"Flaming Youth" is a song by the American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

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, ...

. The song is featured on their

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 ...

album '' Destroyer'', and was the first Kiss single to feature a picture sleeve. The single reached number 74 in the U.S. and 73 in Canada. Although the full album version only ran 2:55 (2:59 on CD remasters), the song was still edited to 2:39 with an earlier fade.

Overview

The song was written by

Ace Frehley Paul Daniel "Ace" Frehley (; born April 27, 1951) is an American musician, best known as the original lead guitarist and co-founding member of the hard rock band Kiss. He invented the persona of The Spaceman (a.k.a. Space Ace) and played wit ...

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 ...

, Gene Simmons 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 ...

. Ezrin took pieces of music written by the other three and organized them into one song. For example, one of the main riffs on "Flaming Youth" was from a song that Simmons wrote called "Mad Dog", which appeared on Kiss' 2001 release, '' The Box Set''. This is not to be confused with a 1929 Duke Ellington song. The song's instrumentation features a

calliope In Greek mythology, Calliope ( ; grc, Καλλιόπη, Kalliópē, beautiful-voiced) is the Muse who presides over eloquence and epic poetry; so called from the ecstatic harmony of her voice. Hesiod and Ovid called her the "Chief of all Muse ...

, the use of which was inspired by producer Bob Ezrin. '' Cash Box'' said that "the instruments really scream, particularly the guitars" and that "there's a lot of energy here." In the United States, this was the first Kiss 45rpm 7 inch single to be produced with the tan "Casbah" label. However, it can be found from Canada and Japan with the dark blue "smoking man" label. ''KISS - The Casablanca Singles 1974-1982'' box set included the "Flaming Youth" 45rpm 7 inch single from the United States, however, it was pressed onto the dark blue "smoking man" label. The re-recorded/remastered version of the song from ''Destroyer- Resurrected'' (2012) was also used in the making of the record instead of the original 1976 version.

Personnel

- lead vocals/rhythm guitar *

- lead guitar * Gene Simmons - bass guitar/backing vocals *

Peter Criss George Peter John Criscuola (born December 20, 1945), better known by his stage name Peter Criss, is a retired American musician, best known as a co-founder, original drummer, and vocalist of the hard rock band Kiss. Criss established The Ca ...

- drums *

Dick Wagner Richard Allen Wagner (December 14, 1942 – July 30, 2014) was an American rock guitarist, songwriter and author best known for his work with Alice Cooper, Lou Reed, and Kiss. He also fronted his own Michigan-based bands, the Frost and the Bo ...

- guitar solo *

Chart performance

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Flaming Youth (Song) Kiss (band) songs 1976 singles Songs written by Paul Stanley Songs written by Gene Simmons Songs written by Ace Frehley Songs written by Bob Ezrin Casablanca Records singles Song recordings produced by Bob Ezrin