CoronaVinyl Day 330 (K): Asylum by KISS

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Yesterday's CoronaVinyl category is "K," and I just didn't have enough time to post, but you all know that all I have left for "K" artists are KISS albums.  We're going with their 13th studio album, 1985's Asylum.

Asylum was the first album that officially featured guitarist Bruce Kulick as a band member (though he had played guitar on a few tracks on the prior album, 1984's Animalize).  He would remain in the band until 1996, when the original four members reunited, and along with Mark St. John, he is one of only two KISS members who never wore makeup.

With Kulick in the band, KISS's lineup was, of course, Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, as well as drummer Eric Carr.  This lineup would last until Carr's death in November 1991, making it the third-longest consecutive span for a single KISS lineup, after the original lineup of Gene, Paul, Ace Frehley, and Peter Criss that was together for nearly 7 1/2 years from early 1973 to mid-1980, and the current lineup of Gene, Paul, Eric Singer, and Tommy Thayer, which has been together since 2004.

Anywho, with Asylum, the band continued its hair-band-esque sound.  The album did okay, reaching #20 on the Billboard album chart, though it went to #12 on the UK album chart and #3 in Sweden.  There was only one single released from the album, "Tears Are Falling," which only made it to #51 on the Billboard Hot 100, but the video got relatively heavy rotation on MTV.

The album cover is a nod to a few earlier KISS albums.  The band members are wearing lipstick that are the same colors as the respective colors associated with original members' 1978 solo album covers:  red for Gene, purple for Paul, blue for Bruce (Ace), and green for Eric (Peter).  It's also a similar layout as the band's 1979 Dynasty album, with Paul top left, Gene top right, Bruce bottom left (where Ace was), and Eric bottom right (where Peter was).

Favorite song from Side 1:  "Any Way You Slice It"
Gene handles lead vocals on this one, and it's a nice uptempo hard rock song that starts with a solid guitar riff.

Favorite song from Side 2:  "Love's a Deadly Weapon"
Apparently I like the Gene songs on this album, as this is another one.  This one kicks off the second side with a bang, with a breakneck beat that's almost punkish, and snarling guitars.