Description

Double album on white vinyls with poster

With the conclusion of touring activities for Creatures Of The Night, it had become clear that the band needed to do something sensational to mitigate the loss of attention they had suffered through the preceding years of change. A strong metallic offering, in the form of the Creatures Of The Night album, had not been enough to regain their place near the top of the heavy metal hierarchy; so following the final tour dates in South America the decision, one that had been debated for several years, was made to make the most drastic of changes: Take the make-up off. For Paul, the decision was easy, It felt right to do it now. We could make all kinds of answers, but you have to do things when they feel right. It also served a motivation for the future for Paul, A boring band with makeup is still a boring band without makeup. Kiss has always been a real spectacle, a party band. We believe in the same things that we always did — going out there and giving it our all. That goes beyond the makeup. While Lick It Up may have been recorded prior to the decision to unmask being made, by the album’s release date the band officially unmasked on MTV. The unmasking was scheduled to be filmed at MTV’s West 33rd Street studio in New York on Friday, September 16. The show was basic, as detailed in a memo to the band: J.J. Jackson will open the show. You will be in the background in silhouette. Jackson will talk about your great career and the 10-minute montage will play. There will be a matched dissolve from a still photograph of each of your faces to your own face live as he introduces you. The interview will take place. Then Paul will introduce the video. The video will play. That’s the end of the show (Memo, 9/15/83). With the release of the album soon following, on September 23, it wasn’t much of an exclusive for the channel, but it did mark the band’s proper integration in the music video market. Even with the unmasking the album and singles didn’t tear up the charts. In the first month of release the album sold some 350,000 copies in the U.S. and 220,000 overseas with Britain, France, and Germany as the leading markets. Those sales figures ultimately translated into a respectable #24 on the U.S. album charts during a 27 week run. Though it would be difficult to call the album’s performance stunning — it debuted at #121 on Billboard’s album charts. While the title-track video was firmly lodged in medium rotation (3 plays per day) on MTV, the single failed in the U.S. only bubbling-under briefly at #103. The band arrived in Portugal on October 8, 1983 to prepare for the start of the Lick It Up tour. The band conducted two days of final production rehearsals with the first show without makeup taking place on October 11 at the Sports Palais in Lisbon. With the lack of makeup and vastly different set list from just three years earlier the band’s identity had changed drastically. Classic songs featured in the set included: “Black Diamond,” “Cold Gin,” “Detroit Rock City,” “Firehouse,” “Love Gun,” “Strutter,” and the obligatory “Rock and Roll All Nite.” For Paul, the transition out of the make-up was easier. Gene commented that he Didn’t know how … to act, because the non-makeup version of the band was an entirely new idea. Paul [Stanley] was in his prime. He was very comfortable being who he was — because, in some ways, Paul is the same offstage as onstage. In some ways the Lick It Up tour was simply a repeat of the previous tour, sans make-up. The battle-tank drum riser and staging was recycled, which particularly for the European market made sense since they’d not seen the show previously. Simple walls of amplifiers were placed to either side with the tank-treads remaining in use on either side of the stage. The lighted Kiss logo remained the primary background object. While pyro was limited for much of the tour, the sparkling-wall of flame effect was still used. Pyro was also limited throughout the show, replaced with non-stop high-energy movement of the band members. It’s hardly surprising that the song tempos increased. After the European tour the band wanted to get rid of Vinnie Vincent as there was always friction between Vinnie and Gene and Paul, and Vinnie often carped about his contract and his working conditions. With the American tour due to start in Atlanta on December 26 Vinnie was persuaded to return for the U.S. leg of the tour because there had simply not been enough time to find someone suitable to fill in without pushing the tour back. While the album was certified gold by the RIAA on December 22, the first KISS album since 1980 to gain any sort of certification. The album had sunk to #47 on Billboard chart by the time the U.S. tour commenced. A second single was prepared for the market, All Hell’s Breakin’ Loose, which was released the first week of January 1984. Like its predecessor it didn’t bother the U.S. singles charts, but also only went in to light rotation on MTV with a maximum of 2 plays per day. The tour, single, and video didn’t benefit the album as it began its inevitable slide off the chart. Excluding Exciter from many of the sets, the set list was very similar to that performed during the European leg. On January 27, 1984, Kiss was awarded their Gold record award, for the Lick It Up album, after their show at Long Beach Arena in Long Beach, CA. This show was recorded a few days after been given that award, namely at the Lawlor Events Center in Reno on the 31st of January 1984. Vandenberg and Riot were support acts but still the line-up wasnt able to sell out the 7000 capacity arena. The show was also troubled by the fact that the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees Local 363 of Reno picketed the concert and took out an ad in the University of Nevada at Reno Sagebrush student paper asking for a boycott of show (they also planned to protest at other events, not just singling out Kiss). The union was displeased that students had been hired to work the event instead of its more expensive and experienced members. The local reviews after the show wasnt really helping the band either. The University Of Nevada paper review read: The group is trying a comeback. A certain lead guitarist name Paul Stanley was rude, crude, and tasteless. He told a story of a visit to the doctor’s office where the doctor was late… Kiss’s comeback is destined to fail: maybe what they should do is change their name to Crash, Blast, or how about: Trash. Despite Vinnie’s talent as a prolific songwriter and a musician it was clear that Vinnie’s antics and behavior were distracting the focus away from Gene and Paul. That was something which they would not tolerate as the core members of Kiss and Vinnie Vincent would be sacked again. However with hindsight the line-up with Vinnie Vincent in the band were among the strongest the band ever had and the few shows that are circulating are much sought after because Legends Never Die.

Track list:
1. Creatures Of The Night
2. Detroit Rock City
3. Cold Gin
4. Fits Like A Glove
5. Firehouse
6. Gimme More
7. Guitar Solo – Vinnie Vincent
8. War Machine
9. Bass Solo – Gene Simmons
10. I Love It Loud
11. I Still Love You
12. Drum Solo – Eric Carr
13. Young And Wasted
14. Love Gun
15. All Hell’s Breaking Loose
16. Black Diamond
17. Lick It Up
18. Rock And Roll All Nite