Music from "The Elder" is the ninth studio album released by the American rock band Kiss. Album sales were so poor that Kiss did not embark on a supporting tour for the first time in its eight-year history, opting instead to make a handful of promotional appearances. Music from "The Elder" was the last Kiss album on which Ace Frehley appeared until the 1996 Reunion Tour. Frehley, disgruntled with the band's creative direction and production of Bob Ezrin, stopped actively participating in the Kiss operation by early 1982, and officially quit the group by November that year.
While "A World Without Heroes" was later performed on the band's 1995 MTV Unplugged appearance, the entire album has been largely ignored in live performances. During a 2004 Australia show, the band attempted to perform "I", but Gene Simmons had long forgotten the lyrics. Short performances of "I ", "Mr. Blackwell", and "Just a Boy", were played on the 2011 Kiss Kruise.
Kiss was in the midst of a transitional phase as the 1980s began. Drummer Peter Criss, who was not involved in the recording of 1980's Unmasked, officially left Kiss in May 1980. His replacement Eric Carr was officially introduced in July. The group had recently embarked on a hugely successful tour of Australia and New Zealand (where the group's popularity was at its peak) in November, but the band's commercial fortunes at home were drastically reduced from the 1975-79 era. Due to the lackluster sales of Unmasked, Kiss toured exclusively outside the United States for the first time in their career, except for one concert at the Palladium Theatre in New York. The overseas tours were well-attended, partly because Kiss had rarely ventured abroad and because the more pop-oriented Dynasty and Unmasked albums did better in the European markets than their earlier hard rock albums.
This commercial downturn is attributable to many factors, two of the biggest being the softening of Kiss's image in an effort to appeal to a broader fan base, and the softening of their music. Unmasked was a decidedly more pop-oriented effort than earlier albums, and represented a sales drop-off of 65% from 1979's Dynasty. It also became the first Kiss album to fail to achieve platinum status since 1975's Dressed to Kill. The glut of Kiss merchandising that had cropped up in the late 1970s led to a backlash from fans, who felt that Kiss was then more concerned with making money than with making good music.
In an effort to return to their hard rock roots, Kiss began recording music more akin to the hard rock style that launched them to popularity in the mid-1970s. The fall 1980 issue of the Kiss Army Newsletter hinted at the style the new album was to take — "It will be hard and heavy from start to finish—straight-on rock and roll that will knock your socks off." But at the same time, Simmons, Paul Stanley and creative manager Bill Aucoin felt that just returning to a harder sound was not enough. They believed that only a bold artistic statement would regenerate public interest in Kiss. To that end, they enlisted producer Bob Ezrin to work with the group, who in turn daringly employed members from the American Symphony Orchestra and St. Robert's Choir to record tracks for the album. Ezrin had worked with the group before, producing the group's hit 1976 album Destroyer. He had also co-produced Pink Floyd's landmark 1979 concept album The Wall. Simmons, Stanley and Aucoin felt that Ezrin could help bring their ambitions to fruition.
The original vinyl release was a gatefold sleeve. For the first time, a Kiss album featured no image of the group, let alone the customary front-cover appearance. According to one story, the hand reaching for the door-knocker is not that of Stanley: Aucoin has stated that it belongs to a hand-model, hired for the shoot. However, in 2011 a photo surfaced from the album cover shoot showing a partially naked-faced Stanley with his hand on the door knocker. The door itself belongs to the Park Ave United Methodist church on Park Avenue, New York City. The photo session displayed a change of image: the costumes were more streamlined, especially when compared with the costumes for Unmasked, as were the hairstyles of Stanley and Simmons in particular.
