Kiss: The Originals (1976)

The Originals, by Kiss, is a seminal record in my collection because this was the second record I ever bought, after Goofy Greats. I no longer have my copy of Goofy Greats (I probably unloaded it at a lawn sale), but I hung on to this one, though I am not sure why. This is another record that had my name scrawled across the cover, in my sister's handwriting, along with "Album #2." Thanks to the magic of Photoshop, you do not have to see that.

I consider the music of Kiss to be one-dimensional and juvenile. Besides, looking at them now, one might have half expected the band to have been a progressive rock band. At the time, though, I was a fan...or, maybe I was a fan because some of my friends were fans. It's hard to say. What I can say is that I find it incomprehensible that there are adults who are fans of this band. I see Kiss as music appropriate for pre-adolescents.

I once did a school project about Kiss and that, sadly, means that I used the six color rock superstar cards and the Kiss Army sticker that were bundled with this collection in that report. Stupidly, I stuck these items onto the pages in the report, which later ended up in the trash can. But, I still have the original booklet that came with the record.

This collection contains the first three Kiss records: Kiss (1974), Hotter Than Hell (1974), and Dressed to Kill (1975). The Originals came out in 1976, and, by the time I bought my copy, I had already heard Alive! at a friend's house many times as well as Rock And Roll Over and Destroyer. I can't remember exactly when I bought this record, but I remember where I bought it.

In my home town, there was no record store, at the time anyway, so I either had to hope that I could join my sister or my mom on one of their shopping trips to larger urban centres, where one could find a record store or two, or rely on a feeble stereo store in town. This local stereo shop had, for a short period of time, a small rack of records. I guess if someone bought a new hi-fi system, they could then rightly suggest a record or two to go with it. The selection was generally dismal, as it tended to serve the needs of the older rural conservative. But, one day, I found this record and I had saved enough of my allowance to buy it. I cannot remember the price.

The debut record -- Kiss -- might be the best Kiss record, though I have not heard them all. Back in the day, if you asked me to chose my favourite Kiss track, I would have said Strutter. Other top choices would have been Firehouse and maybe Deuce and possibly even Love Theme from Kiss. I suppose Hotter Than Hell and Dressed to Kill are probably equal in quality, but I just liked the first record better. I have really no idea when I played anything from this collection last, but it must have been a hell of a long time ago. It's unlikely I will ever play this again, except maybe for comedic purposes at a dinner party, perhaps.