RE-REVIEW: KISS – Rock and Roll Over (1976)

The KISS RE-REVIEW SERIES Part 8:  

scan_20170302kiss-logo – Rock and Roll Over (1976 Casablanca, 1997 Mercury remastered edition)

Kiss were at a crossroads.  What to do next?  Destroyer, produced by maestro Bob Ezrin, introduced a new Kiss to the world:  glossy, indulgent, polished and augmented with plenty of highbrow non-rock instruments.  Would they explore that road and see where it lead?  If they had, an entire alternate KISStory would exist today.  Instead they chose to get back to basics.

Producer Eddie Kramer, who made Kiss Alive! so unforgettably thunderous, was called up again.  Kramer and Kiss departed for the Star Theater in Nanuet, New York to record.  The idea this time, as opposed to Destroyer, was to go for a live Kiss sound, but on a studio album.  The theater setting was intended to help capture that.  Peter Criss’ drums were recorded in a bathroom for the perfect ambience.  Rock and Roll Over followed Destroyer by a mere seven months, maintaining Kiss’ record of two albums per year.  As promised, it was a return to the core Kiss sound:  loud guitars and hard rock.  They had learned a trick or two from the Destroyer experience.  Rock and Roll Over was tighter and sharper than the first three Kiss albums.

The acoustic intro to Paul’s “I Want You” lulls you into a false sense of calm.  Then it completely explodes with one of Paul’s most passionate tunes.  In three minutes, Kiss laid waste once again.  A second Paul scorcher, “Take Me” was written with Kiss road manager and coach Sean Delaney.  The words are simple and c-c-c-catchy: “Go baby, you make me feel ah, ah, ah, ah yeah!  Oh, baby, you make me feel ah, ah, ah, ah yeah!”  Elsewhere, Paul asks “Put your hand in my pocket, grab on to my rocket,” just so there is no confusion.

Gene Simmons’ “Calling Dr. Love” (based off a demo called “Bad Bad Lovin”) was a single and a perennial concert classic.  You either like Gene or you don’t.  “Calling Dr. Love” won’t change any minds, but it will satisfy those who can’t enough of the sex-crazed demon.  It does boast a fiery Ace Frehley guitar solo, one of his most memorable.  Gene’s second track “Ladies Room” is just rock and roll, a lesser-known Kiss classic, but catchy as sin.  The LP’s first side was closed with a Peter Criss song, co-written with his Chelsea bandmate Stan Penridge.  “Baby Driver” is not listed among Kiss’ best tracks, but there isn’t much wrong with it.  It’s basic, it slams, and Peter screams his throat out.  Not a standout but worth a spin or two.

Gene’s “Love ‘Em and Leave ‘Em” is the lovely kind of sentiment that many Kiss songs were built on.  This ode to groupies and hotel sex was not the first and not the last, but it had a memorable bop and catchy chorus.  “Mr. Speed” (Stanley/Delaney) is a standout with the kind of rock and roll guitar riff that Paul specializes in.  This killer track could and perhaps should have been a timeless concert classic, probably ahead of other tracks.  (It was also used on the soundtrack to Keanu Reeves’ 1994 action movie Speed.)  Simmons’ “See You In Your Dreams” was less timeless and memorable, so later on Gene took a shot at re-recording it.  The Rock and Roll Over version makes for the kind of song that is good for filling the spaces between better songs.

Speaking of better songs, Paul’s “Hard Luck Woman” is undeniably one of his best.  The lush acoustic six and twelve string guitars ring pure and clean.  Paul wanted to give the song to Rod Stewart to sing, as it has a light “Maggie May” aura.  Wiser minds prevailed and the song was kept for Kiss, and given to Peter Criss to sing as a followup to “Beth”.  Peter of course nailed it and “Hard Luck Woman” reigns as one of the best tracks Peter was given to sing, if not the best.  It might not have been as big as “Beth” but that means little; it is the far superior song.

Closing the record, Paul Stanley’s “Makin’ Love” ends Rock and Roll Over on the same kind of fast and furious riffing that it began with.  “I Want You” and “Makin’ Love” are bookends, starting and finishing Rock and Roll Over with hard guitars and good times.  Sean Delaney co-wrote “Makin’ Love” and his contributions to KISStory have too often been swept under the carpet.  Delaney had three co-writes on Rock and Roll Over.  Peter Criss had one, and Ace Frehley didn’t have any at all.

Rock and Roll Over gave Kiss another platinum album to hang on the wall.  Their success, and their sound, had solidified.  There was nowhere to go but up.

Today’s rating:  4.5/5 stars

Uncle Meat’s rating:  5/5 steaks 

Meat’s slice:   This time let’s start with the negative, as small and nitpicky as that is in the case of this album.  I’m not a big fan of “See You in Your Dreams”.  Not awful, but just kinda bland in comparison to the rest.  “Baby Driver” could also be lumped in with that for the same reason. 

The other thing I could say about this album is that since Kiss were the “Kings of the Night Time World” at this point, this is where the lyrics started to get their most misogynistic or what have you.  Songs like “Ladies Room” and “Love ‘Em and Leave ‘Em” are tunes I really like, however I can see that these were the gateway drug to some of the ridiculous lyrics in Kiss songs in the 80s and 90s. 

I love everything else about this album.  Rock and Roll Over was my favorite Kiss studio album as a kid, and it’s just a shade under Dressed to Kill now on my Kiss albums list. This seems to make sense now, since both albums were created in similar fashion:  Kiss under the gun and needing to write and record an album fast.   Good Rock and Roll instincts there.

