| "Let Me Go, Rock 'n' Roll" | ||||
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| Single by Kiss | ||||
| from the album Hotter Than Hell | ||||
| Released | October 22, 1974 (US) | |||
| Format | 7" | |||
| Recorded | The Village Recorder Studios, Los Angeles August 1974 |
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| Genre | Hard rock | |||
| Length | 2:15 | |||
| Label | Casablanca/Warner Bros. NB-9001 (US) | |||
| Producer | Kenny Kerner & Richie Wise | |||
| Kiss singles chronology | ||||
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"Let Me Go, Rock 'n' Roll" is a song by the American hard rock band Kiss, released in 1974. It was released as the only single from the second album, Hotter Than Hell. Even though the song has failed to chart, it is now a staple in their live concert. The B-side was the album title track, "Hotter Than Hell"."Let Me Go, Rock 'n' Roll" is one of the most entertaining rockers in the Kiss catalog, a fun, fast tune that feels like a dry run for the pop-metal perfection of "Rock and Roll All Nite." Gene Simmons quickly penned the lyrics of this Hotter Than Hell highlight during a lunch break at his day job, and the results convey romantic excitement in a giddily incoherent fashion: "'Cause baby's got the feeling/Baby wants a show/Baby won't you tell me/Baby rock & roll, yeah, yeah!" These lyrics don't make a lot of sense, but they make convincing rock song fodder when sang to the song's melody, which pairs ascending verse melodies crafted in a rhythmic style to a freewheeling, singalong chorus that reaches for the sky. Kiss gives the song a tight arrangement on its recording of "Let Me Go, Rock 'n' Roll" that delivers plenty of firepower in a short time: after starting with a chugging rhythm guitar riff and a wild shout of "rock & roll!" the song cruises along on a relentless bass groove from Simmons that is spiced up by some wailing Ace Frehley guitar solos and a few tricky drum fills from Peter Criss. Despite its ambitious structure and preponderance of music frills, the whole thing comes to finish in just over two minutes. The finished song doesn't have the insidious hooks of "Rock and Roll All Nite," but its speedy blast of excitement served as a fine blueprint for that classic. "Let Me Go, Rock 'n' Roll" also became a live favorite for Kiss, usually functioning as a showpiece for Frehley's soloing skills and featuring a pre-finale pause where Criss would shout something like "Kiss loves you!" (This version can be found in all its arena-rocking glory on Alive!).
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The song is notable for being of one of few which had lyrics written before the music. It is based on a riff Paul Stanley had been working on.[1] It was demoed for inclusion on the debut album, but was left off. Despite not being included on the album, it was performed during Kiss Tour, which was in support of the album.
Kiss have played this song live since their early days and finished the encores until the American leg of the Destroyer Tour, where it was replaced by "Black Diamond" and later "Rock and Roll All Nite". It has remained a concert staple and has appeared on many of the band's compilations.
The original song title was "Baby, Let Me Go" but soon changed by producer Kenny Kerner to "Rock 'n' Roll" before finally being titled "Let Me Go, Rock 'n' Roll".[2] When being performed live, the song would be extended to near five minutes, due to the solos (guitar and bass), which make it really interesting to be listened on the stage(as heard on the Alive!).
It had been always played until the 1977 Love Gun Tour, where it was excluded but it soon came back for the Alive II and Dynasty tours. But from 1980 to 1995, The song was never played live and which disappointed the fans. It was returned to the set-list for the Reunion Tour. It was left out on the Rock the Nation Tour but returned on the Alive 35 Tour and has been played ever since.
"Let Me Go, Rock 'n' Roll" has appeared on following albums:
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