KISS Retrospective part 14:Animalize(1984)

After hiring on new gun Mark St. John, KISS shot back into the studio to capitalize on their rising fortunes once again. Producing themselves, "Animalize" would further solidify their popularity in the MTV generation however with Paul taking the reigns more than Gene who was extremely absent through the record, the songs lean more on Paul in terms of memorability 

Track List

1.I've Had Enough(Into The Fire)- This is a great opener and actually reminds me a bit of Dokken a bit. The soloing is very flashy as Mark was definitely more of a kamikaze type soloist. The chorus is big and the drums also sound more full here than on "Lick It Up". A great start to the album.

2.Heaven On Fire-An excellent pop metal tune. Its incredibly simple with just the right amount of sleaze to it to make it such a fun song. The main riff and chorus has a good swagger it gets stuck in your head.

3.Burn Bitch Burn-One of Genes penned songs and its honestly quite generic. Its more up beat and has some good riffing but it sticks around too long. Also the lyrics are juet terrible. Granted a lot of glam metal bands didn't write thought provoking lyrics but here it just sounds so generic.

4.Get All You Can Take-The slower pace leads to a more zeppelin-esque kind of riff with some catchy moments throughout. This one brings a bit more power with Pauls incredibly energetic vocals. The chorus falls a little flat but overall it isn't bad.

5.Lonely Is The Hunter-There is a bit more of a blues kind of feel on this one and the instruementals are great with some great tempo changes in the middle but again it feels a little derivative throughout.

6.Under The Gun-This is KISS at their full speed metal potential and the soloing is insane it reallt sends the song over the top. Its totally what makes 80s metal and 80s KISS so great when it goes completely over the top.

7.Thrills In the Night-This is my favorite song on the album and one that should be a staple on any 80s rock playlist. The solo is also my favorite on the album and its a shame as I would have loved to see more like this with Mark on future albums. Its extremelt catchy as well and a major highlight of the non makeup years.

8.While the City Sleeps-This is the best of the songs Gene sang on with a great main riff and a simple but effective chorus. The lyrics also are not as cheeay as before either.

9.Murder In High-Heels-This is a weaker closer with another slower kind of bluesy riff that flows through pretty much the entire song. It just feels sort of unfinished and half assed.

Overall, I give the album a 7.5 out of 10. The album shifts in quality quite a bit with a little over half of the album being filled with great songs and then the rest is quite forgettable. Gene phoning it in really hurt the quality for sure. However Mark St. John is a major highlight I do like his tone alot as well as Bruce Kulick who played on a few tracks. St. John would barely last as the tour was about to start, he developed a bad type of arthritis that kept him from playing live. This is where Bruce Kulick came in officially as the band yet again was getting higher and higher and finally had a lineup that would last through the rest of the decade.