Customer Reviews

Animalize

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

As a tribute to the former KISS guitarist Mark St. John, I'd like to present a review for this very good KISS album. ANIMALIZE is one of the best hard rock albums from the 80's AND one of the best ones KISS released during the period. I kinda see Animalize as part of the KISS HEAVY 80's trilogy(Creatures of the Night, Lick it up and Animalize). With the departure of original guitarist Ace Frehley, KISS strived to put KISS back together with a revolving door for lead guitarist before finally landing Bruce Kulick (who was with the band for 12 years) after the fueding with Vinnie Vincent and the unfortunate sickness developed by Mark St. John forcing him to leave the band prematurely (Mark had an arthritis disease that would sometimes hinder him to play guitar).

Animalize is just a great album. It was produced by Paul Stanley and has some of his heaviest and best work on it. At the time, to me, it was the closest thing to sort of getting a second Paul Stanley solo album. Paul really poured himself into the album. It was also recorded at a time where Gene was becoming MR. Hollywood while starring in a film with Tom Selleck-leaving Paul to oversee the album and the band! It also features some awesome, thunderous drumming by KISS' late, great drummer ERIC CARR (who also died tragicly from cancer in 1991).

The best song on the album and still a very popular KISS Classic is HEAVEN'S ON FIRE. It also contains the second single THRILLS IN THE NIGHT. Other heavy hitters are UNDER THE GUN and I'VE HAD ENOUGH.
The Gene songs are actually pretty good=Particularly my fav LONELY IS THE HUNTER (Which actually had Bruce Kulick on the track)and the cool BURN BITCH BURN.

The album is just very heavy from start to finish and sounds very sleek to this day. The order of songs gives the album a hot bone crushing feel and the mix is awesome=and even more polished since it was remastered in 1998! Though the band was kinda still in turmoil musicly with Ace gone, Mark St. John came into the KISS mix with some great guitar solos that really breathed new life into KISS and transitioned the band great into a powerhouse band that still could steal the thunder away from any rock band out at the time. It's just too bad Mark got sick. Who knows how much more he could have contributed to the band. After Mark was doing better, he did form a band called WHITE TIGER and released a self titled cd. Also, in 1999 he came back on the music scene and did KISS Expos and released the MARK ST. JOHN PROJECT EP and then released a mostly instrumental cd in 2003 called Magic Bullet Theory--showcasing his outstanding, versitale and talented guitar playing.

Sadly, Mark died of a brain hemmorage in April 2007. Though he is gone, his music shall live on. Mark was in KISS for not even a year, but made KISSTORY as being a feature player on one of the best KISS cds not to feature the original band and contributed to the band a new take on the KISS sound and moving the band forward in longevity.

If you want a great hard rock 80's cd, get ANIMALIZE and get to hear the hottest band in the world play with the late great guitar shredder at the time-Mark St. John.

KISS's "Animalize" is not generally regarded to be among one of the band's better offerings, but I happen to be quite fond of it. In the early 80s, KISS went through a revolving door of guitar players. From Ace Frehley, to Vinnie Vincent, to Mark St. John, and finally Bruce Kulick--all in a matter of about three years. This is the lone KISS album to feature lead guitarist Mark St. John, who was sort of like the George Lazerby/John Corabi/Gary Cherone of KISS. Even though the trio of early 80s KISS albums all feature different guitar players (Lick it Up, Animalize, Asylum), a casual listener wouldn't be able to tell. The music did not suffer from a lack of a stable lineup. All three albums sound like a cohesive follow-up to one another.

Even though Vincent was a huge presence and main songwriter on "Lick it Up," "Animalize" still sounds like a natural follow-up. St. John didn't help co-write any of the songs on this CD, but his style and playing is more or less the same as Vincent-- a very flashy 80s shredder--in contrast to the more laid back style of Frehley or Kulick.

Even though this lineup of KISS was short lived, the band sounds as tight as ever. St. John jelled with Stanley, Simmons, and Carr to create a kick-ass 80s metal album. This CD takes off where "Lick it Up" left off, but is slightly heavier. The album opens up strong with Stanley's "I've had Enough" (Into the Fire) and never looses momentum. "Heavens on Fire" (Stanley, Desmond Child) remains one of KISS's best, most memorable songs to date. As others have commented, the Stanley songs are more memorable and better written, but I actually like the Simmons' penned songs as well. "Burn Bitch Burn" does have rather juvenile lyrics, but it's catchy as hell. The whole CD is very enjoyable and a lot of fun. Stanley and Simmons wrote a great collection of pop-metal songs. "Animalize" may not be as original or memorable as "Love Gun" or "Destroyer," but it's still a solid 80s sounding heavy metal album. St. John was a good stand in and his playing and solos are all quite good. Eric Carr's awesome cannon like drums sound great as always and help give the songs an extra kick.

