I was 10 years old in ‘83 and though I had received Double Platinum cassette from a neighbor, MY first official Kiss albums were COTN/LIU and I’ll never forget how excited I was… still am. Ha. Thanks Mike for all the awesomeness!
When Kiss did their proper unmasking on MTV, here's the kind of "event" it was. I was 19 and witnessed their phenomenon since 1975-1976. However, by 1983, I was still an "observer" and not a "fan." The night the big reveal happened, I was having band practice at my friend's house. My band played in an Elvis Costello / Billy Joel type original material. But....we all powered down, went upstairs and watched intently. We knew we couldn't miss it. Thanks Mike & Vince.
KISS fan from 76-78. Dynasty was ok in 79 but lost me from 80-82. Friends were going to the Creatures tour so decided to go even when I heard Ace wasn’t there. I loved it haven’t look back since. Tho the LIU tour didn’t come to STL. During that time I was into Rush, Ozzy, Quiet Riot, Twisted Sister, Iron Maiden, Dio/Sabbath, Judas Priest, Def Leppard, Whitesnake, Motley Crue
AND ON THE 8TH DAY has always sounded to me like one of those songs you would hear at the end of a cool movie when the end credits are rolling on the screen
A top 5 studio KISS album to be sure. The group was rarely as focused to their craft behind a producer dedicated to translate their ideas as perfectly to medium as on LICK IT UP. “Exciter”, “Fits Like A Glove”, “Gimme More”, “Lick It Up” (yes, the title track) are bonafide trophies among winners contained on this gem.
And On the 8th Day was always my favorite on the record. A Million To One took me until the 90's to grow on me. Young & Wasted was the only song I never cared for at all. Because I was only 10 years old without much money, I didn't get a lot of the big records of 1983 until later. My brother had Pyromania and Metal Health and I got Eliminator for Christmas. One of my favorites of the year was Joan Jett's Album which also had some great videos.
Lick it up is a fantastic KISS album. It was a real band effort back then and Michael James Jackson provided them with a very well recorded, engineered and mixed album. One of their best works. 🎸🤘🎸🤘
it is in my top 5 of KISS albums - I am 15 minutes in and you guys haven't really started to get into the album. I really don't care what your guest was listening to in 1983. The only song on LIU I'd edit off is "Dance All Over Your Face"
Billy Sqier - Don't Say No (81), Def Leppard - High N Dry (81), Judas Priest - British /Point / Screaming (80/81/82), Blizzard of Oz the Band (Daisley/Rhoads/Kerslake). These were such game changers.
They should've went with the black leather look like Revenge. The beginning of the tour was fine then they started wearing more and more makeup, it's too bad they were lumped in with the Hair bands
1. Exciter-8 2. Not For The Innocent- 7 3. Lick It Up- 6 4. Young And Wasted- 5 5. Gimme More- 6 6. All Hell’s Breakin’ Loose- 7 7. A Million To One- 8 8. Fits Like A Glove- 8 9. Dance All Over Your Face- 2 10. And On The 8th Day- 6 Total= 63. Score- 6.3
This is a great album, one of my favourites. And I think the other two songs where all members are credited are Love Theme From Kiss and Back To The Stone Age.
Lick it Up is so nostalgic for me that it's hard to be objective about the songs, but I love this album. Definitely my favorite 80s Kiss album, if not one of my favorite Kiss albums overall. I feel the same as you guys that it would have been cool had this lineup stayed intact for another album or two. No disrespect to Bruce, but Vinny (love him or despise him) was a great songwriter, and the subsequent albums would have reflected his talent. I appreciate and very much enjoy the podcast! ps. What is the term you guys use when you are excited about something? I can't quite make it out.
Thanks for watching! So glad you enjoyed the episode. You can’t fully make out the term because we kinda made it up. We say we are “tho’ed” when we are excited about something. It means that you are so excited about something that your toe is extending through your shoe. The more toes that extend more more excited you are. Total nonsense obviously……lol. It’s something we’ve said since we were teenagers.
