other albums I enjoy immensely. Take care!
Love your top 5! I've been a fan since 1978! I agree with Your Ace, Destroyer and Creatures picks. Ace blew me away when I first picked his album up as a kid. Dynasty has to be in my top 5 and it's a toss up between Rock and Roll Over and Love Gun to round out my list. I'm glad you got the "KISS bug" because it's so much fun.
Thank you! It was seriously a challenge to get it down to just five! And I’m jealous that you’ve been a fan since the beginning! But I’m glad I got the KISS bug too… better late than never!
Outstanding presentation -- really enjoy hearing the reasoning behind your choices. I've been a fan since the 70s, and have a slightly different take (with all due respect to your choices). 5) Dressed to Kill: raw, rough, energetic, melodic; 4) Dynasty: engaging melodies, am radio hooks, a transitional album that embraced its time and upped the ante. 3) Crazy Nights: killer guitar riffs, Paul Stanley singing for everything he's worth, shows KISS can play on other bands' fields. 2) Unmasked: Pop rock at its finest, sophistication meets accessibility, building musical bridges; 1) Destroyer: Rock as myth, epic production, a statement album. The integration of light into darkness. Gods of Thunder unleashed. All great albums. Rock on, Kiss Army!!
Fantastic list! I like your reasoning behind Crazy Nights’ ranking. I need to give that one some more listening time. And I just got the Super Deluxe reissue of Destroyer and it has raised my adoration for the album. I really enjoyed reading about all the ‘behind the scenes’ stories and listening to all the bonus material… Such a great album and great band! Cheers!
Thanks, Jerome! I throughly enjoyed going through the Kiss discography. So many killer tracks! I find myself going back to their albums quite a bit. Definitely not easy to rank! And the ‘Alive’ albums are great! I love the first two, but I also really dig the MTV Unplugged set. Just something about hearing their songs stripped down is super cool to me. I’m sure I’ll see you all soon!
I love this video! For someone that is new to Kiss, you really did your homework and got to know their history quite well. The pick of the Ace album was a surprise but it makes perfect sense. The other choices are great too. I'm an Elder fan but at the time, it was a major misstep for the band. The novelty of the makeup was wearing thin and their more "poppy" albums had turned off their key fan base. For what it's worth Dynasty is in my top two favorite albums. I don't agree when people say it's a disco album. Lol. The impact Kiss had on kids growing up in the 70's is hard to describe. I don't know of any band that comes close to that on the scene today. The collectibles from the 70's sell for nearly as high of prices as The Beatles. From what I know, the COTN albums that have Vinnie on the cover are bootlegs. Cool shirt too! Take care.
Thanks, Melinda! When I find a band I like I tend to get a bit obsessed consuming as much as I can find! Lol. I’ll have to give The Elder more time to grow on me. I totally get why fans are divided on it. And I love Dynasty! It seriously almost made my list! Picking a top five was truly a challenge. Take care!
I love "pop metal", if it's done genuinely and not done from executive's telling the artist how do do it ( this seems to happen to "pop" music predominantly) which is why people hate "pop"! But if it comes from a genuine place (yes, it's rarer in the "pop" world) then it's cool!
I was 11 years old when i was introduced to KISS, and that was about 20 years ago, so I've been a fan for a while but I'm a younger generation fan. I will also say I like all of their studio albums, even my least favorites have their moments.... however my top 5 albums would be Destroyer (my first KISS album, and Home to my all time favorite KISS song, King of the Night Time World) Hotter Than Hell (solid album start to finish, I love the muddy production, I think it works for these songs) Dynasty (so underrated, Ace really puts this album over the top) Animalize (so underrated, Paul is on fire with his tracks here, and Genes songs are kinda guilty pleasures for me) Love Gun (the quintessential KISS album imo, first album to feature all 4 members on vocals, love every song including Hooligan and Then She Kissed Me) Honorable mentions: Dressed To Kill, Lick It Up, Asylum, and Monster
Fantastic list! I agree, Dynasty and Animalize are criminally underrated! The lead track on Animalize (Heavens on Fire 🔥) is one of my favorite KISS tracks! Dynasty gets labeled as a “disco album” but it’s just another excellent Kiss record with one disco type song. Take care! 🤘
@@Rockoli I like "heavens on fire" , "I've had enough (into the fire)" , "under the gun", "thrills in the night"! Paul's songs really dominated that album, as gene dominated "revenge"!
Glad you are back, sir. Greetings from up the river in Terre Haute, the birthplace of the KISS Army \m/ !! I've been a KISS fan since the 6th grade (75). I remember how excited the older kids were on the bus the day after their concert at the Hulman Center, they got me interested. A few months later my Dad, picked up a few KISS records from the pressing line at CBS records, after that I was done in, so to speak, lol. I finally saw them live on one of their reunion tours in the 90's, great show. After the late 70's, I starting losing interest in KISS, too much hype and not enough hard rock (i.e. comic books and that crazy amusement park TV movie.) So here is my list: 5-Love Gun, 4-Dressed to Kill, 3-KISS, 2-Destroyer, and 1-Alive. Cheers from the Haute!
