"Parasite" is a song by American

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

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 1974 on their second studio album, '' Hotter Than Hell''. The song is one of three songs featured on the album written by

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 ...

ist

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 ...

. As one of the album's heaviest songs, "Parasite" was performed on the following tour, but Kiss dropped it from the setlist for the

Destroyer Tour The Destroyer Tour also known as The Spirit of '76 Tour was a concert tour by Kiss, in support of their fourth studio album '' Destroyer''. History The August 20 Anaheim, California show was the most famous show of the tour, the band played to ...

and did not play it again until the

Revenge Tour The Revenge Tour was a concert tour by Kiss (band), Kiss in support of the band's studio album ''Revenge (Kiss album), Revenge''. Background It was the first tour with drummer Eric Singer, replacing Eric Carr who died of cancer on November 24, 199 ...

in 1992. As Frehley was insecure about his singing ability, he passed that duty to

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 ...

. In 2016, Frehley re-recorded the track with

John 5 John 5 is the fifth chapter of the Gospel of John of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It relates Jesus' healing and teaching in Jerusalem, and begins to evidence the hostility shown him by the Jewish authorities.Plummer, A. (1902)Cambri ...

for Frehley's solo album ''

Origins Vol. 1 ''Origins Vol. 1'' is the fifth studio album by American guitarist Ace Frehley, released on April 13, 2016 in Japan and April 15 in the United States. It is a covers album which features guest appearances from Slash, Lita Ford, John 5, Mike M ...

''.

Details

Discussing the style of "Parasite", and other cuts from ''Hotter than Hell'', Eduardo Rivadavia of ''

Loudwire ''Loudwire'' is an American online media magazine that covers news of hard rock and heavy metal artists. It is owned by media and entertainment business Townsquare Media. Since its launch in August of 2011, ''Loudwire'' has secured exclusive ...

'' opined that the song displayed "blue-collar, dare we say

proto-punk Proto-punk (or protopunk) is rock music played mostly by garage bands from the 1960s to mid-1970s that foreshadowed the punk rock movement. The phrase is a retrospective label; the musicians involved were generally not originally associated wit ...

, greatness".

Appearances

"Parasite" appears on the following Kiss albums: *'' Hotter Than Hell'' - studio version *''

Gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

'' - studio version *'' Kiss Chronicles: 3 Classic Albums'' - studio version *''

Kiss Alive! 1975–2000 ''Kiss Alive! 1975–2000'' is a collection of live recordings from American hard rock band Kiss, released by Universal Music on November 21, 2006. This box set marks the debut appearance of Kiss' Millennium Concert performance, recorded on Dec ...

'' - Alive! version *''

Ikons ''Kiss Ikons'' is a four- CD box set featuring material recorded by the original members of the American hard rock band Kiss. It was released in 2008 by Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and refe ...

'' - studio version *''

Kiss Alive 35 ''Kiss Alive 35'' is a series of 2 CD live albums, each containing a recording of the complete set from a European show on the KISS Alive/35 World Tour from 2008. The second set of recordings from the North American leg of this tour was release ...

'' - live version

Cover versions

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 ...

's version first appeared as the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

of their 1988 single "

Antisocial Antisocial may refer to: Sociology, psychiatry and psychology *Anti-social behaviour *Antisocial personality disorder *Psychopathy *Conduct disorder Law *Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 *Anti-Social Behaviour Order *Crime and Disorder Act 1998 * ...

". It was re-released on the 1991 compilation ''

Attack of the Killer B's ''Attack of the Killer B's'' is a compilation album of B-sides, covers and rarities by the thrash metal band Anthrax and the band's last audio album released before vocalist John Bush replaced longtime Anthrax vocalist Joey Belladonna in 1992. T ...

'' and 1994 live album '' Live: The Island Years''. *

Sebastian Bach Sebastian Philip Bierk (born April 3, 1968), known professionally as Sebastian Bach, is a Canadian-American singer who achieved mainstream success as the frontman of the hard rock band Skid Row from 1987 to 1996. He has acted on Broadway and ha ...

's live video '' Forever Wild'' contained a cover of the song. * Ace Frehley recorded an updated version for his 2016 covers album, ''

Origins, Vol. 1 ''Origins Vol. 1'' is the fifth studio album by American guitarist Ace Frehley, released on April 13, 2016 in Japan and April 15 in the United States. It is a covers album which features guest appearances from Slash, Lita Ford, John 5, Mike M ...

''. *

Amphetamine Reptile Amphetamine Reptile Records (or AmRep Industries) is a record label founded in 1986 by Tom Hazelmyer in Washington state. The label specializes in noise rock and also released '' Strap It On'', the debut album by alternative metal band Helmet w ...

recording artists Mog Stunt Team cover the song on their 1997 album ''King of the Retards''.

Personnel

–

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

–

, bass,

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 ...

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 ...

–

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 ...

, 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 (band), Kiss. Criss establi ...

–

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 ...

References

{{Kiss 1974 songs Kiss (band) songs Anthrax (American band) songs Songs written by Ace Frehley