Kiss - Psycho Circus
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CD Details
Artist: KissBrand: Mercury
Edition: Music CD
Format: Enhanced, Import
Published: 1998
CD Release Date: 2004-03-04
Music Label: Universal I.S.
Product features:
- KISS PSYCHO CIRCUS
- Psycho Circus
- Within
- I Pledge Allegiance To The State Of Rock & Roll
- Into The Void
- We Are One
- You Wanted The Best
- Raise Your Glasses
- I Finally Found My Way
- Dreamin'
- Journey Of 1,000 Years
- CD-ROM Data
Music reviews of Psycho Circus
Music Review: 4.5 stars for Kiss's "reunion" piece
Rating: 4 Stars
There are a lot of people who dislike Psycho Circus. Fine. I do get the dissent.
I get that it's not a "real" Kiss reunion through-and-through. It simply isn't...and it could and should have been more of one. No excuses. It was sold as something it merely pretends to be (for the most part) and so there's a definite despicable quality to it knowing that, if you never ever hear a single note.
However, and this really is a BIG however, how often do you remember an album for the integrity of it versus the quality? Truth be told I'm not looking forward to GNR's Chinese Democracy because I'm bitter it's just Axl Rose and a bunch of "other guys." But in the end it'll come down to one thing: how good is the music? Because the reunion doesn't mean anything if the songs suck. That's the big picture truth.
At the end of the day, I like the songs on Psycho Circus for a number of reasons I'll get into below. No, I don't buy that Peter "couldn't" have played on Within...or Ace couldn't have laid down a solo for Raise Your Glasses. That's lazy Gene and Paul simply side-stepping a problem by conveniently working around it. I think that's lame. But in the end, I'm left feeling good about the music and in the grand scheme of things, what lasts? Does anyone really care still that Ace didn't do the solo on Sweet Pain off Destroyer? Maybe Ace does. You either like the song or you don't. Or that Eric Carr played bass on I Still Love You instead of Gene? Does it really matter if the song is good? I don't care who played on Read My Body, it's a crappy song. Jesus could've done the lead work and I wouldn't care.
What I love about this record is how it works thematically. It really is Destroyer Part 2 in design, even though the execution is modern. You open with a "going to the show" vibe, which Detroit Rock City did and which Psycho Circus does. You have numerous songs on this record lament and reflect back on a career, mirrored with Destroyer's "we're rock stars on the rise...watch out!" flavor. You have album heavies in God Of Thunder and Within (both Gene tunes)....album anthems in Shout It Out Loud and Raise Your Glasses (both Paul songs)...and tender ballads in Beth and I Finally Found My Way (each Peter-sung). Do You Love Me reflects We Are One, both addressing fandom. Both albums are very heavily produced, thick and lush...layered with strings and in Destroyer's case, effects. They're both thematic and aural bookends to the same career....one looking forward and the other in the rearview.
You hear very FEW people talk about this...and the satisfaction of it. Maybe only I see it...or want to see it (LOL). Either way, beyond the songs, this perspective has a great sentimental quality to it that appeals to me.
Psycho Circus (A): Just a great song and a wonderful album opener. I think the circus "effects" are creepy and atmospheric. The song is heavy and simple with a great chorus...not nearly as full as Detroit Rock City but a solid opener with very much the same sentiment. Lyrically the song works...the appealing to the fan perspective.
Within (A-): Clearly a left-over from the Carnival Of Souls album, this song sort of stands out like a bastard in the sense of the sound of the guitars (real crunch here), but lyrically it's wonderful and has a great tie into the final song on the album. This was my first real indication Ace wasn't going to appear everywhere on the album, as it's a sound you'd never hear from Frehley...even if he tried. But nevertheless (and again, I side with song over Ace-less disdain) it's a fine song, well sung by Gene.
I Pledge Allegiance To The State Of Rock And Roll (B+): Very good rocking tune that has an 80s arena flavor to it. Another simple number with an effective melody and some great vocals by Paul.
Into The Void (A-): This song remains the ONLY song on the album featuring Peter on drums and one of only two to have Ace on guitar. In fact, according to engineer Mike Plotnikof, it's a song where they all played it pretty much live in the studio, so in truth, it's the only actual reunion song. Ace brought the music, Gene the lyrics, Paul added some accent guitars...and voila, an honest to God Kiss collaboration that feels like one. It's not as good as the most classic Ace but it's a fun song just the same and quite a signature piece to be sure.
We Are One (A): This is arguably the best song on the record and drums aside, it's a Gene solo effort (bass, guitars, all vocals). Still and all, it works...with Gene tapping into his less demon facets and striking mostly from his Beatles background. The jangling guitars are very contemporary and had Green Day done this song, it'd have been a number one single. Lyrically the song sincerely reflects back on Kiss fandom and the ability to be brought back from the edge of obscurity and into the lap of your old life. It's poppy and simple but marvelously effective, not to mention catchy as hell.
