KISS-Dynasty

1979

I remember a time long ago when I would get excited about any picture I would see with KISS in make-up including this cover. That view has changed over the years partially due to me notting listening to KISS as much and almost certainly partially due to the steady reunions and whoring of their products. So now over the last 15 years or so seeing KISS in make-up on every product possible has been a regular occurance. Some make-up covers like Dressed to kill and Destroyer still hold up pretty well. However Dynasty's cover hasn't quite stood the test of time. Sure, seeing four ugly guys in this make-up is better than seeing them out of make-up. So that thinking alone makes this better than most of their 80's albums covers. Still it's really just their four faces sitting there with a border, the logo and album title around them. Not bad, but nothing special.

KISS and Manowar

Here is KISS-Destroyer from 1976.




Here is Manowar-Fighting the world from 1987.



Both were done by fantasy artist Ken Kelly. So my question is was the Manowar cover done just because they wanted to be like KISS or was Kelly running out of ideas so he "borrowed" from his previous work? I have no idea. Maybe it doesn't matter. Both have a high cheese content, but the KISS cover works better for me. To me their cover says "we are goofy and over the top, but we know it". While Manowar's cover seems to be saying "we are very manly men even though we have long hair, shaved chests and custom made leather outfits". I guess it's all in the eye of the beholder though.

Mighty Mighty Bosstones/Kiss - Detroit Rock City 7"

The Bosstones always had the ability to mix the serious and the silly, but I don't think they bothered with anything serious here. The front cover features the Bosstones in Kiss makeup to correspond with their cover of "Detroit Rock City."

The back cover features Paul and Gene from the Dressed to Kill cover with plaid suits superimposed. The B-side is Kiss' original version.