Recording sessions for the album commenced in March 1981. Sessions were held in Toronto, New York City, and Frehley's home recording studio in Wilton, Connecticut. During the recording, Ezrin and Kiss worked in complete secrecy. Ezrin in particular had insisted that he would only communicate with Kiss or Aucoin. No one other than Ezrin and Kiss ever heard the album in progress. Frehley became increasingly frustrated during the sessions, as he disagreed with the band's decision to abandon their original plan to record a straight rock album. Additionally, a number of guitar solos Frehley recorded were not included in the final cut. But as had happened frequently after Criss's departure one year earlier, Frehley was often outvoted 2-1 on band decisions. Carr was not a partner in Kiss as the other three members were, but rather an employee. Frehley also resented what he felt was Simmons and Stanley's domination of the recording sessions.Music from "The Elder" is the ninth studio album released by the American rock band Kiss. Album sales were so poor that Kiss did not embark on a supporting tour for the first time in its eight-year history, opting instead to make a handful of promotional appearances. Music from "The Elder" was the last Kiss album on which Ace Frehley appeared until the 1996 Reunion Tour. Frehley, disgruntled with the band's creative direction and production of Bob Ezrin, stopped actively participating in the Kiss operation by early 1982, and officially quit the group by November that year.
While "A World Without Heroes" was later performed on the band's 1995 MTV Unplugged appearance, the entire album has been largely ignored in live performances. During a 2004 Australia show, the band attempted to perform "I", but Gene Simmons had long forgotten the lyrics. Short performances of "I ", "Mr. Blackwell", and "Just a Boy", were played on the 2011 Kiss Kruise.
Kiss was in the midst of a transitional phase as the 1980s began. Drummer Peter Criss, who was not involved in the recording of 1980's Unmasked, officially left Kiss in May 1980. His replacement Eric Carr was officially introduced in July. The group had recently embarked on a hugely successful tour of Australia and New Zealand (where the group's popularity was at its peak) in November, but the band's commercial fortunes at home were drastically reduced from the 1975-79 era. Due to the lackluster sales of Unmasked, Kiss toured exclusively outside the United States for the first time in their career, except for one concert at the Palladium Theatre in New York. The overseas tours were well-attended, partly because Kiss had rarely ventured abroad and because the more pop-oriented Dynasty and Unmasked albums did better in the European markets than their earlier hard rock albums.
This commercial downturn is attributable to many factors, two of the biggest being the softening of Kiss's image in an effort to appeal to a broader fan base, and the softening of their music. Unmasked was a decidedly more pop-oriented effort than earlier albums, and represented a sales drop-off of 65% from 1979's Dynasty. It also became the first Kiss album to fail to achieve platinum status since 1975's Dressed to Kill. The glut of Kiss merchandising that had cropped up in the late 1970s led to a backlash from fans, who felt that Kiss was then more concerned with making money than with making good music.
In an effort to return to their hard rock roots, Kiss began recording music more akin to the hard rock style that launched them to popularity in the mid-1970s. The fall 1980 issue of the Kiss Army Newsletter hinted at the style the new album was to take — "It will be hard and heavy from start to finish—straight-on rock and roll that will knock your socks off." But at the same time, Simmons, Paul Stanley and creative manager Bill Aucoin felt that just returning to a harder sound was not enough. They believed that only a bold artistic statement would regenerate public interest in Kiss. To that end, they enlisted producer Bob Ezrin to work with the group, who in turn daringly employed members from the American Symphony Orchestra and St. Robert's Choir to record tracks for the album. Ezrin had worked with the group before, producing the group's hit 1976 album Destroyer. He had also co-produced Pink Floyd's landmark 1979 concept album The Wall. Simmons, Stanley and Aucoin felt that Ezrin could help bring their ambitions to fruition.
The original vinyl release was a gatefold sleeve. For the first time, a Kiss album featured no image of the group, let alone the customary front-cover appearance. According to one story, the hand reaching for the door-knocker is not that of Stanley: Aucoin has stated that it belongs to a hand-model, hired for the shoot. However, in 2011 a photo surfaced from the album cover shoot showing a partially naked-faced Stanley with his hand on the door knocker. The door itself belongs to the Park Ave United Methodist church on Park Avenue, New York City. The photo session displayed a change of image: the costumes were more streamlined, especially when compared with the costumes for Unmasked, as were the hairstyles of Stanley and Simmons in particular.