Hey there! Thank you, Sir! I saw that in a bio I watched on the band, Gene said that if it weren’t for Terre Haute, Indiana that Kiss wouldn’t exist! That is so awesome! And sounds like you had the coolest dad!
Kiss is awesome I saw them live in 2009 alive 35 tour I was blown away the stage presence it was so fun and was a awesome experience. I love your picks Jacob I’m definitely going to check those others you picked out Destroyer is my favorite. Lovellandrew
Oh whoa! I bet that was an experience! I’d love to see them live. Their live albums are legendary, so I can only imagine being their in the flesh! You’ll have to let me know what you think of the others when you get a chance to listen. Destroyer is fantastic 👏
Frank from Channel33rpm referred us to your channel. We were big KISS fans in their early days(yep, we’re old🤣😂). We n longer follow them, but we still listen to “KISS Alive!” and “KISS Alive II on a regular basis. However, as far as their post ‘70’s catalog, we LOVE “Creatures Of The Night.” Big Eric Carr fans, his drumming was bombastic!-Chris & Beth🎧
Frank is the best! And Kiss is excellent! I’m really glad I took the time to explore their discography. It was a truly rewarding journey! Thank you both for taking the time to check out my channel!
Welcome to the dark side of rock!! Lol. I've been a Kiss Dan since the beginning...... yes I'm old! I don't have the entire catalog though. But I'll try to pick up Revenge and Creatures. Thanks for taking the time to listen to all of their Lps. Ohhhh yes I have all 4 of the band members Lps.
Dark side = Best side 😉 lol. I throughly enjoyed listening to the Kiss discography! I seriously felt ashamed that I had misjudged for so long. Such a great band with a plethora of hidden gems!
I was 10 years old when I became a fan of Kiss, and it was late '79 early 1980. My interest waned by the mid 80's as I neared the end of high school. Now I'm 52 and while I listened to my old favourites from time to time, I never heard or had an album after Smashes, Thrashes & Hits. During Covid, I went and bought all the remaining studio albums I never had (i.e. from mid 80's to the last album, Monster). My Top 5 albums are 1: KISS, 2: Dynasty, 3: Unmasked, 4: Destroyer, 5 : Paul Stanley Solo. The next group album on my top 5 if excluding Solo is Hotter Than Hell). Honorary mention to Psycho Circus & Creatures of The Night
Oh Fantastic list! An honorable mention for me would be Psycho Circus as well. The title track on that record is up there with some of their best tracks if you ask me!
I bought the first Kiss album in 1974. It's my all time favorite Kiss album. You picked four of my favorite Kiss albums but in a different order. My choices: 1. Kiss (debut) 2. Creatures of the Night 3. Rock and Roll Over 4. Destroyer 5. Revenge For your information, I worked in a record store when the solo albums were released. They failed miserably. We received so many copies of each album with the original order and we never had to replenish any sold copies. In fact the store sent back the majority of the initial releases. It was definitely a sad thing to witness as a Kiss fan...
Great picks! Revenge is heavy and good! The debut is my favorite, 1st album I ever heard at 5 years old. The songs stand the test of time ,masterpiece album. Destroyer is good but not a favorite of mine. Creatures is in my opinion their best album after the 70s albums,definitely 1 of my favorites. Ace stayed in the band until the album was released. If he left during it Kiss would of lost their record deal. The solos are cool, Paul's is my favorite 1 but Aces is super good. Love your picks bro! Great review
Thanks man! It was a challenge to pick only 5 Kiss albums and rank them! But it was a lot fun making this video. Honestly, the debut could easily be my favorite too! It’s so so good!! And if I had included live albums then Alive, Alive II and MTV Unplugged would have been on my list too. Take care!
Love your top 5!!! And welcome to the Kiss Army!!! May I suggest a deep dive again into Lick IT Up album. Very heavy Kiss record!! Plus Vinnie is face melting amazing on it! Gene and Paul songs are nasty and heavy and full of bite.
Welcome to KISS! Grew up listening to these guys. Was lucky to see the original band back in the late 90’s-early 2000’s. Ace and Peter are my two favorite members. I did see Ace live 3 times in the late 80’s. Always puts on a good show. So here are my top 5 KISS albums. 1- Alive! 2-Ace Frehley 3-Rock And Roll Over 4-Kiss 5-Unmasked.
Oh I’d LOVE to see them live! That is awesome! And great list 👏 I almost put ‘Unmasked’ on my list purely for the track “Is That You?”, I’m obsessed with it!