I recently have been checking out these deep dives by you guys. Really enjoy it. I had to temper my scoring to your methodology. 1. Exciter 6.3 The ending guitar lick is 🔥 2. Not For The Innocent 6 Ive always loved the dark haunting nature of this song. I do prefer the demo with out the dumb scats at the end by Paul 3. Lick It Up 7.5 This was so monumental when it came out. Its tired now but at the time with Judas Priests Another Thing Comin, it was like my band has one of these chugging songs 4. Young and Wasted 5 I dont really like this song. I enjoy the lick. I thought it was cool that they gave it to Eric on the Animalize tour to sing 5. Gimme More 6.9 This has always been a favorite of mine. Even though lick it up has a higher rating. I prefer this. Lick it up from a historical perspective gets that better rating. Love the solo. Especially live! The 1984 Albuquerque boardmix, VV plating is crazy good on this song imo 6. All Hell's Breakin Loose 6.8 Bummed they didn't continue to perform this song past this tour. I can only assume Paul was rebelling against rap. It couldve been an anthem for years to come 7. A Million To One 6.7 Paul's heartache contines 8. Fits Like a Glove 8 This is my favorite song of the Era by Gene. Even over War Machine. Favorite song on the album 9. Dance All Over My Face 4.8 Ive grown to kinda like it 10. On The 8th Day 5.1 I used to hate this song. Now i kinda like Boys are Gonna Rock err.... i mean On The 8th Day.
Great overview!! I totally get the LIU comment and liking other songs more, but realizing the importance of the song none the less. Great comment about FLAG. I could maybe get behind it being the best Gene song of the era.
Couple things. I'm a relatively new listener. Love the show, by the way. KISS fan since 87. Lick it Up likely ranks as my favorite album from them and I thought your ratings were fair. I've always been a firm believer that this lineup plus Michael James Jackson were an amazing creative force that I wished had more nurturing than it actually had. I might have disagreed with a few points but that's what keeps it interesting. Also, Mike, your voice sounds exactly like Eric Carr's to me while listening in my car because Spotify is my preferred platform. But I came to RUclips to find out what Vincent was actually saying, and later Mike... Towed? Doed? Thoad? What the hell are you saying? Its driving me nuts. Is it a regional thing? You were totally towed?
Thanks for watching / listening. I love that you have some different points of view, all opinions are valid! It’s amazing how many times in the past 20 years people have told me I sound like Eric Carr. The first time someone said that I thought, well that person is nuts. lol. Now after dozens of people have said it I realize I must be the crazy one that doesn’t hear it 😂 Now, regarding “tho’ed”….lol. This is a silly saying Vincent and I made up as kids and it has stuck into adulthood. We’ve explained it on a few older episodes, but certainly newer listeners might get confused. It’s simply a term we made up to say “how excited” we are about something. As a silly teenager (or younger) we would say that if we were excited about something our toes would extend and rip through our sneakers in excitement. I have no idea why we thought this, but alas. Anyway, the more excited you were the more toes that would extend. “10 toes” meant you were as excited as can be. We called this being “tho’ed”. Aren’t you glad you asked? 😂😂😂
@therockexperiencewithmikeb8365 Ha ha, actually I am glad! That's really cool! You guys had something that you made up as kids and stuck through adulthood. Not everyone gets to experience that, so that's pretty cool. Thanks for explaining the origin story. I thought it might be a regional thing but you're clearly a New Yorker and I'm not too far off in Connecticut so I was doubtful on the regional slang. Still cool though. I look forward to checking out more episodes!
