Additional information
Kiss: Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Eric Carr, Vinnie Vincent. Engineers: Frank Filipetti, Rob Freeman. Producers: Gene Simmons, Michael James Jackson, Paul Stanley. Recorded at Right Track Studio and The Record Plant, New York, New York. Includes liner notes by Robert V. Conte. Digitally remastered by Joseph M. Palmaccio (Sterling Sound, New York, New York). September 18, 1983 is a day that will go down in Kisstory. It was then that Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, and replacement members Vinnie Vincent and Eric Carr took off their signature makeup and revealed themselves on MTV. LICK IT UP was released, and a new chapter unfolded. Using the same production team as CREATURES OF THE NIGHT, Michael James Jackson, Simmons and Stanley came up with the same bone crunching sound as CREATURES, but with a slightly more polished feel. "Exciter" kicks off the album with a machine gun riff, which leads into Gene Simmons proclaiming he's "Not For The Innocent". The title track was a modest hit in the U.S., faired better in the U.K. and made for quite an entertaining video. "All Hell's Breakin' Loose" is a gritty streetwise track where Paul Stanley actually raps! "And On The 8th Day" is a powerful anthem that closes an exciting album. With Vinnie Vincent's expert guitar playing and songwriting abilities (he co-wrote 8 out of the 10 tracks) and Eric Carr's powerful backbeat, LICK IT UP proves that behind all the explosions and firebreathing, the band can deliver the goods musically.
