Track Listing

1. Unholy
2. Take It Off
3. Tough Love
4. Spit
5. God Gave Rock & Roll to You
6. Domino
7. Heart of Chrome
8. Thou Shalt Not
9. Every Time I Look at You
10. Paralyzed
11. I Just Wanna
12. Carr Jam 1981

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3535 in Music
• Released on: 1992-05-22
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .21 pounds

Album Description
2005 Japanese pressing of 1992 original release, comes packaged in a standard jewel case. Mercury.

Customer Reviews

REVENGE is Sweet
Latest in my series of KISS reviews; my goal is to review every album.

Much like with the previous KISS album Hot In The Shade (H.I.T.S.), context is important. At this time KISS had suffered from two poorly attended tours (Crazy Nights and H.I.T.S.) and fans writing KISS off as following the trends of pop metal. H.I.T.S. was an attempt to get the band back to rock, but was underwhelming as an album.

KISS decided that change was good, at least change that brought them back to their roots. Gene and Paul tried writing together again ("God Gave Rock And Roll To You II") and brought Bob Ezrin (Destroyer, The Elder) back as producer. One change that was unwanted was on the drum stool. Eric Carr was diagnosed with cancer in his heart and was deemed too sick to play on the album. Ideas floated, such as Carr playing on half the songs, and a guest drummer like Aynsley Dunbar or Eric Singer playing on the other half. Ultimately all Carr could do was sing backup on "God Gave", and he passed away in November of 1991. Eric Singer (ex-Black Sabbath), who played drums on Paul Stanley's solo tour, was brought into the band as a full time member. Eerily, Eric Carr once proclaimed "That guy is gonna replace me," when he saw Singer play with Stanley.

There is your context. If Revenge sounds angry and pissed off, those are the reasons. Other things that pissed off KISS at this time was the return of former guitarist Vinnie Vincent in a writing capacity. It yielded gold in the form of songs such as "Unholy", but working with Vincent was nothing but headaches according to Gene Simmons and in the years since they have never worked with him again.

On the positive side, Eric Singer proved to be a good influence, his love of guitars pushed Bruce Kulick into playing some outstanding solos. In addition Ezrin challenged Kulick to better himself and make his playing more aggressive. As a result, Kulick's guitar had never sounded better. It is mean, aggressive, like blood splattering on the railroad tracks. Wah-wah pedals and effects came to the forefront and it completely suited the music that KISS had written.

"Unholy", the first song and first single, was also the first Gene Simmons lead vocal in a KISS single since "I Love It Loud". It sounds like the demonic half-brother to "War Machine" from Creatures Of The Night. Indeed, if Revenge would be compared to any previous KISS album it should probably be Creatures.

"I Just Wanna" was the second single, a Paul song. Sadly it is quite a transparent rewrite of "Summertime Blues". It also has a silly chorus: "I just wanna fuh-, I just wanna fuh-, I just wanna forget you." Despite this it's also one of the catchiest tunes on the album, and quite irrestible despite its flaws.

Third single, "Domino", was another Gene track, this one the most vintage-KISS of them all. It is a basic groove rock track with Gene singing about a girl named Domino who "got me by the balls". The video was quite unique in that it featured KISS as a trio, Paul on bass, while Gene was out cruising in his car. Bruce's soloing here is really good.

Fourth and final single from the album was "Every Time I Look At You" featuring Bob Ezrin on piano. It's another power ballad, along the lines of "Forever" or the later "I Finally Found My Way". Sadly in the era of grunge it was quickly forgotten, but aside from a very nice version with strings from MTV Unplugged it is largely forgettable anyway.

