Love Gun (Remastered)

iTunes Review

1977’s Love Gun captures the band at its zenith, smack in between the two massively successful volumes of Alive!. By this time Kiss was not only a band but a brand name, and Love Gun helped widen its audience by incorporating elements of pop into the band’s signature strain of wild hard rock. Celebrated producer Eddie Kramer gives the band what might be the tightest, strongest sound of its career. “Christine Sixteen,” “Got Love For Sale,” and “Tommorow and Tonight” are essentially power pop songs that can sit comfortably next to Cheap Trick, who were just rising to prominence at the time. That doesn’t mean the album doesn’t also deliver on the things that Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley do best. “I Stole Your Love” and “Love Gun” are signature Stanley — sharp swings punctuated by his dramatic wail and Peter Criss’s gunfire snare rolls. “Plaster Caster,” an uproariously lewd tribute to the legendary groupie who collected plaster molds of rock star appendages is one of the all-time great Simmons songs. “Shock Me” is an Ace Frehley original and fan favorite that refers to the guitarist’s near-death electrocution at a concert in late 1976. A closing rendition of the Ronettes’ “Then He Kissed Me” shows that at heart Kiss will always be fans of old-time rock ’n’ roll.