DOUBLE DOSE
OF
KISS
A Lot of These
KISS
Albums Were
Short Like
30/ 35
Minutes
So I Have Some
That Are
Two Albums on
One CD
NOTES :
The First Part Of CD
Has
Vinnie Vincent
The Second Part
Has
Mark St. John
Lick It Up
is the eleventh
studio album
by American
rock band
Before its
1983 release,
the band members
appeared on MTV
without their
trademark make-up.
It was the first
public appearance
without make-up
by the band,
and their first for
Mercury Records,
where they had
been signed
following their departure
from
Casablanca Records.
The album was
certified platinum
by the RIAA
for selling over
a million units
in the US.
Recording and Release
As soon as the
Creatures of the Night Tour/10th Anniversary Tour
wrapped up in June,
the band immediately
went back into the studio
to begin work on
their next album,
which was
recorded over
the next two months.
Lick It Up
built upon the
harder sound
Kiss had displayed on
1982's
Creatures of the Night.
While Vinnie Vincent
contributed lead guitar
to six songs on
Creatures of the Night
as a session player,
by the time
Lick It Up
was released and for
all the public knew,
he was officially
the guitarist in Kiss
and played
all the lead guitar
on the album.
For the first time,
Vincent appeared on
the cover art
for the album,
whereas
Ace Frehley had appeared
on the
Creatures of the Night cover,
despite having
already left the band
and not being involved
in the recording
of the album.
The opening track
(co-written by Vincent)
features a solo
from
Rick Derringer.
"Lick It Up"
and
"All Hell's Breakin' Loose"
were released as singles
from the album.
They were accompanied
by a pair of
similarly themed,
tongue-in-cheek videos
featuring the band
(along with many scantily clad women)
in desolate,
post-apocalyptic settings.
"All Hell's Breakin' Loose"
is one of three songs
in the history
of the band
in which all four
(current at the time)
members share
songwriting credit,
the others being
"Love Theme from Kiss"
from their
debut album
and
"Back to the Stone Age"
from
Monster.
Vincent Membership
Vincent was not legally
a member of the band.
Due partly to disputes
over what his role
in the band
and his pay would be
(some reports indicated that he
had asked for,
and was flatly denied,
a percentage of
the band's gross profits),
Vincent never signed
any contract
making his employment official.
These disputes,
along with a growing attitude
by him that he was
solely responsible
for the
resurgence of Kiss,
would lead to him leaving
the band
(or being fired, depending on the source)
after the European leg
of the
Lick It Up tour.
Animalize
is the
twelfth
studio album
by American Rock
band
It was released on
September 17, 1984,
by Mercury Records.
The album marked
the only appearance
by lead guitarist
Mark St. John,
who replaced
Vinnie Vincent
in April 1984.
Background
At this point in
Kiss's career,
the band had lost
two founding members,
released two
unsuccessful albums
that largely alienated
their fanbase
1980's
Unmasked
and
1981's
Music from
"The Elder"
and made a
"return to form"
with 1982's
Creatures of the Night
that still failed
to gain the
public's attention.
However,
the sessions for
Animalize
saw the band
regaining momentum,
as 1983's
Lick It Up
had achieved
Platinum status
and yielded a
successful tour.
With the departure
of another member
in lead guitarist
Vinnie Vincent
and the hiring of a
complete
unknown in
Mark St. John
to replace him,
Animalize
saw the band at a
crossroads of sorts
At the time of the album's recording,
vocalist/bassist
Gene Simmons
was pursuing a career
in acting
and was
largely absent from
Kiss.
Vocalist/guitarist
Paul Stanley
later said,
"I felt abandoned when
it came time to make
Animalize.
After informing me
without any warning
or discussion
that he wouldn't
be around for
the album,
Gene went into a studio
and crapped out
some demos as
fast as he could.
Then he was off
to do a movie."
Stanley had become
Kiss' de facto leader
and he was left
responsible for
songwriting,
production
and direction
of the new album.
Simmons' relationships
with his bandmates
were at an all time low
during this period.
Most of this centered
around his perceived
lack of commitment
to the band and his
preoccupation with
numerous outside projects,
including producing
and managing
other rock groups
such as
Black 'n Blue
of whom
Tommy Thayer
was a member
at the time,
and co-starring
in the
1984 movie
Runaway.
Recording
Entering the studio
to record
Animalize,
newly hired
lead guitarist
St. John clashed often
with his new bandmates,
with Carr saying
years later that
St. John's talent
led to a very arrogant
demeanor in the studio.
A disagreement over
a bass part which
bassist
Simmons had asked
St. John to record
for the album
left both Simmons
and Carr furious
with the new guitarist,
with Stanley and Simmons
later taking St. John aside
to warn him about
his bad attitude.
According to St. John himself,
Stanley and Simmons got
"all kind of weird"
over what he was recording
in the studio,
with Stanley saying that
his playing had
no structure
and that the guitarist was
"just puking notes"
and could never play
the same thing twice.
Bruce Kulick,
brother of former
Kiss-collaborator
Bob Kulick,
was eventually brought
into the studio
to play lead guitar
on the tracks
"Murder in High-Heels"
and
"Lonely Is the Hunter".
Along with songwriter
Desmond Child,
Stanley gave the band
it's biggest hit single
in years with
"Heaven's on Fire".
On top of production,
Stanley claims to have
personally
handled everything
from naming the album
to marketing and
"cajoling MTV"
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