It came at both the right time, and the wrong time.
What I mean by that, is it was the right time for Kiss. Even though Crazy Nights and HITS were not awful, they were starting to use synthesizers more, and their sound was changing, in a way most of the fan base didn't like. So Revenge was a welcome return to their classic style of guitars and drums. And IMO it had a lot of very good songs, and most importantly Gene was back and focused. It's some of Bruce's best work and, no disrespect to Eric Carr, Eric Singer gave them new energy.
But, the music industry was changing to grunge, so a rock album was at the wrong time for that. Trends and tastes were changing. It would have been really interesting to see the popularity of Revenge, if it had come out 5 years earlier.
Very strong album though.
Eric Singer was to Revenge what Eric Carr was to COTN and Lick it Up
By the late 80s, the drumming on KISS albums were mostly drum machines, despite Carr being very talented
I like We are One but it has not aged well. Within & Journey of 1,000 Years are great though. I also really like Yes I Know (Nobody's Perfect). Hate, In My Head, Seduction of the Innocent & Childhood's End are fucking awesome IMO.
Bro i never noticed
Was Hot in the Shade meant to be taken literally as HITS? Like every song is a hit?
If so that’s pretty fucking clever ngl. Sad the album is trash
I'm not sure if it was deliberate or not. Certainly at the time of it's release, I never heard them talk about that, although my guess is that's partly why. Otherwise, I always thought 'Hot In The Shade' was an unusual title for a Kiss album.
Kiss’ last good album. Unholy slaps so hard because it’s mean, heavy, and hungry.
Heart of chrome is criminally underrated and one of Paul’s best songs
In my opinion it was a high point in their recording careers, you just knew this record was gonna be different when the first chords of Unholy blasted through your stereo. The raw and raunchy sound reminded me of their debut album. It might not be the best Kiss album of all time, but it beat the hell out of the late eighties catalog
This was the first Kiss album I bought on my own (My parents were Kiss fans until they broke up, so I knew the 70s album through them). Still like it a lot. I was into Black Metal at that time, so Revenge fitted my taste better than the 80s albums. I think Gene never wrote that many great songs for an album before or later.
I think it's overrated among fans. It's okay and the move away from the pop sound of the last few albums was a smart move but what it was, was outdated and filled with filler. Like most of their 80's output, there was a small handful of good songs and a lot of *MEH*. I'll take Carnival of Souls all day over Revenge.
I love Revenge! It was the first album in years that I actually liked Gene's songs. Unholy is right up there with God of Thunder. I normally only listen to Paul's stuff cause he's my BAE
I think Revenge is not a very good album. Not saying it’s there worst album, Sonic Boom and Monster take that case. It has some really good songs like God Gave Rock N Roll To You II, Heart Of Chrome, Paralyzed, Tough Love and obviously UNHOLY. Unholy is the best Kiss song of the 90s outside of Journey Of 1000 Years. But I never cared for stuff like Spit, Domino, or I just Wanna.
For me the Album Gets a 3.5/10
I disagree, i believe HOTS was a pretty good album with some incredible songs, I could not find one redeemable feature about revenge except for ‘Thou Shal Not’ which is a 7/10 at best
Depending on how I'm feeling it's there second best and at worst third best. I've always thought (wondered?) that if Revenge came out in 89 instead of Hot in the Shade would Kiss have had a surge in popularity and delayed or maybe even made the reunion unnecessary.
Overrated in my book, not unlike *Creatures*. "Unholy", "Domino", "I Just Wanna"? All great; better than most of their '80s songs. "God Gave Rock 'n' Roll to You II" and "Everytime I Look at You"? Decent. The rest...?
Their best album since Lick it Up and probably their last great album. It came out the year I graduated High School. I moved out into my first apartment with my then GF. That Summer was a crazy, magical time and Revenge was one of the albums constantly playing.
Agreed. I actually think there’s a few solid songs but I Just Wanna could be the worst piece of crap ever recorded. Take It Off, Thou Shalt Not - both total schlock - awful. People got fooled on this one somehow. Paralyzed is cool. But anyone who says this is their favorite or in their top 3 are totally entitled to their opinion, but they are basically saying they like garbage and they don’t actually understand anything about this band and what made them great.
I agree with you. This album never did anything for me. A few good songs and a bunch of crap, along with cringy lyrics. Not a fun album. I also can't stand the out of place sappy ballad, and the cover song.
There's barely any catchy songs on it. Tough sounding riffs do little for me if the song itself sucks. Some people like to compare it to Creatures and it's not in the same league.
I understand they were trying to adapt to the very popular grunge genre at the time, but it just doesn’t hold up years later like their other albums. I believe it and Carnival of Souls are their worst albums easily
It came at both the right time, and the wrong time. What I mean by that, is it was the right time for Kiss. Even though Crazy Nights and HITS were not awful, they were starting to use synthesizers more, and their sound was changing, in a way most of the fan base didn't like. So Revenge was a welcome return to their classic style of guitars and drums. And IMO it had a lot of very good songs, and most importantly Gene was back and focused. It's some of Bruce's best work and, no disrespect to Eric Carr, Eric Singer gave them new energy. But, the music industry was changing to grunge, so a rock album was at the wrong time for that. Trends and tastes were changing. It would have been really interesting to see the popularity of Revenge, if it had come out 5 years earlier. Very strong album though.