"Animalize" is one of my most favorite hard rock albums from the 1980s. If you're a fan of KISS or 80s metal, I recommend giving "Animalize" a spin.

Album #19 from KISS, Animalize, is definitely their heaviest. Neither Creatures Of The Night nor Revenge have anything on this metal master work from a line-up that sadly, only lasted on this album alone.

From the first, Mark St. John's ferocious, no compromise guitar assaults the audial senses with "I've Had Enough (Into The Fire)", and with the first verses sung by Paul Stanley, I knew this was going to be the ne plus ultra of KISS the year I got into them. That was back in 1989, five years before this album was released, and eleven years have not dimmed the vitality of this classic album an iota! It's albums like this that bring to mind the phrase, "metal up your a**".

Just when the listener thinks he/she can take a breath, "Heaven's On Fire" comes on and takes the listener to metal heaven. That epitome of what KISS is about is followed by "Burn Bitch Burn," equally uncompromising, especially as this is Gene Simmons' first song on Animalize. put your log in your fireplace" needs no further interpretation.

"Get All You Can Take" is one of those songs that embodies the KISS philosophy--work hard, so play hard, which they most definitely do. Or did.

Not all the songs have the ferocity of the first three songs. The mid-paced "Lonely Is The Hunter", for example, has a menacing undertone, thanks to Gene's vocals. And "Thrills Of The Night", about the double-life of a woman doing the usual 9-5 routine by day, and who knows what at night, was co-written by Jean Beauvoir, the mohawked African-American rocker who did "Feel The Heat" on the Cobra soundtrack. However, let me say that there is absolutely NO filler on this album. Period.

I will reiterate here that Mark St. John is what makes Animalize the classic it is. That blistering guitar solo in "I've Had Enough" is evidence enough of that.

I read in a magazine that an hour before Paul Stanley was to take the master tapes of this album to the label, he changed his mind and remixed the entire album. Brilliant move, Paul!

KISS's hardest album happens to be their best one. The only things that I wonder now is, what would KISS have been like had Mark St. John recovered from his illness? Just imagine what Asylum and Crazy Nights, themselves worthy offerings from the foursome, would have sounded like with him as the axeman!

By the time the early 1980's had arrived,the hair metal era had begun,and even though Ace Frehley and Peter Criss were no longer members of the KISS family,Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley had managed to carry on and remain succesful-and it was their "Lick It Up" album that did just that for them. And now,after Simmons and Stanley were grateful to have remained successful after they had taken off their make-up and costumes,they released another record in 1984 that also found the four demons of rock performing without theit make-up and costumes-and that album was "Animalize". How did this album turn out? Read on for my review of this:

This album,while it may not be "Destroyer" or "Love Gun",is,in my opinion,one of the best CDS of the 80's,and one of the best hair metal records also. It is my favorite KISS album that was released when Ace Frehley and Peter Criss were no longer with the band and Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley had taken off their make-up. Even though KISS had seen a lot of success with "Lick It Up",there were two problems that faced them(mostly Paul Stanley this time). The first problem was that Vinnie Vincent,the guitarist who had first replaced Ace Frehley and had performed on "Lick It Up",had acted up on tour,which resulted in Vinnie getting fired-and that meant that Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley would have to recruit another guitarist. The second problem was at the time,Gene Simmons was off in Canada filming the sciecne fiction film "Runaway" with Tom Selleck as his co-star and Michael Crichton acting as director,so he missed out on a large half of this record. But that didn't mean that everything wouldn't turn out good. As a matter of fact,it turned out great. The guitarist on this record was Mark St. John,and while St. John was not as talented as Ace Frehley,Eddie Van Halen,or Slash,was still a pretty good guitarist. The opening track on this album is "I've Had Enough(Into The Fire")which is a really smart way to open an album-the guitar on it sounds really good,and the lyrics sing about what usually guys and girls get tired of a relationship-being ignored and abandoned. Paul Stanley and Desmond Child did a really good job at crafting this song-and the best part is that it does not even come close to sounding like a corny song penned by someone like The Backstreet Boys,John Travolta,Avril Lavigne,etc.Everything else here sounds really good-"Thrills In The Night" is a song that comes off as really good and maybe even a little bit "innocent" when it is about a girl who is good during the day but is "bad" during the nighttime.As for the songs that Gene Simmons contributed to this record(Burn B***h Burn,Lonely Is The Hunter,While The City Sleeps,and Murder In High Heels)are all really good,typical Gene Simmons songs. And don't forget "Heaven's On Fire",the big hit off of this album-it has hair metal written all over it,and it reminds me of both Def Leppard's "Pour Some Sugar On Me" song and Warrant's "classic" "Cherry Pie" tune. KISS sure did think about girls-and this song proved just that.

