Psycho Circus (song)

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"Psycho Circus"
"Psycho Circus" cover
Single by Kiss
from the album Psycho Circus
Released November, 1998 (US)
Format CD Single
Recorded A&M Studios & One On One Studios,
Los Angeles: 1998
Genre Hard Rock
Length 5 min 30 sec
Label Mercury/PolyGram MECP-449 (US)
Chart positions
  • #22 (Auz)
  • #10 (Canada)
  • #98 (Holland)
  • #8 (Norway)
  • #4 (Sweden)
Kiss singles chronology
"Jungle (radio edit)" / "Jungle (full version)"
(1997)
"Psycho Circus" / "In Your Face"
(1998)
"We Are One" / "Psycho Circus"
(1998)

"Psycho Circus" is a song by the American hard rock band Kiss. It is the title track from the 1998 album with the same name. The b-side is the non-album track "In Your Face", a song written by Kiss bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons and sung by lead guitarist Ace Frehley.

"Psycho Circus" was written by guitarist/vocalist Paul Stanley and collaborator Curt Cuomo specifically to fit the theme of the Psycho Circus Tour and album. According to producer Bruce Fairbairn, "We didn't have an opener for the record. We didn't have anything that was going to start things off. And [Paul] just looked at me and said, 'check this. This is it...' We both sat there and looked at each other and started to laugh. Because that was it" [1]

A video was made to promote the single, which was made in the same 3-D theme as the album and tour, and was directed by James Hurlburt and produced by Doc McGhee and Eddie Vasker.[2] The video was ignored by MTV.

Four different versions of the single exist, featuring a different member of the band pictured on the cover
Four different versions of the single exist, featuring a different member of the band pictured on the cover

As a single, the song did not make an appearance in the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, although it would prove to be a Top Ten hit in other countries in the world, including Canada and Norway.[3]

The song would open sets for the band on the Psycho Circus Tour to support the album, and was performed on Kiss's live album Kiss Symphony: Alive IV in 2003.

"Psycho Circus" was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1999 for best Hard Rock Performance, although they lost out to Jimmy Page and Robert Plant as their track "Most High" got the award.[4]

"Psycho Circus" was also featured in the third season episode "Thirteen Years Later" (a Halloween episode) of Millennium.

Gene Simmons cover
Gene Simmons cover


[edit] References

  1. ^ KISS Online w/ Bruce Fairbairn
  2. ^ KISSfaq Video information
  3. ^ International Chart Info
  4. ^ List of the 1999 Grammy Award Winners and Nominations
In other languages