This week's entry is definitely not an unknown band or one that's been relegated to the memories of a few diehard 80's metal fans. They're recent Rock N Roll Hall of Fame inductees and one of the most successful bands of all time. Their 80's output though is unfairly overshadowed by what came before and since.
Kiss began the 80's still riding high from the top 10 success of "I Was Made For Loving You", but the majority of their fanbase wasn't impressed by their sudden turn to disco. Peter Criss' departure didn't help their sagging fortunes. Their first release of the decade was the extremely poppy 'Unmasked', an album that did well in Europe and especially Australia, but was practically ignored at home, leading the band to not even tour the US in support of it.
They followed it up by releasing the universally panned concept album 'The Elder', still the lowest selling record of the band's career. The millions of fans that bought everything they did just 3 years earlier had all but disappeared. 'The Elder' was hated by critics and failed to chart in the US, and there was no tour for it at all.
In 1982 the band had decided to return to their hard rock roots and released the heaviest and some consider the best record of their career, 'Creatures Of The Night". Despite being the album fans had been waiting for, sales were dismal and the tour played to less than half full arenas.
By 1983 something had to be done and they went with the "nuclear option" - removing their trademark makeup. It was a stroke of genius. 'Lick It Up' became their first platinum album in 4 years and returned the band to sold out arenas.
The follow up 'Animalize' was even bigger. Unfortunately at this point the band basically became a Paul Stanley solo project. Gene Simmons had moved to L.A. to pursue acting, was producing multiple other bands and starting a record label. While early records had seen a 50/50 split between Paul and Gene songs, the next few albums would see Paul take 80% of the songwriting and vocals, and more often that not session musicians were brought in to record bass.
The band released 3 more albums before the close of the decade, each selling less and less. Instead of setting trends like they had in the 70's, Kiss began chasing after the fashions of the time. Professional songwriter Desmond Child was brought in after his success working with Bon Jovi and producer Ron Nevison, known for his extensive use of keyboards, was recruited in an effort to fit in with late 80's hair metal.
Since their triumphant reunion tour of 1996 Kiss has tried to bury almost everything that happened between 1979 and 1995. Although nothing recorded during this period (with the exception of "Creatures..") can compare to their 70's classics, ignoring an entire decade of platinum selling music is a shame. Maybe it wasn't their greatest success musically or commercially, but there were still some damn fine tunes that would sit well in any current Kiss setlist.