Recording sessions for the album commenced in March 1981. Sessions were held in Toronto, New York City, and Frehley's home recording studio in Wilton, Connecticut. During the recording, Ezrin and Kiss worked in complete secrecy. Ezrin in particular had insisted that he would only communicate with Kiss or Aucoin. No one other than Ezrin and Kiss ever heard the album in progress. Frehley became increasingly frustrated during the sessions, as he disagreed with the band's decision to abandon their original plan to record a straight rock album. Additionally, a number of guitar solos Frehley recorded were not included in the final cut. But as had happened frequently after Criss's departure one year earlier, Frehley was often outvoted 2-1 on band decisions. Carr was not a partner in Kiss as the other three members were, but rather an employee. Frehley also resented what he felt was Simmons and Stanley's domination of the recording sessions.false2022-08-16 13:33:09Music From “The Elder”819811981-01-011981-01-0147Art RockHard RockHeavy MetalRockSymphonic ProgRock Opera1121702116634de3f299d-7c3e-3bb6-b432-abbc34b1f25ce1f1e33e-2e4c-4d43-b91b-7064068d32838ee07b4e-25bb-36cc-9cc5-7330b7776f71/media/data/media5/Music/KISS/Music From _The Elder_/folder.jpgKISSAlbumArtistKISSArtistKISSKISSKiss (often styled as KISS) was an American rock band formed in New York City in 1973 by Paul Stanley (vocals, rhythm guitar), Gene Simmons (vocals, bass guitar), Ace Frehley (lead guitar, vocals) and Peter Criss (drums, vocals). Known for their face paint and stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid-1970s with shock rock-style live performances which featured fire-breathing, blood-spitting, smoking guitars, shooting rockets, levitating drum kits and pyrotechnics. The band went through several lineup changes, with Stanley and Simmons remaining the only consistent members. The final lineup consisted of them, Tommy Thayer (lead guitar, vocals) and Eric Singer (drums, vocals).
With their makeup and costumes, the band members took on the personas of comic book-style characters: the Starchild (Stanley), the Demon (Simmons), the Spaceman or Space Ace (Frehley), and the Catman (Criss). Beginning with their 1975 live album Alive!, Kiss became one of America's most successful rock bands and a pop culture phenomenon during the second half of the 1970s. Due to creative differences, Criss departed the band in 1980, followed by Frehley in 1982. They were replaced by Eric Carr (the Fox) and Vinnie Vincent (the Ankh Warrior), respectively. The band's commercial success had declined during the early 1980s before experiencing a resurgence in 1983, when they began performing without makeup and costumes, marking the beginning of the band's "unmasked" era that would last until 1996. The first album of this era, 1983's platinum-certified Lick It Up, successfully introduced them to a new generation of fans, and its music videos received regular airplay on MTV. Vincent left the band in 1984, being replaced briefly by Mark St. John before Bruce Kulick joined the band for the next twelve years. Eric Carr died in 1991 of heart cancer and was replaced by Eric Singer.
In response to a wave of Kiss nostalgia in the mid-1990s, the original lineup reunited in 1996, which also saw the return of their makeup and stage costumes. The resulting 1996–1997 reunion tour was highly successful, grossing $143.7 million, making it the band's most successful tour. Criss and Frehley subsequently left the band again following the 2000–2001 tour, which at the time was intended to be Kiss' last. Criss and Frehley were replaced by Singer and Tommy Thayer (Criss briefly rejoined the band from 2002 to 2004), respectively. The band continued with its original stage makeup, with Singer and Thayer using the original Catman and Spaceman makeup respectively. After 46 years of recording and performing, Kiss began a four-year-long farewell tour, the End of the Road World Tour, in January 2019 and retired after performing their final show in New York City in December 2023.
Kiss is regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of all time, as well as one of the best selling bands of all time, claiming to have sold more than 75 million records worldwide, including 21 million RIAA-certified albums. Kiss has also earned 30 Gold albums, the most of any band from the United States. Kiss has 14 Platinum albums, three of which earned multi-Platinum. On April 10, 2014, the four original members of Kiss were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Kiss was ranked by MTV as the ninth "Greatest Metal Band of All Time", and placed tenth on VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock" list, as well as being ranked as the third "Best Metal and Hard Rock Live Band of All Time" by Loudwire magazine.