Dynasty (Kiss album)

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Dynasty
Dynasty (album) cover.jpg
Studio album by
Kiss
ReleasedMay 23, 1979 (1979-05-23)
RecordedJanuary–February 1979
StudioElectric Lady and Record Plant, New York City
Genre
Length39:19
LabelCasablanca
ProducerVini Poncia
Kiss chronology
Love Gun
(1977) 		Dynasty
(1979) 		Unmasked
(1980)
Singles from Dynasty
  1. "I Was Made for Lovin' You"
    Released: May 20, 1979
  2. "Sure Know Something"
    Released: September 30, 1979
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic3/5 stars[1]
iTunes[2]
Pitchfork(2.0/10)[3]
Rolling Stone(negative)[4]
Vista Records4/5 stars[5]
TrueMetal(70/100)[6]
Metal Nightfall3/5 stars[7]

Dynasty is the seventh studio album by American hard rock band, Kiss. produced by Vini Poncia and released by Casablanca Records on May 23, 1979. It was the first time that the four original members of Kiss did not all appear together for the entire album.

Album information[]

The album and the following tour were billed as the "Return of Kiss". Kiss had not released a studio album since Love Gun in 1977. Instead, the band released their second live album, Alive II, and each member had recorded eponymous solo albums, which were simultaneously released on September 18, 1978.

Prior to recording the album, the Kiss members were working separately on various demos:[8]

  • Peter Criss recorded and submitted a four track demo with the songs "Out of Control", "Rumble", "Dirty Livin' " and "There's Nothing Better". "Dirty Livin' " made it to Dynasty; "Rumble" remains unreleased officially by the band but has surfaced on the internet as a bootleg.[9] The other two songs ended up on his solo album Out of Control.
  • Ace Frehley recorded and submitted a five track demo with "Hard Times", "Save Your Love", a cover of "2000 Man", "Backstage Pass" and "Insufficient Data". Three of the songs are on Dynasty, and the last two remain unreleased.
  • Gene Simmons wrote and recorded a large number of demos including some with the members of the band Virgin.
  • Paul Stanley wrote songs with Desmond Child, one called "The Fight" which was released on a Desmond Child & Rouge album and one called "Tonight", which formed the verses of "I Was Made For Lovin' You" and was combined with a chorus written by Stanley and Vini Poncia.

After pre-production and rehearsals were completed, Vini Poncia (who had produced Peter Criss), decided that Criss' drumming was substandard, an opinion shared by Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons. Criss was hindered by injuries to his hands that he had suffered in a 1978 car accident. Kiss hired the South African-born studio drummer Anton Fig, who played on Ace Frehley, to play on the Dynasty sessions. "On Dynasty, Peter was pretty much out of commission through drugs and alcohol, and he was not being nice to most people. I wouldn't point to it as a classic Kiss album."[10] With the exception of his song "Dirty Livin' ", a rewrite of a song of the same title demoed during his pre-Kiss days in Lips, Criss does not play drums on the album, and he did not perform on another Kiss album until Psycho Circus in 1998, on which he again only played on one song. Fig was again hired to replace Criss during recording sessions for the following album, Unmasked. Eric Carr was hired as Criss' permanent replacement before the Unmasked Tour began.

Frehley, who himself left the band three years later, sings three songs on Dynasty: "Hard Times", "Save Your Love" and a cover version of the Rolling Stones' song "2000 Man". Frehley is the only Kiss member to appear on those three songs except for occasional backing vocals by Paul. Although Frehley had frequently sung backing vocals and had written the Kiss classics "Cold Gin" and "Parasite", he had only previously been lead singer on his songs "Shock Me" on Love Gun, and "Rocket Ride" on the studio side of Alive II, as he lacked confidence in his ability as a lead singer.

Stanley's "I Was Made for Lovin' You" was one of the band's most successful singles, peaking at #11 on the American singles chart. In eleven countries around the world it reached the #1 spot or 2nd position. It was the first Kiss single to have a disco remix, as a 7 min 54 sec version was released on 12" single. He also sang on "Sure Know Something" and "Magic Touch". In contrast, Simmons sings lead vocals on only two songs, "Charisma" (which became a minor hit in Mexico) and "X-Ray Eyes".

The album includes a colorful jacket cover which is actually a collage of photos taken from the photo session and not a group shot as it appears. The label shows a portrait of all four members instead of the usual Casablanca label. Inserts included a merchandise order form and a full-color poster.

Track listing[]

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Lead vocalsLength
1."I Was Made for Lovin' You"Paul Stanley, Vini Poncia, Desmond ChildStanley4:30
2."2,000 Man"Mick Jagger, Keith RichardsAce Frehley4:54
3."Sure Know Something"Stanley, PonciaStanley4:00
4."Dirty Livin' "Peter Criss, Stan PenridgeCriss4:27
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Lead vocalsLength
5."Charisma"Gene Simmons, Howard MarksSimmons4:25
6."Magic Touch"StanleyStanley4:41
7."Hard Times"FrehleyFrehley3:30
8."X-Ray Eyes"SimmonsSimmons3:46
9."Save Your Love"FrehleyFrehley4:41

Personnel[]

