It’s time again to jump back 40 years to 1984 and revisit some of the great music from that great year. I’ve been running this site for well over 2 years now and, until today, I haven’t talked about a Kiss album yet. Well, Kiss released an album in 1984 so I guess now is as good a time as any.

Kiss – Animalize

Released September 17, 1984 via Mercury Records

By 1984, Kiss were re-stabilizing after a few ill-received albums and massive line-up turbulence. The band had not landed with Unmasked and The Elder, though Creatures Of The Night and Lick It Up did restore some shine to the Kiss diamond. But just as the music was turning back around, the line-up blew apart and in spectacular fashion.

By the time of Animalize, Kiss were comprised of Paul Stanley on vocals and guitar, Gene Simmons on bass, Eric Carr as drummer and new to the band Mark St. John on lead guitar. St. John would be the band’s third guitarist in two years and the spot would turn over again by the end of 1984.

It would also be fair to present the Kiss line-up as follows for this album – Paul Stanley and Eric Carr. Gene Simmons was laser focused on making an acting career and was barely present for these recording sessions. Jean Beauvoir helped out some on bass and Stanley played the opening track. Desmond Child joined in to help write a few songs, including one of Kiss’s most enduring ’80’s hits, as well as provide backing vocals. And Mitch Weismann also joined on to help write and play guitar.

Long story short, Mark St. John did not mesh with his new bandmates and was a problem during album recording. Bruce Kulick came in to help finish guitars for two songs. Kulick also filled in for St. John when the latter cited medical issues for being unable to tour behind this album. St. John would play all of 2.5 shows with Kiss before being replaced permanently by Kulick.

Paul Stanley was able to fashion a competent and well-received record out of all the mess he had to work with, including serving as the album’s producer in addition to band leader, fill-in guitarist and bassist and composer and arranger. Easy to see why he was getting stressed out while Gene was off becoming an actor and the lead guitar slot was a revolving door.

One part that Stanley was unable to salvage was that of the album cover. The cover is credited to an advertising agency as opposed to an artist. I won’t say it’s awful but it’s also not very good – there are about a million and one other ideas that would have worked better.

Will all that background out of the way, we have an album with 9 songs and a very lean 35:42 runtime. This one has had a few remasters and re-issues but I am not aware of any bonus tracks floating around, I don’t think this album got the super deluxe treatment that other Kiss albums have.

I’ve Had Enough (Into The Fire)

The opener is a shit-hot rock track that gets the ol’ adrenaline flowing from the word go. It’s a prime, uptempo blast of rock with a message of making it against all odds, that ever-present theme of ’80’s music. This one was co-penned by Stanley and Child and is a fantastic way to kick things off. Grade: A

Heaven’s On Fire

Up next is the album’s lead single. The fire theme keeps going as here Paul is getting ready for a hook-up so hot that Heaven itself will burn. It’s another song that Desmond Child helped out on and it is impossibly catchy. The chorus is infectious enough to be classified as a disease. It’s no shock that the acronym for writing good songs is K-I-S-S for Keep It Simple, Stupid; and that is in full effect here.

Heaven’s On Fire charted modestly across several countries but did become a staple of the Kiss live set, it is one of the band’s most enduring ’80’s songs. Grade: A+

Burn Bitch Burn

One of a few Gene Simmons contributions here and thankfully he kept up the burning theme despite barely being around for the recording. Here Gene is apparently paying homage to the exchange of bodily fluids and the nasty germs that can come from such exchanges. The song is pretty good overall, very suitably heavy and all, though I could have done without the “whoo whoo whoo” in the chorus. But it’s not a major detraction and I do like this one overall. Grade: B

Get All You Can Take

This song is the result of a Stanley- Weissman tag team and is another just splendid rocking track. There are guitars everywhere and Paul really shows off his once-impressive vocal register here. It’s another one of those “go out and get it no matter what” songs, great for pumping iron or sitting back 40 years later and realizing you did no going out and getting it at all. Grade: A-

Lonely Is The Hunter

Another Gene track here, it’s a mid-paced offering that has a nice shape to it but doesn’t stray anywhere beyond its main, plodding riff. The song isn’t bad but it doesn’t leap out and grab attention in the way the other songs so far have. Grade: C+

Under The Gun

And now it’s on to a Stanley-Carr-Child offering that does absolutely come out scorching. This one is a guitar showcase and a balls-out rocker from front to back. There was no letting up on the second side of this album. Grade: A

Thrills In The Night

This was the album’s other single and it marries the heavy metal feel going on with the venerable Kiss sense of melody. A very nicely done song that sees a woman who is an office stiff during the day a but a total freak out on the prowl at night. Grade: B+

While The City Sleeps

Both of the final tracks were written by Simmons and Weissman. This one is a good, uptempo mover and shaker that’s again about finding stuff out in the night. It does a good job of keeping the album’s momentum going into the close. Grade: B

Murder In High Heels

The closer has a nice, playful riff and a typical premise about a hot woman out to take on the world. The song doesn’t necessarily go much of anywhere but is decently put together. Grade: C

Animalize was a success for Kiss, continuing their rebound from the turn of the decade. The album hit 19 on the Billboard chart and had several top 10 placements internationally. It was the first Kiss album since Dynasty to be certified platinum (Lick It Up would hit that mark later).

It was a great turnaround for Kiss, who wandered into the wilderness a bit at the start of the ’80’s but by this time had found solid footing and made themselves right at home in the new rock and metal scene. Even with all the band turmoil and this record almost being a Paul Stanley solo effort, Kiss were able to re-integrate themselves into a 1980’s rock scene that they helped influence with their early career.

Album Grade: B+

Animalize was a nice offering and exactly the shot in the arm Kiss needed. There are no real duds here, even the secondary songs offer worthwhile listening. And there are several highlights among the hard rock on full display here. The rest of the decade would be a topsy-turvy one for Kiss, but here they had put together the third in a string of solid albums that kept them from being a memory of the 1970’s.

For an explanation of the grading scale, head here.

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