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Music From The Elder  Hear it Now

RS: 2of 5 Stars Average User Rating: 4of 5 Stars

1997

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What could be less promising at this stage of the game than a concept album by Kiss? After having written off Kiss as pure pap for eight-year-olds, who even wants to think about taking them seriously? Yet their new songs are catchy, the performances respectable, and, despite its concept, Music from "The Elder" is better than anything that the group has recorded in years.

Ah, yes, the concept. According to the liner notes, "The Elder are an ideal.... They embody the wisdom of the ages and the power of goodness and knowledge." What, no part for Gene Simmons? "In every place, in every time, an evil is loosed whose sole purpose is to destroy all that is good." Oh, there it is. "It is the task of the Elder to find and train a warrior...a champion to conquer the evil." You can probably guess the rest.

For all its Marvel Comics predictability, however, Music from "The Elder" comes off quite well, thanks mostly to producer Bob Ezrin. By scaling down the band's bluster and adding orchestral sweetening, Ezrin makes Kiss sound strangely like Jethro Tull. Throw in some honest-to-goodness melodies and you've got a Kiss LP you can listen to without embarrassment.

Well, almost.

J.D. CONSIDINE

(Posted: Feb 18, 1982)

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Review 1 of 3

STARCHILD writes:

4of 5 Stars


Horns?Flutes?Heros?
Genisis?no,Emerson,Lake and Palmer?try again
The Velvet underground?I don't think so but Lou Reed does contribute to this project.
This concept album was done by no other than
the grease paint clad cock rockers themselves
KISS!!!!
Before you laugh,This is a good album,very good
Bob Ezrin is back at the helm.This album still rocks.The hard rocking "The oath" and "I" are very loud.The soft ballad Gene Simmons tune
"A world with out hero's"is very deep and the down right spooky "Only you"and "Under the Rose"
are done well by the resident demon himself.Paul Stanly's vocals are top notch and Ace Frehley's guitar playing is incindiary.The new kid, drummer Eric Carr's drumming is top notch.A very ballsy move and it has paid off,

Jul 23, 2008 18:17:26

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Review 2 of 3

scapp70 writes:

2of 5 Stars


Click here: http://www.epinions.com/content_427242065540

for the best review on The Elder ever!!

May 20, 2008 20:48:12

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Review 3 of 3

rockfan writes:

3of 5 Stars


Music From the Elder. Not quite what you would have expected from Kiss especially after their two previous albums but again in its own right, a pretty good album. The Oath, A World Without Heros, I, Under the Rose are exellent songs. You have to resect their attempt of what they were trying to accomplish at this point. After being bashed by critics for years, they wanted to show them that they could be very serious song writers. As far as the fans were concerned at that time, not up to par. So i give 3 stars just for their effort.

Mar 19, 2008 14:29:30

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