’70s Kiss was the best Kiss. Of this there can be no doubt.

The face-paint wearing group released seven studio albums in a six-year span, quickly advancing from unknowns to underground sensations to arena headliners. Here are the songs that helped them do it:

30. “Hard Luck Woman”
From: Rock and Roll Over (1976)

Kiss weren’t fully thrilled with the highly polished sonics of the Bob Ezrin-produced Destroyer. So their next album, Rock and Roll Over, featured a more stripped-down sound. But the group was wise enough to include the country-tinged ballad “Hard Luck Woman” as a follow-up to the left field success of Destroyer‘s hit single “Beth.”

In an early example of his genre-hopping songwriting abilities, Paul Stanley wrote the song with the intention of giving it to Rod Stewart, until Peter Criss stepped in. “I said, ‘Hey F—-o, how about me?,” the drummer recalled in the book Kiss: Behind the Mask. “F— Rod Stewart, I’ll sing the s— out of it.”

 

29. “Rocket Ride”
From: Alive II (1977)

Although he co-wrote early Kiss classics such as “Parasite” and “Cold Gin,” lead guitarist Ace Frehley wasn’t confident enough to handle lead vocal duties before debuting with “Shock Me” from their sixth album, 1977’s Love Gun.

He followed that up quickly with the phaser-heavy “Rocket Ride” from Alive II‘s studio side, which naturally featured an outer space theme and an extended guitar solo. After hearing those two songs, it’s less of a surprise that Frehley’s 1978 solo album was the better than the ones recorded by his bandmates.

 

28. “Rock Bottom”
From: Dressed to Kill (1975)

Think of this Dressed to Kill gem as Stanley and Frehley’s own version of Ike and Tina Turner’s “Proud Mary,” with a delicate instrumental opening that abruptly switches to something much heavier. “Are we ready? It’s gonna get rough…” Stanley would declare before launching into the main riff during concerts.

 

27. “Larger Than Life”
From: Alive II (1977)

Gene Simmons‘ always high sense of self-worth seems to have been at a near-historic peak during the writing and recording of this particularly boastful Alive II studio track. Luckily the music backs him up, particularly the smoking lead guitar work from Bob Kulick, who secretly filled in for an AWOL Ace Frehley during the recording sessions.

 

26. “Almost Human”
From: Love Gun (1977)

Simmons’ throbbing bass line gives this underappreciated Love Gun song’s sinister groove extra muscle. The lyrics find our favorite fire-breathing demon transformed into a love-hungry werewolf by the power of the full moon.

 

25. “I Was Made for Lovin’ You”
From: Dynasty (1979)

As much as Simmons likes to make fun of it, Paul Stanley’s “I Was Made for Lovin’ You” is a great disco-rock song, further proof of his ability to work well outside of the band’s usual territory, and a very deserving hit.

The problem was, unlike when Van Halen broke new ground with 1984‘s keyboard-heavy “Jump,” then surrounded it with A+ rockers like “Panama” and “Hot for Teacher,” the rest of Dynasty was mostly limp pop-rock.

 

24. “Christine Sixteen”
From: Love Gun (1977)

Isn’t it amazing how an infectious pop hook and a tinkling piano can brighten up even the most problematic lyrics? Fun fact: Eddie and Alex Van Halen helped Gene Simmons record the song’s original demo. That recording can be heard on Simmons’ Vault box set.

 

23. “Firehouse”
From: Kiss (1974)

For a song written by Paul Stanley in high school, “Firehouse” has served Kiss pretty well. The Stones-styled riff rocker lends itself particularly well to the band’s life shows, with the singer donning a fireman’s hat as sirens and lights fill the arena. Not one to be outshined, this is often the song where Simmons does his famous fire-breathing trick.

 

22. “Take Me”
From: Rock and Roll Over (1976)

Red hot riff? Check! Lyrics that are so unabashedly oversexed they actually transcend and undermine any attempt at mockery? Ah-Ah-Ah-Ah-Yeah!

 

21. “Parasite” 
From: Hotter Than Hell (1974)

Written by Ace Frehley, “Parasite” is one of the fastest, heaviest songs in Kiss’ catalog, one you can easily picture getting covered by Metallica. As mentioned above, Frehley wasn’t ready to handle lead vocals while the band was recording Hotter Than Hell, so he turned the job over to Simmons.

