Description

Rare original 1981 Swedish pressing

New drummer Eric Carr had refueled the band’s desire to rock, and the quartet began working on a straight-ahead rock album and album that was suppose to be a glorious return to hard rock à la their classic Destroyer but midway thorugh the band felt that they were rewriting past songs, and the sessions were aborted. Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley then came up with the idea of recording a concept album against both Ace Frehley’s and Carr’s wishes. Frehley clearly stated that he felt that it was not a good idea to begin with. The result was the progg rock album The Elder that shocked Kiss fans all over the world. The first single A World Without Heroes managed to get into the sales charts at #56 in the U.S. and #55 in the UK. And the band released I as the second single that did have some sales in Europe where it reached No. 62 in Germany and No. 48 in the Netherlands. However soon it was obvious that this was a misstep and a commercial failure and the album quickly disappeared from the charts by February, 1982. Although budgets were prepared for a tour, none was ever undertaken. The only public appearances the band made in conjunction with the album were at the late night show Fridays in 1982 and a lip synched performance at Studio 54. By then it felt like Ace Frehley had given up on the band as he was absent for the Studio 54 appearance, so the group performed as a trio. The I single was released with another track from the album as the B-side, The Oath, the track that had been chosen as the opening track on The Elder. It features many parts where Stanley sings in falsetto, a vocal technique he utilized on several of the album’s tracks. Stanley played lead and rhythm guitars, while Frehley played bass on the recording.

Track list:
1. I
2. The Oath