My top 20: 20 - Monster 19 - Carnival of souls 18 - Sonic boom 17 - Crazy nights 16 - Psycho circus 15 - Hot in the shade 14 - Animalize 13 - Dynasty 12 - Unmasked 11 - Destroyer 10 - Hotter than hell 9 - Music from 'the elder' 8 - Dressed to kill 7 - Asylum 6 - Rock and roll over 5 - Revenge 4 - Love gun 3 - Kiss 2 - Creatures of the night 1 - Lick it up
Great setup mate 👍 I’ve always found that to be the case with the band, is that many people have always listened with their eyes, decide they don’t like what it looks like, and decide they are “crap”. If you play somebody a song that doesn’t know who it is, they may say, oh that’s not bad. Tell them before hard, oh that’s dreadful….. I think you’ve probably picked what many of the “army” consider to be the best albums, tho Creatures was an unmitigated disaster at release, and Revenge really didn’t blow up either. Ace’s album is held in high esteem, only sad thing about it, it’s probably the pinnacle of his solo work. Nothing ever got close to it. I probably prefer Paul’s album personally. I’m not sure what my top 5 would be, but given I’m now a Aussie in his 50s, who lived through the 1980 Kiss explosion down under, both Dynasty & Unmasked still hold a special place Keep up the good work 👍….cheers
Thank you very much! And you bring up an interesting topic. I’ve wondered before wether a band might have enjoyed more success if they had different imagery associated with them, or even a different name of band… would it make a difference? It’s about the music and what you enjoy, but it’s also a product being sold to us and the branding and image around the band influences our opinion of the music (much like you pointed out)… it’s all fascinating to me. I really try not to judge a book-by-its-cover, but I admit I fall into the trap from time to time and make assumptions about bands without giving them a good close listen.
Just letting you know that the great title track of Creatures of the Night did not have Vinnie Vincent on lead guitar. It was played by Steve Farris of that not so hard rocking group Mr. Mister. the same band who had hits with Broken wings and Kyrie.
Revenge is so good. I'm not a huge KISS fan but that record is really good. I like Carnival Of Souls as well. Same line up of the band, but more aggressive sound.
Ask me on a different day and I could easily put Revenge as my #1. Love it. And Carnival of Souls is good. I think it’s considered their “grunge” album. I like that lineup. Bruce Kulick is a heck of a guitar player. He’s phenomenal on the “unplugged” album IMO.
Actually Vinnie Vincent only played a couple of songs on creatures of the night. They used it as a tryout for a new guitarists and Vinny won. Actually the guitarist from Mr. mister did the solo on creatures of the night. Welcome to the KISS Army!
I would have Ace’s solo album in my top 10, but I don’t really consider it to be a true Kiss album.😆 1. Destroyer 2. Creatures 3. Kiss Debut 4. Rock and Roll Over 5. Hotter Than Hell
@@Rockoli thanks. Yes, I don’t blame you for putting Ace at #1. You’re not alone for including his solo album since it does say Kiss on the cover. Their record company used to include the solo albums in their discography. My order for the solo albums: 1. Ace 2. Paul 3. Gene 4. Peter
@@excelsiormusicreviews Yeah, I totally get why fans would be divided on if the solo albums are actually ‘Kiss’ albums. I think it was an interesting move considering the band wanted to breakup at the time. So, allowing them to each release a solo album under the Kiss name was a unique option. It didn’t go as expected, but I think it kept the band together for a little while longer. I don’t know of any other band that has ever attempted anything similar?
@@Rockoli yes, I can’t either. There have been members of bands that have released a solo album while still in their band, like Bruce Dickinson in Iron Maiden. Bruce ended up leaving 4 or 5 years later anyway though, and then returned.
your KISS top 5 more or less mirrors my own top five. One difference being Revenge is my number one KISS album. The band line up worked, and they sound raw and hungry. And the cover looks like what the album sounds like. Their debut album is the flawed gem in the canon. All the elements are there, the pot just needed to be stirred. Destroyer is where they found their sound. Creatures of the Night is the album they needed to make, but, three to five years earlier. Ace was saying that they needed to just do a straight up rock album. Dynasty, and Unmasked were ok, but unfocused. The Elder was a flawed and overproduced concept album. Ace left the band after it was finished out of his desire for a solo career and his frustration with the direction of the band in general. Insert Monster, and you have my top five list. Monster for me is a rip roaring thrill ride of an album. I think of it as Revenge without boundaries, put the album on, turn your mind off and just let the music take you where it does.
Ask me on a different day and Revenge could be my #1! Such a great dark sleazy record for them! I revisit it quite a bit. Your high praise of Monster has me wanting to revisit the album and give it a closer listen!
I say Lick it Up is their heaviest album. One could argue Creatures of the Night is their heaviest but switch title tracks and Lick it Up is clearly their heaviest, IMO. Revenge was a sweet return to form after Crazy Nights and Hot in the Shade which are in their bottom 5 for me. I agree Ace’s solo is top shelf. Ranked # 3 for me.
Not taking anything away from the Ace solo album but that isn't a KISS album, it's an Ace Frehley album he made while in the band but with out any help from any of the other members of KISS. It's a great album but it's not a KISS album. Although I'm glad you gave Revenge the nod since it's one of their best sounding albums and there's no wasted tracks with the only down side being that Eric Carr was barely involved due to him dying of cancer at the time, his drumming from Creatures would've absolutely made Revenge a top tier KISS album from the POV from the majority of fans
I can totally respect that opinion. For me, it was labeled and marketed as a Kiss album and part of the simultaneous solo releases concept that was created at the time… so I count it as Kiss. But I also get why others wouldn’t count the solo albums. I’m just stoked I finally gave their music a close listen… I love it!