I think one of the reasons why that record still holds up is that before the album was released it was still under the impression the makeup was still staying on. It was not until they decided to "See how they would look" without the makeup that they changed their minds about it. I think it was a desperate move. They knew by taking the makeup off, That was printed money. Cause Creatures was an amazing record and people hated it. People were listening with their eyes, Rather than their ears. After Lick It Up, While Amimalize is a great record, Kiss was involving and started to change. (Plus Gene's songs were not all that great. - lol)
I watched the unmasking ceremony on MTV the night it aired and got the album a couple days later. Exciter is another great opener. They couldn't put any faster song than Not for the Innocent in the 2nd spot or else the energy level would've plummeted for the song Lick it Up (perhaps those songs should've traded places??). To say the title track drags a bit is an understatement but still is a good song. Young and Wasted & Gimme More are on the skip list. All Hell's Breaking Loose should be a Kiss classic. A Million to One is one of my all time Kiss favorites. If Ron Nevison had produced it or if another band released it, I'm sure the result would've been better. Final 3 Gene tracks are ok. I don't love em or leave (skip) em. I saw them in concert with Vandenburg opening.
I remember watching Friday Night Videos and seeing Lick it Up. I thought it kicked ass! There was this hot blonde girl in the video. A young 12 year old me gave the paise/rewind feature on my VCR a workout.
Lick it Up is possibly my least enjoyable Kiss record. I will say that Exciter and A Million 2 One are 2 of my favorite Kiss songs from that time period. Unless I force myself to listen, such as on a long distance car ride the other songs I would just press skip. I always enjoyed making mixed taped and cd's. I only used this 2 songs and passed on the others. Interestingly enough I love Vinnie's Invasion record from start to finish.
![I.N "HALLUCINATION" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/n5B5q1Hwt_U/mqdefault.jpg)
I was 10 years old in ‘83 and though I had received Double Platinum cassette from a neighbor, MY first official Kiss albums were COTN/LIU and I’ll never forget how excited I was… still am. Ha. Thanks Mike for all the awesomeness!
Thanks for watching!
Eddie Kramer best Kiss producer in the 70”s & Michael James Jackson best Kiss producer from the 80”s onwards…… great episode guys
I can get behind this comment.
When Kiss did their proper unmasking on MTV, here's the kind of "event" it was. I was 19 and witnessed their phenomenon since 1975-1976. However, by 1983, I was still an "observer" and not a "fan." The night the big reveal happened, I was having band practice at my friend's house. My band played in an Elvis Costello / Billy Joel type original material. But....we all powered down, went upstairs and watched intently. We knew we couldn't miss it. Thanks Mike & Vince.
Top one for me. And was 4 in 78 recieving Alive 1 n Destroyer. Dance All Over Ya Face was my 1st Kiss cover on guitar.
Not only is Lick It Up their best non makeup album, and by far IMO, it's my third favorite KISS album overall.
KISS fan from 76-78. Dynasty was ok in 79 but lost me from 80-82. Friends were going to the Creatures tour so decided to go even when I heard Ace wasn’t there. I loved it haven’t look back since. Tho the LIU tour didn’t come to STL. During that time I was into Rush, Ozzy, Quiet Riot, Twisted Sister, Iron Maiden, Dio/Sabbath, Judas Priest, Def Leppard, Whitesnake, Motley Crue
Great episode!
Thanks!!
AND ON THE 8TH DAY has always sounded to me like one of those songs you would hear at the end of a cool movie when the end credits are rolling on the screen
I could totally see you two ROCKIN' out to the Footloose soundtrack back in the day...or the Flashdance soundtrack haha
Lol
Great episode.. Lick it up is one of my favorites!!
Thanks for watching!
A top 5 studio KISS album to be sure. The group was rarely as focused to their craft behind a producer dedicated to translate their ideas as perfectly to medium as on LICK IT UP. “Exciter”, “Fits Like A Glove”, “Gimme More”, “Lick It Up” (yes, the title track) are bonafide trophies among winners contained on this gem.
And On the 8th Day was always my favorite on the record. A Million To One took me until the 90's to grow on me. Young & Wasted was the only song I never cared for at all. Because I was only 10 years old without much money, I didn't get a lot of the big records of 1983 until later. My brother had Pyromania and Metal Health and I got Eliminator for Christmas. One of my favorites of the year was Joan Jett's Album which also had some great videos.
83 was a great year for music!
