Kiss officially appeared in public without makeup for the first time on a September 18, 1983 on MTV for the release of the band’s album “Lick It Up.” “Lick It Up” became Kiss’ first gold record in three years, but guitarist Vinnie Vincent who replaced Ace Frehley in 1982 did not get along with Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, and left the band at the conclusion of the tour in March 1984. Vincent’s replacement was Mark St. John. Before joining Kiss, St. John (Mark Leslie Norton, February 7, 1956 – April 5, 2007) was a well known and respected teacher and guitarist for the Southern California cover band Front Page and after leaving Kiss, he formed a band called White Tiger.
“Animalize”, the 12th studio album by Kiss and the second album of the “unmasked” period, was the biggest-selling Kiss album since 1977’s “Alive II” and it was certified platinum only in four months.
When asked what “Animalize” meant, Stanley said that people were starting to become more like computers – and that “making music by pressing buttons” was no fun.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZjevnnkA20&w=540&h=435]
With the video for “Heaven’s on Fire” being played often on MTV, “Animalize” was the band’s best-selling record in America during the decade and recovered some of their earlier glory.
The 35.42 minutes of “Animalize” delivered a quality mixture of glam metal and hard rock, the perfect mixture of the classic, 70’s hard rock Kiss and the new, glam oriented band. Stanley became the driving force in Kiss during the 80’s while Simmons was less involved.
Track list:
01. “I’ve Had Enough (Into the Fire)”
02. “Heaven’s on Fire”
03. “Burn Bitch Burn”
04. “Get All You Can Take”
05. “Lonely Is the Hunter”
06. “Under the Gun”
07. “Thrills in the Night”
08. “While the City Sleeps”
09. “Murder in High Heels”
St. John was soon taken ill with reactive arthritis during tour rehearsals, and only performed at a handful of shows. Mark St. John was officially replaced by Bruce Kulick on December 8, 1984 by Bruce Kulick, who became the fourth lead guitarist of the band in less than three years, but he stayed with Kiss for twelve years. The lineup of Stanley, Simmons, Carr, and Kulick turned out to be the most stable since the original, and for the rest of the 1980s Kiss released a series of platinum albums—1985’s “Asylum” and the 1987’s “Crazy Nights”. Kiss ended the ’80s with the October 1989 release “Hot in the Shade”.
On “Animalize” featuring both guitarist St. John and drummer Eric Carr, the only two members of Kiss who died.
