Asylum (Kiss album)

Asylum is the 13th studio album by the American rock band Kiss, released in September 1985. The album marked a continuation of the glam metal sound of preceding album Animalize.

Asylum
Studio album by Kiss
Released	September 16, 1985
Recorded	June – July 1985
Studio	Electric Lady Studios Right Track Studios, New York City
Genre	Glam metal[1]
Length	38:50
Label	Mercury Vertigo (Europe)
Producer	Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons
Kiss chronology
Animalize (1984) Asylum (1985) Crazy Nights (1987)
Singles from Asylum
"Tears Are Falling" Released: September 16, 1985

Recording

Asylum is the first album to feature lead guitarist Bruce Kulick as an official band member. Kulick had replaced former guitarist Mark St. John on some tracks on the previous album Animalize (1984) during the latter's absence due to reactive arthritis. Subsequently, Kulick filled St. John's spot during most segments of the Animalize tour. This new lineup of Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Eric Carr, and Kulick would last until Carr's death in November 1991, while Kulick would stay with the band until the reunion of the original lineup in 1996.

Cover

The album cover depicts the four band members with colored lips, mirroring the colors of the 1978 solo releases: red for Simmons, purple for Stanley, blue for Kulick (replacing Frehley) and green for Carr (replacing Peter Criss). The artwork for the back cover is similarly stylised and colourful, depicting Kiss against a white background. The cover art of the remastered 1997 CD release of Asylum featured slightly altered, bolder colours than that of the original release.

Live performances

The supporting Asylum Tour ran throughout North America from November 1985 to April 1986. The tour featured the largest light-up Kiss logo the band has ever used, as well as one of the largest lighting rigs. No concert footage of the tour was used in the Kissology II DVD release, except for short clips without sound in the background of the main menu. "Tears Are Falling" is the only song on the album that has been played regularly in live performances beyond the Asylum Tour. However, like many Kiss songs of the mid-1980s, the track was rarely played live after the 1996 reunion of the original Kiss lineup, although it did feature in both 2004's Rock the Nation Live! DVD and 2014's Kiss Rocks Vegas live release.

Singles

"Tears Are Falling" was the only track to be released for retail sales as a single and was a hit for the band, with the video in particular proving popular on MTV. A total of three music videos for the album were filmed on set in London, England, for the songs "Who Wants to Be Lonely", "Uh! All Night" and "Tears Are Falling" respectively.

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Metal Nightfall	[2]
Vista Records	[3]
AllMusic	[1]
Rolling Stone	[4]

Fan reaction to Asylum was mixed, although in recent years the album has come to be held in high regard among metal fans in particular. The album was certified Gold in November, 1985 by the RIAA, although it has long been rumored to be nearing the platinum level of sales.[5]

Track listing

Side one

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Lead vocals	Length
1.	"King of the Mountain"	Paul Stanley, Bruce Kulick, Desmond Child	Stanley	4:17
2.	"Any Way You Slice It"	Gene Simmons, Howard Rice	Simmons	4:02
3.	"Who Wants to Be Lonely"	Stanley, Child, Jean Beauvoir	Stanley	4:01
4.	"Trial by Fire"	Simmons, Kulick	Simmons	3:25
5.	"I'm Alive"	Stanley, Kulick, Child	Stanley	3:43

Side two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Lead vocals	Length
6.	"Love's a Deadly Weapon"	Stanley, Simmons, Rod Swenson, Wes Beech	Simmons	3:29
7.	"Tears Are Falling"	Stanley	Stanley	3:55
8.	"Secretly Cruel"	Simmons	Simmons	3:41
9.	"Radar for Love"	Stanley, Child	Stanley	4:02
10.	"Uh! All Night"	Stanley, Child, Beauvoir	Stanley	4:01

Personnel

Kiss

• Paul Stanley – rhythm guitar, vocals, bass guitar on "Tears Are Falling"
• Gene Simmons – bass guitar, vocals
• Eric Carr – drums, percussion, backing vocals
• Bruce Kulick – lead guitar, backing vocals[6]

Additional musicians

• Jean Beauvoir – bass guitar and backing vocals on "Who Wants to Be Lonely" and "Uh! All Night"
• Allan Schwartzberg – additional drum overdubs

Charts

Chart (1985) Peak position Australian Albums Chart[7] 89 Canadian Albums Chart[8] 54 Dutch Albums Chart[9] 34 Finnish Albums Chart[10] 1 German Albums Chart[9] 43 Japanese Albums Chart[11] 18 Norwegian Albums Chart[9] 11 Swedish Albums Chart[9] 3 Swiss Albums Chart[9] 15 UK Albums Chart[12] 12 US Billboard Pop Albums[13] 20

Singles – Billboard (North America) Year Chart Single Position 1985 Mainstream Rock "Tears Are Falling" 20[14] Billboard Hot 100 "Tears Are Falling" 51[15] Single – UK Singles Chart (United Kingdom) Year Chart Single Position 1985 UK Singles Chart "Tears Are Falling" 57[16]

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[17]	Gold	50,000^^
United States (RIAA)[5]	Gold	500,000^^
^^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

1. Asylum at AllMusic
2. "KISS : ASYLUM (1985)" (in French). Metal.nightfall.fr. Archived from the original on July 22, 2011. Retrieved August 7, 2011.
3. "VISTA RECORDS – KISS – Asylum (1985)". Vistarecords.proboards.com. March 28, 2010. Archived from the original on July 24, 2011. Retrieved August 7, 2011.
4. "Kiss: Album Guide | Rolling Stone Music". Rolling Stone. Retrieved August 7, 2011.
5. "American album certifications – Kiss – Asylum". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH. 
6. Saulnier, Jason (March 14, 2011). "Bruce Kulick Interview". Music Legends. Retrieved May 8, 2013.
7. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
8. "Search – RPM – Library and Archives Canada". collectionscanada.gc.ca. Retrieved August 9, 2011.
9. http://swisscharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=KISS&titel=Asylum&cat=a
10. Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 263. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
11. Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005. Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
12. http://www.officialcharts.com/artist/_/kiss/
13. "Kiss Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums" at AllMusic. Retrieved February 11, 2010.
14. "Billboard chart history-Kiss singles". Retrieved February 10, 2009.
15. "Song information "Tears Are Falling"". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Archived from the original on August 26, 2009. Retrieved August 20, 2009.
16. "The Official Charts Company". Retrieved May 23, 2010.
17. "Canadian album certifications – Kiss – Asylum". Music Canada.