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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Worthy followup to Animalize. KISS still rocks!, December 3, 2001
Summer 1985--among the videos that were played on Dial MTV from 4-5 pm Mountain Time was a video by KISS. That video was "Tears Are Falling" and since then, I was hooked. It would take me a full four years before I would get any album by them, but when I did, the floodgates opened. Among the first of their albums I got was Asylum, home of "Tears Are Falling". So there is some sentimental associations with this album.If the blistering inferno Animalize was Mount Vesuvius, which buried two entire cities, I'd say Asylum was Krakatoa. It has a few more songs that allow time to breathe, but not by much. Much of this also has to do with the arrival of a new guitarist--Bruce Kulick. His guitars are at their fullest here, especially on "Any Way You Slice It", "I'm Alive", "Love's A Deadly Weapon", "Tears Are Falling", and "Uh! All Night". It's no surprise therefore that with the exception of "Tears", the rest are among the heaviest songs on the album. If any member embodies the philosophy of KISS more than any other, I would have to nominate Gene Simmons. "Trial By Fire" is one of rare treasures--a song that proudly and fiercely declares the foundation of the KISS philosophy. I mean, bust these words: "Can't listen to nobody else/You just go to believe in yourself/They'll criticize you and lay down the law/They'll say, just who do you think you are" The chorus is a unrelenting anthem of living life to the nines, no, nineteens, if you were a member of KISS: "Life's a trial by fire/so I'm gonna live it up." Who sings this song? Why, Gene of course. He seems to be the star of this album. His voice is at his loudest, e.g. "Any Way You Slice It", "Love's A Deadly Weapon", "Trial By Fire". He also sings of a modern-day Ishtar in "Secretly Cruel," another standout cut. The rhythm to the opening lyrics of "Radar For Love" is similar to that of Led Zeppelin's "Black Dog": compare the two. Another song of worthy mention is "Uh! All Night." Just check out the opening lyrics: "Everywhere around the world/Everybody's doin' time/Freedom comes at 5:15/Prison starts at quarter to nine." Now if that isn't a condemnation of the excessive Puritan-enforced work ethic that makes us guilty if we don't overwork ourselves, I don't know what is. I remember Paul Stanley saying in the Exposed video that vacation was something you did to get away from work. Well, since they enjoyed what they were doing so much, he considered himself and the other KISS members as being on a full-time vacation, which is basically being KISS. The song also goes on to say, however, basically, that if you work hard, play hard, in other words, "UH! All Night" So, what are you waiting for?
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