"A World Without Heroes" is a song by the American hard rock band

Kiss A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...

. It is credited as being written by Gene Simmons,

Paul Stanley Paul Stanley (born Stanley Bert Eisen; January 20, 1952) is an American musician who is the co-founder, frontman, rhythm guitarist and co-lead vocalist of the hard rock band Kiss. He is the writer or co-writer of many of the band's most popula ...

, Lou Reed and

Bob Ezrin Robert Alan Ezrin (born March 25, 1949) is a Canadian music producer and keyboardist, best known for his work with Lou Reed, Alice Cooper, Aerosmith, Kiss, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, Peter Gabriel, Andrea Bocelli and Phish. As of 2010, Ezrin's car ...

, and was originally recorded and released on their 1981 album ''

Music from "The Elder" ''Music from "The Elder"'' is the ninth studio album released by American rock band Kiss on the Casablanca Records label in 1981. The album marked a substantial departure from their previous output with the concept and orchestral elements. ''Mus ...

''.

Background

Originally titled "Every Little Bit of Your Heart", the lyrics were changed in order to fit the concept of the album, and Lou Reed contributed the line "A world without heroes, is like a world without sun" to the lyrics.Sharp, Ken. (July 19, 1996). "The Return of KISS - 'It's Time for Spectacle'". ''Goldmine'' #147. The song is a slow ballad which features Simmons on lead vocals and Stanley notably performing the guitar solo. It was released as the lone single from ''The Elder'' album and reached No. 56 in the

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and No. 55 in the UK. A video was made to help promote the single. It is the first to feature

Eric Carr Paul Charles Caravello (July 12, 1950 – November 24, 1991), better known professionally as Eric Carr, was an American musician who was the drummer for the rock band Kiss from 1980 to 1991. Caravello was selected as the new Kiss drummer after ...

, and was the first Kiss video to be played on MTV.Gooch, Curt and Jeff Suhs. ''KISS Alive Forever: The Complete Touring History''. Billboard Books, 2002. Despite the video and chart performance of the single, Kiss only played it live once during their appearance on the " Fridays" TV show and did not play the song live again until fan request at Kiss conventions in 1995 led them to performing an acoustic version on their ''

Kiss Unplugged ''Kiss Unplugged'' is a live album by the American rock band Kiss, released in 1996. It was recorded in studio for the television program ''MTV Unplugged'' and released as part of a series of live and video albums. It is the first Kiss live a ...

'' performance and subsequent album.

Chart performance

Cher's version

*In 1991 Cher recorded a version of this song for her album ''

Love Hurts "Love Hurts" is a song written and composed by the American songwriter Boudleaux Bryant. First recorded by the Everly Brothers in July 1960, the song is most well known from the 1974 international hit version by Scottish hard rock band Nazare ...

'' with Richard Marx on backing vocals.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:World Without Heroes, A Kiss (band) songs 1981 singles Cher songs 1980s ballads Music videos directed by Bruce Gowers Casablanca Records singles Songs written by Gene Simmons Songs written by Lou Reed Songs written by Bob Ezrin Songs written by Paul Stanley Song recordings produced by Bob Ezrin 1981 songs