As a long time Kiss fan i have to say you picked 5 good albums though i don't necessarily fully agree. To me the Kiss album out of the four solo albums is Paul's. It's a great album, but predictable, there's practically nothing separating it from the Kiss albums. If Kiss albums were all Paul songs of course. Though not my fave out of the 5, the one i respect the most is Gene. He did what you're supposed to do with a solo album. Go with your own vision, don't stay within the band mold. Pasi
Thank you! I really enjoyed all the solo albums and Gene’s was my second favorite! I liked that he branched out and tried some different sounds. Paul’s was good too but, as you said, a bit predictable. Honestly, I had a hard time pairing my Kiss list down to five. So many great records to choose from!
Ace's best friend a cop!? Hardley. Ace's best friend would have been a well experienced medic. He's had some well documented drug blackouts and has overdosed once or twice. A cop would have been too busy putting Ace in jail over his drug binges. Eventually Ace did wise up and successfully rehab from drugs. As did Peter Criss. As much as Ace did his drugs Peter was ahead of him. Peter was very close to death due to his depressive moods from over usage. His rehab was about the only thing left for him to do.
Touché! The point I was trying to make was it seems like Ace is a blue-collar kind of guy and would keep company as such. He just seems relatable even though, at one point, he was one of the biggest rock stars on the planet!
As a fan of the band since the 70s, in my opinion, you missed the mark a bit. Destroyer and Revenge are good top five picks. Alive! should be number one. Paul Stanley's solo album sounded more like a Kiss album than Ace Frehley's. Rock and Roll over was an awesome follow up to Destroyer. Plus, it had awesome cover art. Same goes for the next one, Lovegun. After the Alive! album saved Casablanca Records, the studio records were better produced. The first three albums sounded like they were recorded on a phone... just shit. That's probably why fans heard Destroyer said it sounded too clean to be a Kiss record. It actually was well produced compared to the first three. BTW, this video sounds like you're keeping your voice low so you don't wake the family. Grow some nuts and put some energy into the presentation. You might gain subscribers.
Haha I appreciate the advice! I’ll work on the energy in my presentation. Also, I kept live albums out of my ranking on purpose, otherwise ‘Alive!’ would have definitely been included! Rock on 🤘
Great video. I love hearing other people's favorite KISS albums and the reasons behind them. I've been a fan since I was 11 years old, back in 1983 when they dropped the makeup. I remember seeing the debut of the video of Lick It Up and loving it! That was my first exposure and purchase of theirs. Usually when I rate my top 5 of theirs, I don't include the live albums or solo albums (otherwise Ace and Alive would be in there). My top five would be:
5: Lick It Up (a lot has to do with it being my first!)
4: Rock And Roll Over - Just a straight forward in your face hard rock record.
3: Destroyer (I have 28 different vinyl pressings of this one alone!)
2: Revenge - A true return to form for the band. I often consider it their 2nd comeback album.
1: Creatures of the Night - Their first comeback album. Just a killer, heavy record. A classic early 80's metal album. It never gets old for me!
An honorable mention would be Crazy Nights. Not necessarily because of it being a great album, but because that tour was the first time I got to see them live, so every time I play that one the memories of that concert come rushing back!
Oh that is fantastic and your top-5 is stellar! Creatures is so so good! I heard a few people now talk about fond memories from Crazy Nights. It was an album that didn’t stick out to me, but I should revisit it again. It’s been really fun interacting with Kiss fans and hearing all the different opinions! Thank you for sharing yours!
So cool seeing a ranking from a new fan, because it's not biased towards a particular era like many rankings here
Glad you enjoyed it! I definitely have a different perspective of the band being a more recent fan, but you got to respect the fans that were there from day 1!
"cover art should give you a glimpse of what to expect when you put the record on" ~ truer words never spoken!
Glad you agree, Bombastic! 🙌
Loved this! Bold move on your No. 1 pick! I think the debut is my No. 1 pick, but there are so many to choose from. I would almost have to do a Top 5 from the 70s, and a Top 5 from the rest.. or a Top 5 makeup era and a Top 5 non-makeup. What are your thoughts on Dynasty and Unmaked?
Thanks, Frank! Kiss has such a vast and spectacular discography it is truly challenging to narrow it down to 5! But I really like Dynasty too! It’s odd to me that it’s called their “disco” album when only one track could be labeled as such. 🤷♂️ And Unmasked is another great one! “Is that You?” is one of my favorite Kiss tracks period. I’m obsessed with it!!
It's cool to hear the perspective of a new Kiss fan. I've been a Kiss army soldier since 1977. You have some great choices too. Just for the (Hotter Than) Hell of it, here's my top 5 (excluding the live albums) from the perspective of 45 years.
1. Hotter Than Hell
2. Rock And Roll Over
3. Dynasty
4. The Elder
5. Creatures Of The Night
Excellent list! I will admit that ‘The Elder’ has been hard for me to connect with. I definitely need to spend more time with it, but it’s hard when Kiss has so many other albums I enjoy immensely. Take care!
Welcome to the KISS family! Enjoyed your video
Thank you!!
Love your top 5! I've been a fan since 1978! I agree with Your Ace, Destroyer and Creatures picks. Ace blew me away when I first picked his album up as a kid. Dynasty has to be in my top 5 and it's a toss up between Rock and Roll Over and Love Gun to round out my list. I'm glad you got the "KISS bug" because it's so much fun.
