Kiss, Music From The Elder (1981) ENG

Kiss, Music From The Elder (1981) ENG

By: Erreh Svaia

Rock N Roll Animal

Surely the most controversial album of Kiss, Music From The Elder, a conceptual album, intended soundtrack for a film that never existed, possibly Music From The Elder is, for unjustified reasons, it is worth mentioning, one of the discs most detested by fans more staunch of this band, an album in which Kiss, already in decline after the commercial and advertising excesses of the 70s, tries to detoxify and reinvent itself, some winks to the "progressive rock" are present, the melodramatic production of the good Bob Ezrin, and even the collaboration in some lyrics by Lou Reed, all that in addition to a curious change of image of the band, that without leaving the makeup still, changed part of their attire, like the short hair of some of its members, such an unfortunate nod to punk rock perhaps.

Even so, the album starts with a hard galloping guitar riff to the "Barracuda" of a Heart and a solid rock rhythm that give form to The Oath, the turn here is in charge of the vocal line of Paul Stanley, somewhat remote from his common modus operandi, going more for the operatic, at a level similar to the almost theatrical developments of a Peter Gabriel, who for those times did his thing with Genesis, at every moment redeeming the dialogue of the guitars of Stanley and Frehley , while the saturation of effects by Ezrin produces a strange effect of truth, difficult to talk about any commercial appeal here with a piece that is around 5 minutes.

For Just A Boy the album begins to come a little down, it leans too much on Tommy, by the Who to get ahead something that looks like a bad imitation of the opera-rock of the legendary English band, without doing in the perverse rarities Pete Townshend, with a concept that seems boring at first, with a hilarious Paul Stanley totally out of his comfort zone unable to delve deeply into the overall theme of the album, barely rescued by a Dark Light by Ace Frehely , who seems to show his growth as a solo artist and with his theme seems to break the monotony that overwhelms Stanley, a hard rock theme and the most salvageable of this album, plus another gem to join the race always reliable Frehley.

I'm not a fan of the themes that Simmons usually writes, huge sexist clichés most of the time, but Only You shows a different facet of Simmons, a definite deviation from Kiss, but an experiment that seems to me fortunate, and that also becomes part of the strengths of the album, and that is added among the redeemable things, such as World Without Here, another "different" theme, but not necessarily deficient, on the contrary, it perfectly captures a dark moment for rock in which excesses gave way to a musical hangover that Music From The Elder seems to exemplify in an outstanding way, an almost atmospheric sound barely ripped by Frehley's guitars and Simmons' powerful bass, which reaches thunderous levels in a song like Mr. Blackwell, which manages to reveal something of that classic sound of the band.

Unfortunately, Music From The Elder has some issues that are definitely over, that subtract power and transcendence to the issues redeemable, which could have made a good EP, the strangely titled "I" is another issue that catches the attention, with a Paul Stanley excelso, in a kind of Rock N Roll All Nite in reverse with enough charisma and rarity to not forget or dismiss it, bringing to light that good vocation to compose classic songs of the band.

Music From The Elder is an album that I have always defended, that outlines a remarkable dynamic between the thunderous and the ethereal, between beauty and the grotesque, between light and dark, it is a clear uncomfortable disc, but for those who have the patience listening and supporting bad songs and instrumental pieces can rescue and enjoy good songs, giving them the opportunity to appreciate a classic band daring to much, looking to get out of their comfort zone, and the best, moving forward, at least in some moments.