''Psycho Circus'' is the eighteenth studio album by American 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, ...
and the first to involve all four original members since 1979's ''
Dynasty
A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family,''Oxford English Dictionary'', "dynasty, ''n''." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1897. usually in the context of a monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A ...
.'' While touted as a band effort,
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 ...
only played drums on the
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 ...
-penned track, "Into the Void", and guitarist Frehley only played on two regular album tracks, the one he wrote plus "You Wanted the Best". He also played on a bonus track called "In Your Face", penned by Simmons. All four band members, however, sang lead vocals on the album.
Background
Following the highly successful
1996–97 reunion tour, ''Psycho Circus'' was marketed as the first new studio album by the band's original lineup since 1979's ''
Dynasty
A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family,''Oxford English Dictionary'', "dynasty, ''n''." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1897. usually in the context of a monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A ...
'' (as
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 ...
did not participate on the 1980s ''
Unmasked'', although Criss' drum work is limited to only one of the nine songs on ''Psycho Circus''). As with ''Dynasty'' and ''Unmasked'', however, many of the songs were recorded by uncredited players.
Composition and recording
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 ...
and Criss' contribution was used sparingly in the production of the album, with Criss playing drums only on "Into the Void". Criss stated in his book ''Makeup to Breakup: My Life in and Out of Kiss'' that
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 ...
was so determined not to work with him and Frehley in the studio that they were paid $850,000 each not to participate in the recording. Stanley and Simmons have claimed various, and often conflicting, reasons for their not playing much on the album from their not being capable, not showing up, to their wanting new financial deals, and to its being the producer's choice to not use them. In 2011, in Frehley's book ''
No Regrets'', he says that he wrote a lot of songs for the album, one of those songs being titled "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Rock 'n' Roll". He mentions that the title and song were deemed very similar to the song "I Pledge Allegiance to the State of Rock 'n' Roll".
Frehley would record the song under the title "Pursuit of Rock and Roll" for his 2018 solo album ''
Spaceman''.
Frehley's "Into the Void" was co-written with Karl Cochran and originally titled "Shakin' Sharp Shooter", but
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 ...
and Stanley were unhappy with the lyrics and title. Frehley then went up to a separate room and rewrote the lyrics to his song in 30 minutes.
Despite Simmons claiming he and Stanley needed to provide substantial help arranging the song, co-writer Karl Cochran has said, "as far as the basic song structure, almost nothing was changed from what Ace and I wrote. I have the original demos that were cut in Ace's studio, and basically, it's the same song. Ace just changed the title of the song after the demo was done, which Gene had mentioned to him".
Even with the changes the song very nearly didn't happen for the album with producer
Bruce Fairbairn
Bruce Earl Fairbairn (December 30, 1949 – May 17, 1999) was a Canadian record producer. He was active as a producer from 1976 to 1999, and is considered one of the best of his era. His most successful productions are ''Slippery When Wet'' an ...
being unsure that Frehley could get the song fixed in time to record it the next day. He was still finishing the final verse in the studio as the recording commenced. Once recorded, Frehley was unhappy with the mix and insisted on remixing the track himself to make the song more raw, with the guitars and drums higher in the mix.
The song "Within" was originally written and demoed for Kiss's previous album ''
Carnival of Souls: The Final Sessions'' and contains the original backwards guitar intro from the demo by previous Kiss member
Bruce Kulick
Bruce Howard Kulick (born December 12, 1953) is an American guitarist and since 2000 a member of the rock band Grand Funk Railroad. Previously, Kulick was a long-time member of the band Kiss (19841996). He was also a member of Union with John Cor ...
.
Bruce Fairbairn was brought in to produce the album, and stated that he wanted to stay away from
gimmick
A gimmick is a novel device or idea designed primarily to attract attention or increase appeal, often with little intrinsic value. When applied to retail marketing, it is a unique or quirky feature designed to make a product or service "stand ou ...
s and trends such as guest appearances, just "tried to stay true to what Kiss does best and people remember them for." The album was mostly recorded at Los Angeles's
A&M Studios
The Jim Henson Company Lot, formerly A&M Studios, is a studio property located just south of the southeast corner of North La Brea Avenue and Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. Originally established by film star Charlie Chaplin, the property serve ...
and
One on One Recording Studios, with the performances being first recorded with
analogue equipment, and then digitized for mixing and overdubs. Afterwards, it was mixed by
Mick Guzauski
Nathan "Mick" Guzauski is an American multi-platinum mixing engineer and sound engineer.
His work spans a wide range of styles, including jazz, R&B, Latin, rock, pop, easy listening, funk and hip hop. He won a 2002 Latin Grammy for Thalía's ...
in his New York studio, and mastered by Fairbarn and Kiss' longtime partner
George Marino
George Marino (April 15, 1947 – June 4, 2012) was an American mastering engineer known for working on albums by rock bands starting in the late 1960s.
