Love Gun

Love Gun
Studio album by Kiss
Released	June 17, 1977
Recorded	Record Plant Studios, New York City, May 1977
Genre	Hard rock, heavy metal
Length	32:57
Language	English
Label	Casablanca
Producer	Kiss, Eddie Kramer
Kiss chronology
Rock and Roll Over (1976) Love Gun (1977) Gene Simmons (1978)

Love Gun is the sixth studio album by American hard rock band Kiss. Love Gun is notable for being the first Kiss album to feature a lead vocal performance from Ace Frehley. This marks the first album for the group to feature lead vocal performances from all four band members. It was also the last studio album to feature the entire original lineup of Kiss on every track, as drummer Peter Criss was replaced by session drummer Anton Fig for most of 1979's Dynasty.

Album information

A cardboard "Love Gun" (assembly required) was included inside the album, along with a Kiss merchandise order form. Before Love Gun was completed, a Gallup poll indicated that Kiss was the most popular band in the US, beating Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, and the Eagles. On August 25–26, 1977, Kiss recorded 2 shows at the LA Forum to be used as live material for their next release Alive II.

The album cover was painted by fantasy artist Ken Kelly, who previously did the cover for 1976's Destroyer. The album art of shock rock band GWAR's 2009 album Lust in Space is a homage/parody of Love Gun's album art. The back cover of Nirvana's album Nevermind features a photograph of a rubber monkey in front of a collage created by Kurt Cobain. The collage features photos of raw beef from a supermarket advertisement, images from Dante's Inferno, and pictures of diseased vaginas from Cobain's collection of medical photos. He noted, "If you look real close, there is a picture of Kiss' Love Gun cover in the back standing on a slab of beef."

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
Vista Records
Pitchfork Media	(9.2/10)
Blender
Rolling Stone
Truemetal	(90/100)
Metal Nightfall
This table needs to be expanded using prose. See the guideline for more information.

Love Gun was certified platinum on June 30, 1977, two weeks after the album's release.

Songs

I Stole Your Love

Written by Paul Stanley, "I Stole Your Love" is in the same vein as songs like "Makin' Love" and "C'mon and Love Me".

"Christine Sixteen"

Then-unknown guitarist Eddie and drummer Alex Van Halen played on the demo of this song. The meaning of the lyrics are similar to "Goin' Blind" from Hotter Than Hell, as "Christine Sixteen" is about a man who fell in love with a 16 year old girl named Christine and "Goin' Blind" is about a 93 year old man who fell in love with a girl who is also 16 years old.

"Shock Me"

The song was inspired by an event that took place during Kiss' Rock and Roll Over tour, when Frehley suffered an electric shock. On December 12, 1976, Kiss performed a concert at the Lakeland Civic Center in Lakeland, Florida. During the opening number, Frehley touched a metal staircase railing, which was ungrounded. He was knocked to the ground, and the concert was delayed for 30 minutes. The show was eventually completed, and he claimed to have lost feeling in his hand for the remainder of the concert.

"Tomorrow and Tonight"

The song was written to try to recapture the feeling of "Rock and Roll All Nite", but never reached the success of the original.^{[citation needed]} A sound check recording of it appears on Alive II.

"Love Gun"

The title song has been played on every Kiss tour since its release. Paul Stanley has cited it as one of his favorite Kiss songs.

"Plaster Caster"

The song was inspired by Cynthia Plaster Caster, a former groupie famous for casting penises of famous rock musicians like Jimi Hendrix, as well as breasts of female musicians.

"Then She Kissed Me"

The song is a gender-reversed cover of The Crystals' 1963 pop classic "Then He Kissed Me". It is one of many gender-reversed cover versions of the song.

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Lead vocals	Length
1.	"I Stole Your Love"	Paul Stanley	Stanley	3:04
2.	"Christine Sixteen"	Gene Simmons	Simmons	3:14
3.	"Got Love for Sale"	Simmons	Simmons	3:29
4.	"Shock Me"	Ace Frehley	Frehley	3:49
5.	"Tomorrow and Tonight"	Stanley	Stanley	3:40
6.	"Love Gun"	Stanley	Stanley	3:18
7.	"Hooligan"	Peter Criss, Stan Penridge	Criss	3:01
8.	"Almost Human"	Simmons	Simmons	2:49
9.	"Plaster Caster"	Simmons	Simmons	3:27
10.	"Then She Kissed Me"	Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich, Phil Spector	Stanley	3:02

Personnel

• Paul Stanley - vocals, rhythm guitar, bass guitar on "Love Gun"
• Gene Simmons - vocals, bass guitar
• Ace Frehley - lead guitar, vocals
• Peter Criss - drums, percussion, vocals

Charts

Chart	Peak position
USA Billboard 200	4

Certifications

Region	Certification	Sales/shipments
United States (RIAA)	Platinum	1,000,000^
^shipments figures based on certification alone