The rise of Kiss’s popularity can literally be traced as you
\nlisten to the seminal hard rock group’s first few albums. But in a
\nsimilar vein, one can trace the downfall of Kiss by listening to
\nthe post-
\nDestroyer<\/i> works.<\/p>\n
Make no mistake,
\nDestroyer<\/i> is a killer album. The follow-up,
\nRock And Roll Over<\/i>, had some interesting songs, but dipped
\nfar too much into the well of filler material.
\nLove Gun<\/i>, Kiss’s 1977 release (and sixth studio effort),
\nshowed that the band’s vice-like grip on their material had
\nloosened considerably.<\/p>\n
Oh, there’s still some entertaining material on this disc. The
\ntitle track is the epitomy of the cock-rock lifestyle these guys
\nhave seemed to be all about since day one, but one can’t help but
\nsmile at this track, in all of its dirty glory. “Christine
\nSixteen,” possibly one of the original songs about jailbait, is
\ninfectious enough to keep the melody locked in your brain for far
\nlonger than you want it to be. Likewise, “Plaster Caster” combines
\na powerful groove with an interesting, aah, mental picture of
\nwhat’s going on. (Believe it or not, this song is based in reality
\n– search on the web for stories about Cynthia Plaster Caster. No
\njoke.)<\/p>\n
Even guitarist Ace Frehley gets into the act with his first lead
\nvocal, “Shock Me”. Okay, it’s not the best song that Kiss has ever
\ncome up with, but it also isn’t the worst. For a first effort, not
\nbad – and Frehley would prove in enough time that he could pull off
\nbeing the front man for a band.<\/p>\n
Too bad that this is where the praise for
\nLove Gun<\/i> abruptly ends. The rest of the album collapses into
\na “been-there, done-that” mess. On one side, you have songs which
\nare lifting ideas, grooves – cripes, even bits of guitar solos –
\nand repackaging them as new. “I Stole Your Love” is a third-rate
\n“Detroit Rock City”; “Tomorrow And Tonight” tries to be the next
\n“Rock And Roll All Night” anthem, and fails miserably. On the other
\nside, you have an absolutely atrocious cover of “Then She Kissed
\nMe,” a song which absolutely, positively, did not have to be
\nremade. (Including a cover on this album seems to suggest that Kiss
\nwas running low on creative ideas – like recycling guitar licks
\nwasn’t a red flag.)<\/p>\n
In the middle of this are songs which, frankly, will never be
\nremembered in the same breaths as the classics. Tracks like
\n“Hooligan,” “Almost Human” and “Got Love For Sale” all just dribble
\nfrom the speakers, making you wonder just what was happening with
\nthe band who said that if “you wanted the best, you got the
\nbest”.<\/p>\n
Granted, there’s enough material on
\nLove Gun<\/i> to warrant adding it to your collection, though any
\nof the best-of packages could fill those voids just as easily. As
\nis stands now,
\nLove Gun<\/i> is the picture of a band who were starting to shoot
\nblanks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":28135,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[5731],"rating":[5619],"class_list":["post-39530","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-kiss","rating-rating-c"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/39530","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39530"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/39530\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28135"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=39530"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=39530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}