’70s Kiss was the best Kiss. Of this there can be no doubt.
The face-paint wearing group released seven studio albums in a six-year span, quickly advancing from unknowns to underground sensations to arena headliners. Here are the songs that helped them do it:
Key Highlights
- Influential Albums: Kiss released seven studio albums from 1974 to 1979, marking a rapid rise in popularity.
- Signature Sound: Their music evolved from raw rock to polished productions, showcasing their versatility.
- Iconic Tracks: Songs like “I Was Made for Lovin’ You” and “Rock and Roll All Nite” became anthems of the era.
- Cultural Impact: The band’s theatrical performances and unique style left a lasting legacy in rock music.
30. “Hard Luck Woman”
From: Rock and Roll Over (1976)
Kiss weren’t fully thrilled with the highly polished sonics of the Bob Ezrin-produced Destroyer. So their next album, Rock and Roll Over, featured a more stripped-down sound. But the group was wise enough to include the country-tinged ballad “Hard Luck Woman” as a follow-up to the left field success of Destroyer‘s hit single “Beth.”
In an early example of his genre-hopping songwriting abilities, Paul Stanley wrote the song with the intention of giving it to Rod Stewart, until Peter Criss stepped in. “I said, ‘Hey F—-o, how about me?,” the drummer recalled in the book Kiss: Behind the Mask. “F— Rod Stewart, I’ll sing the s— out of it.”
29. “Rocket Ride”
From: Alive II (1977)
Although he co-wrote early Kiss classics such as “Parasite” and “Cold Gin,” lead guitarist Ace Frehley wasn’t confident enough to handle lead vocal duties before debuting with “Shock Me” from their sixth album, 1977’s Love Gun.
He followed that up quickly with the phaser-heavy “Rocket Ride” from Alive II’s studio side, which naturally featured an outer space theme and an extended guitar solo. After hearing those two songs, it’s less of a surprise that Frehley’s 1978 solo album was better than the ones recorded by his bandmates.
28. "Rock Bottom"
From: Dressed to Kill (1975)
Think of this Dressed to Kill gem as Stanley and Frehley’s own version of Ike and Tina Turner’s “Proud Mary,” with a delicate instrumental opening that abruptly switches to something much heavier. “Are we ready? It’s gonna get rough…” Stanley would declare before launching into the main riff during concerts.
27. “Larger Than Life”
From: Alive II (1977)
Gene Simmons’ always high sense of self-worth seems to have been at a near-historic peak during the writing and recording of this particularly boastful Alive II studio track. Luckily the music backs him up, particularly the smoking lead guitar work from Bob Kulick, who secretly filled in for an AWOL Ace Frehley during the recording sessions.
26. “Almost Human”
From: Love Gun (1977)
Simmons’ throbbing bass line gives this underappreciated Love Gun song’s sinister groove extra muscle. The lyrics find our favorite fire-breathing demon transformed into a love-hungry werewolf by the power of the full moon.
25. “I Was Made for Lovin’ You”
From: Dynasty (1979)
As much as Simmons likes to make fun of it, Paul Stanley’s “I Was Made for Lovin’ You” is a great disco-rock song, further proof of his ability to work well outside of the band’s usual territory, and a very deserving hit.
The problem was, unlike when Van Halen broke new ground with 1984‘s keyboard-heavy “Jump,” then surrounded it with A+ rockers like “Panama” and “Hot for Teacher,” the rest of Dynasty was mostly limp pop-rock.
24. “Christine Sixteen”
From: Love Gun (1977)
Isn’t it amazing how an infectious pop hook and a tinkling piano can brighten up even the most problematic lyrics? Fun fact: Eddie and Alex Van Halen helped Gene Simmons record the song’s original demo. That recording can be heard on Simmons’ Vault box set.
23. "Firehouse"
From: Kiss (1974)
For a song written by Paul Stanley in high school, “Firehouse” has served Kiss pretty well. The Stones-styled riff rocker lends itself particularly well to the band’s life shows, with the singer donning a fireman’s hat as sirens and lights fill the arena. Not one to be outshined, this is often the song where Simmons does his famous fire-breathing trick.
22. “Take Me”
From: Rock and Roll Over (1976)
Red hot riff? Check! Lyrics that are so unabashedly oversexed they actually transcend and undermine any attempt at mockery? Ah-Ah-Ah-Ah-Yeah!
