KISS - The Elder - 1981

I've had this project finished for some time but other projects kept insisting they go up first. The project I had planned for this week needs a little more time so finally here is The Elder the heavy version.

In 1981 KISS released their follow up to Unmasked. The first album to feature new drummer Eric Carr and produced by Bob Ezrin, KISS promised to deliver their heaviest album to date. On some levels they succeeded in spite of a couple of soft songs.

Some fans also noticed that some songs seemed to be connected with each other with a loose common thread plot wise leading to some speculation of a hidden concept album below the surface. Still not one of their more popular records, at least the boys were rocking again. It would take the departure of Ace Frehley and the entrance of Vinnie Vincent on the next album to bring the band fully back into the hard rock/heavy metal sound they were known for before the 80s.

Side One
01 The Oath
02 I'm A Legend Tonight
03 Mr Blackwell
04 A World Without Heroes
05 Escape/Partners In Crime

Side Two
01 Nowhere To Run
02 Dark Light
03 Only You
04 Down On Your Knees
05 I

Reality Notes

This is the final album in my KISS series. As much as I would like to be able to fix Dynasty and Unmasked we just don't have the material to do so. We could maybe combine the best of the two but then we'll end up with an album with more Ace songs than Gene and Paul songs and we still have to keep Peter happy. I'll look into it.

The Elder is the most contentious album in the KISS catalog. Recorded at a time when they were trying to change their teen idol ways the band had been promising in the press to record their heaviest album yet. To accomplish this the band hired producer Bob Ezrin. Ezrin had produced their iconic Destroyer album and the hope was that lightning would strike twice. Ezrin had other ideas.

Fresh off of his success with Pink Floyd's The Wall Bob Ezrin somehow managed to talk the band into dropping the metal album and instead record a concept album. While Ace felt they should keep to the original plan Gene and Paul sided with Ezrin. Gene sketched out the story line and recording began at Ace's home studio. When recording moved to a bigger facility Ace stayed home. And poor Eric Carr. His first album with the band and this is what they give him to do.

When the label was finally allowed to hear the finished album they were less than thrilled with the results. Records execs insisted the the track order be changed to put emphasis on the more commercial songs. Unfortunately this confused the story line which confused the fans and most likely contributed to this album being the only album in the KISS catalog not to achieve gold record status. Recent remasters have restored the original track order.

Before Ezrin's involvement and the rise of the concept album idea several songs were written that were intended for the heavy album. These songs were released soon after The Elder appearing on the European only best of compilation Killers. I've used these four songs to flesh out the album after removing anything that didn't rock. While that is not enough songs to truly fix the album completely to my liking it is certainly improved to the point of making the album enjoyable (still not a fan of World Without Heroes but it works better in this context).

Editing was limited to volume matching and a few nips and tucks. I did join Escape from the Island with Partners in Crime to create a single track by means of a hard edit that removes the last power chord from Escape and the first sliding intro note on Partners. I did this for two reasons. One, Escape is an instrumental track but it's an Ace track so I did not want to lose it but it seemed weird on its own. Two, KISS albums were typically ten songs each. By combining the two the track count was reduced by one giving us ten tracks, five songs each side.

This is a transitional album for the band. After Ace's departure they would go on to record Creatures of the Night, hiring Vinnie Vincent and removing the makeup. The return to a heavier sound and the taking off of the iconic makeup gave the band enough momentum to see themselves through the MTV years, the death of Eric Carr and into the new millennium with the reunion of the original lineup and the return of the makeup.

The background of the cover is a screenshot of the Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary (Oblivion) from the Elder Scrolls video game. The archive also includes seven more covers for you to choose from. These include the original official cover, one alternate cover from a vinyl release and five more made by me. Take your pick.

Sources
Music from The Elder (1997 remaster)
Killers