69. KISS / Animalize. 1984. 3/5.

By 1984, Kiss had had an almost complete makeover from those heady days through the 1970’s. Not only had Ace Frehley and Peter Criss moved on, but the makeup had been removed, and the band was now promoting itself as a band rather than as an act. Album and concert sales and popularity had taken a hit, but with 1983’s “Lick it Up”, those seemed to be on the rise again. But it wouldn’t be Kiss if there wasn’t some sort of internal drama, and that had certainly been the case between the release of that album and their next. Firstly, Frehley’s replacement in the band, Vinnie Vincent, was having trouble fitting in with the leaders of the band. Vincent had contributed to a lot of the songwriting on “Lick it Up”, and no doubt felt that he should be considered a big part of the Kiss machine as a result. Unfortunately, his ego was no match for the egos of both Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons, who expected their junior partner to tow the line. Vincent’s desire to showcase his skills didn’t fit in with the show that Stanley and Simmons were interested in providing, and at the conclusion of the tour to promote the “Lick it Up” album, Vincent was moved on. Persistent rumours circulated for years among Kiss fans about what may have been the real reasons for Vincent's dismissal from Kiss, though the only statement that came was from Gene in an interview some years later, where all he would say was that Vincent's firing was for "unethical behaviour", and not because of lack of talent.
The job opening was filled by Mark St. John, whom Stanley described as a goofy oversized guy obsessed with the Eddie Van Halen method of guitar playing. In the studio however his reported inability to play the same solo twice was just the start of the arising problems.
It was during this period of Kisstory that Simmons had almost checked out from the band. He was pursuing an acting career, with small roles funnelling into a lead villain role in the Tom Selleck film “Runaway”. His relationships with band and members were said to be at an all-time low, and Stanley was more or less left to run the ship himself. In his book “Face the Music”, Stanley wrote "Gene had basically disappeared by that point. I felt abandoned when it came time to make Animalize. After informing me without any warning or discussion that he wouldn't be around for the album, Gene went into a studio and crapped out some demos as fast as he could. Then he was off to do a movie. He left me with a pile of mostly unusable junk."
With Stanley now left with the responsibility of songwriting, production and direction of the new album, as well as coming up with the TITLE of the album, the band, or at least pieces of them, moved to the studio to create what would become their 12th studio album titled “Animalize”.

Kiss had already become a band by this stage that utilised outside musicians and song writers to help fill in and flesh out the albums they created, but the necessity for that here on “Animalize” was obviously even greater given the growing absence of their bass player and the difficulties faced with their new guitarist. Simmons only contributed bass guitar on the four songs he is credited as composing, with Paul Stanley doing the job on two of his five songs, while Jean Bouvier came in to play bass on his other three songs, including receiving a co-writing credit on “Thrills in the Night” It was a role, both composer and bass player, that he would repeat for the same reasons on the band’s following album. So, did Gene just phone in his performance on the album? Apart from recording his ‘crappy demos' as Pual put it, Stanley also commented in his book that "I fixed Gene's songs, fixed the band situation, pulled solos out of Mark and saw through the making of the album. I also named the album, designed the album art and arranged the cover photo shoot. On top of it all, I spent big chunks of time in our office personally promoting the album, glad-handing radio people, cajoling MTV into playing the videos and doing all the things a manager would normally do." To me, Gene’s songs do not resonate with the same power as they usually do and are on a different level from Paul’s. And that seems to come from the fact that they were written separately from the band. Paul’s songs, co-written in the main with the hit maker Desmond Child, are electrifying, upbeat, exciting, driven by Paul’s more commercially sounding vocal lines and melodies, and the excellent solo’s he has extracted from St John. Gene’s songs are fine, and in fact many would say they are the same quality that he had produced over the previous run of albums, but I feel they lack an intensity that Gene usually brings to the table. “Burn Bitch Burn”, questionable lyrics and all, does have some kick about it, with St. John’s guitar solo a highlight. “While the City Sleeps” is also amenable to the process, while “Lonely is the Hunter” and “Murder in High Heels” both have a special guest brought in to complete the songs, one that was to be an important component in the band going forward. As Mark St. John was quoted as saying on Kiss: Behind the Mask, "There are two songs on Animalize that I didn't play on: 'Lonely is the Hunter' and 'Murder in High Heels. That's Bruce [Kulick] playing guitar.”
So, Gene’s songs aren’t bad at all but are not up to the standard you would expect. On the other hand, Stanley and Child’s contributions light up the album. The opening song “I’ve Had Enough (Into the Fire)” immediately grabs your ears and pulls you towards the action. It is amazing how you can almost always pick a Stanley/Child composition, with that light-hearted yet compelling vocal melody and song structure, with an excellent solo from St. John again sealing the deal. The first single from the album “Heaven’s on Fire” has been one of the most popular songs released by the band in the past 40 years and is played at almost every concert the band does. It soared into the charts upon its release and drove the album sales with it. Which, for me, has always been strange, as I don’t think it is that great a song, and there are better on the album. Maybe I’ve just heard it played too many times. “Get All You Can Take”, with Mitch Weissman on guitar and Jean Bouvier on bass, is almost a Paul Stanley solo song, and is a greater counter point to his other penned songs on the album. “Under the Gun” and “Thrills in the Night” open up side two of the album, and shoot along at a furious clip, totally transforming the way you listen to this album. Mark St. John is terrific here as well, providing a couple of great solos but also showcasing a couple of other frills along the way that play into the tracks perfectly. Paul’s vocals are at their best here too, belaying the stress he must have been under while recording this album, and instead making it sound like he’s having an awesome time.

Kiss. My cousin’s bedroom walls and stereo at my grandmother's house. The songs on the radio in primary school. And the “Crazy Nights” album. Yes, I’ve told my entry point to Kiss on previous episodes that I have done on Kiss albums, so if you don’t know it by now, you haven’t listened to enough of my episodes on Kiss.
When it came to “Animalize” that was a different story. I didn’t get this or most of the pre-1986 Kiss albums until the 2000’s. I knew the songs of course, but just didn’t have copies of the albums myself. So “Animalize” came with a lot of other albums, but the thing that did immediately resonate with me was the greater heaviness of the album, and the greater speed at which a majority of the songs were endowed with. And I really enjoyed Mark St. John’s guitaring especially, little knowing that there are parts of the album that he didn’t play on. And I get now how Paul Stanley’s description of him as an Eddie Van Halen disciple fits, because he wants to play fast and flashy, which I really enjoy here.
Listening to the album again over the last month, I again have trouble understanding the fans of the band out there that like to diss the albums the band released in the 1980’s decade. I have certainly felt that about “Creatures of the Night”, and to a certain degree with “Lick it Up”. And of course, “Crazy Nights” is one of my favourite Kiss albums. But “Animalize” is a truly terrific album, full of licks and solos and riffs, of Paul and Gene’s vocals, and that solid to fast tempo kept perfectly by Eric Carr on drums. 1984 is a year when so many amazing albums were released that have become iconic institutions and defined the bands that released them. And “Animalize” did very good business on its release, and was arguably the album that brought Kiss back to the status that they deserved after the decline that had come four years previously. But I sometimes feel this album doesn’t get the recognition it deserves, because it still divided the fans who wanted them to be exactly the way they had been in the past. And that’s unfortunate in so many ways.
Being Kiss, there always has to be more drama, and the demise of Mark St. John as lead guitarist after just a handful of gigs on the tour to support this album probably fits the story perfectly. That led to the recruitment of Bruce Kulick into the role, the fourth over a period of just three years, but it also began a period of stability that led the band through the remainder of the decade, and beyond.