Maps of Music

Psycho Circus (1998)

Where the lyrics of Psycho Circus take you, and where it was really made.

Kiss sold this as the first album with all four original members since 1979, yet two of those four barely played on it.

Key places

Recorded at One on One Recording Studios (1998)

Recording site One on One Recording Studios — The album was mostly recorded at Los Angeles's A&M Studios and One on One Recording Studios. The performances were first recorded on analogue equipment and then digitized for mixing and overdubs. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recorded at A&M Studios, Los Angeles (1998)

Recording site The Music Grinder (Hollywood) — The album was mostly recorded at A&M Studios in Los Angeles, alongside One on One Recording Studios. This point uses the city-level location, so the exact building is not marked. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Psycho Circus: eighteenth studio album by American rock band Kiss
• Released 22 September 1998 by Mercury Records, the band's final album on that label
• First and only album involving all four original members since Dynasty (1979)
• Touted as a band effort, but recorded largely with session players and Kiss associates
• Peter Criss played drums only on 'Into the Void', an Ace Frehley-penned track
• Frehley played on only two regular tracks: his own song and 'You Wanted the Best'
• Frehley also played on the bonus track 'In Your Face', penned by Gene Simmons
• All four members sang lead vocals on the album

Background

• Marketed as the first new studio album by the original lineup since Dynasty, after the highly successful 1996–97 reunion tour
• Criss drummed on only one of the eleven songs
• As with Dynasty and Unmasked, many songs were recorded by uncredited players
• Bruce Fairbairn was brought in to produce; he wanted to avoid gimmicks and trends such as guest appearances
• Fairbairn aimed to stay true to what Kiss does best, the qualities people remember the band for

Recording

• Mostly recorded at A&M Studios and One on One Recording Studios in Los Angeles
• Performances first recorded on analogue equipment, then digitized for mixing and overdubs
• Mixed by Mick Guzauski at his New York studio
• Mastered by Fairbairn and George Marino at Sterling Sound, New York
• Frehley's 'Into the Void' nearly missed the album; Fairbairn doubted it could be finished in time, and the last verse was still being written as recording began
• Frehley remixed the track himself to make it rawer, with guitars and drums higher in the mix
• 'Within' was first written for Carnival of Souls: The Final Sessions and keeps the backwards guitar intro from a demo by former member Bruce Kulick

Cover

• Some pressings had a lenticular cover alternating between a black Kiss logo and the album title with clown and band pictures
• The Japanese first pressing had a pop-up cover with foam spring-loaded clown and band panels

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Kiss was formed in New York City in 1973 by Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Ace Frehley and Peter Criss.
• The band traces its roots to Wicked Lester, a New York rock band led by Simmons and Stanley.
• Their first performance took place on January 30, 1973, at the Popcorn Club (later Coventry) in Queens.
• Casablanca Records signed the band on November 1, 1973, as the label's first act.

Members

• The four original members were Stanley (Starchild), Simmons (Demon), Frehley (Spaceman) and Criss (Catman).
• Eric Carr replaced Criss in 1980; Vinnie Vincent, Mark St. John and Bruce Kulick later held lead guitar.
• Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer formed the final lineup.

Career

• Kiss became one of America's most successful rock bands in the late 1970s, with a 1977 Gallup poll naming them the most popular band in America.
• The band unmasked in 1983 and reunited the original lineup for the 1996 reunion tour.
• The band announced its retirement after its final show at Madison Square Garden on December 2, 2023.
• Kiss was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on April 10, 2014.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200, selling 110,000 copies in its first week
• Contemporary critical reactions were mixed
• Rolling Stone reviewer praised it as far more respectable than the awkward flops of the no-makeup years, with platform-stomping rhythms and sing-along choruses
• Rolling Stone Album Guide gave the album its lowest rating for the band
• Entertainment Weekly's Matt Diehl wrote that it sounded as if recorded two decades earlier, and that Kiss remains the Barnum & Bailey of hard-rock dinosaurs
• The Daily Telegraph's Clark Collis called it well up to the band's usual standards of corny hoopla, singling out 'I Pledge Allegiance to the State of Rock & Roll'
• Metal Rules said it sounds so much like old Kiss that the release date could seem to be 1979, and called the title track the best arena-rock anthem since 'Love Gun'

Reappraisal

• AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine called the music sleazy, big, dumb pop-metal, and said the band no longer sound young, hungry, or sleazy
• Canadian journalist Martin Popoff called it a sick, sick joke with a couple of songs that sound fine live and about half an hour of miserable filler

Records

• Billboard 200: No. 3, 110,000 copies in first week
• RIAA gold certification on 22 October 1998
• 1998 Metal Edge Readers' Choice Awards: Album of the Year
• Same awards: title track won Song of the Year and Best Video Clip

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Criss wrote that Paul Stanley was so determined not to work with him and Frehley that each was paid $850,000 not to take part in the recording
• Frehley's 'Into the Void' was first titled 'Shakin' Sharp Shooter'; Simmons and Stanley disliked the lyrics and title, so Frehley rewrote the lyrics in 30 minutes
• Frehley's co-writer Karl Cochran said the basic song structure changed almost nothing from the demos
• A month after release, Alice Cooper's publisher filed a plagiarism suit, which was settled out of court in Cooper's favor
• 'You Wanted the Best' is the only Kiss song in which lead vocals are shared by the entire lineup
• Simmons claims the Psycho Circus concept was originally created as a Kiss tour theme, not as an album idea

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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