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Asylum (Kiss album)

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Asylum
Studio album by
Kiss
ReleasedSeptember 16, 1985 (1985-09-16)[1]
StudioElectric Lady and Right Track Recording, New York City
GenreGlam metal
Length38:50
LabelMercury
ProducerPaul Stanley, Gene Simmons
Kiss chronology
Animalize
(1984) 		Asylum
(1985) 		Crazy Nights
(1987)
Singles from Asylum
  1. "Tears Are Falling"
    Released: September 9, 1985[1]

Asylum is the thirteenth studio album by American rock band Kiss, released on September 16, 1985. The album marked a continuation of the glam metal sound of the preceding album Animalize.[2]

Recording

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Asylum is the first album to feature lead guitarist Bruce Kulick as an official band member. Kulick had replaced former guitarist Mark St. John on two tracks on the previous album Animalize (1984), during the latter's absence due to reactive arthritis. Subsequently, Kulick filled St. John's spot on most segments of the Animalize tour. This new lineup of Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Eric Carr, and Kulick would last until Carr's death in November 1991, while Kulick would stay with the band until the reunion of the original lineup in 1996.[3]

The song "Love's a Deadly Weapon" credits Plasmatics members Rod Swenson and Wes Beech as it borrows heavily from their band's song "Party". The title and lyrics are however taken from a 1981 Kiss demo written by Paul Stanley that was officially released on the 40th Anniversary remaster of Creatures of the Night (1982).

Another Plasmatics member Jean Beauvoir is also credited as songwriter and plays bass on at least two songs.

Cover

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The album cover depicts the four band members with colored lips, mirroring the colors of the 1978 solo releases: red for Simmons, purple for Stanley, blue for Kulick (replacing Ace Frehley) and green for Carr (replacing Peter Criss). The placement of the band’s faces also mirrors 1979’s Dynasty cover: (clockwise from top left) Stanley, Simmons, Carr (replacing Criss), & Kulick (replacing Frehley). The artwork for the back cover is similarly stylised and colourful, depicting Kiss against a white background. The cover art of the remastered 1998 CD release of Asylum featured slightly altered, bolder colours than that of the original release.

Singles

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"Tears Are Falling" was the only track to be released for retail sales as a single and was a hit for the band, with the video, in particular, proving popular on MTV. A total of three music videos for the album were filmed on set in London, England, for the songs "Who Wants to Be Lonely", "Uh! All Night" and "Tears Are Falling".

Reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[4]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal7/10[5]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[6]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[7]

The album was certified Gold in November 1985 by the RIAA.[8]

Track listing

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All credits adapted from the original release.[9]

Side A
No.TitleWriter(s)Lead vocalsLength
1."King of the Mountain"Paul Stanley, Bruce Kulick, Desmond ChildStanley4:17
2."Any Way You Slice It"Gene Simmons, Howard RiceSimmons4:02
3."Who Wants to Be Lonely"Stanley, Child, Jean BeauvoirStanley4:01
4."Trial by Fire"Simmons, KulickSimmons3:25
5."I'm Alive"Stanley, Kulick, ChildStanley3:43
Side B
No.TitleWriter(s)Lead vocalsLength
6."Love's a Deadly Weapon"Stanley, Simmons, Rod Swenson, Wes BeechSimmons3:29
7."Tears Are Falling"StanleyStanley3:55
8."Secretly Cruel"SimmonsSimmons3:41
9."Radar for Love"Stanley, ChildStanley4:02
10."Uh! All Night"Stanley, Child, BeauvoirStanley4:01

Personnel

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Kiss
Additional musicians
Production
  • Dave Wittman – engineer, mixing
  • Ed Garcia, Ken Steiger – assistant engineers
  • George Marino – mastering at Sterling Sound, New York

Charts

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Chart (1985) Peak
position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[11] 89
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[12] 54
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[13] 34
Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts)[14] 1
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[15] 43
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[16] 18
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[17] 11
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[18] 3
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[19] 15
UK Albums (OCC)[20] 12
US Billboard 200[21] 20

Certifications

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Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[22] Gold 50,000^
United States (RIAA)[23] Gold 500,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

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  1. ^ a b "New Releases" (PDF). FMQB. September 6, 1985. p. 25. Retrieved April 5, 2023.
  2. ^ "Top 50 Glam Metal Albums". Metal Rules. Archived from the original on November 26, 2017. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
  3. ^ a b Saulnier, Jason (March 14, 2011). "Bruce Kulick Interview". Music Legends. Retrieved May 8, 2013.
  4. ^ Prato, Greg. "Kiss - Asylum review". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved July 25, 2022.
  5. ^ Popoff, Martin (November 1, 2005). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 2: The Eighties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 188. ISBN 978-1-89-495931-5.
  6. ^ Larkin, Colin (2006). Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 4 (4 ed.). Muze. p. 875. ISBN 978-0-19-531373-4.
  7. ^ "Kiss: Album Guide". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on June 27, 2011. Retrieved September 4, 2011.
  8. ^ "RIAA Gold & Platinum database". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved February 10, 2009.
  9. ^ Kiss (1985). Asylum (LP Sleeve). New York City, New York: Mercury Records. 826 099-1.
  10. ^ "Facebook". www.facebook.com.
  11. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  12. ^ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 0598". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved February 20, 2024.
  13. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Kiss – Asylum" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved February 20, 2024.
  14. ^ Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 166. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
  15. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Kiss – Asylum" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved February 20, 2024.
  16. ^ Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005 (in Japanese). Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
  17. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Kiss – Asylum". Hung Medien. Retrieved February 20, 2024.
  18. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Kiss – Asylum". Hung Medien. Retrieved February 20, 2024.
  19. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Kiss – Asylum". Hung Medien. Retrieved February 20, 2024.
  20. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved February 20, 2024.
  21. ^ "Kiss Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved February 20, 2024.
  22. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Kiss – Asylum". Music Canada.
  23. ^ "American album certifications – Kiss – Asylum". Recording Industry Association of America.
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