21. “Parasite”
From: Hotter Than Hell (1974)
Written by Ace Frehley, “Parasite” is one of the fastest, heaviest songs in Kiss’ catalog, one you can easily picture getting covered by Metallica. As mentioned above, Frehley wasn’t ready to handle lead vocals while the band was recording Hotter Than Hell, so he turned the job over to Simmons.
Over four decades later, Frehley reclaimed “Parasite” with a particularly thrashy new version on his 2016 album Origins, Vol. 1.
<p<strongRead More: Kiss Band Member Power Rankings
20. “Comin’ Home”
From:
Hotter Than Hell
(1974)
Once again proving themselves an excellent songwriting team,
Frehley
and
Stanley
paired up on
“Comin’ Home,”
one of
Kiss’
most underrated
and unexpectedly wholesome songs.
The result sounds like a fuzzier version of an upbeat early-era
Beatles love song,
and (unlike
“Layla”)
might be just as good in acoustic form.
19. “Hotter Than Hell”
From:
Hotter Than Hell
(1974)
Admittedly heavily inspired by Free’s classic
“All Right Now”
– with a dose of Sabbath added to the extended coda –
Stanley shares a rare tale of romantic rejection on
the title track to 1974’s
Hotter Than Hell.
People talk a lot about the lo-fi production values of this album,
but it adds more to the exotic nature of these songs than it takes away.
18. “Calling Dr. Love”
From:
Rock and Roll Over
(1976)
Using a title inspired by a
Three Stooges
episode,
Simmons takes a playful swipe at his bandmate Paul Stanley’s songwriting style.
It worked better than expected,
with
“Calling Dr. Love”
landing at No.
16 –
a career peak for a Simmons-led single –
and becoming a near-permanent addition to the band’s live sets.
17. "Black Diamond"
From:
Kiss
(1974)
“Black Diamond,”
a slow-building portrait of the life of a street prostitute,
might be the closest thing Kiss has to a
“Stairway to Heaven.”
Stanley,
who wrote the song,
handles lead vocals on the acoustic intro then turns the microphone over to Criss.
The track was covered by indie rock darlings
the Replacements on their 1984 album
Let It Be.
and quickly became the default closing song for Kiss’
main sets,
concluding with levitating drums and a massive fireworks display.
16. “She”
From:
Dressed to Kill
(1975)
Kiss released their first three studio albums in thirteen and a half months,
while maintaining a near-constant touring schedule.
Dressed to Kill was
the last of that trilogy,
and to put it kindly,
the strain of coming up with new material so fast definitely shows.
But it did give Simmons a chance
to dust off some forgotten gold in
the form of
“She,”
from he
and Stanley’s pre-Kiss days in
the group Wicked Lester.
Their former band’s version
of
the song included Jethro Tull-style flutes
and bongos,
but Kiss wisely stripped it down
to its primal form for their debut album.
15. “Rock and Roll All Nite”
From:
Dressed to Kill
(1975)
Some of you are going to be mad this isn’t ranked higher.
Here’s
the counter-argument:
While
“Rock and Roll All Nite”
is a very catchy song
and clearly
the one that caught on most with
the world at large,
it’s not
the best example
of what makes Kiss unique.
14. “Do You Love Me”
From:
Destroyer
(1976)
“Do You Love Me”
offers one of
the clearest examples
of all
the good Bob Ezrin brought
to
the Destroyer sessions.
With songwriting help from producer
and Runaways manager Kim Fowley,
Stanley adds depth and pop smarts
to
the band’s earlier sound,
and maturity and melancholy
to
the lyrics.
It’s even better live,
thanks to that gorgeous instrumental ending.
13. “Sure Know Something”
From:
Dynasty
(1979)
As you can see in
the song’s official video,
the moody disco-era ballad
“Sure Know Something”
didn’t exactly fit with Kiss’ established image.
But it’s yet another example
of Stanley’s increasingly mature
and ambitious songwriting skills,
and features a killer chorus that should have earned it
a much higher spot on
the charts and in fans’ hearts.
12. “Strange Ways”
From:
Hotter Than Hell
(1974)
Once again turning lead vocal duties over to a bandmate (Criss this time),
Frehley unleashes a staggeringly heavy and trippy closing number to
Hotter Than Hell,
capping it off with a psychedelic guitar solo that shows off his undying love for Jimi Hendrix.
11. “Makin’ Love”
From:
Rock and Roll Over
(1976)
Stanley gets his Zeppelin on with
the barrelling closing track on
Rock and Roll Over.
The song got even better on
Alive II,
as the Starchild mirrors
the Page / Plant dynamic with
a particularly amped-up Frehley.
