 Kiss
 Music From The Elder
 Review by Gary Hill

When it was recorded in 1981, this album was to have been a masterwork of epic proportions. A concept album with serious prog leanings, early preview copies of the album received poor reviews. In a last ditch effort to save it, tracks were moved around to accentuate certain songs (in the hopes of producing a hit). Ambient sounds between tracks were, in many cases, removed (in others shortened). The end result was an album that, although far better than the average LP, sold poorly.
Now, all these years later, in the effort to remaster the Kiss catalog, the album has been reissued as initially intended. The concept, originally quite muddled due to the shuffling around of songs, is now a well told (although slightly cliched) heroic tale of good versus evil. The competent production gives a CD that sounds great, and the restored ambient bits add character.
The lineup on the album is Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley and Eric Carr.
This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: The Early Years Volume 4 at garyhillauthor.com/Music-Street-Journal-The-Early-Years.
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