Over four decades later, Frehley reclaimed “Parasite” with a particularly thrashy new version on his 2016 album Origins, Vol. 1.

 

Read More: Kiss Band Member Power Rankings

20. “Comin’ Home”
From: Hotter Than Hell (1974)

Once again proving themselves an excellent songwriting team, Frehley and Stanley paired up on “Comin’ Home,” one of Kiss’ most underrated and unexpectedly wholesome songs. The result sounds like a fuzzier version of an upbeat early-era Beatles love song, and (unlike “Layla”) might be just as good in acoustic form.

 

19. “Hotter Than Hell”
From: Hotter Than Hell (1974)

Admittedly heavily inspired by Free‘s classic “All Right Now” – with a dose of Sabbath added to the extended coda – Stanley shares a rare tale of romantic rejection of on the title track to 1974’s Hotter Than Hell. People talk a lot of smack about the lo-fi production values of this album, but it adds more to the exotic nature of these songs than it takes away.

 

18. “Calling Dr. Love”
From: Rock and Roll Over (1976)

Using a title inspired by a Three Stooges episode, Simmons takes a playful swipe at his bandmate Paul Stanley’s songwriting style. It worked better than expected, with “Calling Dr. Love” landing at No. 16 – a career peak for a Simmons-led single – and becoming a near-permanent addition to the band’s live sets.

 

17. “Black Diamond”
From: Kiss (1974)

“Black Diamond,” a slow-building portrait of the life of a street prostitute, might be the closest thing Kiss has to a “Stairway to Heaven.” Stanley, who wrote the song, handles lead vocals on the acoustic intro then turns the microphone over to Criss.

The track was covered by indie rock darlings the Replacements on their 1984 album Let It Be, and quickly became the default closing song for Kiss’ main sets, concluding with levitating drums and a massive fireworks display.

 

16. “She”
From: Dressed to Kill (1975)

Kiss released their first three studio albums in thirteen and a half months, while maintaining a near-constant touring schedule. Dressed to Kill was the last of that trilogy, and to put it kindly, the strain of coming up with new material so fast definitely shows.

But it did give Simmons a chance to dust off some forgotten gold in the form of “She,” from he and Stanley’s pre-Kiss days in the group Wicked Lester. Their former band’s version of the song included Jethro Tull-style flutes and bongos, but Kiss wisely stripped it down to its primal form for their debut album.

 

15. “Rock and Roll All Nite” 
From: Dressed to Kill (1975)

Some of you are going to be mad this isn’t ranked higher. Here’s the counter-argument: While “Rock and Roll All Nite” is a very catchy song and clearly the one that caught on the most with the world at large, it’s not the best example of what makes Kiss unique.

 

14. “Do You Love Me”
From: Destroyer (1976)

“Do You Love Me” offers one of the clearest examples of all the good Bob Ezrin brought to the Destroyer sessions. With songwriting help from producer and Runaways manager Kim Fowley, Stanley adds depth and pop smarts to the band’s earlier sound, and maturity and melancholy to the lyrics. It’s even better live, thanks to that gorgeous instrumental ending.

 

13. “Sure Know Something” 
From: Dynasty (1979)

As you can see in the song’s official video, the moody disco-era ballad “Sure Know Something” didn’t exactly fit with Kiss’ established image. But it’s yet another example of Stanley’s increasingly mature and ambitious songwriting skills, and features a killer chorus that should have earned it a much higher spot on the charts and in fans’ hearts.

 

12. “Strange Ways”
From: Hotter Than Hell (1974)

Once again turning lead vocal duties over to a bandmate (Criss this time), Frehley unleashes a staggeringly heavy and trippy closing number to Hotter Than Hell, capping it off with a psychedelic guitar solo that shows off his undying love for Jimi Hendrix.

 

11. “Makin’ Love”
From: Rock and Roll Over (1976)

Stanley gets his Zeppelin on with the barrelling closing track on Rock and Roll Over. The song got even better on Alive II, as the Starchild mirrors the Page / Plant dynamic with a particularly amped-up Frehley.

 

10. “Shock Me”
From: Love Gun (1977)

It took a near-death experience to convince Ace Frehley to sing lead vocals. The guitarist was electrocuted onstage during a December 1976 Kiss concert, but luckily broke the circuit and survived the incident.

After his bandmates suggested he write a song about the misadventure, Frehley delivered an instant classic full of great guitar playing, his trademark off-kilter humor and tons of Keith Richards-style swagger.

