(TheBRHM.com) We’re going ‘Into the Mailbag’ again as we look at the comments for our piece on Kiss’ self-titled debut! Kiss is a band that I could take or leave. When the hits are played, you know the hits and their compilation albums tend to be extremely fun listens because of the strength of the hits and track arrangement on a Best of or anthology release doesn’t really matter.
However, depending on the album, going through some of the releases in full can prove to be a task when you’re pumped up on a thunder track and get a ballad or something not as heavy. As someone who loves the heavier, harder Kiss tracks it can be deflating but it’s a good approach to have something for everyone on an album.
One thing I found in the comments is that for the most part folks enjoyed Kiss as well as the two immediate follow ups. Let’s look at a few comments now!
Into the Mailbag: Kiss
Our first comment was from a reader who seemed to misinterpret what our ‘Greatest Debut Albums’ feature is:
It’s close to what LWS explained, ‘GDAs’ is a feature going into mostly well-known bands’ debut albums. For instance, I’m planning one on Accept’s self-titled debut. Obviously, Accept is not the band’s best album or a great debut album but it’s the debut album of a great, influential band. On the flip side, I’ve done debut album dives for bands from the early 2000s with two or three albums to their name because I wanted to introduce and share a debut that impressed me years ago.
I will say, I’m looking forward to doing a ‘GDAs’ on Appetite for Destruction. Thanks to both you for reading and commenting!
Our next commenter had some debut albums to recommend:
I’ve been enjoying these tunes from the 70s and 80s a ton and there’s always something to discover even on stuff you’ve heard already! What’s most interesting is diving into albums that came out when I was still learning to form sentences like Motörhead’s Orgasmatron. I’m definitely looking to get into the debuts from Van Halen, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Boston.
I was introduced to Aerosmith during their Get a Grip run—so many bangers—but never gave their older albums a good listen. Since I tend to start from the beginning when doing a discography dive expect that one as well. Thanks for reading and for your recommendations!
Madnomad enjoyed “100,000 Years” on the album and also had some recommendations of Kiss albums to add:
I liked Hotter Than Hell, I found that it was best not to listen to it right after the debut. When I first listened to it, I was hopped up and pleased with the debut and HTH wasn’t doing it for me entirely. In later listenings I found it to be a strong follow-up—it dropped the same year—and more of the same but in a way I enjoyed.
I’ve seen these three mentioned as the Kiss albums to check out from others and in the comments—and I agree! Dressed to Kill completes a trilogy worth checking out. You may have given me an idea to go into trilogies of subsequent quality albums. Thanks Madnomad!
Our last comments were just a few that I really agreed with:
Another LWS appearance! Dave777 and LWS are in agreement about “Black Diamond” being Kiss’ best song. It’s my favorite Kiss song and duels with “Strutter” for best Kiss song to me. I lean more towards “Black Diamond” but both have a similar sound and bounce that I love to hear in 70s hard rock.
Thank you both for reading and commenting! Also, thank you for reading again, always share your comments, they give me ideas for future pieces and just my personal listening. I’ve done a couple of refresher listens on albums off the power of your comments.
While we’re on the topic of “Greatest Debut Albums”, our next one will go into Motley Crüe’s Too Fast for Love. We haven’t gotten into a lot of the glam metal side of metal and actually Crüe’s debut isn’t full-blown glam but it’s a debut album with some gems on it.
Staff Writer; M. Swift
This talented writer is also a podcast host, and comic book fan who loves all things old school. One may also find him on Twitter at; metalswift.