AtomicCrimsonRush
“Love Gun” was a successful Kiss album that was certified triple platinum after thousands of albums hit the markets. I picked this one up on release off the shelf hoping for another “Destroyer” but it was nowhere near as masterful.
The album cover was painted by Ken Kelly who painted “destroyer” but the production and overall quality of the songs was very patchy with many lowlights, especially the failed successor to ‘Rock and Roll Allnite’, ‘Tomorrow and Tonight’ that I always hated. Other lowlight include the ludicrous ‘Got Love for Sale’ that is a forgettable throwaway from Simmons. ‘Then She Kissed Me’ was scraping the bottom of the barrel though, trying to reinvent an old Crystal’s song by reversing the gender; it is abysmal and one of the hall of shame moments for the group.
On the plus side there were some excellent songs as always, notably the wonderful rocking Peter Criss track ‘Hooligan’ that made up for some of the mediocrity. Simmons is great on ‘Christine Sixteen’ which became a fan favourite and a single. ‘I Stole Your Love’ is a rocker for Paul that was played many time live. ‘Love Gun’ was performed live in every concert and features an excellent unforgettable machine gun attack on the guitars. Paul often swung on a cable out to the audience to another platform in concerts during this song. ‘Shock Me’ was a definitive track for Ace, heard for the first time solo. I like his rasping vocal style and he went on to be a very successful solo artist after Kiss. Gene really shines on this album especially with the bizarre ‘Plaster Caster’ which I found out many years later was about a strange groupie named Cynthia Plaster Caster who actually became infamous for casting the genitalia of rock stars in plaster. ‘Almost Human’ was another good track with Simmons dominating, and this features a grinding riff that locks in very well and there are superb lead breaks and harmonies.
Overall “Love Gun” is a flawed album with many great moments to remember it by. The band were beginning to struggle after this as it is the last time the original Kiss lineup would play on every track. It was the end of an era for the band. The sound was soon to change capitalising on the disco era of the late 70s.