My favorite ever Kiss ballad is on this record too.  “Hard Luck Woman” is an extremely catchy song, and could be my favorite song on the album.  I recall that somewhere around 2002, I was very drunk in a bar and ended up singing “Hard Luck Woman” on karaoke, and probably had not heard the song in many many years.  I sang the first 2/3rds, however well a pissed me could muster.  The end of the song surprised me and I had no idea what to sing and left in the middle of the track.  Not long after a girl came up to me and said, “I have never heard anybody sing that Garth Brooks song on karaoke before”.  She seemed so taken aback at my insistence that “Hard Luck Woman” was a Kiss song.  Maybe it was because I started freaking out on this poor girl.  “Hard Luck Woman” indeed.


Reproduction of the karaoke performance

Favorite Tracks: “Hard Luck Woman”, “I Want You”, “Makin Love”, “Calling Dr. Love”, “Mr. Speed”

Forgettabe Tracks:  I’m done nitpicking on this one.

 

To be continued…

scan_20170302-4

Original mikeladano.com review:  2012/07/09

 

 

30 comments

  5. Yup excellent reviews from both Mike and Meat! Good job fellas…It’s no secret that on any given day this one is in my all time top Kiss 3 albums! Love the hazy dazy pace set forth by the music and your right Meat, Simmons/Stanley were singing about all things misogynistic !
    Great stuff fella’s!

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. Thanks man! As for Simmons and Stanley being dirty old men…we all know Christine Sixteen on the next album!

      This a good one to have in your top 3. I have a lot of 5/5 star Kiss albums. Rock and Roll Over was actually the last Kiss studio album I got for my collection, about grade 10. Then the solo albums were all I needed.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. For the Kiss studio albums from the 70s I always found this was kinda the one no one ever talks about!
        Great story…years ago when my brother was playing in his band in a bar one night when i was watching him he looked right at me and flipped his guitar showing the crowd the back of his start and on it was a huge decal of the Rock N Roll Over cover….than he proceeded to play ‘She’!
        Good boy ..i told him afterwords!

        Like

        Reply

    2. Thanks man. As per moving forward … I suspect you and others may not necessarily agree with my upcoming opinions as these albums move along . But … As Ricky’s old man would say ..
      That’s how she fuckin goes

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

      2. hahaha….well Meat i reviewed a Lot of KISS’ 80s output and some grew on me while others mmmmmm….not so much….still though I’m enjoying this series….
        and as Aaron would say..
        “GIVE ER!”

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

  7. Alternate Kisstory, nice!
    Reminds me of the Back to the Future 2 alternate timeline – with the tangent breaking off after the critical event of Biff stealing the almanac.
    Kiss’s timeline altering event? this record!

    Like

    Reply

  8. So, by the sounds of it (and the comments) I need to get a copy of this one. I was checking my Kissography and I only have Alive!, Destroyer and Love Gun. I like all o’ them, but need to get more.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  9. Immediately following the release of Destroyer, KISS fans were jumping off the band. KISS
    goes pop. So in a panic, KISS decided to go back in the studio. The problem was: their most
    successful album was a live album, produced by Eddie Kramer. So they hedged their bets.
    They rented out a theatre, and played ‘live’ with Kramer producing. Unfortunately, the trend
    of messing with Peter’s drum sound continued. They stuck Pete in a bathroom! And people
    wonder why he wasn’t a happy camper. “Hey Pete, thanks for ‘Beth’, as a reward, we’re
    putting you next to the toilet!” It’s just such a gimmicky move. This album is better than Destroyer, but like all post ALIVE albums, the songs are good, but the tempos are dragging.
    Every one of these songs sound better on ALIVE II. Ladies Room is almost painfully slow.
    On ALIVE II, it rocks. The big mystery is who kept the beat for Peter, since Bob wasn’t around.
    A funny thing happened on the way to R&R over. ‘Beth’ off the newly released Destroyer, was
    getting radio air play. And, it wound up winning the Peoples’ Choice Award. KISS was on tour
    and couldn’t make the ceremony. But, they attended a party for the nominees. Neil told them
    to wear their makeup and outfits to the party, to get some free publicity. It just so happened that
    a couple of network executives were there scouting musical talent for the upcoming Paul Lynde
    Halloween Special. Seeing KISS with makeup/costumes, it’s made to order for a Halloween
    show. When KISS went on that show, it was the first time they had a prime time national
    audience, mostly of little kids. After that show, the KISS phenomenon started. The dolls, the toys, the lunchboxes, all that came after the Halloween show. In fact, the only available KISS
    albums were Destroyer and ALIVE. The first three had sold so badly, they weren’t reprinted.
    So KISS put out, maybe the first ‘box set’ The Originals’. But, they were so expensive, they
    decided to reprint the first three records, with the new desert theme label. This was where
    ‘SuperKISS’ began. Just a few weeks after the Halloween show, R&R Over was released.
    It shipped gold. Back in the day, sales records were based on orders from distributors, to
    the Label. When Destroyer was released, it didn’t ship gold. Retailers weren’t expecting major
    record sales, despite the success of ALIVE. It eventually went gold, but it wasn’t expected.
    Rock and Roll Over shipped gold. The KISS trend was on.

    Like

    Reply

      1. Yes, I suppose I do. I wrote the main sentence first and added the bit about the singer later, erroneously, it turned out. I know which one is the fox though :)

        Like

        Reply

Rock a Reply