An awesome record that should be heard by all KISS fans and all fans of 80's hair metal.

This is Kiss giving their fans the metal experience.
When it first came out it took me a few spins to get used to it.
I actualy bought it and did not play it much till i got the animalive video.Then i thought that this album was the best album they had done.Its still a favorite of mine.
Its got Eric thumping at those skins hard right through it,loud.
Now Kiss at this stage was going through some member changes.
Mark St.John did not last long in the band but his contributions were excellent.Bruce Kulick actually played on one song here called Burn Bitch Burn.
Im going to list all the brilliant songs on this album.

1. I've Had Enough (Into The Fire)
2. Heaven's On Fire
3. Burn Bitch Burn
4. Get All You Can Take
5. Lonely Is The Hunter
6. Under The Gun
7. Thrills In The Night
8. While The City Sleeps
9. Murder In High-Heels

Well what do you know thats all of them,well it must be one hell of a good album then,buy it!

Animalize is a satisfying release from Kiss. I remember first getting the cassette of it many years ago. Now that I have the CD, I still like to listen to Animalize from time to time. The disc is in a straight-ahead hard rock musical direction. There's a total of nine songs. The musicianship, songwriting, and production are fulfilling. All of the tracks are straightforward hard rockers. There are no ballads included. I consider all of the tunes to be listenable and energetic. Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons both do well with the vocals. Stanley handles the vocals on five songs, and Simmons sings on four of the others. The tracks that I enjoy the most are "Heaven's on Fire," "Burn Bitch Burn," and "Thrills in the Night." The aspect of "Heaven's on Fire" that I like the best is the chorus. "Burn Bitch Burn" is a brisk, hard-hitting tune that features cool vocals from Simmons and an infectious main guitar riff. "Thrills in the Night" sports a pretty good chorus, too. Also, I think that Mark St. John is a skilled guitarist--his feisty, fleet-fingered guitar solo on the lively "I've Had Enough (Into the Fire)" is impressive. He also provides an interesting guitar solo on the fast-paced "Under the Gun." The CD booklet contains the song lyrics and an individual photo of each member of the band. I also like the cover art. The back cover photo of the group is cool, too. Animalize is worth a listen.

Paul REALLY rocks this album. I'VE HAD ENOUGH and GET ALL YOU CAN TAKE are definite highlights. The CD was angry and high-intensity, but Gene's songs (and especially his meandering and convoluted lyrics) leave a lot to be desired.

Animalize is one of Kiss' most underrated albums. It is really good. Gene's songs are alright, Burn Bitch Burn is definitely one of if not the best Gene songs on here. All of the Paul songs rock hard. I've Had Enough should have been a single and a big hit. That song rocks hard. Mark St. John was fantastic on that song. Everyone knows Heaven's On Fire is great. Great, underrated album.

The highlight of 1984 and Kiss staple 'Animalize' is a great rock record. Every song kicks and the sound quality is good even NOW!

This is one of their best CD's. Along with 'R&R Over, Destroyer and 'Revenge'. Kiss had a few throw out ALBUMS, this isnt one of them. A great rock record through and through. Mark StJohns wicked soloing adds excitement and the drumming is great.

All the negative reviews dont wash. Hell, even the ballad 'Thrills in the Night' sounds OK.

A 30+ yr Kiss fan wont steer you wrong. Get this if you dont have it. The only negative is that there are only 9 tracks.

This was KISS' greatest album of the 80's. The songs are dirty and hard driven. I would've been interested to hear how the band would've sounded with Mark St John on more albums. It was seeing this particular tour that made me pick up a bass and start playing.