Revenge (Kiss album)
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Revenge is a studio album by Kiss, released in 1992. It was the band's first album since the death of long-time drummer Eric Carr in November 1991. His replacement, Eric Singer, had played with Lita Ford, Black Sabbath, Badlands, Alice Cooper, and the Paul Stanley Project before joining KISS.
The album was dedicated to Carr, and the last track ("Carr Jam 1981") was a demo he had recorded soon after joining the group. One modification to the song, however, was the dubbing of Bruce Kulick's guitar over Ace Frehley's, which originally appeared. The main riff of the song was used as the basis for the Frehley's Comet song "Breakout," found on 1987's Frehley's Comet.
For Revenge, Kiss re-established ties with a pair of old associates—producer Bob Ezrin and guitarist/songwriter Vinnie Vincent. Ezrin had last worked with the group on 1981's ill-fated concept album, Music from "The Elder". Prior to that, he produced the band's highly successful Destroyer album in 1976.
Vincent, who in December 1982 had replaced original guitarist Ace Frehley, was fired from Kiss at the conclusion of their Lick It Up tour in March 1984, for reasons that have never been fully explained. Vincent received co-writing credit for three songs on Revenge.
Despite its presence as a single, "God Gave Rock 'N Roll To You II" (a cover version of an Argent song) never charted in the United States, although it reached #4 in the United Kingdom. The song, originally recorded for the soundtrack to Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey, appears here in a remixed form and was the last Kiss song to feature a performance by Eric Carr. Carr, too ill to play drums on the song, provided background vocals.
"God Gave Rock 'N' Roll To You II", "Unholy", and "Domino" are the songs from the album that have endured as regular Kiss live staples. "I Just Wanna" was played briefly on the Revenge tour and appeared on Alive III, and "Every Time I Look At You" was performed on Kiss Unplugged.
The video to "Unholy" was shot in grainy black-and-white, en vogue at the time.
Revenge was certified Gold on July 20, 1992, when it sold 500,000 copies
Track listing
- "Unholy" (Vinnie Vincent, Gene Simmons) – 3:40
- Lead Vocals - Gene Simmons
- "Take It Off" (Paul Stanley, Bob Ezrin, Kane Roberts) – 4:50
- Lead Vocals - Paul Stanley
- "Tough Love" (Bruce Kulick, Stanley, Ezrin) – 3:44
- Lead Vocals - Paul Stanley
- "Spit" (Stanley, Simmons, Scott Van Zen) – 3:32
- Lead Vocals - Gene Simmons & Paul Stanley
- "God Gave Rock 'n' Roll to You II" (Stanley, Simmons, Ezrin, Russ Ballard) – 5:18
- Lead Vocals - Paul Stanley & Gene Simmons
- "Domino" (Simmons) – 4:01
- Lead Vocals - Gene Simmons
- "Heart of Chrome" (Vincent, Stanley, Ezrin) – 4:02
- Lead Vocals - Paul Stanley
- "Thou Shalt Not" (Simmons, Jesse Damon) – 3:59
- Lead Vocals - Gene Simmons
- "Every Time I Look at You" (Stanley, Ezrin) – 4:38
- Lead Vocals - Paul Stanley
- "Paralyzed" (Simmons, Ezrin) – 4:14
- Lead Vocals - Gene Simmons
- "I Just Wanna" (Vincent, Stanley) – 4:07
- Lead Vocals - Paul Stanley
- "Carr Jam 1981" (Eric Carr) – 2:46
- Instrumental
Personnel
- Gene Simmons - bass guitar, lead vocals
- Paul Stanley - rhythm guitar, lead vocals
- Bruce Kulick - lead guitar
- Eric Singer - drums, backing vocals
with
- Eric Carr - backing vocals on "God Gave Rock 'n' Roll to You II", drums on "Carr Jam 1981"
- Kevin Valentine - drums on "Take It Off"
- Dick Wagner - lead guitar on "Every Time I Look at You"
Charts
Album - Billboard (North America)
Year | Chart | Position |
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1992 | The Billboard 200 | 6 |
Singles - Billboard (North America)
Year | Single | Chart | Position |
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1992 | "Domino" | Mainstream Rock Tracks | 26 |
1992 | "I Just Wanna" | Mainstream Rock Tracks | 34 |
External links
- Album Official Website
- The Kiss FAQ - Revenge