Track Listing

1. Strutter
2. Nothin' to Lose
3. Firehouse
4. Cold Gin
5. Let Me Know
6. Kissin' Time
7. Deuce
8. Love Theme from Kiss
9. 100,000 Years
10. Black Diamond

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #41249 in Music
• Brand: Casablanca
• Released on: 1997-07-15
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
• Dimensions: .31 pounds

Album Description
Japanese-only SHM-CD (Super High Material CD) paper sleeve pressing of this classic album from the Glam Hard Rockers, originally released in 1974. SHM-CDs can be played on any audio player and delivers unbelievably high-quality sound. You won't believe it's the same CD! Universal. 2008.

Amazon.com essential recording
Kiss's self-titled debut manages to simultaneously represent what rock & roll in the 1970s was all about, and stand up as a classic recording without sounding dated. That's a rare trick, even for Kiss (whose efforts after, oh, 1977 didn't do much more than tread water), and one that should be appreciated even as listening to the album brings back misty-eyed visions of high school. (It doesn't matter if you were in high school in the '70s, something about this album just screams late adolescence.) Kiss is, of course, crammed full of songs that would become concert favorites (most of this album appears on Alive!) and classics--who hasn't heard "Strutter" or "Deuce"? It's a slab of pure, unadulterated rock & roll. While this isn't especially thought-provoking stuff, it's arguable that rock ever should be. --Genevieve Williams

Customer Reviews

IT CHANGED MY LIFE
With this album i discovered that music was my passion.All of the album is a highlight (one of the best debuts in Metal History) and the remastered edition is an inmense improvement over the poor sounding original recording.
Already on the debut KISS had its own sound.A mix of heavy metal and groove, simple compositions but not simplistic sounding.Any band would want to write so memorable pieces with so little notes! The pairing of Simmons and Stanley as singers and main composers is the driving force on this, but you should not overlook the solid imput by Criss and Frehley.Kiss went on from here to higher commercial sucess but the power of this album was unmatched.
Highly recommended, essential album.

Anytime is KISSin' time, USA--and the world too.
KISS's 1974 debut is still the freshest, KISSest, and most potent. But why?

Is it because it includes such well known classics as "Strutter," "Deuce," "Cold Gin," and "Black Diamond"? Yes, that's part of it. "Strutter," "Kissin' Time," and "Black Diamond," the latter the only one sung solely by Peter Criss here--he does have a solo bit in "Kissin' Time"--are my faves.

Or still, was it when all four of them were a united team, with none of the friction that would tear the original foursome apart with the coming of Unmasked? Yes, that's also part of it.

On a special note to "Kissin' Time," this is more than just kissing a girl/guy--it's about celebrating KISS and their music. A surprising number, coming this early in their career, but after nearly 30 years in the business, and wherever they sold albums so did sold-out killer shows--it's still "Kissin' Time." From the opening lines, "Come on Detroit, wake up San Diego, Milwaukee, Miami, put your two lips together and kiss," to the chorus, "Anytime is kissin' time, USA. So treat me right, don't make me fight, I will rock and roll tonight." And party everyday. Oops, that's two more albums down the road.

"Black Diamond" gets a special rise out of me due to Peter Criss's potent vocals, the power chords coming after the "woooo, black diamond" line, Ace's fiery guitar solo after the last line is sung, and the powerful chords that gradually become psychedelically distorted and slowed down at the end.

For the makeup era, this outranks classics like Destroyer and Rock And Roll Over. In terms of KISS albums overall, it's still in my Top 5 KISS albums. And why not? After all, this is where it started--right here!

In the beginning...
The self titled debut from the hottest band in the land. The studio version of these songs are a little harder to listen to after hearing them on Alive. None the less, an outstanding start to an incredible career. The cover is interesting because Casablanca hired make-up artists to apply the band's face paint and that is why Peter looks a bit different.