Description
Kiss – Animalize – 180 Gram Vinyl Record
Kiss’s Animalize, released on September 13, 1984, is a glam-metal-fueled shot of adrenaline that helped revitalize the band’s commercial fortunes during the height of the MTV era. As their twelfth studio album, Animalize finds Kiss leaning hard into the flashy, high-octane sound of 1980s hair metal, distancing themselves further from the theatrical hard rock of their 1970s heyday. With its slick production, fiery guitar solos, and arena-sized hooks, this record aimed directly at the mainstream rock audience of the time—and largely succeeded.
The album is best known for its hit single “Heaven’s on Fire,” a swaggering, sexed-up anthem that became a staple on rock radio and MTV. Featuring Paul Stanley’s soaring vocals and a chorus built for stadium sing-alongs, the track helped catapult Animalize into platinum-selling territory, marking a commercial comeback after the more lukewarm reception of 1982’s Creatures of the Night and 1983’s Lick It Up.
Musically, Animalize is brash and unapologetically over the top, loaded with fast-paced riffs, glam aesthetics, and the kind of lyrical content that revels in rock star excess—sex, rebellion, and fire metaphors galore. Songs like “Get All You Can Take,” “Thrills in the Night,” and “I’ve Had Enough (Into the Fire)” embody the overdriven, speed-fueled sound that dominated mid-’80s hard rock, full of shredded guitar licks and big, anthemic choruses.
One of the most significant behind-the-scenes shifts on Animalize was the departure of lead guitarist Vinnie Vincent, replaced by the virtuosic but short-lived Mark St. John. His technically precise, rapid-fire solos injected the album with even more speed and flash, though he would soon leave the band due to health issues (and reported personality clashes), making Animalize his only full-length studio appearance with Kiss.
Gene Simmons, meanwhile, had begun shifting his focus to outside interests, including acting and artist management, resulting in less songwriting and vocal contribution on this album compared to Stanley. This imbalance gave Animalize a more Stanley-centric tone, both musically and thematically, with Simmons’s songs like “Burn Bitch Burn” and “Lonely Is the Hunter” offering darker tones and a rawer vocal edge but less of the album’s defining energy.
Critically, Animalize received mixed reviews. Some praised it for adapting successfully to the glam metal trends of the day and helping reestablish Kiss’s commercial relevance. Others criticized the album for abandoning the band’s classic identity in favor of chasing the hair metal zeitgeist. But regardless of critical division, it worked: Animalize became Kiss’s biggest-selling album of the 1980s, and the band’s return to major radio play and sold-out arenas was undeniable.
In the broader context of Kiss’s discography, Animalize represents a key phase in the band’s evolution—a transitional moment between old-school hard rock and full-blown glam metal theatrics. While it may not carry the cultural weight of Destroyer or Love Gun, it played a crucial role in keeping Kiss alive and relevant during one of rock’s most image-driven and competitive decades.
First US vinyl pressing since 1985 editions!
Brand new, never played and still in the factory plastic sealed
Track Listing
I’ve Had Enough (Into The Fire)
Heaven’s On Fire
Burn Bitch Burn
Get All You Can Take
Lonely Is The Hunter
Under The Gun
Thrills In The Night
While The City Sleeps
Murder In High-Heels