Thank you! It was seriously a challenge to get it down to just five! And I’m jealous that you’ve been a fan since the beginning! But I’m glad I got the KISS bug too… better late than never!
Outstanding presentation -- really enjoy hearing the reasoning behind your choices. I've been a fan since the 70s, and have a slightly different take (with all due respect to your choices). 5) Dressed to Kill: raw, rough, energetic, melodic; 4) Dynasty: engaging melodies, am radio hooks, a transitional album that embraced its time and upped the ante. 3) Crazy Nights: killer guitar riffs, Paul Stanley singing for everything he's worth, shows KISS can play on other bands' fields. 2) Unmasked: Pop rock at its finest, sophistication meets accessibility, building musical bridges; 1) Destroyer: Rock as myth, epic production, a statement album. The integration of light into darkness. Gods of Thunder unleashed. All great albums. Rock on, Kiss Army!!
Fantastic list! I like your reasoning behind Crazy Nights’ ranking. I need to give that one some more listening time. And I just got the Super Deluxe reissue of Destroyer and it has raised my adoration for the album. I really enjoyed reading about all the ‘behind the scenes’ stories and listening to all the bonus material… Such a great album and great band! Cheers!
Are you a KISS fan? What are your top 5 KISS albums?! 🤔
Great picks. Thats a hard list, and one that has constantly changed over the years for me. Alive and the first 3 are favorites along with Creatures.
Thanks, Jerome! I throughly enjoyed going through the Kiss discography. So many killer tracks! I find myself going back to their albums quite a bit. Definitely not easy to rank! And the ‘Alive’ albums are great! I love the first two, but I also really dig the MTV Unplugged set. Just something about hearing their songs stripped down is super cool to me. I’m sure I’ll see you all soon!
I love this video! For someone that is new to Kiss, you really did your homework and got to know their history quite well. The pick of the Ace album was a surprise but it makes perfect sense. The other choices are great too. I'm an Elder fan but at the time, it was a major misstep for the band. The novelty of the makeup was wearing thin and their more "poppy" albums had turned off their key fan base. For what it's worth Dynasty is in my top two favorite albums. I don't agree when people say it's a disco album. Lol.
The impact Kiss had on kids growing up in the 70's is hard to describe. I don't know of any band that comes close to that on the scene today. The collectibles from the 70's sell for nearly as high of prices as The Beatles. From what I know, the COTN albums that have Vinnie on the cover are bootlegs. Cool shirt too! Take care.
Thanks, Melinda! When I find a band I like I tend to get a bit obsessed consuming as much as I can find! Lol. I’ll have to give The Elder more time to grow on me. I totally get why fans are divided on it. And I love Dynasty! It seriously almost made my list! Picking a top five was truly a challenge. Take care!
@KI SS I do love Bob’s production! I’ll give it some more spins and see if it starts to vibe with me
I love "pop metal", if it's done genuinely and not done from executive's telling the artist how do do it ( this seems to happen to "pop" music predominantly) which is why people hate "pop"! But if it comes from a genuine place (yes, it's rarer in the "pop" world) then it's cool!
I was 11 years old when i was introduced to KISS, and that was about 20 years ago, so I've been a fan for a while but I'm a younger generation fan. I will also say I like all of their studio albums, even my least favorites have their moments.... however my top 5 albums would be
Destroyer (my first KISS album, and Home to my all time favorite KISS song, King of the Night Time World)
Hotter Than Hell (solid album start to finish, I love the muddy production, I think it works for these songs)
Dynasty (so underrated, Ace really puts this album over the top)
Animalize (so underrated, Paul is on fire with his tracks here, and Genes songs are kinda guilty pleasures for me)
Love Gun (the quintessential KISS album imo, first album to feature all 4 members on vocals, love every song including Hooligan and Then She Kissed Me)
Honorable mentions: Dressed To Kill, Lick It Up, Asylum, and Monster
Fantastic list! I agree, Dynasty and Animalize are criminally underrated! The lead track on Animalize (Heavens on Fire 🔥) is one of my favorite KISS tracks! Dynasty gets labeled as a “disco album” but it’s just another excellent Kiss record with one disco type song. Take care! 🤘
@@Rockoli Heaven's On Fire is awesome..... the opening track, I've Had Enough (Into the Fire) is one of the most underrated KISS songs imo
"Animalize" was my first kiss LP, so it earns a special place on my turntable bad or good! I like it!
Oh I revisit “Animalize” often just to hear, ‘Heaven’s on Fire’! 🔥 🔥🔥
@@Rockoli I like "heavens on fire" , "I've had enough (into the fire)" , "under the gun", "thrills in the night"! Paul's songs really dominated that album, as gene dominated "revenge"!
pls do a video about your gear (turntable, speakers etc.) i‘m curious 😊
I’ll see what I can do 😉
Glad you are back, sir. Greetings from up the river in Terre Haute, the birthplace of the KISS Army \m/ !! I've been a KISS fan since the 6th grade (75). I remember how excited the older kids were on the bus the day after their concert at the Hulman Center, they got me interested. A few months later my Dad, picked up a few KISS records from the pressing line at CBS records, after that I was done in, so to speak, lol. I finally saw them live on one of their reunion tours in the 90's, great show. After the late 70's, I starting losing interest in KISS, too much hype and not enough hard rock (i.e. comic books and that crazy amusement park TV movie.) So here is my list: 5-Love Gun, 4-Dressed to Kill, 3-KISS, 2-Destroyer, and 1-Alive. Cheers from the Haute!
