Song: "Flaming Youth"
Artist: Kiss
Album: "Destroyer"
Year: 1976
Place Of Origin: New York City, New York
Years Active: 1973 - present
WHAT I THINK THE SONG IS ABOUT:
"Flaming Youth" appears to be an anthem for the youth. An uprising song for the underdog and for those who others look at as losers. It could be considered the anthem for the Kiss Army. Young kids who are looked at as different and chastised because of it. Here is a place we're they can feel strength and togetherness. Here's a place where they fit in.
KISS DISCOGRAPHY (Full length albums only):
1974 - Kiss (Casablanca Records)
1974 - Hotter Than Hell (Casablanca Records)
1975 - Dressed To Kill (Casablanca Records)
1975 - Alive! (Casablanca Records)
1976 - Destroyer (Casablanca Records)
1976 - Rock And Roll Over (Casablanca Records)
1977 - Love Gun (Casablanca Records)
1977 - Alive II (Casablanca Records)
1978 - Gene Simmons (Casablanca Records)
1978 - Ace Frehley (Casablanca Records)
1978 - Peter Criss (Casablanca Records)
1978 - Paul Stanley (Casablanca Records)
1979 - Dynasty (Casablanca Records)
1980 - Unmasked (Casablanca Records)
1981 - Music From The Elder (Casablanca Records)
1982 - Creatures Of The Night (Casablanca Records)
1983 - Lick It Up (Mercury Records)
1984 - Animalize (Mercury Records)
1985 - Asylum (Mercury Records)
1987 - Crazy Nights (Mercury Records)
1989 - Hot In The Shade (Mercury Records)
1992 - Revenge (Mercury Records)
1993 - Alive III (Mercury Records)
1996 - Kiss Unplugged (Mercury Records)
1997 - Carnival Of Souls (Mercury Records)
1998 - Psycho Circus (Mercury Records)
2003 - Kiss Symphony: Alive IV (Sanctuary Records)
2006 - Alive! The Millennium Concert (Universal Records)
2009 - Sonic Boom (Kiss Records)
2012 - Monster (Universal Records)
2016 - Kiss Rocks Vegas (Eagle Rocks Entertainment)
CURRENT STATUS OF KISS:
From the ashes of a band called Wicked Lester, bassist Gene Simmons and guitarist Paul Stanley set out to form the band that they wished they had seen. Enlisting drummer Peter Criss and lead guitarist Ace Frehley, the band was set to explode, quite literally, on the music scene. Influenced by the theatrics of Alice Cooper and the New York Dolls and by the sounds of Led Zeppelin and The Who, Kiss set out to be a band that would blow your eardrums out and fascinate you visually. Being that they formed in 1973, there's a lot of history. You can kind of break down the band in four eras.
The first, 1973 to 1982. This was the make-up era. You know the characters, Paul (Starchild), Gene (Demon), Ace (Spaceman) and Peter (Cat). In the early years, Kiss didn't get any radio play but their live show was creating serious buzz. You look back now and their first 3 albums (Kiss-1974, Hotter Than Hell-1974 and Dressed To Kiss-1975) are littered with hits and concert anthems but it wasn't until the band released the double live album "Alive!" in 1975, that they started to achieve some success. In 1976, the band enlisted famed producer Bob Ezrin to help them produce the ultimate Kiss album. A feat which I think was accomplished with the release of "Destroyer". This is the first Kiss album I owned and it holds a special place. The band released some more classic albums, "Rock and Roll Over", "Love Gun" and "Alive II" by 1977. This was the heyday for the band and in my mind, Kiss at their very best. The armor was beginning to crack however. They delivered solo albums in 1978 as well as filming a flop of a movie, "Kiss Meets The Phantom Of The Park". Then in 1979, came out with a disco influenced album "Dynasty", followed by a pop album in 1980, "Unmasked", then followed up with a concept album for a movie that was never made, 1981's "The Elder". What the hell happened to my hard rock, kick ass band??!! Peter Criss was fired from the band following the release of "Unmasked" and while the band regrouped in 1982 to release a return to roots type of album with "Creatures Of The Night", it wasn't enough to keep Ace Frehley in the band as he also departed, barely playing anything on the "Creatures Of The Night" album.
