''Rock and Roll Over'' is the fifth studio album by 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, ...

, released in 1976. It was recorded at the Star Theatre in Nanuet, New York.

Album information

To get the proper drum sound,

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 (band), Kiss. Criss establi ...

recorded his tracks in a bathroom, communicating via video-link with the rest of the band. Three of

Gene Simmons Gene Simmons (born Chaim Witz; he, חיים ויץ, ; born August 25, 1949) is an Israeli-American musician. Also known by his stage persona The Demon, he is the bassist and co-lead singer of Kiss, the hard rock band he co-founded with Paul ...

' songs are clear re-workings of demos from the 1975 Magna Graphics Studios demo: "Ladies Room" is based on "Don't Want Your Romance"; "Love'Em and Leave'Em" is based on "Rock and Rolls-Royce" and "Calling Dr. Love" is a re-working of "Bad, Bad Lovin'" Criss sings "Baby Driver" – a rewrite of a Peter Criss/Stan Penridge demo from Criss's pre-Kiss band Lips – and "

Hard Luck Woman "Hard Luck Woman" is a song by American hard rock band Kiss and the lead single from their 1976 album, ''Rock and Roll Over''. It was originally written by Paul Stanley as a possible track for Rod Stewart, but after the success of the soft rock ...

," a song

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 popular ...

originally planned to pitch to

Rod Stewart Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British rock and pop singer and songwriter. Born and raised in London, he is of Scottish and English ancestry. With his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the best-selling ...

, but Simmons insisted Criss sing it. "Hard Luck Woman" did not equal the success of "

Beth Beth may refer to: Letter and number *Bet (letter), or beth, the second letter of the Semitic abjads (writing systems) *Hebrew word for "house", often used in the name of synagogues and schools (e.g. Beth Israel) Name *Beth (given name) lists p ...

", but became another top 20 single. "

Calling Dr. Love "Calling Dr. Love" is a song by United States, American hard rock band Kiss (band), Kiss, originally released on their 1976 album ''Rock and Roll Over''. A live version of the song was included on ''Alive II'', released in 1977. Since then, "Ca ...

" became a concert staple. This is the first Kiss album to not feature a writing credit from Ace Frehley. The cover artwork is by artist Michael Doret, who worked with Kiss again on 2009's '' Sonic Boom''. Inside the sleeve, there were a sticker of the cover art and a glossy photo press release pamphlet. The live album ''Kings Among Scotland'', by

Anthrax Anthrax is an infection caused by the bacterium ''Bacillus anthracis''. It can occur in four forms: skin, lungs, intestinal, and injection. Symptom onset occurs between one day and more than two months after the infection is contracted. The sk ...

, pays homage to the artwork.

Release

''Rock and Roll Over'' was released by Casablanca Records on November 11, 1976. and peaked at No. 11 on the ''Billboard'' 200.

Reception

In a contemporary review of the album,

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

wrote that Kiss "write tough, catchy songs, and if they had a sly, Jagger-style singer they'd be a menace", but are diminished by appearing as a "caricature" of themselves. Modern reviews are mixed. Greg Prato of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

was largely praising of ''Rock and Roll Over'' for the band's "return to the raw hard rock of their first four albums", proclaiming it "one of Kiss' most consistent records". Pitchfork reviewer made a comparison with ''

Destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

'' and found it "sonically punchier, if not just a bit lacking in complete vitality". In his ''Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal'',

Martin Popoff Martin Popoff (born April 28, 1963) is a Canadian music journalist, critic and author. He is mainly known for writing about the genre of heavy metal music. The senior editor and co-founder of ''Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles'', he has additionally ...

called ''Rock and Roll Over'' "the most childish Kiss album" and "a disappointment after the amusing ambitions, diversions and excurtions of ''Destroyer''", lamenting the "return to the wee dumb hard rock cartoons of the early albums".

Track listing

All credits adapted from the original release.

Personnel

;Kiss *

–

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guitar ...

, first

guitar solo A guitar solo is a melodic passage, instrumental section, or entire piece of music, pre-written (or improvised) to be played on a classical guitar, electric guitar or an acoustic guitar. In 20th and 21st century traditional music and popular m ...

on "I Want You" *

– vocals,

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

; rhythm guitar on "Ladies Room" *

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

, vocals * Ace Frehley –

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...

;Production * Eddie Kramer –

producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

, mixing at the

Record Plant The Record Plant is a recording studio established in New York City in 1968 and currently operating in Los Angeles, California. Known for innovations in the recording artists' workspace, it has produced highly influential albums, including Blon ...

, New York City *Corky Stasiak – engineer

Charts

Album

Singles

Certifications

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rock And Roll Over Kiss (band) albums 1976 albums Albums produced by Eddie Kramer Casablanca Records albums