Biography
Marino was born on April 15, 1947, in the New York City borough The Bronx. He at ...
at Sterling Sound, New York. Fairbairn complimented the band for being collaborative, declaring that "it had the potential to be a nightmare because they're all disparate and strong characters, musically and as people."
In a radio interview with
Eddie Trunk
Edward Scott Trunk (born August 8, 1964) is an American music historian, radio personality, talk show host, and author, best known as the host of several hard rock- and heavy metal-themed radio and television shows.
Biography
Trunk was born on ...
following his departure, Criss stated that only "Into the Void" featured instrumental contributions from all four members. Regarding the lack of cohesion in the group at the time of recording, Stanley stated, "We tried to do a Kiss album, and it was an ill-fated attempt because there was no real band," and continued by adding, "For a band to make a great album, it has to share a common purpose...and we didn't have it." In 2014, Stanley changed stories yet again, claiming that Criss and Frehley were trying to renegotiate deals and get to compose more songs when he and Simmons thought that "Why would they be equal partners? The band had existed
or many years without them" Although the subsequent
Kiss Farewell Tour
The Farewell Tour was a concert tour performed by the American rock band Kiss. It started on March 11, 2000 and concluded on April 13, 2001. It was the last tour to feature original member Ace Frehley.
Background
It was intended to be Kiss' la ...
was meant to "put Kiss out of its misery", Stanley eventually decided to continue playing because "I don't want ''Psycho Circus'' to be our last album. It's not a good memory."
"
You Wanted the Best" is the only Kiss song in which lead vocals are shared by the entire lineup.
Release
Some pressings featured a
lenticular cover that alternates between a black Kiss logo and the album title with pictures of a clown and the band members, while the Japan initial first pressing featured a pop-up cover which had three foam spring-loaded panels of a clown face and two others with band members faces that popped out when the doors were opened.
It is sometimes assumed that ''Psycho Circus'' is based on the comic-book series ''
Kiss: Psycho Circus'', which debuted the year before the album was released; however, while it is true that the album had not been conceived at the time the comic book was first published, Simmons claims that the ''Psycho Circus'' concept was originally created as a Kiss tour theme.
Reception
''Psycho Circus'' debuted at No. 3 on the
''Billboard'' 200, selling 110,000 copies in its first week of release, and was certified
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 ...
by the
RIAA
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
on October 22, 1998.
Contemporary critical reactions were mixed. ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' reviewer wrote that ''Psycho Circus'' is "an album of platform-stomping rhythms, roller-coaster guitar riffs and sing-along choruses — is far more respectable than any of the awkward flops from the no-makeup years."
[ '']The Rolling Stone Album Guide
''The Rolling Stone Album Guide'', previously known as ''The Rolling Stone Record Guide'', is a book that contains professional music reviews written and edited by staff members from ''Rolling Stone'' magazine. Its first edition was published in 1 ...
'' was less positive, giving the album their lowest rating. Matt Diehl, in his review for ''Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
'' stated that "this is rock with a capital R, captured in all its cheesy glory... This new effort proves that in the circus of hard-rock dinosaurs, Kiss remains its Barnum & Bailey."[ "Well up to the band's usual standards of corny hoopla," wrote Clark Collis in '']The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally.
It was fo ...
''. "Typical of the beast is 'I Pledge Allegiance to the State of Rock & Roll' — three and a half minutes of hilariously bombastic pomp-rock that simply crushes thoughts of all post-glam musical developments beneath a silver-painted stack-heel boot." Metal Rules
''Metal Rules'', also known as Metal-Rules, is a heavy metal webzine created by EvilG established in 1995. Based in the province of Newfoundland, Canada, the site was founded with the goal to promote "Real Metal". It is one of the world's larg ...
reviewer wrote that "''Psycho Circus'' sounds so much like the KISS of old that you’d almost think the release date was 1979" and the song "'Psycho Circus' is the best arena-rock anthem KISS have put their names to since "Love Gun".
Modern reviews are less positive. 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 ...
Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance writer, occ ...
called the album's music "sleazy, big, dumb pop-metal", played by a band which "no longer sound young, hungry, or sleazy -- they sound like professional dirty old men." Canadian journalist 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 ...
defined ''Psycho Circus'' "a sick, sick joke", containing "a couple of songs that will sound OK live... with about half hour of miserable filler".
Accolades
The album was voted Album of the Year in the 1998 ''Metal Edge
''Metal Edge'' was a magazine covering heavy metal music published by Zenbu Media. The magazine was founded in the summer of 1985, during the height of glam metal's success. Zenbu Media acquired ''Metal Edge'' in February 2007.
Both ''Metal Edge ...
'' Readers' Choice Awards, while the title track won Song of the Year and Best Video Clip.