 

9. “God of Thunder”
From: Destroyer (1976)

Although Stanley was initially “devastated” when Ezrin took “God of Thunder” – one of his planned Destroyer contributions – and handed it over to Simmons, he soon saw the wisdom of the plan.

“In hindsight, it couldn’t have been a better move,” he told USA Today in 2021. “It’s such a character-defining song for Gene, and he did it so great. Sometimes you’re lucky to be so wrong.”

Indeed, the sludgy, stomping “God of Thunder” is the perfect fit for Simmons’ demon character, typically serving as the soundtrack to his spotlight blood-spitting, flying into the rafters concert segment. Stanley’s more upbeat, romance-laced version eventually turned up on Kiss’ 2001 box set.

 

8. “I Want You”
From: Rock and Roll Over (1976)

Stanley puts his rollercoaster vocal power on full display with the opening track to Rock and Roll Over. In the book Kiss: Behind the Mask he recalled writing the song during a sound check in England: “We’d be on some stage and they’d say, ‘The Beatles were on this stage or Zeppelin was on this stage’ and you kind of summon the spirits to enter your body. ‘I Want You’ came at that point.”

 

7. “Cold Gin”
From: Kiss (1974)

It’s funny to think how important the Frehley-penned “Cold Gin” was to Kiss’ career. Simmons, who sings it, is an outspoken non-drinker, as is Stanley, who performed the extended pre-song rap which namechecks all sorts of other mixed drinks.

But it’s an undeniable ass-kicker, and one of the few songs that has remained in the band’s set list throughout their career, even during the ’80s when they abandoned nearly every song from the ’70s.

 

6. “Detroit Rock City”
From: Destroyer (1976)

Kiss’ golden era only lasted half a decade, but in terms of studio work it can be divided up into two distinct, equal halves – the three albums they recorded before they worked with Ezrin, and the three after.

Destroyer‘s opening track “Detroit Rock City” is the clear boundary between the two eras, leaving the (often glorious) rough edges and muddy production of Kiss, Hotter Than Hell and Dressed to Kill behind in favor of a polished, tightly written and newly sophisticated sound. The formula worked, and “Detroit Rock City” has served as the opening song for hundreds of Kiss concerts since.

 

5. “Watchin’ You”
From: Hotter Than Hell (1974)

Kiss could be downright funky when they set their minds to it, as exemplified by the nasty strut of this Hotter Than Hell deep cut, written and sung by Simmons. One of the best things to come out of the the band’s early ’90s reclamation of their old songs is the Alive III version of this one.

 

4. “I Stole Your Love”
From: Love Gun (1977)

Paul Stanley sure knows how to start an album. The opening riff of “I Stole Your Love” makes you feel like you just got hit by a defibrillator, making it a perfect concert opener. That’s exactly how Kiss used it on 1990’s Hot in the Shade tour – the one where they stopped playing everything too fast and remembered that they had made six great albums in the ’70s.

 

3. “Shout It Out Loud”
From: Destroyer (1976)

Hot take: “Shout It Out Loud,” not “Rock and Roll All Nite,” should be Kiss’ mainstream calling card. It’s a better-written song, all four band members get their turn on the microphone, and the positive, self-affirming lyrics are a better representation of what the band is all about.

 

2. “Deuce”
From: Kiss (1974)

Here’s the main mistake Kiss made with their self-titled debut album: “Deuce” should have been the opening song. The Simmons / Stanley co-write comes roaring out of the gate like a bull from a pen, with a down and dirty Rolling Stones-styled riff.

This was the first song the original Kiss lineup ever played together, during Frehley’s audition for the band. “If this is the kind of stuff these guys are writing, then they might just be on to something,” the guitarist recalled thinking in his autobiography No Regrets.

 

 

1. “Love Gun” 
From: Love Gun (1977)

In retrospect, it’s easy to see Love Gun as the far too-early peak of Kiss first golden era, as interpersonal clashes and addictions sent the band on a downward spiral over the next couple of years.

But they ended that run with one hell of a fireworks show, highlighted by the title track to their audaciously titled sixth album. It’s a three-minute tour de force, highlighted by Criss’ memorable repeated drum figure, a great use of dynamics and one of Frehley’s best-ever guitar solos.

Oh, and it also inspired one of the greatest scenes in modern comedy movie history.