KISS - Music From “The offers Elder” (Japanese Pressing) LP - Casablanca/Polystar 1981 - Vintage Vinyl LP Record Album

Artist: KISS
Title: Music From “The Elder”
Label: Casablanca/Polystar 28S-23 Japanese Pressing
Year Released: 1981

Track Listing:
Side 1:
Fanfare
Just A Boy
Odyssey
Only You
Under The Rose

Side 2:
Dark Light
A World Without Heroes
The Oath
Mr. Blackwell
I

Condition:
Vinyl: NM (9/10) glossy, near perfect condition; plays great with minor surface noise detectable during quieter passages.
Cover: EX (8/10) gatefold jacket with minor ring, edge, and corner wear – no seam splits, tears, or writing; tiny bump on top right corner, faint wear marks and indentations visible when cover is held at angle, no overt or conspicuous flaws, poly inner sleeve; NO OBI OR INSERTS.

Description: Released to little fanfare in 1981 and marking a nadir in their popularity, Music From “The Elder” is easily the most controversial LP in the Kiss canon among both fans and the band. Kiss themselves all but disown it and have few if any kind words to say about it in retrospect, and even the impossibly loyal Kiss offers Army are split down the middle, though few are lukewarm; it is either loved or loathed by anyone with a shred of interest in the matter. In tail spin following the departure of original drummer Peter Criss (no pun) and on the heels of a pop record that failed to make much of a ripple in 1980, misfortune led them to a curious place in an attempt to turn the tide. Teamed for a second time with Destroyer producer Bob Ezrin, himself on a windfall following his landmark work on Pink Floyd's The Wall, and perhaps inspired by the dark days they were navigating, Kiss decided to take a stab at bolstering their creative juices and critical integrity with an ambitious concept album about a boy that sets off to prevail over evil as overseen by a council of elders that existed since the dawn of time. This bildungsroman tale was also to have an accompanying film that one can surmise would be equal parts Star Wars, Blade Runner, and, as it turns out, Spinal Tap. The record was a flop, the film was never made, and Kiss was back to the drawing board (and Ezrin off to rehab).

Personally, I think this is a strong effort with some willful, albeit perhaps naive, chances taken—note that Lou Reed was on board for this project and co-penned the lyrics to three songs here! Furthermore, I feel this would have been a tailor made direction for the band to take, given their fantasy-inspired character imagery and enigmatic public personas at the time. And they would have followed this path had it been a success as they'd hoped—if it's one thing you can deduce from Kiss is that they will follow the money trail. But it wasn't so and is rendered as a blunder. All this aside, The Elder is easily Kiss' most eclectic and among most their most ambitious LPs.