Recently I was chilling at home, enjoying a cup of coffee out of my KISS Rock N’ Roll Over coffee mug when a friend of mine and I started talking about KISS. She told me that she and her brother were debating if KISS was a “horns worthy” band; a band that whenever a song comes on you just have to throw up horns and just let out a big ol’ “fuck yeah!” My friend feels that one should not throw horns at KISS as they don’t really “merit horns” ever. I told her “Well, it depends on what song it is, but for the most part, KISS is totally horns worthy.” She disagreed with me, but this debate immediately got me thinking.
KISS is a long time “Are they metal or not” kind of band. Many artists such as Rob Zombie, Anthrax, Metallica, and GWAR (just to name a few)credit KISS as a major influence yet KISS still manages to not always get the props that they deserve in the metal world. Why is it that KISS seems to sometimes get tossed aside by metal fans for not being metal enough?
Looking back over their career, KISS has given us plenty of eye rolling moments. Moments like doing a Michael Bolton song (“Forever”), “Let’s Put the X in Sex” (“Love’s like a muscle and it makes me wanna flex”? Really?), and even “Beth” are moments that many KISS fans, and metal fans in general, kind of snicker at. If you look beyond the ridiculous moments, you may find that KISS has had their fair share of true, heavy moments of epic awesomeness that you just can’t help but throw horns to.
Ten Horns Worthy Moments from KISS
Deuce
How can you not throw horns to this epic classic? This is without a doubt one of my favorite KISS jams and whenever they played this one live you just knew you were getting a fucking jam and a half. That steady groove and the way Gene just belts out, “GET UP… and get your grandma outta here” has me throwing horns right away.
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Watchin’ You
Probably one of the creepiest creeper songs I’ve ever heard. That opening riff right off the bat has me throwing horns and that groove is just undeniable. Groove is something that I tend forget that KISS was really good at and this particular song is full of stank.
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Detroit Rock City
The excitement of hearing that opening riff just never gets old. “Deh-nuh-neh-nuh- Deh-nuh-neh-nuh- Deh-nuh-neh-nuh- Deh-nuh-neh-nuh- Deh-nuh-neh-nuh- Deh-nuh-neh-nuh-nehnehnehnehnehnehneh-DUN DUN!” You know exactly what I’m talking about. The riff, the vocals, that dual lead guitar solo, everything about this song is just massively awesome. This song doesn’t need much more explanation. If you can’t acknowledge its epicness, leave the hall.
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Creatures of the Night
If you have heard this song and deny the fact that it is worthy of the horns then there is absolutely no help for you. Easily one of KISS’ finest moments, the song is way heavy. While the studio version with Eric Carr on drums was epic in itself, it’s the version from Alive III featuring Eric Singer on drums that just took this song to all new heights of heaviness. Without a doubt, it was the most bombastic and facemelting show openers of all time and this particular version proves that. Horns all up in your face!
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Unholy
When this song came out back in 1992, I was absolutely beside myself. Hearing it now, it’s still every bit as kick ass as it was back when it came out. It kind of reminds me of “War Machine” in that it’s got this dark, menacing kind of tone to it. This is without a doubt one of Gene’s finest performances and it is a totally horn worth jam. It’s just a bummer that the rest of the album wasn’t that great.
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War Machine
“You better watch out. Cuz I’m a war machine.” How could this song not be horns worthy? That heavy ass groove literally sounds like a fucking tank (not to be confused with Eric Carr’s lame ass tank drum riser) coming right at you. Again, just another bit of proof that you can always count on KISS to deliver a song that would kick your ass from here to Pluto and back. Great fucking song for sure.
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I Still Love You
Man, this song. Yeah, this song just kills it. If you’re a fan of this song you know why I chose this one. While considered to be a KISS ballad, this is without a doubt one the most powerful ballads I have ever heard in my life. Most ballads tend to be so sappy and friendly and while the lyrics to this one seem that way, the music is just so dark and heavy with Paul Stanley delivering one of his greatest vocal performances. This is one of my all time favorite Paul Stanley performances and every time I’ve heard this live it just rips my face clean off. Horn worthy? You betcha.
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She
That opening riff is so gnarly that it just makes me sneer and what’s that? There’s that groove again. This groove is so heavy, and so in your face. How anyone couldn’t throw horns to this song the minute kicks in is far beyond my understanding. KISS was the masters of the heavy groove and it’s songs like this where you can really hear the Black Sabbath influence they picked up on. “She” is yet another classic horn worthy gem from the boys.
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God of Thunder
It still blows my mind to this day that these lyrics were written by Paul Stanley, but that aside, this song is just not heavy enough to be worthy of horns. I mean, what a weak track right? Pshaw. This song is fucking epically awesome and one of KISS’ most horn worthy moments. “I am the lord of the wasteland. A modern day man of steal. I gather darkness to please me and I command ye to kneel.” Oh yeah, that’s not heavy at all. Horns all up in this motherfucker, y’all!
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I Love It Loud
“Loud! I wanna hear it loud. Right between the eyes.” I love it loud! Who doesn’t fucking love it loud? Every time I hear this song it’s as epic as it was the first time I ever heard it. This is one of those songs that no matter how many times I hear it I never get tired of it. It’s a timeless anthem for the ages that never gets old. Remember the old saying, “If it’s too loud, you’re too old?” Fuck yes. Horns up and fists in the air for this classic.
So it looks like I managed to pick 10 of KISS’ most horn worthy songs and I could’ve kept going. Whether or not you consider KISS a metal band is totally up to you but to say that they are a band not worthy of some epic, heavy, horns worthy moments is something I hope I have disproved in this post. If you’d like to hear more of KISS’ most horn worthy moments, check the Spotify playlist at the bottom of this post. Play it loud, love it loud, and throw those horns. You know you want to.
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