254. KISS / Dressed To Kill. 1975. 4.5/5

The early career of Kiss, from the coming together of the band, their initial gigs and the releasing of their first two albums, “Kiss” and “Hotter Than Hell”, in retrospect all appears to be a more exciting and profitable time than it actually was. There is also an apparent discrepancy over the quality of songs from the band and the audience they were beginning to attract through the turnstiles. The first two albums from the band contains some of their best-known songs, even today 50 years later, but it was in the live environment where they truly came to life rather than the staid versions they had laid down in the studio. Their previous album “Hotter Than Hell” had fail to light up the charts, stalling at #100 in the US and then began to slip away quickly. This was partly due to the fact that Casablanca Records distribution deal with Warner Bros had ended, and the publicity behind the album was far less than had been the case for their debut album. Once the band’s management saw this occurring, they once again as they had done with that previous album dragged the band off the road where they were performing well, and insisted that they get back in the studio and record a follow up album, one that would be their third album in just 13 months. For ten days in February of 1975, Kiss was back in Electric Lady studios in New York City, coming up with the next round of songs to be tried out on their market. The album was produced by their record company Casablanca Records president Neil Bogart because of their financial position at that time, meaning they couldn’t afford to fire a professional for the job. With Paul and Gene looking over his shoulder, Kiss probably felt they didn’t need one anyway. Peter Criss wrote in his book “Makeup to Breakup” that Bogart’s first decision as producer was to bring in a bag of marijuana, no doubt because he thought that was how all albums were made. Paul Stanley in later interviews said that Bogart was less interested in keeping the album fresh than he was in saving money. He recalled that at one stage he had done a take that he knew from the outset was not good enough, and yet the producer said “well, that should do it!”, to which Stanley answered “no, it won’t”. Through the money saving traction of the producer/label president, it fell on the band to be more vigilant when it came to the production of the album.
Having originally gone into the studio with the working title of “Kiss at Midnight”, once completed and ready for publication the album was adorned with the far more alluring title of “Dressed to Kill”, along with the band dressed outstandingly in suits while in their makeup on the front cover. For the third album in just over a year, the record company was hoping for a bigger impact on the band’s third album attempt.

From the get go, this album is immediately on a better footing than the previous two albums on sound alone. Despite the absence of a full time producer, this album has a far better and crisper sharper sound than was prevalent on “Hotter Than Hell”. And that clarity helps to make this an enjoyable listen. The ten tracks here in total barely passes the half an hour mark in time though, which gives the impression that the band was under time pressure to get this album out on to the shelves. The lyrics composition also settles into the atypical Kiss topics, so sometimes it is just better to ignore the content and just sing along in blissful ignorance.
“Room Service” opens up with a bright and breezy guitar riff and Paul’s vocals bouncing along in rhythm, almost channelling a 1960’s pop rock anthem. The lyrics don’t take too much to interpret given the title of the song, yet it is a high energy opening to the album. Gene’s “Two Timer” follows and settles into that typical tempo that Gene written songs careers along at. He also doesn’t put a lot into the lyric writing here, drawing on a standard theme that seems to have the girl in the wrong, which is a little amusing given Gene’s proclamation about himself and groupies. Nevertheless, a solid song to follow the opener. Gene then follows with another of his songs, “Ladies in Waiting”. Now, just what could Gene be singing about on this song... “Their selection is inviting, they sure look hot tonight, and the ladies in waiting, will show you what it’s all about”. Gene actually plays rhythm on this song as well, while Ace Frehley’s solo does increase the interest in the track. Ace’s song “Getaway” is next, one on which he plays all guitars and bass guitar on, and as is almost always the case it ups the tempo and it sounds more like a hard rock song. The lyrics again aren’t Shakespearian, with “Some people, they tell me, I’ve been here too long, It don’t compel me, they tell me I just don’t belong”. But for Ace Frehley songs, that can be forgiven. In most cases. It’s the songs themselves that are the reason we come. Peter Criss has the job of lead vocals on this track, and he does a great track. Indeed, it is great to hear him singing a song that is this up-tempo rather than of the slower more introspective style he often does. He follows this up with “Rock Bottom”, co-written with Paul, which he also plays all guitars and bass on. The opening half of the song is all Ace on acoustic guitar, before it breaks into song proper and returns us to the harder edge of the album that we expect from Ace Frehley songs. It ends the first side of the album on a upward note.
Side two opens with the all-time classic, Paul’s “C’mon and Love Me”. Though written by Paul, it is Gene’s rumbling bassline that is the star attraction of this song, holding the track together and providing the wonderful rhythm underneath throughout that makes this such a wonderful song. Not for the first time however, it would be a cover version of this song that became its definitive version, some 17 years later by Skid Row on their “B-Sides Themselves” EP. That is where the full beauty of this song comes to full bloom. “Anything for My Baby” follows and is a harmless track. It’s a solid fill track, one that doesn’t have anything outstanding about it at all but is played at the right tempo and energy to keep the album flowing through. “She” is a reworking of another old Wicked Lester track, revamped enough to have that typical Gene slower tempo about it and the stop/go guitar riffs that occasionally proliferate his songs. It is the longest song on the album at a tad over four minutes, which fits the profile of “Dressed to Kill” if not the boppy style as it was not written during these sessions where obviously short and sharp was the key. “Love Her All I Can” is another standard Paul track with the upbeat tempo and almost joyful vocals, sprouting “I love her all I can and try to understand , The things that make her glad , The things that make her sad , I'm a lucky guy, I hardly ever cry , And when the world looks bad , She's never ever sad”.
The album then closes out with the song that probably made Kiss the band they are today, “Rock and Roll All Nite”. No party from the age of 16 to 35 can occur without this song being played. It was the party anthem that everyone in the 1970’s had to have been looking for, and it was Kiss who provided it. This studio version contains no guitar solo and is over in less than three minutes. However when they played it live Ace got his chance to shine, along with the extended by play of just chanting the chorus with handclapping and just Peter Criss backing on drums. This was the version that eventually found itself onto the band’s next album, “Alive!”, and which was again released as a live single, and which caught the attention and imagination of people everywhere and is today considered the definitive version of the song. And also righted a wrong by not having an Ace solo in the song in the first place!

