Asylum (Kiss album)

Asylum
Studio album by Kiss
Released September 16, 1985
Recorded June – July 1985, Electric Lady Studios, Right Track Studios, New York City
Genre Glam metal, hard rock, heavy metal
Length 38:50
Label Mercury
Vertigo (Europe)
Producer Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons
Kiss chronology

Animalize
(1984)		 Asylum
(1985)		 Crazy Nights
(1987)
Singles from Asylum
  1. "Tears Are Falling"
    Released: September 16, 1985

Asylum is the thirteenth studio album by the American rock band Kiss. It features the debut of lead guitarist Bruce Kulick, who played on Animalize (ghost guitarist for "Lonely Is The Hunter"), and filled in for guitarist Mark St. John (Mark Norton) for their European and American Animalize tour, and officially replaced Mark St. John in December 1984. He was the band's third lead guitarist since the departure of Ace Frehley in late 1982.[1] The new lineup of Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Eric Carr, and Bruce Kulick would last for six years until Carr's death in November 1991. Stylistically, Asylum went to a light glam rock sound (although not as light as its successor) and is considered the first in a trilogy of Kiss albums along with Crazy Nights and Hot in the Shade, in contrast to the heavy rock of the previous three albums, Creatures of the Night, Lick It Up, and Animalize.

Album information

The color of the lips on the sleeve mimic the colors of the 1978 solo releases: red for Simmons, purple for Stanley, blue for the lead guitarist (Kulick here, not Frehley) and green for the drummer (Carr here, not Peter Criss). The tour for the album featured the largest Kiss logo on stage the band has ever used, as well as one of the largest lighting rigs. No concert footage of the tour was used in the Kissology II release, bar silent film that is overshadowed by graphics in the menu.

The three music videos for the album were filmed on set in London, England, for the songs "Who Wants to Be Lonely", "Uh! All Night" and "Tears Are Falling". Only "Tears Are Falling" was released for retail sales as a single. It is the only song on the album that has been played regularly in live performances. However, like many Kiss songs of the mid-80s, it was rarely played live after the reunion of the original lineup, although it would be resurrected in the band's set list during their 2004 Rock the Nation Tour.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Metal Nightfall [2]
Vista Records [3]
Allmusic [4]
Rolling Stone [5]

Fan reaction to Asylum was mixed. The album was certified Gold in November, 1985 by the RIAA .[6] Asylum sold over 1.5 million copies, but never was recertified for the Platinum award. The Kiss Remasters seem to confirm this as it states that Asylum is one of the four albums that were certified Platinum in a row. Evidently, there is a RIAA Platinum award for this album, but the entry was never updated in the database. Until the RIAA confirms this, it remains only Gold.

Track listing

No. TitleWriter(s)Lead vocals Length
1. "King of the Mountain"  Paul Stanley, Bruce Kulick, Desmond ChildStanley 4:17
2. "Any Way You Slice It"  Gene Simmons, Howard RiceSimmons 4:02
3. "Who Wants to Be Lonely"  Stanley, Child, Jean BeauvoirStanley 4:01
4. "Trial By Fire"  Simmons, KulickSimmons 3:25
5. "I'm Alive"  Stanley, Kulick, ChildStanley 3:43
6. "Love's a Deadly Weapon"  Stanley, Simmons, Rod Swenson, Wes BeechSimmons 3:29
7. "Tears Are Falling"  StanleyStanley 3:55
8. "Secretly Cruel"  SimmonsSimmons 3:41
9. "Radar for Love"  Stanley, ChildStanley 4:02
10. "Uh! All Night"  Stanley, Child, BeauvoirStanley 4:01

Credits

With:

Charts

Chart (1985) Peak
position
Australian Albums Chart[8] 89
Canadian Albums Chart[9] 20
Dutch Albums Chart[10] 34
Finnish Albums Chart[11] 1
German Albums Chart[10] 43
Norwegian Albums Chart[10] 11
Swedish Albums Chart[10] 3
Swiss Albums Chart[10] 15
UK Albums Chart[12] 12
US Billboard Pop Albums[13] 20

Singles – Billboard (North America)

Year Chart Single Position
1985 Mainstream Rock "Tears Are Falling" 20[14]
Billboard Hot 100 "Tears Are Falling" 51[15]

Single – UK Singles Chart (United Kingdom)

Year Chart Single Position
1985 UK Singles Chart "Tears Are Falling" 57[16]

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Canada (Music Canada)[17] Gold 50,000^
United States (RIAA)[6] Platinum 1,000,000^

^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

  1. ↑ "AllMusic Asylum review". Retrieved February 10, 2009.
  2. ↑ "KISS : ASYLUM (1985)" (in French). Metal.nightfall.fr. Archived from the original on July 22, 2011. Retrieved August 7, 2011.
  3. ↑ "VISTA RECORDS – KISS – Asylum (1985)". Vistarecords.proboards.com. March 28, 2010. Archived from the original on July 24, 2011. Retrieved August 7, 2011.
  4. ↑ Asylum (Kiss album) at AllMusic
  5. ↑ "Kiss: Album Guide | Rolling Stone Music". Rolling Stone. Retrieved August 7, 2011.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "American album certifications – Kiss – Asylum". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
  7. ↑ Saulnier, Jason (14 March 2011). "Bruce Kulick Interview". Music Legends. Retrieved 8 May 2013.
  8. ↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  9. ↑ "Search - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". collectionscanada.gc.ca. Retrieved 9 August 2011.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 http://swisscharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=KISS&titel=Asylum&cat=a
  11. ↑ Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin - levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 263. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
  12. ↑ http://www.officialcharts.com/artist/_/kiss/
  13. ↑ "Kiss Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums" at AllMusic. Retrieved February 11, 2010.
  14. ↑ "Billboard chart history-Kiss singles". Retrieved February 10, 2009.
  15. ↑ "Song information "Tears Are Falling"". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Archived from the original on August 26, 2009. Retrieved August 20, 2009.
  16. ↑ "The Official Charts Company". Retrieved May 23, 2010.
  17. ↑ "Canadian album certifications – Kiss – Asylum". Music Canada.