KISS - ANIMALIZE

I sometimes find it mind boggling the differences KISS fans see in the bands records. One fan can hate LOVE GUN but love CRAZY NIGHTS. One fan can love DESTROYER and be 'so-so’ when it comes to discussing ROCK AND ROLL OVER. Each album is steeped within rock and roll featuring loud guitars and pounding drums but for one reason or another one album tugs at one person’s heartstrings more than another.
My point to all of this is simple. Within my circle of geeky KISS fans and friends there are two particular albums that are continually lumped together in roundabout discussions. Those particular albums remain the experimental MUSIC FROM THE ELDER and the somewhat hard to swallow, ANIMALIZE.
In countless interviews I have read, Gene has rated the KISS catalog giving MUSIC FROM THE ELDER a (zero star rating) for a KISS record and (two star rating) as a bad Genesis record. Sadly, every time I hear this quote I must disagree. My choice for a KISS album receiving a (zero star rating) would be ANIMALIZE.
AMINALIZE stands out of the pack as the one KISS record that is trying the hardest just to fit in. Most KISS albums make a statement. Hell…even THE ELDER had a mission…ANIMALIZE is simply ‘there’. And for a band with the charisma and drive of KISS…simply being ‘there’ is never enough. Be it the era (1980’s) or the ever changing lineup, or simply the absence of an actual producer, ANIMALIZE strives more than it hits the mark. ANIMALIZE showcases forgettable tunes and less than stellar packaging, which ultimately drives the album to the bottom of my KISS (fan-favorite) play list.
When ANIMALIZE was released in 1984 I was steadily rocking out my Quiet Riot - METAL HEALTH ringer-tee in the 4th grade. More interested in FOOTLOOSE than former rock stars of the 1970’s ANIMALIZE passed almost completely under my radar. My only notification of the its existence came from a novelty shop in the St. Joseph mall called, Martin Enterprises.
For St. Joe, Martin Enterprises was the closest a small town kid could get to rock and roll fashions. They had everything from T-shirts, bandannas, hatpins, and the ever so cherished spiked wristbands. One afternoon I found myself in the shop with an acquaintance from church, both hoping to add to our hatpin collections, when ANIMALIZE fell flat in my lap.
As we waited for our mothers patiently on the benches outside of the store I asked to see what hatpin he had purchased. He carefully slid a tiny metal pin out of his card stock envelope and showed it to me. It was a cheap metal copy of the KISS – ANIMALIZE album cover, complete with KISS logo, ANIMALIZE font and wild animal print. At the time I didn’t know what it meant but it looked a lot cooler than the Harley Davidson Eagle logo pin I had just purchased.
"I’ve never heard it," I questioned…feeling dumber than ever.
"Heaven’s On Fire?" he exclaimed, proceeding to sing a few bars,
"Feel my heat…taking you higher…burn with me…Heaven’s On Fire!"
The warning alarms went off in my head…. Visions of my mom looking like that robot from LOST IN SPACE….DANGER!…DANGER!…
There was no way on God’s green earth my mom would allow me to listen to something like that…not at the age of 10…for that matter not at the age of 15! ‘Burn with me’?...'Heaven’s On Fire’?….I was carefully pushing the envelope with kid friendly hits like "Cum On Feel The Noise", playing a song like that would only ensure my mom’s 1970’s notions about KISS. Lyrics like that would only press home the fact that this band were dangerous and yes….quite possibly satanic. (My mom believed every minister who had his own talk show on television…what else can I say? Growing up in my house was no picnic).
All of these 1980’s Reagan fears / small Midwestern minds and values being said…thanks to my mother and that day…ANIMALIZE remained out of my grasp well into my late teens when the collecting bug finally hit hard and the album found its way into my collection. Fortunately, I wasn’t missing out on all that much.