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9 of 10 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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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Sucker for a great guitar player, December 17, 2005
From the remastered CD:
When KISS had completed their 1983-1984 Euro-American tour supporting Lick it Up, the band had proven to the fnas and to themselves that it was the music - not the make-up - that mattered most.
KISS had by now let guitarist Vinnie Vincent go and without a lead guitarist searched for a new axeman before recording their next album. After several unsuccessful auditions took place in New York City, Mark Norton - a California guitar tutor known for his amazing technical telnt - was selected to begin work on Animalize. Renamed Mark St. John, KISS' newest member seemed to have the fuel that the band needed to skyrocket to the top again. Perhaps equally as important - St. JOhn didn't have an egotistical personiality: he simply wanted to be a member of KISS.
Shortly before KISS entered Right Track Reocrding Studios to lay down initial tracks on Animalize, band co-founder Gene Simmons had abruptly decided to fulfill his second childhood dream: acting. The filming of Runaway - Simmons' first movie since 1978's KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park - took place in Vancounver, British Columbia. As a result, Simmons was forced to rlinquish Animlize's co-production chores to his partner, Paul Stanley. Ambitiously, Standly accepted these responsibilities and produced an album that, ultimately, solidified KISS' popularity with the MTV generation. Propelled by the single smash "Heaven's On Fire," Animalize was certified Platinum.
Howver, the band's success was tempred with tragedy once more. Within months after joining KISS, Mark St. John was afllicted with Reiter's Syndrome - a rare disorder causing severe swelling fo the hands and joints. To their dismay, Stanley, Simmons and Carr had to accept that Mark's crippling illness would limit his involvement on the upcoming Animlize tour. The band opted to hire a temporary guitarsit until St. John was well enough to play live. At the suggestion of longtime colleague and fellow musician Jean Beauvoir (who co-wrote "Heavena's On Fire" and who - in Simmons' absence - played bass on several of the album's tracks), Stanley immeditaely hired Bruce Kulick to substituted on lead guitar for the entire Animalize tour. Although St. John traveled with KISS in hopes that he would get better, his disability only grew worse. After less than three performances, the truth had to be faced: St. John could no longer play guitar. To fill the void, Bruce was hired as KISS ' fourth lead guitarist. With no time to spare, KISS Animalize Live toure opned in Brighton, England on September 30, 1984.
I have KISS Animalize Live/Uncencored and it is telling that there are only two songs in the set list from Animalize whilst there are 3 from Lick it Up (the previous album) and 4 from Creatures of the Night (the album before that).
General concensus is that the band's songwriting didn't go on the upswing until Revenge, when they brought back Vinnie Cusano (= Vinnie Vincent) to help with the songwriting.
My speculation is that Paul and Gene need a guitar player to round out the songwriting, but are control freaks who don't want to surrender any power, and the only reason the two have stayed together so long is that they think so much alike. They couldn't get along with the only other songwriters they ever had: Ace and Vinnie. Mark St. John isn't listed in any of the songwriting credits on Animalize, but he may have arrived after the songs were written and been reduced to adding solos and fills much like Adrian Smith on Killers. Bruce Kulick is a talented guitar player who contributes little to the songwriting - exactly what Paul and Gene wanted.
In playing ability terms, Animalize is the best lineup KISS ever had. Thrills in the Night is a middling quality song with a good chorus and the best guitar solo ever done on any KISS song. Heaven's on Fire is one of my absolute favorite KISS songs - it's only shortcoming, oddly enough, is that the solo is rather lame.
On the whole the songwriting on this album is uninspired but it isn't until the follow up Asylum that the band's songs descend into saccharine 80's wussy metal (I'm being polite with my language). Also, the production on Animalize is very good, as opposed to the totally neutered sound on Crazy Nights (following Asylum), and I'm not saying that because of the keyboards, which I have no problem with.
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