Kiss Album Opening Songs Ranked Worst to Best

Kiss were always careful to put their best foot forward with the opening tracks of their 20 studio albums. Lead-off tracks such as “Strutter,” “Detroit Rock City” and “I Stole Your Love” are among the group’s most popular work, and quickly became staples of their live shows.

Sometimes it took a lot of work. “The hardest part for me in writing for an album is writing the first song, coming to grips with it thematically and finding out the direction for the album,” Paul Stanley explained in the band’s 2003 book Behind the Mask. “Not surprisingly, the first song written is the song that winds up as the first song on the album. It becomes the signature piece.”

Stanley proved particularly adept at writing those signature introductions, notching 18 over the band’s career compared to just two for his founding partner, Gene Simmons. Here’s our ranking of Kiss’ album opening tracks:

20. “Crazy Crazy Nights”
From: Crazy Nights (1987)

Crazy Nights was a particularly disappointing album, with Kiss abandoning the hard-earned goodwill of their four previous ’80s albums to chase Bon Jovi-style keyboard pop metal. The opening track is less guilty of this bandwagon-hopping than other songs on the album, but it’s still a bit toothless and stilted.

19. “Is That You?”
From: Unmasked (1980)

We’ve got a bit of a mirror-image situation to start our list. Unmasked is a highly underrated Kiss album, featuring a much more organic blend of pop hooks and rock instrumentation than Crazy Nights. But the opening “Is That You?” doesn’t gel together as well as other songs on the album. It does kick off with a rather savage “Cat’s drooling on the bar stool” shot at secretly estranged drummer Peter Criss, who did not perform on the album.

18. “Hate”
From: Carnival of Souls (1997)

After successfully reconnecting with his inner demon persona on 1992’s Revenge, Gene Simmons tried to pull Kiss into grunge territory – over Stanley’s objections – on 1997’s Carnival of Souls. Despite a distracting and dated muddy production, the plan actually works… sometimes. The opening “Hate” is one of the better songs on the album, but still sounds like a re-write of the superior “Unholy,” which we’ll talk about in a bit.

17. “The Oath”
From: Music From ‘The Elder’ (1981)

Kiss did not intend for “The Oath” to be the opening track of their widely mocked medieval concept album Music From ‘The Elder.’ That honor was supposed to go to the ornate classical music instrumental “Fanfare.” If that had happened, we would have put it 37th on this list.

Instead the label insisted on putting one of the most familiar-sounding tracks at the start of the album. “The Oath” is plenty weird but oddly appealing, with Stanley telling the story of a young warrior finding his inner courage – often in a falsetto voice – over a galloping progressive rock track.

16. “Psycho Circus”
From: Psycho Circus (1998)

Although Simmons and Stanley decided to record Kiss’ alleged original lineup reunion album without much help from Ace Frehley and Peter Criss, they did a pretty good job updating their Destroyer-era sound with the epic title track from Psycho Circus.

15. “Hell or Hallelujah”
From: Monster (2012)

Kiss’ last two studio albums found them leaving all the gimmicks, trend-chasing and outside songwriters behind in favor of straight-ahead four-piece rock and roll. “Hell or Hallelujah” from 2012’s Monster makes a very compelling case that should have been the plan all along.

14. “I’ve Had Enough (Into the Fire)”
From: Animalize (1984)

After two fantastic albums with producer Michael James Jackson pulled Kiss back from the brink of irrelevancy, Paul Stanley took over behind the board for 1984’s Animalize. With Gene Simmons focusing on his movie and label boss careers, Stanley and drummer Eric Carr steered the band into borderline speed metal territory on tracks such as “Under the Gun” and the sizzling opener “I’ve Had Enough (Into the Fire).”

13. “King of the Mountain”
From: Asylum (1985)

Animalize‘s hit single “Heaven’s on Fire” completed Kiss’ ’80s comeback, and the arrival of Bruce Kulick closed the revolving door that had been the band’s lead guitar position. Seemingly secure in their standing, Kiss brought a nice dose of their ’70s sound back for Asylum. The opening “King of the Mountain” gives both Carr and Kulick plenty of time to shine, as Stanley sings about conquering even more challenges.

12. “Exciter”
From: Lick It Up (1983)

After then-guest guitarist Vinnie Vincent made strong contributions to Kiss’ 1982 creative comeback Creatures of the Night, he was made a full-time member of the group and given an even larger role on 1983’s Lick It Up. The album featured a brighter and more accessible sound than its predecessor, and helped the band begin a commercial comeback with its catchy-as-hell title track. “Exciter” sets the opening tone very well, and features a secret guest solo from Rick Derringer.

