Music from "The Elder"

Kiss was in the midst of a transitional phase as the 1980s began. Drummer Peter Criss was not involved in the recording of 1980's Unmasked and he officially left Kiss in May of the same year. His replacement Eric Carr was officially introduced in July. The group had recently embarked on a hugely successful tour of Australia and New Zealand - where the group's popularity was at its peak - in November, but the band's commercial fortunes at home were drastically reduced from the 1975–79 era. Due to the lackluster sales of Unmasked, Kiss toured exclusively outside the US for the first time in their career, except for one concert at the Palladium Theatre in New York City. The overseas tours were well attended, partly because Kiss had rarely ventured abroad and because the more pop-oriented Dynasty and Unmasked albums did better in the European markets than their earlier hard rock albums.[3][4]

This commercial downturn in the US is attributable to many factors; two of the biggest being the softening of Kiss' image in an effort to appeal to a broader fanbase and the softening of their music. Unmasked was a decidedly more pop-oriented effort than earlier albums, and represented a sales drop-off of 65% from 1979's Dynasty.[3] It also became the first Kiss album to fail to achieve platinum status since 1975's Dressed to Kill. The glut of Kiss merchandising that had cropped up in the late 1970s led to a backlash from many fans who felt that Kiss was more concerned with making money than with making good music.[4]

In an effort to return to their hard rock roots, Kiss began recording music more akin to the hard rock style that launched them to popularity in the mid-1970s. The fall 1980 issue of the Kiss Army Newsletter hinted at the style the new album was to take: "It will be hard and heavy from start to finish, straight-on rock and roll that will knock your socks off."[5] Early titles proposed for the album were "Disguise the Limit", "All American Guise", "Ear Openers", "In the Flesh", and "Higher Ground" according to a Casablanca Records memo.[6]

At the same time, Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, and creative manager Bill Aucoin felt that just returning to a harder sound was not enough. They believed that only a bold, artistic statement would regenerate public interest in Kiss. To that end, they enlisted producer Bob Ezrin to work with the group. Ezrin had worked with the group before, producing the group's hit 1976 album Destroyer. He had also co-produced Pink Floyd's 1979 concept album The Wall. Simmons, Stanley, and Aucoin felt that Ezrin could help bring their ambitions to fruition.[4] The band and the producer decided to develop a full concept album from a fantasy short story conceived by Simmons, imagining it as a soundtrack for a blockbuster movie.[7] According to Simmons, a movie deal was actually in the works and casting had begun, but the film ended up in development hell.[7]

Recording sessions for the album commenced in March 1981 at Ace Frehley's home recording studio in Wilton, Connecticut and went on at Ezrin's farmstead near Toronto, Canada.[7] During the recording, Ezrin and Kiss worked in complete secrecy and no one other than them ever heard the album in progress. Ezrin, in particular, had insisted that he would only communicate with Kiss or Aucoin.[4] Members from the American Symphony Orchestra and St. Robert's Choir arranged by Michael Kamen were employed to add an orchestral sound to the tracks.

Frehley did not accompany the band to the Canadian recording sessions and became increasingly frustrated, as he disagreed with the group's decision to abandon their original plan to record a straight rock album.[7] Additionally, a number of guitar solos he recorded were not included in the final cut.[8] Frehley resented what he felt was Simmons' and Stanley's domination of the recording sessions and was often outvoted 2–1 on band decisions after Criss' departure, as Carr was not a partner in Kiss as the other three members were, but rather an employee.[4][8] This was the last album to feature Frehley until their 1996 reunion Alive/Worldwide Tour, apart from appearing on the cover of the compilation album Killers and the next album Creatures of the Night and a handful of promotional appearances with the band until late 1982.[4][5]

The original vinyl release was a gatefold sleeve. This was the first Kiss album to feature no image of the group, not even the customary front-cover appearance. According to one story, the hand reaching for the door knocker is not that of Stanley: Aucoin has stated that it belongs to a hand model, hired for the shoot; however, in 2011 a photo surfaced from the album cover shoot showing a partially naked-faced Stanley with his hand on the door knocker.[13] The door itself was long rumored to be located at the Park Ave United Methodist Church on Park Avenue, New York City, but was actually a prop created for the shoot.[14] The photo session displayed a change of image: the costumes were more streamlined, especially when compared with the costumes for Unmasked, as were the hairstyles of Stanley and Simmons in particular.

