Today in 1974 legendary rock and rollers Kiss released their first album, Kiss. A lot of the material featured on the record was written by the bands founding members Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley when they were in their pre-Kiss endeavor Wicked Lester.
Kiss was recorded at Bell Sound Studios in New York City, taking anywhere from 13 days (stated by co-producer Richie Wise) to 3 weeks (stated by Gene Simmons). Shortly after they started the tour to support the album, the band made one of their most notable television appearances on ABC’s In Concert which was followed by a performance of “Firehouse” on The Mike Douglas Show. It was during the interview portion of the show that Simmons had declared what he was- stating that he was an “evil incarnate”.
If you look at the album cover, you can clearly notice that Peter Criss’ makeup is significantly different than what he usually wore- this was due to him having a professional makeup artist apply his makeup, while all the other members did their own. And to top it off, guitarist Ace Frehley took some silver spray paint to his hair for the photo shoot as well.
The album did not commercially do well, only selling 75,000 copies after its release. However, in mid-June of 1977 the album was certified gold.
Kiss may be the bands first album, however it contains some of the current lineup’s concert staples, such as “Cold Gin” and “Black Diamond”. The track listing is as follows:
- “Strutter”
- “Nothin’ To Lose”
- “Firehouse”
- “Cold Gin”
- “Let Me Know”
- “Kissin’ Time”
- “Deuce”
- “Love Theme from Kiss”
- “100,000 Years”
- “Black Diamond”
This album was only the beginning for what was soon to be the hottest band in the world, and to this day remains a favorite album among the Kiss Army.