11. “Rise to It”
From: Hot in the Shade (1989)

Apparently realizing they’d made a wrong turn with Crazy Nights, Kiss attempted to get back to basics with 1989’s Hot in the Shade. Overall the album is a bit overlong and under-cooked, but they hit the ground running with the effortlessly infectious “Rise to It.” The song’s video featured Simmons and Stanley briefly donning their famous facepaint, one of the first signs of the band reconnecting with their legacy.

10. “Creatures of the Night”
From: Creatures of the Night (1982)

Kiss was a wounded and cornered animal in 1982, having lost two original band members and being forced to watch their commercial fortunes plummet so quickly that they were unable to tour in America behind their previous two studio albums. But they came out with claws and teeth bared on 1982’s Creatures of the Night. With a pummeling drum-heavy sound courtesy of Carr and producer Michael James Jackson, the title track serves as a highly compelling mission statement.

9. “I Was Made for Lovin’ You”
From: Dynasty (1979)

“I Was Made for Lovin’ You” is undoubtedly the most divisive song in Kiss’ history. This is the first of several times where the band would risk a perfectly great formula by chasing the latest best-selling musical trend – in this case, disco. Dynasty wasn’t a great album overall, and was marred by increasing personal conflicts within the band. It is, in short, where the wheels came off for Kiss. But over 40 years later, can we admit the song itself is perfectly composed and catchy as hell?

8. “Room Service”
From: Dressed to Kill (1975)

Kiss admittedly ran a bit short of ideas on Dressed to Kill, the third studio album they released in just 13 months. But there’s an undeniable charm and energy to the album’s opening track, a throwback rocker about life on the road and all the temptations that come with it.

7. “Unholy”
From: Revenge (1992)

When Kiss took their makeup off on 1983’s Lick It Up, Gene Simmons got a bit lost. You can see it in their early videos, as he doesn’t quite know what to do with his hands or face if he’s not spitting blood or breathing fire. The decade’s glammy fashion wasn’t a perfect fit either, as the former God of Thunder himself joked that he looked “like a football player in a tutu.” But he rediscovered his muse big-time on 1992’s Bob Ezrin-produced Revenge, particularly on the sinister and thunderous opening track “Unholy.”

6. “Modern Day Delilah”
From: Sonic Boom (2009)

A decade after the near-miss of Psycho Circus, Kiss returned with the self-produced, self-written, BS-free album Sonic Boom. “Modern Day Delilah” was a near-perfect “remember us?” re-introduction, with an instantly memorable riff and smoking lead guitar work from new recruit Tommy Thayer.

5. “Strutter”
From: Kiss (1974)

One of the first songs Stanley and Simmons wrote together for the band’s debut album, “Strutter” establishes the template for Kiss’ early sound very effectively, with a dirty Rolling Stones-style main riff and glammed-up vocals.

4. “I Want You”
From: Rock and Roll Over (1976)

Concerned that the production on their previous album Destroyer had gotten a little too ornate and polished, Kiss recorded Rock and Roll Over in an abandoned theater, successfully bringing more of their raw live energy to a studio record. It helped that they had a particularly strong collection of songs, including the opening “I Want You,” which became a staple of the band’s live shows and a showcase for Stanley’s vocals.

3. “I Stole Your Love”
From: Love Gun (1977)

Kiss pretty much perfected their post-Alive! second stage formula on the last of their golden-era albums, 1977’s Love Gun. Stanley delivers his own version of the Stones’ spiteful “Under My Thumb” story over a blistering guitar riff on the opening “I Stole Your Love,” which also served as one of the band’s best concert-opening songs.

2. “Detroit Rock City”
From: Destroyer (1976)

After finally breaking through to the mainstream public with Alive!, Kiss recruited Alice Cooper producer Bob Ezrin to help them take their studio work to a new level. The resulting Destroyer featured some of the band’s most diverse and enduring songs, including “Do You Love Me,” “God of Thunder” and the left-field hit “Beth.” “Detroit Rock City” leads off the album in high style, showing off their newfound songwriting sophistication. It frequently and deservedly served as Kiss’ concert opening song for big chunks of their career.

1. “Got to Choose”
From: Hotter Than Hell (1974)

As excellent as Destroyer is, could it be that Kiss were actually better, or at least more unique, before Ezrin took them to musical boot camp? Undoubtedly they gained new levels of skill that served them well on their future albums, but there’s something magical about the band’s first three records that they never fully recaptured again.

Hotter Than Hell is a perfect example, full of dark, deep grooves, welcome trips into progressive rock and genuinely out-there musical moments such as “Goin’ Blind” and “Strange Ways.” The opening “Got to Choose” is a perfect example, a big lurching brontosaurus of a song balanced out by big and surprisingly sweet group vocals.