Smashes, Thrashes & Hits

by

KISS

Edit

Of the three new songs "Let's Put The X" is another hot song by the foursome, with Bruce Kulick's guitars echoing Ace's. The woman in the song is another teaser in the same vein as the vixens in Animalize's "Murder In High Heels" and Asylum's "Secretly Cruel." As another line in the song says, "You're begging for an eyeful but you only get a peak." Tipper Gore would definitely "love" this song. "You Make Me Rock Hard" is okay, but more refined and smooth. Both lack the loud, sometimes overdone production Crazy Nights, but it's harder than anything on Hot In The Shade, their next studio album.

Eric Carr sings solo for the first time and he does not ruin "Beth," listed here as the Carr vocal version. His voice is considerably smoother than Peter Criss's rough but lovely vocals. Fans will have considerable debate on whether Eric Carr ruined a great song or did proper tribute to it. I like both versions, so that puts me on the fence as I find myself on many occasions.

This is the second official greatest hits compilation after Double Platinum, which comprised everything from KISS to Love Gun. S,T&H is pared down in term of representative hits, one or two key tracks from nearly each album. Here's a breakdown:

KISS "Deuce", "Strutter"

Dressed to Kill "Rock And Roll All Nite"

Destroyer "Detroit Rock City", "Shout It Out Loud"

Rock And Roll Over "Calling Dr. Love"

Love Gun "Love Gun"

Dynasty "I Was Made For Lovin' You"

Creatures/Night "I Love It Loud"

Lick It Up "Lick It Up"

Animalize "Heaven's On Fire"

Asylum "Tears Are Falling"

As one can see, tracks from albums considered lesser, such as Hotter Than Hell, Unmasked, and The Elder, as well as the solo albums, have been omitted. What, "Reason To Live" from Crazy Nights wasn't considered good enough to be included?

As for the older songs, "Detroit Rock City" is the radio edit version, minus the opening diner sounds and radio and the crumpling kerrang of metal that leads to "King Of The Night Time World" on Destroyer. "Shout It Out Loud" has a sudden ending, not the gradual fade of the original. KISS and Destroyer have two songs each, justified considering the importance of the songs.

So what does this selection imply? My theory is as follows: KISS was five years without makeup and the post-makeup songs stress the importance of the present. However, there wouldn't have been a present without a past, hence the need for the classics. The song ratio is 8:7 makeup, non-makeup (I count Beth '88 as non-makeup). As Double Platinum was "the story so far" aimed for late-Boomers, this compilation was for MTV era Generation X-ers, who grew up with Lick It Up through Crazy Nights and who now had an opportunity to go back in time and get the other albums--hey, that's what I did.

Smashes, Thrashes & Hits is a Kiss compilation that was released in 1988. It is made up of fifteen songs. Two of these tracks--"Let's Put the X in Sex" and "(You Make Me) Rock Hard"--were recorded especially for inclusion on this compilation. The rest of the cuts are taken from ten studio albums. All of the studio albums released by the band are not represented on Smashes, Thrashes & Hits; Crazy Nights is an example. In addition, some of the compositions are remixed. Eric Carr does a nice job singing on "Beth." I also enjoy the sequencing of Smashes, Thrashes & Hits--it is not in chronological order. "Let's Put the X in Sex" and "(You Make Me) Rock Hard" are pleasant tunes. The remix of "Love Gun" is my favorite version of this excellent, classic song, one of my favorite songs in general. The CD is just over 53 minutes. When it comes to the CD insert, it includes the song lyrics to all fifteen of the tracks. I procured this album because of the new songs that were recorded for it and Carr's vocal rendition of "Beth." The remixes were a surprise to me, but I am not bothered by them--they are interesting. I actually rate this compilation 3.5 stars. Smashes, Thrashes & Hits is recommendable.