Carnival Of Souls-The Lost KISS Album?

Carnival Of Souls is the red-headed stepchild of the KISS catalog. It may be KISS' most divisive and misunderstood album of their career; even more so than The Elder, arguably. Some fans dismiss it as an attempt to simply cash in on the "Seattle Sound", the grunge vibe that was at the top of the charts in those days: heavy down tuned guitars and darker socially relevant lyrics. Others, like me, see it as just a more mature, heavier KISS ( I know, I know, who the hell wants MATURE KISS right?) and an exciting change in direction. Sure, I suppose there could be superficially some elements of the grunge sound there, but it still sounds like KISS to me. And let's be honest, KISS has always chased the latest trend to a certain extent; let's not forget the disco pop sound of 79/80 or the slick hair metal sound of the late 80's. Even their original heavy blues rock sound in the '70's was purely of the times. They've always channeled what was going on around them to one degree or another.

As if the criticisms from some fans isn't bad enough, even Gene and Paul like to deride the album as a failed experiment. Although, I do tend to take Gene and Paul's assessments of their own work with a huge helping of salt; they tend to trash and attempt to minimize anything that they deem unsuccessful. The Elder was a commercial flop when it was released in '81. Yet, it's become a fan cult favorite. But getting them to acknowledge the album in a live show is nearly impossible. So in true KISS fashion, if it didn't make money, it doesn't get played.

Carnival Of Souls came at an odd time. For the first time since Lick It Up in '83, the unmasked version of the band (which included Bruce Kulick and Eric Singer) had regained it's hard rock footing with 1992's Revenge. For me, it was glorious time. KISS quit looking like a bunch of Vegas whores with cheap perms and got back to basic black leather, scraggly hair and bad attitudes. Their sound nastied up again and the live show contained alot of classic material largely ignored during the hair metal heyday of the '80's. It was the most KISS like they had been since they removed the make-up. The Kulick/Singer line-up proved to be the most versatile incarnation of KISS ever. Gene and Paul were more focused than they had been in years, Kulick had been let loose from the typical slick '80's shred playing shackles he had been placed in previously and was really getting a sound of his own and Singer brought an unbridled vitality with his drumwork. And I was excited as hell as to what they were gonna do next.

As '95 came and went, I had heard rumblings that their latest recordings were much heavier and darker than Revenge was. I, of course, could not have been more delighted. That's what I wanted from KISS again..the teeth. At this point in their career, I just wasn't looking for yet another ode to their cocks. Been there done that. I even heard some song titles: "Hate" "Jungle" "Childhood's End"..I liked what I was beginning to hear about the upcoming album! But of course, in came 1996 and we all know what happened that year: the KISS Reunion bomb was dropped on the planet. Ace and Peter walked back into the fold and all activities with the Bruce/Eric line-up were indefinitely put on hold, including the release of the newly recorded album.

But we KISS fans are resourceful and it didn't take long for a bootleg version of the new album to surface. It was going around with the title Carnival Of Souls. So I got my bootlegged cassette copy of it and immediately fell in love with the album. It was everything I had hoped it would be: a focused, heavy, incredibly written and performed, creative KISS album. Not long after, due to the unreal success of the Reunion Tour, it was announced that Bruce and Eric were out of KISS for good. It officially ended one of the best line-ups in the band's history and putting the prospect of the album ever being officially released into limbo. As exciting and magical as the Reunion was, I couldn't help but feel a sense of loss that this amazing album may never officially come out and that we'd never get to see the line-up that recorded it play any of it live.

Carnival Of Souls finally did get it's official release though. It was quietly put out with no fanfare on Oct. 28, 1997. It was titled Carnival Of Souls: The Final Sessions with a simple cover of the band in the studio. There was a super cool cover originally planned for it (a creepy leather S&M mask, with fire leaking out of the open zippers) but they let their rights to use it expire. "Jungle" was released as a single and did fairly well. I heard it on the radio quite a bit actually. I haven't heard a new KISS single receive as much airplay since. But that was the extent of the promotion for it. Talk of the reunion album with Ace and Peter was in full swing at that time and Carnival Of Souls was pretty much ignored by Gene and Paul and treated as an afterthought. It was essentially stillborn.

The album now occupies a space in Cyber Kissland where fans like me endlessly laud it's merits and others treat it as the plague. It's still a top five KISS album in my eyes. I hold it up as a relic of the time KISS surpassed my expectations and their own cliche's to deliver something I feel is truly special. Once they decided to go back to the old reliable arena anthems and "fuck me, suck me" formula when they put the paint back on, the adventurous spirit displayed on Carnival Of Souls was laid to rest.

Sure, I realize ragging KISS for singing songs about banging girls and how amazing their penises are is like ragging on water for being wet. I'm a KISS fan, so naturally I have an utmost affinity for the pocket/rocket and knees/please tunes of their golden age. I still listen to those and still cherish them. Always will. KISS' foundation lay upon poon tunes. But as I got older (and as they did too) hearing guys reaching AARP age continue to write about the joys of young tail got a bit old and, well, kinda creepy. And rather hackneyed as well.

What COS represented to me, at the time, was band that was comfortable with who they were and who didn't need to rely on the cliche's of their past. Obviously, I may have been wrong considering how quickly they ditched that whole direction in order to dress up and sing all those old odes to their love guns again. And they made millions doing it. Again. So naturally when they did Sonic Boom a couple of years ago, it was a "classic" style KISS album with plenty of schlong references like "tower of power" and talking about getting "all up inside". A looonnng way from the more pointed and articulate criticisms of life, religion and the human race on COS tunes like "Hate", "Jungle", "Seduction Of The Innocent" and "It Never Goes Away". Instead of more tunes about family bonds and friendship, like "I Will Be There" (for Paul's then newborn son Evan) and "Childhood's End", we get Paul Stanley (a married man almost 60 and father of three) still trying to sound like a swinging single guy out for a lay on a Saturday night and Gene Simmons spinning more yarns about hot women that can't resist him as if his pot belly, wig and two kids don't exist.

Evolution isn't always a bad thing. Blackie Lawless from WASP began his career in '84with the single "Animal (Fuck Like A Beast)". Then in '89 he put out the more socially conscience The Headless Children album. It was a huge step up both musically and lyrically from anything he did before. And he ran with that direction since. And those albums are among my favorites in their discography. Hell, today he doesn't even play "Animal" live anymore.

Yeah, dark and serious was never the KISS thing. They've long been the clown princes of decadence and fun. That's why we all liked them to begin with. They ultimately are a soundtrack to the good times in life and maybe aren't suited for a long career of deep-thinking. And I can't really fault them for going back to what made them famous (read: money) to begin with. But for a time, it was nice to see the band evolve and move forward into uncharted territory for them. And they did it brilliantly. So let's hear it for the KISS-era that never was. It may not have been as popular as what they did end up doing with the Reunion, but I would've been satisfied if KISS finished out their days putting out albums like COS and playing smaller places. Creatively, it was far more interesting than the "Remember all that stuff we did before? Well, here it all is again" approach they've taken since.