The Archivist: The Enjoyable Misstep. 1981-1982

One of the most controversial and arguably most interesting periods in KISS' history is the 1981-1982 period. A musically transitional phase and experimental in look and concept. It marked a steep drop in popularity, particularly in the USA, though certain quarters around the world still had high regard for the band and in some ways the "(Music From) The Elder" further cemented that. Other folks just thought the change in look and sound proved the band had lost the plot.

For me, it is possibly my favorite period and here's why I think that is. Firstly I think that I was the right age at the right time. I was 10 years old and had just the year before, seen the band live for the first time. Interested in the mystical/adventure/medieval/sci-fi kinda thing fitted in well with the "The Elder" mythos. Also in the the scheme of things I hadn't been a fan for very long, since mid 1978. In the end, I don't think this meant I was any 'less' a fan, in fact at that time I was pretty obsessed. But being in Australia at that time meant KISS were fairly unknown to the mainstream until around 1979. So I wasn't really aware of the somewhat conservative notions or "rules" about what KISS could and couldn't do with their sound, look or career as by the time of their first Australian tour their sound and look had already evolved (or devolved depending on your point of view. I had recently discovered "Destroyer" and the sound on "The Elder" was not that big of a stretch (thanks to Ezrin's involvement). I know KISS themselves have continually gone on record as saying this was a giant misstep and a career low. It's hard to disagree with the band from a sales point of view. To a fan who liked the album it was a high point. Just a difference of opinion. It's also interesting to note that a lot of fans were very pleased that we got something at all. Australia and I suspect other parts of the world had embraced Eric Carr as a bona fide member of the band before and during the 1980 tour. So we were all looking forward to Carr's contribution on vinyl, ( was pleased to see he made some songwriting contributions too). It could be said that despite some peoples misgivings about "The Elder", there seemed to be much more of a band dynamic in the writing, jamming and recording of "The Elder" than the previous two albums, Ace's reluctance not withstanding.

There were also rumors floating around that not only were KISS considering shedding the makeup, but also on the verge of splitting up. These two rumors will be covered in the first scanned article below. These are all articles I collected at the time and a few since. The majority of them are from American magazines, but all are named where possible. '16' was quite a superficial magazine, but it seemed to be quiet supportive of KISS generally and covered quite a bit of this period.
Please click on the images to see them full size. Enjoy!

Rumors! Not sure what the fans thought they could do by writing these letters, but anyway.
'16' Magazine USA. Circa Early 1981

Aftermath of the Aussie tour. 'The Australian' Newspaper circa early 1981

'16' Magazine USA Circa Nov' 1981

'16' Magazine USA Circa Nov/Dec 1981

Evidence that KISS were becoming less concerned about appearing unmasked in public.
With a very young Tom Cruise, Paul almost caught. '16' Magazine USA. December 1981

And caught! At the time I'd only seen one other shot of a KISS member sans makeup (again Paul).
So this was a bit of a shock in 1981. 'New Idea' Magazine Australia. December 1981

A slightly odd photo of Peter with his new family. 'Rockline' Magazine USA. Dec 1981

Review of 'The Elder'. 'Cleo' Magazine (my mums!) Australia. Dec 1981.

'Rockline' Magazine USA. December 1981

First 2 pages of a 4 page article on KISS and the new look. '16' Magazine USA. January 1982

Last 2 pages of above article.

A desperate attempt to get folks to listen to this record?
If my calculations are correct, the album had already been out for about 3 months.
'16' Magazine USA. February 1982.