The rest of the tracks include "Take It Off", Paul's tribute to strippers and very similar in style and tone to "I Just Wanna". This song and "Unholy" were both previewed on KISS' club tour. Paul's "Tough Love" channels S&M a bit and is a very cool slower rock track with some great Bruce solos. "Spit" is quite possibly the album's best song even though it contains the Spinal Tap lyric "the bigger the cushion, the better the pushin'". Its vocals are split between Gene and Paul which hadn't happened in a long time. Bruce's solo here is awesome. His technique is stunning, the solo is both amusing and jaw-dropping. "Side 1" of the album (remember LP's?) ended with a remix of "God Gave Rock And Roll To You II", previously released on the Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey soundtrack and featuring Eric Carr's final performance on vocals. It's a semi-cover of an old Argent song and again features Gene and Paul splitting the lead vocals.

"Side 2" kicks off with the Vincent penned "Heart of Chrome", one of Paul's coolest titles and another outstanding track, somewhat similar to "Tough Love". Gene's "Thou Shalt Not" covers similar lyrical territory as "Cadillac Dreams" from H.I.T.S. It is very catchy and has some cool licks on guitar. "Paralyzed" is another Gene track, this time the verses are cooler than the chorus. There's also a neat spoken word bit in the middle as only Gene can do, almost funky.

The album ends with "Carr Jam 1981", an Eric song which had circulated in collector's circles for a long time except with Ace Frehley on lead guitar. It was recorded by Ezrin during The Elder sessions which yielded a ton of unused song ideas. Ace Frehley decided to use it himself in 1987 as "Breakout" on the first Frehley's Comet album. This version however is the KISS original with Bruce Kulick overdubbed on lead guitar and Eric Carr playing the only drum solo he ever recorded in the studio It is a very fitting tribute to the man who helped KISS get through some very tough times and didn't live long enough to record on this fantastic album. It proves what a great rock drummer Eric Carr was, as if KISS fans had no doubt.

Some fans heard the heavier sound on this CD and accused KISS of selling out to grunge. Not so; the album was released in early 1992 and was written and recorded before grunge took hold. Music was naturally moving in a heavier direction at the time, and KISS were part of that.

This direction was truly subverted on the grunge influenced and ill-fated Carnival Of Souls CD, and this lineup of KISS ended with the reunion. Revenge stands as one of the very best non-makeup KISS album rivaled only by Lick It Up.

IT ROCKS (and the new drummer does too!!)
THIS RECORD ROCKS. They brought back in Bob Ezrin to produce it (he did DESTROYER for kiss, and their biggest flop, MUSIC FROM THE ELDER. He also did THE WALL for Pink Floyd). Well the production absolutely ROCKS. By that I mean that the guitars jump out of the speakers and assault you; when the new drummer Eric Singer hits the drums, you can feel it hit your chest. And that is even if you have the volume on 3!

The songs are all good for the most part. We all know Simmons can't sing, but that doesn't really stand out here. In fact, this album probably represents his best vocal performances for KISS. And Paul - who CAN sing - does his job very well. Bruce Kulick is a mean guitar player. On this album they include a drum solo that Eric Carr did before he died from cancer. It is great, and definitely worth a listen.

There is something nasty about this album. It's like the guys in the band are really on the warpath, really want to make a statement. And they do. TURN IT UP!

One Of The Best KISS Albums Without Makeup
When "Revenge" was released in 1992, the KISS family was suffering the death of band member Eric Carr. But did that stop KISS to continue on and be the greatest rock band ever? No. Out of all KISS albums,"Revenge" is one of the best KISS albums without makeup. The opening track is "Unholy" which is the best track on the album with strong lyrics by Gene Simmons and Vinnie Vincent, richly executed guitar work from Bruce Kulick, and electrifying lead vocals by Gene Simmons. Another standout track is "God Gave Rock 'n Roll To You II", the sequel to Argent's song from the 70's. Black 'n Blue fans also may want to check this out: on "Domino", Gene Simmons ripped off the music from the Black 'n Blue classic "Nasty,Nasty" and "Domino" would not have sounded as good without that riff. Paul Stanley has said after the death of Eric Carr, KISS thought about quiting but didn't. Thank You Paul, because if you quit, the greatest rock band of all time would not be around anymore.