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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
My personal favorite 80s KISS album, March 29, 2005
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.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Tribute Review (RIP Mark St. John), April 5, 2007
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.
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10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
KISS will bring out the animal in you!, November 15, 2001
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!
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