Lick it up is a fantastic KISS album. It was a real band effort back then and Michael James Jackson provided them with a very well recorded, engineered and mixed album. One of their best works. 🎸🤘🎸🤘
it is in my top 5 of KISS albums - I am 15 minutes in and you guys haven't really started to get into the album. I really don't care what your guest was listening to in 1983.
The only song on LIU I'd edit off is "Dance All Over Your Face"
Billy Sqier - Don't Say No (81), Def Leppard - High N Dry (81), Judas Priest - British /Point / Screaming (80/81/82), Blizzard of Oz the Band (Daisley/Rhoads/Kerslake). These were such game changers.
They should've went with the black leather look like Revenge. The beginning of the tour was fine then they started wearing more and more makeup, it's too bad they were lumped in with the Hair bands
I agree that would have been a much better look!
Kiss unplugged Paul says this is a real treat for us
Hey if you tell me your email address, I will send you an email and I can get your address to send you a Dexters T-Shirt!
1. Exciter-8
2. Not For The Innocent- 7
3. Lick It Up- 6
4. Young And Wasted- 5
5. Gimme More- 6
6. All Hell’s Breakin’ Loose- 7
7. A Million To One- 8
8. Fits Like A Glove- 8
9. Dance All Over Your Face- 2
10. And On The 8th Day- 6
Total= 63. Score- 6.3
Nice ratings!!
This is a great album, one of my favourites.
And I think the other two songs where all members are credited are Love Theme From Kiss and Back To The Stone Age.
Yes, you are correct!
LIU is ferocious & MJJ did a fantastic job. Sonically the album is completely off the charts.
Lick it Up is so nostalgic for me that it's hard to be objective about the songs, but I love this album. Definitely my favorite 80s Kiss album, if not one of my favorite Kiss albums overall. I feel the same as you guys that it would have been cool had this lineup stayed intact for another album or two. No disrespect to Bruce, but Vinny (love him or despise him) was a great songwriter, and the subsequent albums would have reflected his talent. I appreciate and very much enjoy the podcast! ps. What is the term you guys use when you are excited about something? I can't quite make it out.
Thanks for watching! So glad you enjoyed the episode. You can’t fully make out the term because we kinda made it up. We say we are “tho’ed” when we are excited about something. It means that you are so excited about something that your toe is extending through your shoe. The more toes that extend more more excited you are. Total nonsense obviously……lol. It’s something we’ve said since we were teenagers.
I recently have been checking out these deep dives by you guys. Really enjoy it. I had to temper my scoring to your methodology.
1. Exciter 6.3
The ending guitar lick is 🔥
2. Not For The Innocent 6
Ive always loved the dark haunting nature of this song. I do prefer the demo with out the dumb scats at the end by Paul
3. Lick It Up 7.5
This was so monumental when it came out. Its tired now but at the time with Judas Priests Another Thing Comin, it was like my band has one of these chugging songs
4. Young and Wasted 5
I dont really like this song. I enjoy the lick. I thought it was cool that they gave it to Eric on the Animalize tour to sing
5. Gimme More 6.9
This has always been a favorite of mine. Even though lick it up has a higher rating. I prefer this. Lick it up from a historical perspective gets that better rating. Love the solo. Especially live! The 1984 Albuquerque boardmix, VV plating is crazy good on this song imo
6. All Hell's Breakin Loose 6.8
Bummed they didn't continue to perform this song past this tour. I can only assume Paul was rebelling against rap. It couldve been an anthem for years to come
7. A Million To One 6.7
Paul's heartache contines
8. Fits Like a Glove 8
This is my favorite song of the Era by Gene. Even over War Machine. Favorite song on the album
9. Dance All Over My Face 4.8
Ive grown to kinda like it
10. On The 8th Day 5.1
I used to hate this song. Now i kinda like Boys are Gonna Rock err.... i mean On The 8th Day.
Great overview!! I totally get the LIU comment and liking other songs more, but realizing the importance of the song none the less. Great comment about FLAG. I could maybe get behind it being the best Gene song of the era.
