As part of Kiss' 40th anniversary celebrations their 1977 album Love Gun has been given a Deluxe reissue. The 2CD album features a remastered version of the album plus rarities, interviews, demos and keeps Ken Kelly's original artwork.
Love Gun is an important album in the Kiss canon for two reasons: It's the only album where all the bands members feature on lead vocals making it very much an ensemble album; It also marks the end of the classic Kiss period before Anton Fig replaced Peter Criss (aka The Cat) on drums. It may not be their best album, but its Kisstorical importance makes it a must, especially with the bonus features the reissue brings to the table.
The album opener I Stole Your Love, sums up why we love Kiss; A catchy as hell rock song, Gene Simmons' driving bass riff and Paul Stanley's fiery vocals. The amalgam of glam and rock laid the foundations for the rock style of the 80s and is really evident on tracks such as Love For Sale, Shock Me and the title track. Love Gun as a track stands the test of time with Stanley's screaming vox, mean guitar and some fierce drumming from Criss as if he was drumming for his life and literally tapping out his legacy. It's no wonder that it is still a popular choice for the band and fans on tour. Paul Stanley also gives us an insight to the distinctive sound of the song in the teaching demo on the bonus disc. In retrospect Then She Kissed Me, seems a bit kitsch, but Kiss never were a band to take themselves too seriously with Plaster Caster being an obvious example.
Disc 2 is a perfect partner on this reissue giving us demos,unreleased and live recordings and interviews everything you need to rock n roll all day and party every night.