Hey there! Thank you, Sir! I saw that in a bio I watched on the band, Gene said that if it weren’t for Terre Haute, Indiana that Kiss wouldn’t exist! That is so awesome! And sounds like you had the coolest dad!
Great installment and was very surprised by your number 1.
Thanks man! You’ll have to let me know your top 5!
Kiss is awesome I saw them live in 2009 alive 35 tour I was blown away the stage presence it was so fun and was a awesome experience. I love your picks Jacob I’m definitely going to check those others you picked out Destroyer is my favorite. Lovellandrew
Oh whoa! I bet that was an experience! I’d love to see them live. Their live albums are legendary, so I can only imagine being their in the flesh! You’ll have to let me know what you think of the others when you get a chance to listen. Destroyer is fantastic 👏
@@Rockoli cool I will 👌
I love that Aces solo record is #1. Great post. I think your top 5 is solid.
Ace’s solo record is absolutely KILLER! I’m pretty sure my wife is sick of hearing it haha But I can’t get enough of it! What’s your top 5?
@@Rockoli
5. Rock & Roll Over
4. Creatures Of The Night
3. Love Gun
2. KISS
1. Destroyer \m/>_
Frank from Channel33rpm referred us to your channel. We were big KISS fans in their early days(yep, we’re old🤣😂). We n longer follow them, but we still listen to “KISS Alive!” and “KISS Alive II on a regular basis. However, as far as their post ‘70’s catalog, we LOVE “Creatures Of The Night.” Big Eric Carr fans, his drumming was bombastic!-Chris & Beth🎧
Frank is the best! And Kiss is excellent! I’m really glad I took the time to explore their discography. It was a truly rewarding journey! Thank you both for taking the time to check out my channel!
Welcome to the dark side of rock!! Lol. I've been a Kiss Dan since the beginning...... yes I'm old!
I don't have the entire catalog though. But I'll try to pick up Revenge and Creatures.
Thanks for taking the time to listen to all of their Lps. Ohhhh yes I have all 4 of the band members Lps.
Dark side = Best side 😉 lol. I throughly enjoyed listening to the Kiss discography! I seriously felt ashamed that I had misjudged for so long. Such a great band with a plethora of hidden gems!
I was 10 years old when I became a fan of Kiss, and it was late '79 early 1980. My interest waned by the mid 80's as I neared the end of high school. Now I'm 52 and while I listened to my old favourites from time to time, I never heard or had an album after Smashes, Thrashes & Hits. During Covid, I went and bought all the remaining studio albums I never had (i.e. from mid 80's to the last album, Monster). My Top 5 albums are 1: KISS, 2: Dynasty, 3: Unmasked, 4: Destroyer, 5 : Paul Stanley Solo. The next group album on my top 5 if excluding Solo is Hotter Than Hell). Honorary mention to Psycho Circus & Creatures of The Night
Oh Fantastic list! An honorable mention for me would be Psycho Circus as well. The title track on that record is up there with some of their best tracks if you ask me!
Yasss welcome to the Kiss fam lol
I bought the first Kiss album in 1974. It's my all time favorite Kiss album. You picked four of my favorite Kiss albums but in a different order. My choices:
1. Kiss (debut)
2. Creatures of the Night
3. Rock and Roll Over
4. Destroyer
5. Revenge
For your information, I worked in a record store when the solo albums were released. They failed miserably. We received so many copies of each album with the original order and we never had to replenish any sold copies. In fact the store sent back the majority of the initial releases. It was definitely a sad thing to witness as a Kiss fan...
Great picks! Revenge is heavy and good! The debut is my favorite, 1st album I ever heard at 5 years old. The songs stand the test of time ,masterpiece album. Destroyer is good but not a favorite of mine. Creatures is in my opinion their best album after the 70s albums,definitely 1 of my favorites. Ace stayed in the band until the album was released. If he left during it Kiss would of lost their record deal. The solos are cool, Paul's is my favorite 1 but Aces is super good. Love your picks bro! Great review
Thanks man! It was a challenge to pick only 5 Kiss albums and rank them! But it was a lot fun making this video. Honestly, the debut could easily be my favorite too! It’s so so good!! And if I had included live albums then Alive, Alive II and MTV Unplugged would have been on my list too. Take care!
@@Rockoli yep Alive albums are great! Alive 2 is probably my all time favorite Kiss album! Side 4 studio tracks are awesome!
You should also rank all of their albums! It's hard to do lol
@@RoktheNation YES! 👏 👏👏
@@RoktheNation Oh yeah, it would take me forever to rank them all lol
Cool perspective!
😎 Gracias!