Couple things. I'm a relatively new listener. Love the show, by the way. KISS fan since 87. Lick it Up likely ranks as my favorite album from them and I thought your ratings were fair. I've always been a firm believer that this lineup plus Michael James Jackson were an amazing creative force that I wished had more nurturing than it actually had. I might have disagreed with a few points but that's what keeps it interesting.
Also, Mike, your voice sounds exactly like Eric Carr's to me while listening in my car because Spotify is my preferred platform. But I came to RUclips to find out what Vincent was actually saying, and later Mike... Towed? Doed? Thoad? What the hell are you saying? Its driving me nuts. Is it a regional thing? You were totally towed?
Thanks for watching / listening. I love that you have some different points of view, all opinions are valid!
It’s amazing how many times in the past 20 years people have told me I sound like Eric Carr. The first time someone said that I thought, well that person is nuts. lol. Now after dozens of people have said it I realize I must be the crazy one that doesn’t hear it 😂
Now, regarding “tho’ed”….lol. This is a silly saying Vincent and I made up as kids and it has stuck into adulthood. We’ve explained it on a few older episodes, but certainly newer listeners might get confused. It’s simply a term we made up to say “how excited” we are about something. As a silly teenager (or younger) we would say that if we were excited about something our toes would extend and rip through our sneakers in excitement. I have no idea why we thought this, but alas. Anyway, the more excited you were the more toes that would extend. “10 toes” meant you were as excited as can be. We called this being “tho’ed”. Aren’t you glad you asked? 😂😂😂
@therockexperiencewithmikeb8365 Ha ha, actually I am glad! That's really cool! You guys had something that you made up as kids and stuck through adulthood. Not everyone gets to experience that, so that's pretty cool. Thanks for explaining the origin story. I thought it might be a regional thing but you're clearly a New Yorker and I'm not too far off in Connecticut so I was doubtful on the regional slang. Still cool though. I look forward to checking out more episodes!
I think one of the reasons why that record still holds up is that before the album was released it was still under the impression the makeup was still staying on. It was not until they decided to "See how they would look" without the makeup that they changed their minds about it. I think it was a desperate move. They knew by taking the makeup off, That was printed money. Cause Creatures was an amazing record and people hated it. People were listening with their eyes, Rather than their ears. After Lick It Up, While Amimalize is a great record, Kiss was involving and started to change. (Plus Gene's songs were not all that great. - lol)
I watched the unmasking ceremony on MTV the night it aired and got the album a couple days later. Exciter is another great opener. They couldn't put any faster song than Not for the Innocent in the 2nd spot or else the energy level would've plummeted for the song Lick it Up (perhaps those songs should've traded places??). To say the title track drags a bit is an understatement but still is a good song. Young and Wasted & Gimme More are on the skip list. All Hell's Breaking Loose should be a Kiss classic. A Million to One is one of my all time Kiss favorites. If Ron Nevison had produced it or if another band released it, I'm sure the result would've been better. Final 3 Gene tracks are ok. I don't love em or leave (skip) em. I saw them in concert with Vandenburg opening.
Is that "real treat" comment from KISS: Unplugged?
Yes it is!
Sweet. Do I win?
U guys are tough graders! 3 5star songs, LIU, Young and Wasted and A Million To one! 1 2star song “Gimme More”, I don’t care too much for it.
I remember watching Friday Night Videos and seeing Lick it Up. I thought it kicked ass! There was this hot blonde girl in the video. A young 12 year old me gave the paise/rewind feature on my VCR a workout.
Greatest respect to Vincent but Pyromania came out in January 1983 before cum on feel the noise
Fair and true comment.
The live version of Lick it up is far superior to the studio version.
Exciter and All Hells Breakin' Loose are the two best songs on the album
Lick it Up is possibly my least enjoyable Kiss record. I will say that Exciter and A Million 2 One are 2 of my favorite Kiss songs from that time period. Unless I force myself to listen, such as on a long distance car ride the other songs I would just press skip. I always enjoyed making mixed taped and cd's. I only used this 2 songs and passed on the others. Interestingly enough I love Vinnie's Invasion record from start to finish.
Very interesting.