Kiss – If It’s Too Loud You’re Too Old (Godfather Records GR631/632)

If It’s Too Loud You’re Too Old (Godfather Records GR631/632)

Forum De Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada – January 13th, 1983

Disc 1 (46:00) Creatures Of The Night, Detroit Rock City, Calling Dr. Love, Firehouse, Guitar Solo Paul Stanley, I Want You, Guitar Solo Vinnie Vincent, I Love It Loud, Cold Gin, Bass Solo Gene Simmons

Disc 2 (68:35) God Of Thunder, Love Gun, Drum Solo Eric Carr, War Machine, I Still Love You, Shout It Loud, Black Diamond, Rock And Roll All Nite BONUS TRACKS; Keep Me Coming (Sioux City Iowa 12/30/1982) Strutter, I Love It Loud, Rock And Roll Hell (Rockford Illinois 12/31/1982) It’s My Life, Not For The Innocent (Unreleased tracks 1982)

With the commercial flop that was Music From The Elder the band needed a return to form.  The beginning came with a non-US issue best of release, Killers, that featured four new tracks. With that momentum they started working with guitarist Vincent Cusano aka Vinnie Vincent and the results was arguably the heaviest record the band would release, Creature Of The Night. Unfortunately the record did not do much in sales since the damage done by the below average releases in the late 70’s and early 80’s and the over all market saturation. With two original members out of the band KISS began a tour to support the record, the last to feature the band in full make up until the reunion tour in 1995-96.

The recording used to here is a very good, slightly distant recording with virtually no crowd interference around the recorder and is a joy to listen to. After the last GF Release of the Wembley 1980 show I figured what could be better ? I was in for a surprise and when I put on the aptly named set and turned it up I found myself immediately drawn into the excellent performance. Opening with a double salvo of Creatures Of The Night and Detroit Rock City the band is pumping on all cylinders. The great thing about this short lived line up of KISS is the fact that the band lets Vinnie play the solo’s how he wanted to as opposed to keeping with the familiar themes used by Ace and copied by the other guitar players. It gives the material a freshness and vitality that was sorely needed.

The classics keep coming, Calling Dr Love and Firehouse get the crowd into the show, Paul plays a nice solo that leads into I Want You, one of the more interesting choices from the back catalog. The song leads directly into Vinnies solo, his style being much more similar to current players like Rhoads and Van Halen who were all the rage. Paul brings the song to a close after a brief call and response with the audience of I Want….YOU!. If a song was to represent the KISS fan then the next track is your war cry, I Love It Loud. A ultra heavy song I remember watching it on MTV and thinking how great it was. Built for the concert stage the band levels the crowd who are really into it singing in tandem with Gene during the AYAYAAH parts. Cold Gin and Gene’s bass solo round out the first cd.

God of Thunder open the second cd in excellent fashion, Eric Carr nails the drumming patterns, there is a small cut at 1:30 that does not lose much music. Vinnie solo is great too, capturing the evil nature of the song. Paul starts a great rap about going through airport security and being searched by a female security guard and she finds he is carrying a Love Gun. A classic in every sense the song has a place in every KISS concert.

Eric Carrs drum solo is next, with the opening sounds of a moving tank (his drum riser was a tank, see KISSology 2 for visual reference, and he proceeds to pound the hell out of the drums for the next 6 minutes leading directly into a HEAVY War Machine (you can here the explosions at the beginning), the song has a great groove and is my favorite track from the album.  I Still Love You is the last of the new songs, with a slower tempo and heavy majestic drumming from Eric Carr the song is great live and Paul sings a great emotional lyric, there is a drop out at 1:34 to 1:42 as if the taper was doing something with the recorder / microphones.

Shout It Out Loud and Black Diamond finish off the main set, Eric Carr does a great job with vocals on Black Diamond, he was such a huge part to KISS in the 80’s. Rock and Roll All Nite is the encore and by this time the frenzied audience is clambering on the seat backs / bottoms in their approval for KISS.

The bonus material starts with songs from the Creatures played on tour, the first being Keep Me Coming recorded in Sioux City. The recording is poor, distorted and overloaded but amazingly it can be enjoyed as an historical document. The next three songs are from the next night, New Years Eve in Rockford, Il. and it is great to have live versions of both Strutter and Rock And Roll Hell in very good quality from this short lived line up. The last two songs are studio outtakes, The first Its My Life is a simple and upbeat song about doing what you want that dates back as early as The Elder project. The last is an early attempt at Not For The Innocent, a song that would find a spot on Lick It Up.

The packaging is excellent, photos from the era and great liner notes coupled with an excellent performance from an era that is represented by only a very small amount of bootlegs make this silver released show essential. Again Godfathers give us, the collectors, something to SHOUT OUT LOUD ABOUT !