You Wanted The Best (C): If there's a weak link its this song, mainly due to its atrocious and barely-listenable chorus...sounding more like a choir of tone-deaf Eyeores than multiple Gene Simmonses. However the music is fine and the design is what saves it from the heap. Each member shares a line or two of each verse and that's quite effective and charming. The solo is the other Ace effort on the record (and a fine one at that) and the talky banter at the end is witty and clever. But the song is typical contrived Gene, shoe-horning a song around a catch phrase and making square pegs fit round holes.
Raise Your Glasses (B): Ok, it's uber cheesy. (So is using "uber"). BUT the song is a real guilty pleasure. I dare you to not be singing along by your second listen. You'll also wonder how this song isn't a regular at the end of championship sports broadcasts. One listen to the melody and "we are the champions"-like lyrics and you'll be able to see your favorite sports franchise hoisting its banner/trophy/medal over their respective heads and thrusting a "number 1" finger in the air. But still, for what it is and what it attempts to accomplish, it's hard to fault it. It's hardly genius, but its effectively exuberant.
I Finally Found My Way (B+): I don't find this song nearly as offensive or schmaltzy as some people do. I think it's very much in the same songwriting vein as the oft-overlooked Kiss tune from Revenge, Every Time I Look At You...and vocally Peter does a fine job. We even get some unique Paul background accents with Peter's voice in the chorus. (Yes, it was to cover up Peter's limitation but it works). The arrangements were done by Bob Ezrin, who co-wrote the song with Paul. I've heard far more vomit-inducing tunes than this, but then again I generally like a sincere ballad.
Dreamin' (A): Paul and Bruce Kulick were sued by Alice Cooper's publishing company for copying the melody to Eighteen, but I've never heard it. Beyond that, I don't much care. Revenge's I Just Wanna does an even more blatant take on Eddie Cochran's Summertime Blues and you never hear that mentioned. Anyhow, Dreamin' is a great song that to me sounds like it could've fit nicely on Creatures Of The Night. It's a wonderful verse vocal by Paul that segues into a full, rich chorus, accented by these note bends that really give an ominous atmosphere to the song. It's often dismissed as "80s type filler" but I really beg to differ. It's one of my favorites on the record and a great song in its own right.
Journey Of 1000 Years (A+): My favorite song on the album, at top 25 Kiss song of all time to me, and easily the most overlooked single Kiss song since God knows when. It's not destined for the stage...and it's hardly a rocker. It's studio created and intended. It's not a demonic Gene tune or a sexual Gene lyric. It's definitely Beatle-esque in every way that's admirable. The lyrics harken back to word play from Within, making for a marvelous thematic bookend to the record. And the music is this very orchestrated, percussive piece that has a strong dynamic and a definite "Day In The Life" feel to it.
Overall it's easy to dismiss this album. It doesn't feature the original members on most of the record. It doesn't sound like classic 70s Kiss. It's really set up to be a letdown. But I think that there's a lot of magical and fun moments within (har) these songs for the most part. No...it's not Destroyer in the most literal sense, nor would it or will it ever flirt with that album's historic importance...but it does act as a fine bookend to that album. I think it succeeds on many levels often ignored for the more glaring blights. And it's not that we shouldn't resent the band for their transgressions. We should. They bungled an opportunity to do something really special by doing something under-handed and deceitful. Problem with hating the album for me is that despite those things they still managed to make something "really special."
Approach this album differently and re-listen.
Description of Psycho Circus
Japanese-only release limited to one pressing only. Featuresan animated 3-D 'Psycho Circus' NTSC videotape with 3-D glasses for viewing, a one dimensional version of the 'Psycho Circus' video and a picture CD with 'We Are One', 'Psycho Circus' and 'In Your Face'. All of this comes packaged in a beautiful, full color die-cut 1.5" x 6" x 7.5" display box. 1999 release.Talk about the roar of the greasepaint: On this first studio effort together since Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley welcomed back once-exiled mates Peter Criss and Ace Frehley with open talons (was it really almost 20 years? How the pterodactyl flies), the unkillable beast called Kiss reels off a few potent additions to its undeniably, er, prodigious body of work. Still stubbornly plodding through the musical tar pits of their classic-rock youth--a little Beatles harmony here, a little Alice Cooper guitar noise there--the dressed-to-ill foursome makes the clock roll back (if not completely unwind) with the fist-waving "I Pledge Allegiance to the State of Rock & Roll" and the if-Green-Day-can-do-it-why-not-us acoustic surprise, "We Are One." Better even than the album is the in-booklet merchandise ad, which hawks Kisstory II in all its "440-page, 9-pound" glory, for a mere $158.95. Like they say: size does matter. --Billy Altman
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