After a massive tour and each member releasing their individual solo albums(i'll get to those eventually), KISS shot back into the studio with some new ideas and some unfortunate setbacks. Peter Criss would only commit to one song on vocals and drums as his relationship with the band was severly fractured at this point. Enter session drummer Anton Fig who played on every song except "Dirty Livin". While this may seem like a huge issue, I honestly think this album, Disco influence and all, is actually quite a hidden gem in their discography.
Track List
1.I Was Made For Loving You- This song was a huge hit with its huge disco influence as Paul had been hanging around Studio 54 alot at the time. Its honestly a total earworm of a tune and totally a product of his time. The poppy bass with Figs energetic tight drumming really works and the chorus is just classic pop era KISS.
2.2000 Man-One of many tunes Ace sings and its a really rockin rendition of the Rolling Stones tune. Aces voice sounds great here and the guitars have some real bite to them as well.
3.Sure Know Something-This is a great AOR type track with a big bombastic chorus and some damn good bass lines. Its got a great pop sensibility to it that gets it stuck in your head.
4.Dirty Livin-My favorite Peter Criss penned tune even though his drumming os quite weak on it. It also has a bit of a disco feeling but holy hell is it catchy. You can't help but tap your foot to this one. The bass sounds great too and is the big highlight of the song.
5.Charisma-One of the very few penned Gene songs on the album but its a damn good sleazy rocker with Genes more laid back slithering vocals. The chorus kinda catches you off guard a bit at first but it fits the song the more you hear it. Its another damn gpod catchy song.
6.Magic Touch- One of Pauls most underrated tunes he wrote. The main riff has this dark magical feel to it with some heavy primal like drums during the vocals and this giant chorus that screams for a live audience to sing along with it. Truely one of my favorite mid tempo tunes from the band.
7.Hard Times-Yet another Ace tune and a damn hard rocking one with his vocals having a real raw quality to them. Another absolute gem on the album and one of the heaviest chorus on a KISS album.
8.X-Ray Eyes-The second and only other song Gene sings. This is the closest to get to their old rock n roll roots and has this darker kinda riff to the chorus. Its another catchy tune that borders on pop rock and hard rock.
9.Save Your Love-A very bombastic closer with Ace giving it everything hes got. The chorus hits so hard its impressive how noone talks about this song. The solo is absolutely amazing as well, easily the best on the album.
Overall, this album gets a 9.5 out of 10. I am so shocked this album doesn't get the love it deserves. The hard rocking moments are still there but the pop rock influence is very prominent and works so damn well. It feels alot like Ace took the reigns for alot of the songs present as well. There is definitely a perfect balance here between pop and rock. "I Was Made For Loving You" was again a huge hit with the band going on another huge tour, this time noticing a more family friendly crowd watching. Peter criss couldnt take anymore though and by the end of 1979, he was out. The band scrambled as their popularity in their hardcore fanbase started to dissipate and in 1980 they would see themselves shoot for an.egen poppier feel.
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