This is Kiss's sixth album, and the last of what I would consider "classic" Kiss albums. After this, the band famously released four solo albums on the same day in 1978 (Ace Frehley's album – hands down the best of the four – was part of the inaugural Rocktober), and then made their final album with their original lineup, 1979's Dynasty, which is often derided because it contains several disco rock songs. Even then, although Peter Criss appears on the cover of Dynasty, Anton Fig performed the drum work on all but one song on the album.
Love Gun is the first Kiss album where all four members sing lead vocals. It peaked at #4 on the Billboard album charts (the band's first Top 10 studio album), and was certified platinum within two weeks of its release, which is pretty impressive considering the album only had two Top 100 songs ("Christine Sixteen" reached #25 and "Love Gun" reached #61). With one exception, there is not a bad song on the album, and many of the songs are considered Kiss standards.
1. "I Stole Your Love"
Kiss always does a good job of starting albums off with a bang, and "I Stole Your Love" does just that. It's a fast-paced song sung by Paul, with a sneaky repeating riff played throughout the song that I think really makes the song. Of course, Ace has an awesome solo.
2. "Christine Sixteen"
The pianos at the beginning of the song give it kind of a happy poppy feel. Gene Simmons destroys any innocence the song might have with spoken-word verse at about the 1:04 mark: "I don't usually say things like this to girls your age, but when I saw you coming out of school that day, that day I knew – I knew – I've got to have you. I've got to have you." Apparently it was okay to openly sing about pedophilia in the '70s. Great song, though.
3. "Got Love for Sale"
This is a catchy, fast-paced rocking son of a (love) gun. See what I did there? This has another great solo from Ace, 'cause that's what he did.
4. "Shock Me"
Although Ace Frehley had been the primary songwriter on many of Kiss's songs throughout their first five albums, this was the first time he sang lead vocals. In addition to being a great song, it has a good back story, as it is about when Ace was electrocuted at a show in Florida the year before when he touched an ungrounded metal staircase. Of course, I don't know what the line "put on your black leather" has to do with being electrically shocked.
5. "Tomorrow and Tonight"
This is another Paul song. The band tried to write another "Rock and Roll All Nite," but didn't quite get it. Nonetheless, it's fun-loving, catchy, and easy to listen to.
6. "Love Gun"
The title track is a great hard rock song. The drums stick out. From the beginning rat-a-tat, they drive the song, coming back ever so often to jolt the listener.
7. "Hooligan"
This is the only song on the album sung by Peter Criss. It's pretty good. I've always been intrigued by the line "I got a '35 Chevy on a '55 frame," since I'm not sure why that means he's a hooligan.
8. "Almost Human"
This is a solid, plodding Gene song, with a gritty bass line and a theme that fit with Gene's "monster" persona. Ace has an awesome, raunchy solo halfway through the song.
9. "Plaster Caster"
This is another great song with a good back story. It's about Cynthia Plaster Caster, who is famous for making plaster casts of rock stars' dongs. Interestingly, at the time, I don't think she had made a cast of Gene Simmons's wang, which is surprising, since that seems like something Gene Simmons would be all about. Another interesting tidbit is that Simmons isn't the only musician to write a song about Cynthia Plaster Caster. You might expect the other musician to be a hard rocker or someone considered dirty, but it's the lovable singer-songwriter Jim Croce ("Five Short Minutes").
10. "Then She Kissed Me"
This is a cover of the Crystals' "Then He Kissed Me," sung from a male point of view. I think this song is awful. It ruins a great song. If it's any indication how I feel about this song, I did not upload into iTunes from the CD.
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