Love your top 5!!! And welcome to the Kiss Army!!! May I suggest a deep dive again into Lick IT Up album. Very heavy Kiss record!! Plus Vinnie is face melting amazing on it! Gene and Paul songs are nasty and heavy and full of bite.
Welcome to KISS! Grew up listening to these guys. Was lucky to see the original band back in the late 90’s-early 2000’s. Ace and Peter are my two favorite members. I did see Ace live 3 times in the late 80’s. Always puts on a good show. So here are my top 5 KISS albums. 1- Alive! 2-Ace Frehley 3-Rock And Roll Over 4-Kiss 5-Unmasked.
Oh I’d LOVE to see them live! That is awesome! And great list 👏 I almost put ‘Unmasked’ on my list purely for the track “Is That You?”, I’m obsessed with it!
@@Rockoli - Unmasked is a hidden classic. The Elder is also an album that I love.
@@thespaceace2112 I’ll have to give the Elder more time to grow on me. On first listen, I just don’t care for the way Paul sings on the album.
I think that this is a quality top 5, Creatures is still underrated imo. That’s an awesome speaker and stereo setup as well.
Thank you!
I was 14 in '77...1. Rock and Roll Over 2. Love Gun 3. Dressed to Kill 4. Ace solo
Finally an honest host. Thank God 😍
I try! Haha
My top 20:
20 - Monster
19 - Carnival of souls
18 - Sonic boom
17 - Crazy nights
16 - Psycho circus
15 - Hot in the shade
14 - Animalize
13 - Dynasty
12 - Unmasked
11 - Destroyer
10 - Hotter than hell
9 - Music from 'the elder'
8 - Dressed to kill
7 - Asylum
6 - Rock and roll over
5 - Revenge
4 - Love gun
3 - Kiss
2 - Creatures of the night
1 - Lick it up
Whoa! Nice list! You going to pick up the Creatures box set? I’m tempted, but geez it’s expensive and it doesn’t included the vinyl.
@@Rockoli Yes, I will order the super deluxe box set !
Great setup mate 👍
I’ve always found that to be the case with the band, is that many people have always listened with their eyes, decide they don’t like what it looks like, and decide they are “crap”. If you play somebody a song that doesn’t know who it is, they may say, oh that’s not bad. Tell them before hard, oh that’s dreadful…..
I think you’ve probably picked what many of the “army” consider to be the best albums, tho Creatures was an unmitigated disaster at release, and Revenge really didn’t blow up either. Ace’s album is held in high esteem, only sad thing about it, it’s probably the pinnacle of his solo work. Nothing ever got close to it. I probably prefer Paul’s album personally.
I’m not sure what my top 5 would be, but given I’m now a Aussie in his 50s, who lived through the 1980 Kiss explosion down under, both Dynasty & Unmasked still hold a special place
Keep up the good work 👍….cheers
Thank you very much! And you bring up an interesting topic. I’ve wondered before wether a band might have enjoyed more success if they had different imagery associated with them, or even a different name of band… would it make a difference? It’s about the music and what you enjoy, but it’s also a product being sold to us and the branding and image around the band influences our opinion of the music (much like you pointed out)… it’s all fascinating to me. I really try not to judge a book-by-its-cover, but I admit I fall into the trap from time to time and make assumptions about bands without giving them a good close listen.
Just letting you know that the great title track of Creatures of the Night did not have Vinnie Vincent on lead guitar.
It was played by Steve Farris of that not so hard rocking group Mr. Mister. the same band who had hits with Broken wings and Kyrie.
Whoa, I had no idea! Thank you for the information!
Revenge is so good. I'm not a huge KISS fan but that record is really good. I like Carnival Of Souls as well. Same line up of the band, but more aggressive sound.
Ask me on a different day and I could easily put Revenge as my #1. Love it. And Carnival of Souls is good. I think it’s considered their “grunge” album. I like that lineup. Bruce Kulick is a heck of a guitar player. He’s phenomenal on the “unplugged” album IMO.
@@Rockoli agreed on Kulick. Alive III and Unplugged are both showcases for him
Actually Vinnie Vincent only played a couple of songs on creatures of the night. They used it as a tryout for a new guitarists and Vinny won. Actually the guitarist from Mr. mister did the solo on creatures of the night. Welcome to the KISS Army!
Oh very interesting. I did not know that! Thanks for sharing and the warm welcome! Cheers! 🍻
I would have Ace’s solo album in my top 10, but I don’t really consider it to be a true Kiss album.😆
1. Destroyer
2. Creatures
3. Kiss Debut
4. Rock and Roll Over
5. Hotter Than Hell
Well, it’s hard to argue with that list! And that’s understandable regarding Ace’s solo album… I love it though!
@@Rockoli thanks. Yes, I don’t blame you for putting Ace at #1. You’re not alone for including his solo album since it does say Kiss on the cover. Their record company used to include the solo albums in their discography. My order for the solo albums:
1. Ace
2. Paul
3. Gene
4. Peter
@@excelsiormusicreviews Yeah, I totally get why fans would be divided on if the solo albums are actually ‘Kiss’ albums. I think it was an interesting move considering the band wanted to breakup at the time. So, allowing them to each release a solo album under the Kiss name was a unique option. It didn’t go as expected, but I think it kept the band together for a little while longer. I don’t know of any other band that has ever attempted anything similar?