Second era. This is the non make-up years, 1983 to 1995. This was a tough era for the band. They were struggling trying to find themselves as a band without their bigger than life personas. It was much easier for Paul than it was for Gene in this era because the Demon character was such a big part of who he was as a performer. Eric Carr, who became the new drummer in 1980, brought a more heavy rock and roll feel to the kit than Peter, who was schooled in jazz but made up for that with pure aggression when he was at his best. Eric would succumb to cancer in 1991 and was replaced by Eric Singer, who played on 1992's "Revenge". The band went through guitarists Vinnie Vincent and Mark St. John before finally settling on Bruce Kulick to hold down the leads. One thing I hated about this era is that Kiss became followers instead of leaders. It seemed whatever hair metal act came out, Kiss would follow that. Look and sound like Motley Crue on one album, like Ratt on the next. Like Stryper or Poison on the next. Bon Jovi on the next. Guns n Roses and even Alice In Chains!! This is not to say that they didn't have some good songs. "Lick It Up", "Tears Are Fallen", "Crazy Crazy Nights", "Unholy", "Who Wants To Be Lonely" and "I Just Wanna" are all cool songs. It seemed like 1992's "Revenge" was a point where their look and sound finally felt comfortable. But, by then the grunge era was exploding and though Kiss tried to go with that style ("Carnival Of Souls"), it really just wasn't who they were.
Third era. Reunion! In 1995, Kiss was set to perform on MTV's Unplugged series and as a special treat, invited Peter Criss and Ace Frehley to come out and play a few songs. This would be the impetus of getting a full on, original four reunion. In full make-up and costumes of the 1977 "Love Gun" era, Kiss announced that they were embarking on a world wide reunion tour in 1996 and 1997. This would be one of the most successful tours for the band. The were the top drawing act of 1996. Though the tour was successful, and Kiss was on top of the world again, old scars began to surface again. Addiction issues that plagued Ace Frehley in the 70's began raring their ugly head again and Peter's attitude was volatile from one day to the next. Paul and Gene shouldered some of the blame as well as a lot of their business decisions could be considered shady at best. In 1998, the band put out a new album, "Psycho Circus". Problem was that Ace and Peter barely played on it and were not really asked to. Ace recorded his song in his own studio and Peter provided vocals to a song that Paul wrote. Hardly a band effort, again increasing tensions within the band. They did tour to promote the album. In 2000 and 2001, Kiss embarked on a supposed farewell tour. By now, the members were barely talking to each other and just riding out the string. Ace would play his final show with Kiss at the closing ceremonies of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City while Peter's last gig would be the Symphony concert in Australia in 2003.
Fourth era. The Farewell Tour was really just a farewell to Peter and Ace. Gene and Paul had no intention of stopping Kiss. In a controversial move amongst some fans, Eric Singer would don the Cat make-up and Tommy Thayer would wear the Space Ace make-up. Some people call them half a cover band while others supported the move. One thing for sure is that the band was much more reliable. This era also saw the band release two more studio albums, 2009's "Sonic Boom" and 2012's "Monster". Both of these albums were considered full band efforts unlike "Psycho Circus" which had ghost players up the ying yang! The band continues to tour around the world and perform to sell out crowds with shows that still show that even in thier 60's, they can still have bombastic shows with tons of energy. The only sad thing is that Paul's voice, which was once so strong, is a shell of it's former self. It seems that the years of straining his vocal chords are starting to take it's toll.
Kiss is such a lightning rod of a band. You either love them or hate them it seems. They've sold over 75 million albums world wide so they must be doing something right. To me, there is the real band and that is the original line-up from 1974 to 1977. That's classic Kiss. That's what 90% of their live shows consist of even today. Of course, that era started to breed what would become the commodity Kiss. Was merchandise overtaking the importance of the music? Maybe. But, I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for Kiss. They were the first band I ever loved. I'm talking when I was like 3 or 4 years old! There's so many bands I like more than them now, but I will always revisit some of those classic Kiss records and remember old memories from when I was a kid. Shout out to the REAL space man!! Ace was always the coolest member!!
TEN KISS SONGS YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT:
1. Deuce
2. Detroit Rock City
3. Parasite
4. Love Gun
5. Black Diamond
6. I Stole Your Love
7. It's My Life
8. Mr. Speed
9. Makin' Love
10. King Of The Night Time World
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