Plagiarism
The song "Dreamin'" bears some resemblance to Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier, February 4, 1948) is an American rock singer whose career spans over five decades. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusions, including pyrotechnics, guillot ...
's 1970 hit "I'm Eighteen
"I'm Eighteen" is a song by rock band Alice Cooper, first released as a single in November 1970 backed with "Is It My Body". It was the band's first top-forty success—peaking at number 21—and convinced Warner Bros. that Alice Cooper had the c ...
". A month after the release of ''Psycho Circus'', Cooper's publisher filed a plagiarism suit, which was settled out of court in Cooper's favor.
The hip hop duo Insane Clown Posse
Insane Clown Posse, often abbreviated as ICP, is an American hip hop duo. Formed in Detroit in 1989 as a gangsta rap group, ICP's best known lineup consists of rappers Violent J (Joseph Bruce) and Shaggy 2 Dope (originally 2 Dope; Joseph Utsler ...
took issue with the album, feeling it copied their style. The American rapper Violent J
Joseph Frank Bruce (born April 28, 1972), known by his stage name Violent J, is an American rapper, record producer, professional wrestler, and part of the hip hop duo Insane Clown Posse. He is a co-founder of the record label ''Psychopathic R ...
referenced this in their song "Everybody Rize" by rapping 'Fuck Gene Simmons you make me sick, psycho circus you stole my shit, spit your blood and do your dance but ill beat that ass through your leather pants.'
Track listings
Personnel
;Kiss
*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 ...
– 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 ...
, 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 track 3, acoustic guitar
An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...
on tracks 5 and 8, bass on tracks 3 and 8
*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 ...
– vocals, bass, rhythm guitar on track 5
*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 ...
– vocals and 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 ...
on tracks 4, 6, and 11
*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 ...
– vocals on tracks 6 and 8, 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 ...
on track 4
;Additional musicians
*Kevin Valentine
Kevin Valentine is an American rock drummer who is best known for being a member of Donnie Iris and the Cruisers. Valentine played drums on all of the band's early albums during the 1980s.
Valentine has recorded as a member of Breathless, The ...
– drums, except track 4
*Tommy Thayer
Thomas Cunningham Thayer (born November 7, 1960) is an American musician and songwriter. He is the lead guitarist and vocalist for the American hard rock band Kiss. He was also lead guitarist for the band Black 'n Blue.
Early life
Thomas Cun ...
– lead guitar, bass on track 5
*Bruce Kulick
Bruce Howard Kulick (born December 12, 1953) is an American guitarist and since 2000 a member of the rock band Grand Funk Railroad. Previously, Kulick was a long-time member of the band Kiss (19841996). He was also a member of Union with John Cor ...
– lead guitar on track 2, bass and backing vocals on tracks 1 and 9, rhythm guitar on track 9
*Shelly Berg
Shelton "Shelly" Glen Berg (born August 18, 1955) is an American classical and jazz pianist and music educator. He is the dean of the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida and the school's Patricia L. Frost P ...
– acoustic piano
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...
, orchestration and conductor on tracks 8 and 10
*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' ...
– Fender Rhodes
The Rhodes piano (also known as the Fender Rhodes piano) is an electric piano invented by Harold Rhodes, which became popular in the 1970s. Like a conventional piano, the Rhodes generates sound with keys and hammers, but instead of strings, th ...
on track 8
;Production
*Bruce Fairbairn
Bruce Earl Fairbairn (December 30, 1949 – May 17, 1999) was a Canadian record producer. He was active as a producer from 1976 to 1999, and is considered one of the best of his era. His most successful productions are ''Slippery When Wet'' an ...
– producer
*Mike Plotnikoff – engineer
*Jason Mauva – second engineer
*Quentin Dunn, Scott Camarota – assistant engineers
*Mick Guzauski
Nathan "Mick" Guzauski is an American multi-platinum mixing engineer and sound engineer.
His work spans a wide range of styles, including jazz, R&B, Latin, rock, pop, easy listening, funk and hip hop. He won a 2002 Latin Grammy for Thalía's ...
– mixing
*George Marino
George Marino (April 15, 1947 – June 4, 2012) was an American mastering engineer known for working on albums by rock bands starting in the late 1960s.
Biography
Marino was born on April 15, 1947, in the New York City borough The Bronx. He at ...
– mastering at Sterling Sound
George Marino (April 15, 1947 – June 4, 2012) was an American mastering engineer known for working on albums by rock bands starting in the late 1960s.
Biography
Marino was born on April 15, 1947, in the New York City borough The Bronx. He at ...
, New York
Charts
Album
Singles
Certifications
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
1998 albums
Kiss (band) albums
Albums involved in plagiarism controversies
Albums produced by Bruce Fairbairn
Albums recorded at A&M Studios
Mercury Records albums