@@Rockoli yes, I can’t either. There have been members of bands that have released a solo album while still in their band, like Bruce Dickinson in Iron Maiden. Bruce ended up leaving 4 or 5 years later anyway though, and then returned.
Hot in the shade
Crazy nights
Unplugged
Rock and roll over
Creatures
Great to see some love for Hot in the Shade and Crazy Nights! Also, I LOVE the unplugged album. It’s so good!
your KISS top 5 more or less mirrors my own top five. One difference being Revenge is my number one KISS album. The band line up worked, and they sound raw and hungry. And the cover looks like what the album sounds like. Their debut album is the flawed gem in the canon. All the elements are there, the pot just needed to be stirred. Destroyer is where they found their sound. Creatures of the Night is the album they needed to make, but, three to five years earlier. Ace was saying that they needed to just do a straight up rock album. Dynasty, and Unmasked were ok, but unfocused. The Elder was a flawed and overproduced concept album. Ace left the band after it was finished out of his desire for a solo career and his frustration with the direction of the band in general. Insert Monster, and you have my top five list. Monster for me is a rip roaring thrill ride of an album. I think of it as Revenge without boundaries, put the album on, turn your mind off and just let the music take you where it does.
Ask me on a different day and Revenge could be my #1! Such a great dark sleazy record for them! I revisit it quite a bit. Your high praise of Monster has me wanting to revisit the album and give it a closer listen!
I say Lick it Up is their heaviest album. One could argue Creatures of the Night is their heaviest but switch title tracks and Lick it Up is clearly their heaviest, IMO.
Revenge was a sweet return to form after Crazy Nights and Hot in the Shade which are in their bottom 5 for me. I agree Ace’s solo is top shelf. Ranked # 3 for me.
Not taking anything away from the Ace solo album but that isn't a KISS album, it's an Ace Frehley album he made while in the band but with out any help from any of the other members of KISS. It's a great album but it's not a KISS album. Although I'm glad you gave Revenge the nod since it's one of their best sounding albums and there's no wasted tracks with the only down side being that Eric Carr was barely involved due to him dying of cancer at the time, his drumming from Creatures would've absolutely made Revenge a top tier KISS album from the POV from the majority of fans
I can totally respect that opinion. For me, it was labeled and marketed as a Kiss album and part of the simultaneous solo releases concept that was created at the time… so I count it as Kiss. But I also get why others wouldn’t count the solo albums. I’m just stoked I finally gave their music a close listen… I love it!
As a long time Kiss fan i have to say you picked 5 good albums though i don't necessarily fully agree.
To me the Kiss album out of the four solo albums is Paul's. It's a great album, but predictable, there's practically nothing separating it from the Kiss albums. If Kiss albums were all Paul songs of course.
Though not my fave out of the 5, the one i respect the most is Gene. He did what you're supposed to do with a solo album. Go with your own vision, don't stay within the band mold.
Pasi
Thank you! I really enjoyed all the solo albums and Gene’s was my second favorite! I liked that he branched out and tried some different sounds. Paul’s was good too but, as you said, a bit predictable. Honestly, I had a hard time pairing my Kiss list down to five. So many great records to choose from!
I think the best solo album is Gene Simmons, and Kiss is Destroyer🎸
Those are great choices! I just picked up the 45th Anniversary set of Destoyer and I’m loving it!
Ace Frehley 1978 is perfect
Agreed! 🙌
Ace's best friend a cop!? Hardley. Ace's best friend would have been a well experienced medic. He's had some well documented drug blackouts and has overdosed once or twice. A cop would have been too busy putting Ace in jail over his drug binges. Eventually Ace did wise up and successfully rehab from drugs. As did Peter Criss. As much as Ace did his drugs Peter was ahead of him. Peter was very close to death due to his depressive moods from over usage. His rehab was about the only thing left for him to do.
Touché! The point I was trying to make was it seems like Ace is a blue-collar kind of guy and would keep company as such. He just seems relatable even though, at one point, he was one of the biggest rock stars on the planet!
As a fan of the band since the 70s, in my opinion, you missed the mark a bit. Destroyer and Revenge are good top five picks. Alive! should be number one. Paul Stanley's solo album sounded more like a Kiss album than Ace Frehley's. Rock and Roll over was an awesome follow up to Destroyer. Plus, it had awesome cover art. Same goes for the next one, Lovegun. After the Alive! album saved Casablanca Records, the studio records were better produced. The first three albums sounded like they were recorded on a phone... just shit. That's probably why fans heard Destroyer said it sounded too clean to be a Kiss record. It actually was well produced compared to the first three. BTW, this video sounds like you're keeping your voice low so you don't wake the family. Grow some nuts and put some energy into the presentation. You might gain subscribers.
Haha I appreciate the advice! I’ll work on the energy in my presentation. Also, I kept live albums out of my ranking on purpose, otherwise ‘Alive!’ would have definitely been included! Rock on 🤘
Paul Stanleys album is the most KISS sounding of the four
You think so? I’ll have to go back and listen to it again.