Review Summary: That infamous disco period. But don't let that make you miss the few gems here.
Following 6 pretty decent quality studio albums, a legendary live effort and the beginning of an unprecedented commercial empire, things were looking rather peachy in camp KISS. The following years however would prove to be a very unusual period in the bands history. 1978 saw the release of a solo effort from each band member; all four sporting the protagonist's portrait on a black background with a different glowing colour for each, but all showcasing a differing musical side to each other. These solo albums didn't get the huge reception that was hoped for however and the band would get called into the studio for their seventh studio record, the infamous
Dynasty.
Anyone with an interest in hard rock music is likely to have heard of
Dynasty, and more importantly why it is...one of the least favourite for fans in the KISS back catalogue, summarised by one word, 'DISCO'. With the popularity of disco music being at a peak in this period of time, and with Gene Simmons being a fan and not one to miss a commercial opportunity, this would be a sound that KISS would try out here on 'I Was Made For Lovin' You' to a very mixed response. Whilst it was a big hit and made the album a chart success, but at a cost of alienating much of their fan base. Also with KISS' commercialisation including comics and a supposedly terrible TV movie (I haven't seen it, and I don't plan to), KISS were were growing an increasingly youthful fan base, so KISS took to this part of the fan base by playing more pop metal than the heavy metal approach of the first six albums. Not a move that went down to well with many of their fans or the critics, who near universally slated the album for its poppier approach, it's blatant attempt at commercial success perhaps at the cost of the fans who put them in the position in the first place, and of course the majority of the album being simply poor.
32 years on from it's initial release is
Dynasty worth revisiting at all? Not entirely it has to be said, it is not even close to being being a near perfect collection of hard rocking anthems like
Rock And Roll Over or
Destroyer, even the mediocre
Dressed To Kill remains stronger than
Dynasty, but there are some gems that are definitely worth checking out. The album opens with that disco song 'I Was Made For Lovin' You' and this is certainly the stand out song here, for both wrong and right reasons. In 2011 the fact that it is a disco song doesn't nearly grate as much as it must have done upon its release and it is insanely catchy and Paul Stanley's lead vocals and range are very impressive here, even if the chorus is dreadful and could have been written by a school music project. There is a Rolling Stones cover here, '2000 Man' and this would have been a very strong song if it wasn't for the 4:55 life span as it soon becomes dull before it's end.
Some of the lesser known songs however are definitely worth revisiting however. 'Sure Know Something' is incredibly simple but is very fun and will have you tapping your feet and humming a long for hours on end if nothing else and is the best song on the album with its simple but catchy opening bass line. 'Dirty Livin' is probably the least 'PG' song on the album and the closest here to their past glories and is worth a listen and 'Hard Times' is one of the best Ace Frehley sung songs in the KISS arsenal (ok there aren't many but still). Otherwise the rest of the album is very poor. 'X-Ray Eyes' is very forgettable and seems to be the most obvious example of being for the kids with lyrics that sound like a super hero character, whilst 'Charisma' and album closer 'Save Your Love' are better off forgotten. This is still an undeniably poor album, but there are some gems on show here, and besides KISS would make A LOT WORSE in the coming years.
Recommended: I Was Made For Lovin' You, Sure Know Something, Hard Times
. Yeah 2-3 good songs, which is more than it is normally given credit for but also pretty poor showing. Thanks for the pos mate 
