After 1976's Bob Ezrin-produced `<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Destroyer/dp/B000001EL3/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Destroyer</a>', it would have seemed a no-brainer for Kiss to record a soaring metal concept album. So, when the venture finally came to pass in 1981, I imagine a reteam with Alice Cooper's producer promised a match made in heaven. Unfortunately, with Kiss all over the place after their disco bubblegum musings with `<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Dynasty/dp/B000001ELL/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Dynasty</a>' and `<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Unmasked/dp/B000001ELN/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Unmasked</a>', and public and behind the scenes line-up changes, the final project - `Music from The Elder' - took its place as an unfortunate, if interesting and ambitious, misfire.

The problem with this album is that, rather than pick up where `Destroyer' left off and produce another soaringly energetic hard rock opus, it is infected with too much of the glossy pop stylings of the previous two albums and too many middle of the road leanings. It is heavy and serious in parts, while slight, comic-book-like and a bit dumb in others. It veers wildly from being complex to simplistic; thunderous to Disney-eque. Not only does it feel too planned and thought through, it never manages to be abandoned, which was the winning quality of `Destroyer' - and of successful rock in general. It always feels constrained by its ambitions, which in turn tends to give the unfortunate impression that the band's reach was beyond their abilities.

That is not to say that it is poor. Over half the songs on `The Elder' are very good. They just needed to aim for metal and energy, rather than portentous prog rock. Aside from Alice Cooper, Bob Ezrin had also produced Lou Reed's `Berlin' in 1973, which might account for Reed appearing as co-writer on a number of songs here. Former Brill Building contract songwriter, Tony Powers, is also a major co-writer. This hodge podge of creative input could have delivered big dividends, but it doesn't. This is most notable in Powers' `Odyssey'. Though it has a mythic quality, the Broadway-esque tone and emphasis on piano take it far away from anything Kiss had or ever would record. Despite being beautifully sung by Paul Stanley, it just isn't Kiss. Elsewhere, strings and choirs - things that worked on `Destroyer' - lend a suitable theatricality to proceedings, but weigh the album down.

None of the individual songs are terrible (a major achievement for Kiss!) In fact, some are outstanding. The yearning ballad, `A World Without Heroes', sung and co-written by Gene Simmons (with Stanley, Ezrin and Reed) is absolutely stunning. `The Oath', sung by Stanley, comes close to a `Destroyer' rocker, though is knee-capped by restrained production and an over-reliance on falsetto. `Just A Boy', again sung by Stanley, sounds like Kiss despite its medieval style and the bombastic `Under the Rose', complete with baritone choir, is durgey, heavy and powerful. Ace Frehley's songwriting (`Dark Light' and the instrumental `Escape from the Island') is relatively weak and stylistically out of place (maybe an indication of his disdain for the concept) and the final stab at recapturing `Rock and Roll All Nite' in the anthem, `I', is adequate and less embarrassing than incessant later attempts by the band to do so.

Dedication to a more rock/metal approach might have saved this record. As it stands it is sadly, seriously flawed but undeniably interesting - and far better than critics would have you believe.
After 1976's Bob Ezrin-produced `<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Destroyer/dp/B000001EL3/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt? ie=UTF8">Destroyer</a>', it would have seemed a no-brainer for Kiss to record a soaring metal concept album. So, when the venture finally came to pass in 1981, I imagine a reteam with Alice Cooper's producer promised a match made in heaven. Unfortunately, with Kiss all over the place after their disco bubblegum musings with `<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Dynasty/dp/B000001ELL/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt? ie=UTF8">Dynasty</a>' and `<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Unmasked/dp/B000001ELN/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt? ie=UTF8">Unmasked</a>', and public and behind the scenes line-up changes, the final project - `Music from The Elder' - took its place as an unfortunate, if interesting and ambitious, misfire. The problem with this album is that, rather than pick up where `Destroyer' left off and produce another soaringly energetic hard rock opus, it is infected with too much of the glossy pop stylings of the previous two albums and too many middle of the road leanings. It is heavy and serious in parts, while slight, comic-book-like and a bit dumb in others. It veers wildly from being complex to simplistic; thunderous to Disney-eque. Not only does it feel too planned and thought through, it never manages to be abandoned, which was the winning quality of `Destroyer' - and of successful rock in general. It always feels constrained by its ambitions, which in turn tends to give the unfortunate impression that the band's reach was beyond their abilities. That is not to say that it is poor. Over half the songs on `The Elder' are very good. They just needed to aim for metal and energy, rather than portentous prog rock. Aside from Alice Cooper, Bob Ezrin had also produced Lou Reed's `Berlin' in 1973, which might account for Reed appearing as co-writer on a number of songs here. Former Brill Building contract songwriter, Tony Powers, is also a major co-writer. This hodge podge of creative input could have delivered big dividends, but it doesn't. This is most notable in Powers' `Odyssey'. Though it has a mythic quality, the Broadway-esque tone and emphasis on piano take it far away from anything Kiss had or ever would record. Despite being beautifully sung by Paul Stanley, it just isn't Kiss. Elsewhere, strings and choirs - things that worked on `Destroyer' - lend a suitable theatricality to proceedings, but weigh the album down. None of the individual songs are terrible (a major achievement for Kiss! ) In fact, some are outstanding. The yearning ballad, `A World Without Heroes', sung and co-written by Gene Simmons (with Stanley, Ezrin and Reed) is absolutely stunning. `The Oath', sung by Stanley, comes close to a `Destroyer' rocker, though is knee-capped by restrained production and an over-reliance on falsetto. `Just A Boy', again sung by Stanley, sounds like Kiss despite its medieval style and the bombastic `Under the Rose', complete with baritone choir, is durgey, heavy and powerful. Ace Frehley's songwriting (`Dark Light' and the instrumental `Escape from the Island') is relatively weak and stylistically out of place (maybe an indication of his disdain for the concept) and the final stab at recapturing `Rock and Roll All Nite' in the anthem, `I', is adequate and less embarrassing than incessant later attempts by the band to do so. Dedication to a more rock/metal approach might have saved this record. As it stands it is sadly, seriously flawed but undeniably interesting - and far better than critics would have you believe.