FROM THE CRYPTS - CELEBRATING PAST ALBUM RELEASES in the HISTORY of HARD ROCK & HEAVY METAL…
Released 25 years ago today! Were you/are you a fan of this release by the “Hottest Band In The World” or did it make you feel as cold as ice?
On October 28, 1997, KIϟϟ released their seventeenth full-length studio album Carnival of Souls: The Final Sessions (also known as simply Carnival of Souls) via Mercury/Polygram Records.
It is the band's final album with lead guitarist Bruce Kulick, as well as their last album with drummer Eric Singer until 2009's Sonic Boom. The album is a departure from the band's classic Hard Rock style, in favor of a dark and dense Grunge-oriented sound. It is also the band's last album of their unmasked era.
Background:
The album was recorded between late 1995 and early 1996, but KIϟϟ cancelled its release after committing to a reunion tour with the band's original lineup. Bootleg copies were circulated by fans, prompting the band to officially release the material in 1997 under the title Carnival of Souls: The Final Sessions. According to guitarist Bruce Kulick, the bootleg versions in distribution lacked songs that are part of the official release. There was no accompanying tour to support the album, and none of the songs on Carnival of Souls have ever been performed live by KIϟϟ.
Two former members of the band Black 'N Blue co-wrote songs on Carnival of Souls; vocalist Jaime St. James co-wrote In My Head, and guitarist Tommy Thayer collaborated on Childhood's End. Thayer would join KIϟϟ as the band's permanent lead guitarist in 2002. The album's closing track, I Walk Alone, features lead vocals from the band's then-lead guitarist Bruce Kulick, his only lead vocal performance with the band. Carnival of Souls is the band's longest album, clocking in at 60 minutes and 11 seconds.
Critical Reception:
Guitarist Bruce Kulick wrote at his official website that Carnival of Souls had "people equally vocal about it being their favorite KIϟϟ CD or thinking it's the worst KIϟϟ album ever".
In his review, AllMusic’s Stephen Thomas Erlewine stated; “Before Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley reunited with Ace Frehley and Peter Criss, they recorded Carnival of Souls with guitarist Bruce Kulick and drummer Eric Singer, intending to release the record either in late 1995 or early 1996. Once the reunion took off, Carnival of Souls was shelved and Kulick and Singer were unceremoniously given their walking papers, the final chapter of their history erased from public record. Unsurprisingly, the unreleased album became a hot bootleg in collector's circles, paving the way for its official release in the fall of 1997. In some ways, it should have stayed unreleased, since Carnival of Souls hardly captures KIϟϟ at their best. None of the songs, either the predictable rockers or the by-the-book power ballads, stand out, and the music sounds canned, forced, and over-produced, with little of the self-deprecating humor that made the comeback tour a success. Only the dedicated -- who probably already own it on bootleg -- will have the patience to wade through the record to find the few minor items of worth.”
The album reached No. 27 on Billboard charts and the only single released from the album, Jungle, made No. 8 on the US Mainstream Rock (chart). No music video was made to promote the single, which later won a 1997 Metal Edge Readers' Choice Award for Song of the Year.
Note: The reviews shared here are for historical reference. The views and opinions expressed within are not always supported (in full or in part) by Into the Wells. — E.N. Wells
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