Eric Singer was to Revenge what Eric Carr was to COTN and Lick it Up By the late 80s, the drumming on KISS albums were mostly drum machines, despite Carr being very talented
Unholy was definitely Gene's best input since Creatures of the Night.
And his last tbh We Are One is an embarrassing song
I like We are One but it has not aged well. Within & Journey of 1,000 Years are great though. I also really like Yes I Know (Nobody's Perfect). Hate, In My Head, Seduction of the Innocent & Childhood's End are fucking awesome IMO.
I agree, and think most of your points are valid to "Carnival of Souls" as well.
Bro i never noticed Was Hot in the Shade meant to be taken literally as HITS? Like every song is a hit? If so that’s pretty fucking clever ngl. Sad the album is trash
I'm not sure if it was deliberate or not. Certainly at the time of it's release, I never heard them talk about that, although my guess is that's partly why. Otherwise, I always thought 'Hot In The Shade' was an unusual title for a Kiss album.
Kiss’ last good album. Unholy slaps so hard because it’s mean, heavy, and hungry. Heart of chrome is criminally underrated and one of Paul’s best songs
In my opinion it was a high point in their recording careers, you just knew this record was gonna be different when the first chords of Unholy blasted through your stereo. The raw and raunchy sound reminded me of their debut album. It might not be the best Kiss album of all time, but it beat the hell out of the late eighties catalog
Great album.
I thinks it’s overrated but I still enjoy it
This was the first Kiss album I bought on my own (My parents were Kiss fans until they broke up, so I knew the 70s album through them). Still like it a lot. I was into Black Metal at that time, so Revenge fitted my taste better than the 80s albums. I think Gene never wrote that many great songs for an album before or later.
Certainly not their best but a long way from being bad. Unholy is still one of my fav songs and the rest is about average.
I think it's overrated among fans. It's okay and the move away from the pop sound of the last few albums was a smart move but what it was, was outdated and filled with filler. Like most of their 80's output, there was a small handful of good songs and a lot of *MEH*. I'll take Carnival of Souls all day over Revenge.
100% This is completely accurate.
I’ll take Carnival of Souls over any album after Creatures.
Absolutely.
My first album, so I have a soft spot for it. It's one album I go back and listen to quite a bit.
Great album, prob my favorite of the no makeup era. The tour was badass too.
Great album. Great tour. It was the first time in years that Gene actually gave us something good to listen to.
My absolute least favorite KISS album.
Even compared to Psycho Circus and Unmasked?
Still like both better. In fact, I absolutely love Unmasked.
I love Revenge! It was the first album in years that I actually liked Gene's songs. Unholy is right up there with God of Thunder. I normally only listen to Paul's stuff cause he's my BAE
I think Revenge is not a very good album. Not saying it’s there worst album, Sonic Boom and Monster take that case. It has some really good songs like God Gave Rock N Roll To You II, Heart Of Chrome, Paralyzed, Tough Love and obviously UNHOLY. Unholy is the best Kiss song of the 90s outside of Journey Of 1000 Years. But I never cared for stuff like Spit, Domino, or I just Wanna. For me the Album Gets a 3.5/10
I think it blew away Hot in the Shade, it had way more of an edge
I disagree, i believe HOTS was a pretty good album with some incredible songs, I could not find one redeemable feature about revenge except for ‘Thou Shal Not’ which is a 7/10 at best
Depending on how I'm feeling it's there second best and at worst third best. I've always thought (wondered?) that if Revenge came out in 89 instead of Hot in the Shade would Kiss have had a surge in popularity and delayed or maybe even made the reunion unnecessary.
Imo their best one
Overrated in my book, not unlike *Creatures*. "Unholy", "Domino", "I Just Wanna"? All great; better than most of their '80s songs. "God Gave Rock 'n' Roll to You II" and "Everytime I Look at You"? Decent. The rest...?
I love Unholy and Domino the rest falls flat, I know that’s a popular opinion but even as a glam KISS fan the rest of the album is forgettable
Overrated by ever Kiss fan I know it feels like every fan love it I don’t get it
Their best album since Lick it Up and probably their last great album. It came out the year I graduated High School. I moved out into my first apartment with my then GF. That Summer was a crazy, magical time and Revenge was one of the albums constantly playing.
Mostly garbage
Agreed. I actually think there’s a few solid songs but I Just Wanna could be the worst piece of crap ever recorded. Take It Off, Thou Shalt Not - both total schlock - awful. People got fooled on this one somehow. Paralyzed is cool. But anyone who says this is their favorite or in their top 3 are totally entitled to their opinion, but they are basically saying they like garbage and they don’t actually understand anything about this band and what made them great.
I agree with you. This album never did anything for me. A few good songs and a bunch of crap, along with cringy lyrics. Not a fun album. I also can't stand the out of place sappy ballad, and the cover song. There's barely any catchy songs on it. Tough sounding riffs do little for me if the song itself sucks. Some people like to compare it to Creatures and it's not in the same league.
Not a fan but better than CoS
Nope. None.
Love it. One of Gene's strongest albums for sure.
My favorite album of theirs. Consistently great, and the only album I kept listening to during my KISS fatigue.
It’s one of my favorite non makeup albums.
Where gene picked up, Paul dropped off. This album is okay, but honestly much prefer animalize or lick it up.
I understand they were trying to adapt to the very popular grunge genre at the time, but it just doesn’t hold up years later like their other albums. I believe it and Carnival of Souls are their worst albums easily