SOUNDTRACK: KISS-Lick It Up (1983).
Kiss takes off their makeup! And they look…like normal guys with lots of hair (How has Paul’s hair stayed so spectacular for so long?).
Lick It Up was a transformative album for Kiss, in which they suddenly gained new respect and new fans. And yet somehow, that impressive amazing tongue really looks kind of dumb without all the makeup on, sorry Gene. They also added (officially) Vinnie Vincent to the band (see he’s right there on the cover!). I tend to hate the song “Lick It Up” with a real passion. In part because it was overplayed and in part because it’s terrible. Vinnie Vincent was supposed to be this amazing guitarist and that’s what he came up with? Blah. Maybe he felt hampered by Kiss and that’s why he made the wank-fest that was Vinnie Vincent Invasion.
As a result I tend to overlook this album, but “Exciter” is a great, rocking track. It’s fast and heavy and is really propulsive. “Not for the Innocent” is one Gene’s great songs—heavy and dark with a cool chorus (Much better than some of his recent affairs). “Young and Wasted” starts out kind of tripping over itself but man the chorus is great.
“Give Me More” is a straight out fast rocker. The song never stops and there’s a great old-school Kiss Chorus too. “All Hell’s Breaking Loose” also has an old school sound—a kind of “Hotter Than Hell” feel. And of course, who doesn’t love when Paul rambles nonsensically, “Hey man, I am cool, I am the breeze.” “A Million to One” is kind of a generic Kiss song—not bad (certainly not as bad as some of their songs) but nothing terribly exciting.
“Fits Like a Glove” is one of Gene’s dirty songs, it has a good bridge/chorus structure. Kiss may have set a record for the most similes when it comes to sex. “Dance All Over Your Face” is pretty silly, probably the worst song on the disc. The lyrics are, well, Gene, and it even has a break where it’s just drums (a terrible way to force a song to be an anthem). At least the album ends on a high note with “And on the 8th Day.” True it’s yet another attempt for the band to have an anthem about rock, and it starts out a little anemic, but this is what they do best, and even a middling Kiss anthem is a good one. Somehow I think about Eric Carr singing along to this and it makes the song seem better.
Whereas Creatures of the Night was overlooked by most people, Lick It Up is overlooked by me. It needs a higher ranking in my Kiss lists.
[READ: July 30, 2012] “Permission to Enter”
I’m very happy to see a new Zadie Smith story in The New Yorker. I know she left her gig at Harper’s to work more on writing. And here’s some of the fruits. It’s funny to me that this one is done in a series of numbered sections–a strange microtrend that I have been experiencing lately. It’s strange for Zadie because I find that her transitions and narrative structure are always very strong, so to eschew that for these little chapter breaks is surprising. Of course, if she spelled everything out it would have been much longer and–given the content, potentially less effective.
So this is the story of Keisha Blake and Leah Hanwell. When they first met they were four years old. They were “swimming” in a shallow trough in a park in Hampstead when (and no one saw it happen) Keisha rescued Leah from drowning. Leah’s mother was so grateful that she invited Keisha over and Keisha and Leah became best friends (even though there are so may differences between their families and they clearly would have never been friends otherwise, really under any circumstances).
And so each titled section reveals something new about their young friendship. For example, “6. Some Answers” gives just the answers to a series of questions which economically show the difference and similarities between these two girls). The girls grow up together. They grow apart a little as friends will. While Leah and her other friends liked Sonic Youth, Keisha (and no other friends) liked Monie Love. But they stayed close friends anyhow (never really questioning why they were friends–a wonderful detail). (more…)
I Just Read About That... 