The worst KISS album ever!

There's no doubt in anyone's mind that "Music from The Elder" is the worst thing KISS has ever done. And KISS has done some terrible, terrible things. (Which we'll get into on another post, I promise)

So, it was 1981 and KISS was rapidly losing it's fan base due to some disco albums that were commercial hits, but didn't do much for their hardcore fan base. (Even though I still think Unmasked is a pretty good album, just not a good KISS album...)

So they decided to recreate "Destroyer", by bringing back Bob Ezrin. Now, how many times has KISS tried to recreate Destroyer anyway? Well, if you listen to their interviews, pretty much every album since 1976 has tried to be Destroyer, but none of them has really matched up. But that hasn't stopped the KISS hype machine!

Anyway, It probably seemed like a good idea at the time, but this disc is truly awful. There's weird falsetto vocals, strange themes, and huge opera sections, it's all pretty much a big mess.
So, it's really no surprise this was their worst selling album, which also makes it one of the harder ones to find.

If you're into torturing yourself, you should really listen to this thing. It's worth it, even just to see what NOT to do when you're recording an album. However, it's rare status does make it one of the gems of my KISS collection.

I managed to find this in Calgary when I was a kid, and I couldn't believe my luck. It was in brand new condition, but I suppose most copies were probably listened to once at best, and probably not even all the way to the end. It's really that bad. I guess it was supposed to be a movie too, if it worked out, hence the "music from" in the title. I'd heard that Revolutionary comics was going to turn it into a comic book from Gene Simmons' story ideas, but I'm not sure if it ever happened or not...

Anyway, I think new pressings of the CD should definitely come with a disclaimer letting people know not to expect a regular KISS album when they buy this thing.

But with that said, it is an interesting listen, especially when you consider they went from this right to "Creatures of the Night" the very next year, probably their most underrated album!

Unfortunately they then went on to totally blow it again with the whole "Asylum", "Crazy Nights", "Hot in the Shade" thing, but oh well.