Kiss
  • Paul Stanley – vocals, rhythm guitar, lead guitar on "Sure Know Something" and "Magic Touch", bass on "I Was Made for Lovin' You"
  • Gene Simmons – vocals, bass, rhythm guitar on "X-Ray Eyes"
  • Ace Frehley – vocals, lead guitar, all guitars, bass on "2,000 Man", "Hard Times" and "Save Your Love"
  • Peter Criss – vocals, drums on "Dirty Livin' "
Additional musicians

Charts[]

Chart (1979) Peak
position
Australian Albums Chart[11] 2
Austrian Albums Chart[12] 13
Canadian Albums Chart[13] 6
Dutch Albums Chart[12] 1
Finnish Albums Chart[14] 27
French Albums Chart[15] 2
German Albums Chart[12] 8
Japanese Albums Chart[16] 21
New Zealand Albums Chart[12] 2
Norwegian Albums Chart[12] 34
Swedish Albums Chart[12] 17
Swiss Albums Chart[12] 13
UK Albums Chart[17] 50
US Billboard Pop Albums[18] 9
Singles
Year Country Single Chart Position
1979 United States "I Was Made for Lovin' You" Billboard Pop Singles 11[19]
"Sure Know Something" Billboard Pop Singles 47[19]
Australia "I Was Made for Lovin' You" Pop Singles 2[11]
"Sure Know Something" Pop Singles 5[11]
Austria "I Was Made for Lovin' You" Pop Singles 6[20]
Canada "I Was Made for Lovin' You" Pop Singles 1[21]
"Sure Know Something" Pop Singles 48[22]
France "I Was Made for Lovin' You" Pop Singles 2[23]
Germany Pop Singles 2[24]
The Netherlands "I Was Made for Lovin' You" Pop Singles 1[20]
"Sure Know Something" Pop Singles 3[25]
Norway "I Was Made for Lovin' You" Pop Singles 10[20]
New Zealand "I Was Made for Lovin' You" Pop Singles 1[20]
"Sure Know Something" Pop Singles 11[26]
Sweden "I Was Made for Lovin' You" Pop Singles 19[20]
Switzerland Pop Singles 2[20]
United Kingdom Pop Singles 50[27]

Certifications[]

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[28] 2× Platinum 200,000^
Netherlands (NVPI)[29] Platinum 100,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[30] Platinum 15,000^
United States (RIAA)[31] Platinum 1,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References[]

  1. ^ Dynasty at AllMusic
  2. ^ "iTunes – Music – Dynasty (Remastered) by KISS". Itunes.apple.com. Archived from the original on November 11, 2012. Retrieved October 12, 2011.
  3. ^ "Kiss: Dynasty". Pitchfork Media. June 26, 2003. Archived from the original on May 8, 2006. Retrieved October 12, 2011.
  4. ^ "Dynasty by Kiss". Rolling Stone. Retrieved August 26, 2011.
    - "Dynasty by Kiss". Rolling Stone. Retrieved August 26, 2011.
  5. ^ "KISS – Dynasty (1979)". Vistarecords.proboards.com. November 12, 2009. Retrieved October 12, 2011.
  6. ^ "Recensione: Kiss, Dynasty". TrueMetal. April 30, 2004. Retrieved October 12, 2011.
  7. ^ "KISS : DYNASTY (1979)". Metal Nightfall. Retrieved October 12, 2011.
  8. ^ https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/alex-room-service/episodes/2021-01-15T22_17_06-08_00
  9. ^ Peter Criss Demo - Rumble - 1979, retrieved March 25, 2021
  10. ^ Kitts, Jeff: "Back in black (and white)", Guitar World, September 1996, p68
  11. ^ Jump up to: a b c Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  12. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g KISS - Dynasty - swisscharts.com Archived December 13, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  13. ^ "Search – RPM – Library and Archives Canada". collectionscanada.gc.ca. Retrieved August 9, 2011.
  14. ^ Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 263. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
  15. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on July 15, 2015. Retrieved January 15, 2012.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  16. ^ Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005. Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
  17. ^ KISS | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company
  18. ^ "Kiss Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums" at AllMusic. Retrieved February 11, 2010.
  19. ^ Jump up to: a b "AllMusic Billboard singles". Retrieved February 9, 2009.
  20. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f "Lescharts.com". Retrieved May 17, 2010.
  21. ^ "RPM chart archives at Collections Canada". Archived from the original on October 15, 2012. Retrieved May 23, 2010.
  22. ^ "RPM chart archives at Collections Canada". Archived from the original on October 15, 2012. Retrieved May 23, 2010.
  23. ^ "InfoDisc archives". Archived from the original on June 14, 2012. Retrieved May 23, 2010.
  24. ^ "Media Control Charts-History". Retrieved May 23, 2010.[dead link]
  25. ^ "Radio Veronica Top 40 chart archives". Retrieved November 12, 2018.
  26. ^ "Lescharts.com". Retrieved May 22, 2010.
  27. ^ "The Official Charts". Retrieved May 23, 2010.
  28. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Kiss – Dynasty". Music Canada.
  29. ^ "Dutch album certifications – Kiss – Dynasty" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers. Retrieved August 24, 2018. Enter Dynasty in the "Artiest of titel" box.
  30. ^ "New Zealand album certifications – Kiss – Dynasty". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved November 14, 2019.
  31. ^ "American album certifications – Kiss – Dynasty". Recording Industry Association of America.

External links[]

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