KISS (Animalize) 1985

KISS (Animalize) 1985 

Front Cover

Back Cover

Well, Vinnie Vincent's reign as KISS' axe shredder was short lived. After reviving the band musically, he became increasingly difficult to work with, both on stage (20 minute guitar solos!! wtf!) and off, making certain financial demands. So out with the old and in with the new. Stepping into the meat grinder was Mark St. John.

Mark was another gun slinger in the mold of the LA scene. But this time Gene and Paul would write all the songs with no input from him, more or less telling him what to play so as not to have another Vinnie fiasco on their hands. Even Gene's partcipation on Animalize was minimal since he was off making movies. Hell, they had Jean Beauvoir come in and play his bass parts on half the album. On brother!  So it all falls onto Paul's shoulders, and because of that, this album suffers from it. It's not that it's a horrible album as much as it was just inconsistent to my ears. But Mark's tenure with the band was short lived as he suffered from Reiter's Syndrome. So, he was out of the band after the first leg of the tour.

Remember Bob Kulick that I mentioned a few times before? Well Gene and Paul asked him to come on board full time. He declined the offer, but he recommended his little brother Bruce for the gig. He got it and went on to become the longest tenured guitarist for KISS in it's history. Longer than Ace Frehley himself.

I admit that when Animalize first came out, I thought it was great. But over the years it's getting harder and harder for me to listen to it. It has certainly lost a lot of it's edge over time. Average at best is about all I can give it these days. The only song that sees the light of day now on tour is Heaven's On Fire, and rightly so. It still kicks ass with a pretty cool riff to boot and the thunderous beat of Eric Carr on drums.

Fave Songs: I've Had Enough (Into The Fire), and Heaven's Of Fire.

Cover is meh.

Rating: 3 Stars out of 5

Review by Chiprocks1

Animalize Music Videos

KISS - Heavens On Fire

KISS - Thrills In The Night