I’m still somewhat surprised how much I love this album. The way that I enjoy the majority of Kiss albums is in the way you have a ‘guilty pleasure’ album or artists, one you probably shouldn’t enjoy for several reasons but you do anyway. Kiss has often felt that way to me, perhaps mainly for the lyrical content of many of their songs, to either being far too lurid or too close to crossing a line of good taste, or of just being a little too childish. And yet, I still listen to and love the majority of their catalogue. And perhaps that explains why I enjoy this album so much. In many ways it is the short sharp bites of this album that gives it its appeal. The songs mightn’t be masterpieces, but they are here and gone quickly, not dragging themselves out to 4 and 5 minutes when they may well have overstayed their welcome. With the quick turnover of songs and topics, there’s no time to really roll over in your mind what the song is about. I just enjoy the retorts, enjoy the fact that the music itself is fun and upbeat, and then move onto the next one. It explains for me why I have always enjoyed this album so much. A few lyrics, good music, nice Ace solo, end song, move to the next. Perfect!
“She” is one of the exceptions, and I think because it was obviously not written with all of these other songs and it being the longest track probably has something to do with it. I do love both of Ace’s contributions on this album too. But for the most part this is Paul’s album, his contributions are the ones that really give this album the lift it needs and keeps it floating above water.
Thanks to my eldest cousin David I was introduced to Kiss prior to my teenage years, and several school encounters leading into high school meant I knew who Kiss were, but without a familiarity of albums and releases. “Crazy Nights” was my true reintroduction to the band as an album releaser, and from there I went back into the catalogue. And while “Hotter Than Hell” had its moments, “Dressed to Kill” for me was always a better album, one that grabbed me with more enthusiasm than its predecessor had. It is an album that would not be familiar to the casual listener. Apart from the closing track, the majority of music listening people would not have a clue about any of the other tracks on this album. And that is a shame, because although few are heavy hitters in the regard that you MUST listen to and like these songs, there are some - “Room Service”, “Getaway”, “Rock Bottom”, “C’mon and Love Me” - that are well worth knowing and listening to. I’ve had it on permanent rotation for the week leading up to recording this episode, and from the first note the burst out of the speaker, I felt a surge of joy rush through me.
On a ranking list of the 20 Kiss studio albums, I rank this at #8 of my favourites. On a side note, when I reviewed this album for my then fledgling blog 20 years ago, I noted that if I was Kiss at that point of their career, I would have gone back into the studio with their current lineup (although preferably with either Ace of Bruce Kulick) and re-recorded this album in the modern day, added some oomph and given it a bit more spark, and it could have been a real belter. Great idea past-Bill! You should really have gone through with that suggestion!