The version of Music from "The Elder" released in the US, Europe and Brazil contained a different song order than the one originally intended. This order was chosen in order to emphasize "The Oath" and "A World Without Heroes" as potential singles, as the two songs started each side of the record. One effect of this alteration in song order was to disrupt the narrative flow of the album's story. "When the album came out we were embarrassed", said Simmons.[7]

The Japanese pressing of the album contained the intended song sequence, although "Escape from the Island" was excluded from the release and instead included as the B-side of "The Oath" single.[5] This sequence was used (with the inclusion of "Escape from the Island") when Music from "The Elder" was re-released on CD in 1997.[15] In a 2021 interview, band consultant Robert V. Conte discussed how the original sequence was restored. "When it came time to remaster The Elder, I contacted Gene asking for his thoughts about using that version for the CD," Conte recalls. "He was all for it but one track, 'Escape from the Island' was not on the imported version. Ay, caramba! We could not find any production notes in the PolyGram files about where it belonged on that particular sequence so, with The Demon's blessing, the track was added, the original sequence was restored, and the 1997 CD and cassette became the most complete versions of The Elder to date!"[16]

Although budgets were prepared for a tour, none was undertaken. The only public appearances the band made in conjunction with the album were a January 15, 1982, appearance on the late-night variety show Fridays, where they performed "A World Without Heroes", "I" and "The Oath", Solid Gold ("A World Without Heroes" and "I"), and a January 28 lip synched performance of "I" from Studio 54, broadcast via satellite to the Sanremo Festival in Italy. Frehley was absent for the Studio 54 appearance, so the group performed as a trio.[3]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Classic Rock	[2]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal	5/10[17]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[18]
Pitchfork	0.0/10[19]
Rolling Stone	[20]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[21]

When Kiss premiered Music from "The Elder" for their management and record company in October 1981, the reaction was a mixture of confusion and resentment. Business manager Howard Marks refused to allow his company's name to appear in the liner notes.[4] Fan reaction was equally harsh, while critical reaction was comparatively positive. "A surprisingly good attempt by Kiss to edge forward…" wrote Fred Dellar in Hi-Fi News & Record Review. "The mix of familiar HM riffs and well-honed harmony vocals sometimes throw up images of Queen. Which is not at all a bad thing."[22]

But while reviews like the one printed by Rolling Stone were kinder than past judgements,[20] the album disappeared from the US chart by February 1982. Q ranked Music From "The Elder" 44th in their list of The 50 Worst Albums Ever.[23] The same magazine ranked the album 6th in their list of 15 Albums Where Great Rock Acts Lost the Plot.[24]

Most participants in the album subsequently said that it was a major misstep.[7] Ezrin, despite his recent success with the even more ambitious The Wall, admitted that his judgments concerning Music from "The Elder" were clouded due in large part to a cocaine addiction at the time. Stanley and Simmons admit that they were "delusional" concerning the project, while Frehley stated that he felt that it was not a good idea to begin with.[8]

All credits adapted from the original releases.[30][31]

Kiss

• Paul Stanley – vocals, rhythm guitar, all guitars on "The Oath", guitar solo on "Just a Boy" and "A World Without Heroes"
• Gene Simmons – vocals, bass, rhythm guitar on "Only You"
• Ace Frehley – vocals, lead guitar, bass on "Under the Rose", "Dark Light" and "The Oath"
• Eric Carr – drums, percussion, acoustic guitar on "Under the Rose", backing vocals

Additional musicians

• Bob Ezrin – producer, keyboards, bass on "Escape from the Island", orchestral arrangements
• Allan Schwartzberg – drums on "Odyssey" and "I", additional overdub
• Tony Powers – keyboards on "Odyssey"
• The American Symphony Orchestra
• St. Robert's Choir
• Michael Kamen – orchestral arrangements

Production

• Brian Christian – associate producer, engineer
• Rick Hart, Robert Hrycyna, David Brown – engineers
• Rob Freeman, Corky Stasiak, Kevin Doyle – additional engineering
• Tom Laughlin – chief technician
• Ted Jensen – mastering engineer at Sterling Sound, New York

• Casablanca NBLP-7261 (November 16, 1981): LP
• Casablanca NBL5-7261 (November 16, 1981): US Cassette
• Casablanca NBL8-7261 (November 16, 1981): US 8-track
• PolyGram 824-153-2 (May 23, 1989): 1st US CD release
• Mercury 314 532 390-2 (October 7, 1997): Remastered CD

• Music from "The Elder" at Discogs (list of releases)