by Title: Odyssey – The Definitive Examination of Music From The Elder
Publisher: KissFAQ.com
Year Published: 2016
Author/s: Tim McPhate & Julian Gill
“We were convinced that we were making our Sgt. Pepper” – Gene Simmons, Bassist, KISS
WHEN you think of Bob Ezrin, the music producer, you tend of think of Pink Floyd’s The Wall, Alice Cooper’s School’s Out and Billion Dollar Babies, KISS’ Destroyer and, of course, success.
You tend to think that whatever the Canadian keyboard player and songwriter turns his hand too also turns to gold. So, around 37 years ago when concept albums were cool projects top bands could (almost) afford to try out, it made sense for KISS to reunite with Bob and make a new album. The idea of KISS working with Bob again excited many.
It was 1981 and KISS were somewhere between disco and rock with DYNASTY (1979) and Unmasked (1980) and were gaining more airplay in Europe and Australia on the back of those two albums. But they also had alienated many fans with the change in musical direction while behind the scenes the band was in a chaotic mess.
Ace Frehley was at the bottom of a bottle and Peter Criss had left KISS, making way for the bombastic skin-beating talents of the diminutive Eric Carr (RIP). Gene Simmons admitted years later they did not know where KISS was going. After calling on Ezrin, who had read a short story comic-loving Simmons had written, it was decided to make a concept album, which would be backed with a feature-length movie (which was never made).
The record stores and distributors needed something new from KISS – something that would rock. Instead, they, and the fans, got The Elder. A commercial disaster combining operatic sounds, orchestras, choirs and odd instruments wrapped in a sleeve that did not feature the band’s famous faces for the first time.
“When the album came out we were embarrassed” – Gene Simmons
Music From The Elder tells the tale of a boy/hero who is brought before the Council of Elders, a mythical secret society dedicated to combating evil.
Guided by the caretaker Morpheus, the boy sets out on a personal odyssey to find his destiny as the chosen one. Along the way, he encounters evil in the form of the album’s antagonist, the nasty Mr. Blackwell.
Odyssey, brought to lovers of all things KISS by KissFAQ Publishing, shines a light on everything you need or want to know about this somewhat bizarre KISS creation.
It captures interviews compiled over a number of years, from the studio to the distribution line and everything in-between – there’s even and interview with the guy who made the door prop for the album cover. There’s an interview with Ezrin too.
Published in late 2016, there are over 500 pages of content focussing on the band and the making of this most polarizing of KISS albums. It is the band’s marmite moment.
I love the album. I love Paul Stanley’s voice on it. I love Eric’s drumming – which would become even more appreciated on Creatures of the Night and the KISS albums that followed before his untimely death in 1991 following a battle with cancer.
The Elder has become a cult-classic for KISS fans. It is only in recent years that Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons have begun to talk about it – and they now play songs from it on the annual KISS KRUISE.
It’s an album shrouded in mystery – which only leaves KISS fans wanting more. We are an odd bunch.
Which is why Odyssey – The Definitive Examination of Music From The Elder, is a must-read for all KISS fans. It’s a long read but in short, it’s the only book that will offer the most comprehensive insight into an album that still creates debate almost 40 years on.
Released in November 1981, Music From The Elder peaked at #75 on the Billboard 200 in early 1982. The album’s lead single, “A World Without Heroes”, reached #56 on the Billboard Hot 100.
It’s available on Amazon. Click It Up.
Footnote: Ezrin returned to work with KISS for the brilliantly heavy-sounding Revenge album.
