Music ❤ Letters

I heard it the following year, and it’s most likely the very first KISS song I clearly remember. At the age of 9 or 10, I liked only this track — the rest of the album felt boring. In 1984 KISS released Animalize, which I enjoyed much more, and in 1985 came Asylum, my then-favorite.

Over the next 40 years my taste evolved, and these days I’d call Asylum “just” okay. Instead, I’ve grown to love Lick It Up as well as its predecessor Creatures of the Night. Honestly, those two are pretty much the only KISS albums I still enjoy.

That said, KISS lyrics aren’t exactly rocket science. They’re 90% cheesy, testosterone-fueled relics of their era. But credit where it’s due: Stanley and Simmons sure knew how to write insanely catchy songs that anyone could sing along to — even if English wasn’t your first language. There must be a reason Lick It Up hooked me at age 9, instead of, say, Slayer’s The Antichrist from Show No Mercy (also 1983). And Lick It Up isn’t even the cheesiest of the bunch. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still one of my favorite KISS songs.

Speaking of cheesy, the actual music video for Lick It Up. Damn, I ain’t gonna link it here. I’ll link to their 1984 “live” performance instead, it’s more fast-tempo than the original and is actually quite entertaining. And I’ll add one extra image while at it, of a golden Acton-piece I painted in 2013. Because it has a miniature Lick It Up lettering.